The Minister of Communications and Information Technology Amr Talaat has delivered a speech at the opening of the 10th edition of RiseUp Summit, held at the Grand Egyptian Museum. The Summit is the largest startup and entrepreneurship event in Egypt.
The RiseUp Summit opening was attended by the CEO of the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI) Hossam Heiba, the CEO of the Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) Ahmed Elzaher, and RiseUp Founder and CEO Abdelhameed Sharara.
The ICT Minister underlined Egypt’s keenness to foster startups and promote innovation and entrepreneurship. He pointed out that Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), starting as startups, are forming 75% of the economies of developed countries. A large number of SMEs is the mainstay of the economies of developing and developed countries, he revealed. He highlighted that the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) supports startups to enhance their capability to create added value and achieve competitiveness.
During his speech, Talaat highlighted MCIT efforts within the framework of the state’s plan to support startups according to three pillars. The first is providing training for and incubating startups and offering various training courses for startup owners, starting with brainstorming to producing ideas for developing products, passing through the value chain to support entrepreneurs until setting up networking forums between investors and entrepreneurs, he stated. Moreover, startup owners and senior leaders are trained on various management skills and technologies supporting the solutions provided by the startups.
Talaat pointed out that MCIT is implementing a project to establish CREATIVA Innovation Hubs nationwide to support entrepreneurship. He added that eight Hubs were opened last year and around 17 new hubs are being established nationwide. He stated that CREATIVA Hubs are being established inside or near university campuses to support young people. In addition, MCIT has established a partnership with two international companies in incubator management to run Cairo and Giza CREATIVA Innovation Hubs. He underlined that through the partnership, around 120 people have been trained to manage incubators.
The ICT Minister declared that the second pillar is training and developing human resources and developing their technical skills in various ICT disciplines required by startups. He clarified that technical training is an essential pillar in MCIT strategy. He added that various initiatives and training programs are provided to a large number of young people from different academic disciplines to qualify them to obtain decent job opportunities in ICT. Meanwhile, MCIT is currently designing a training platform that includes multiple professional tracks. It also bears the costs of all training courses in full.
Talaat indicated that the third pillar is concerned with the legislative framework and procedures for establishing startups, expanding or changing business. He pointed to the Cabinet’s decree to make the minimum capital of a one-person company (OPC) just EGP 1,000 when establishing the company, instead of EGP 50,000 to help entrepreneurs establish their companies. Currently, a system for establishing virtual companies is being developed and another system for establishing companies remotely is being developed through digital notices via Digital Egypt platform and e-signature.
It is worth noting that RiseUp Summit brings together over 300 speakers and experts from different countries worldwide. Furthermore, entrepreneurs from around 60 countries worldwide are participating in the Summit. It delves into six main topics, namely Smart Capital, Tech x Society, Creative Economies, Emerging Tech, Sustainability, and 10 Years. In the 10 Years topic, the development of industries and the success of the 10-year-old startups will be discussed.
On the sidelines of RiseUp Summit, an exhibition for the most successful and influential startups in the Middle East will be organized. Over 60 workshops on the future of startups will be held, including startups’ success and sustainability in the Middle East and Africa. This is in addition to numerous roundtables and events, bringing together prominent speakers, experts, and representatives of international companies.
