Many studies have shown the importance of entrepreneurship in creating jobs, increasing productivity and boosting economic growth. However, according to the 2010 Egyptian Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Report, Egypt is among the lowest ranking countries in entrepreneurial activities such as growing businesses, developing new products or entering new markets. Despite Egypt's large number of micro and small businesses, too few of them have their eyes on growth and job creation, and numerous obstacles stand in the way of unleashing Egypt's entrepreneurial potential. Mary Ott, mission director of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) in Egypt, spoke to Al-Ahram Weekly about entrepreneurship in Egypt and what USAID is doing to help entrepreneurs. How do you see entrepreneurship in Egypt and what challenges face it? There is a strong spirit of entrepreneurship in Egypt and particularly among Egyptian youth. Many young people in the country are coming out of universities with modern concepts of technology, and they can really think of ways to apply this in the businesss Community. So the outlook is very bright, but there needs to be a nurturing ecosystem for business start-ups. We are trying to help in some ways and other Egyptian players, such as organisations that work in business incubation, are also very helpful. But there are also policy issues, such as the need for a policy environment that is supportive of start-ups, and there is a need for reform of the bankruptcy law. If it is hard for firms to exit, entrepreneurs are deterred from taking risks and starting a new business. For somebody to have the confidence to try a new business, he has to know that if it does not come out as planned he can still shut it down without serious repercussions. How can entrepreneurship contribute to economic growth, especially during the tough times Egypt is witnessing? New businesses start in good economic times and in bad economic times. So it is always important to support entrepreneurship and not to say we will wait until times are better. I think there are many entrepreneurs or even individuals who already have businesses who would like to see opportunities to expand what they are doing. And the advantage of these start-ups or expanded businesses is that they can create employment and opportunities. They also purchase from other businesses, expanding economic activity. So it is good for the economy to be supporting entrepreneurship and particularly for those who have ideas of their own. What kind of support is USAID offering Egyptian entrepreneurs? In our experience, the kind of support that entrepreneurs can benefit from involves training, mentorship and helping them to arrange financing. We have supported and will continue to support training opportunities for young entrepreneurs in their business-plan development and other concepts of entrepreneurship, as well as finding mentors who can help them through the process of a getting a business off the ground. We have also supported business-plan competitions. These do not only help start-up businesses to find their plans, but also the way you publicise a business-plan competition attracts the attention of investors who hear about the idea and may want to provide financial support. We are also supporting the concept of angel investing in Egypt, which in the US has proven really helpful in finding financing. How has USAID helped entrepreneurs over the past year? Our collaboration with the US State Department's of Global Entrepreneurship Programme (GEP) has helped to launch 48 businesses, of which 18 are women-led, over the past year. These start-ups have generated approximately 250 jobs between the entrepreneurs themselves and the people they have hired. And the angel investors (investors who provide starting growth capital in promising ventures) group has facilitated around five investor deals with $500,000 of investment. This is a recent concept in the US and a new one for Egypt, so we are hopeful that it will grow.
