Enabling Entrepreneurship in Egypt: Toward a Sustainable Dynamic Model

Abstract

Egypt, and to offer strategic and actionable recommendations that will enable entrepreneurship and significantly impact the Egyptian economy. The report offers a fresh look at entrepreneurship in Egypt and the support mechanisms currently at play, assesses the initiatives and challenges at hand, and provides multilevel recommendations on how to tackle them. On a deeper level, this work aims to constructively question the entire model by which we view the tasks of entrepreneurial support in Egypt and develops a new mechanism to replace the existing model currently in operation. This is a more dynamic, comprehensive, and flexible model that allows both for a feedback mechanism and for customization, acknowledging that new businesses demand different types of support based on their stage of development and that of the industry in which they operate. This report starts with a brief introduction that explains the importance of entrepreneurship and its potential for driving economic growth. Sections I and II offer a transversal snapshot, an assessment of the Egyptian economy and its entrepreneurial sector and the problems it faces. Sections III, IV, and V present three levels of recommendations, from the most paradigm altering to the most punctual. Section I discusses Egypt’s economic and entrepreneurial fundamentals, seeking to give an overview of the local economy and put it in perspective by making of international comparisons gathered from the most recent surveys. With high levels of unemployment and underemployment, as well as a strong predisposition for private work and below-trend new business creation ratio, Egypt displays both