“American Corner” at Maadi Public Library Marks Global Entrepreneurship Week

Cairo – Today, U.S. Ambassador Stephen Beecroft celebrated Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) and the achievements of recent, successful Egyptian entrepreneurs, noting: “New businesses are one of the strongest engines of job creation and economic growth — that is why entrepreneurship is so important.  Today is the start of Global Entrepreneurship Week, a week in which the U.S. Embassy has organized multiple events to encourage, support, and inspire young people who want to start a creative, new business.”

Ambassador Beecroft delivered his remarks while opening the first of several U.S. Embassy-sponsored events on Entrepreneurship to be held this week at the American Corner of the Maadi Public Library, the only informational “Corner” of its kind in all of Cairo.  At the “Egypt Innovate Exhibit,” young, successful entrepreneurs showcased the creative products and services of their start-ups.  The exhibition connected entrepreneurs with financial sponsors and NGOs that support entrepreneurship.  It also gave aspiring entrepreneurs and other visitors the chance to learn from young business leaders how to develop new ideas, market those ideas, and launch successful new companies.

Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) is the world’s largest celebration of entrepreneurship, with events in 160 countries.  The goal of GEW is to inspire people all over the world to bring their ideas to life and to support them in their steps towards fulfilling their entrepreneurial dreams.  The U.S. Mission has organized over thirty events across Egypt for GEW 2015 aimed at helping young people become successful entrepreneurs.

On October 29, the U.S. Embassy and USAID announced a new $22.9 million investment called the SEED program – “Strengthening Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Development”.   The program provides assistance to small businesses in Egypt to help them gain access to bank loans, develop new business ideas, and conduct market research.