There is no elevator to success, only steps, with each step representing a new phase in one's success, and each step representing a new learnt idea that contributes to one reaching his dreams. This can discreetly describe several elements in one's life, but I choose to conjoin it with my topic of discussion in this article, boosting young business owners' self-confidence to achieve overall economic prosperity. Empowering and supporting entrepreneurship has become of great importance in the development of any economic system after several rising entities in the 21st century, as most global multibillion dollar businesses stemmed from an aspiring person's imagination and will power to achieve his desired dream. Whether we are talking about big enterprises like Disney, Warner Brothers, Facebook, and Microsoft, they all have one thing in common. They were backed by an aspiring young mind that refused to give up under all circumstances. This is why empowering and supporting entrepreneurs is a necessary step in the modern age in communicating their ideas and projects to financing institutions. It ensures they receive the necessary funding opportunities, as all big business projects were forged from the ground up despite all hardships. So the big question has always been: Why not support these aspiring minds and shed light on their ideas in order to bolster the economy? From here came the idea of launching Egypt's Entrepreneur Awards (EEA), the first event of its kind dedicated to shedding light on entrepreneurs. The awards aim to encourage established businessmen to showcase their ideas and to be highly recognised by media coverage and strong public relations support. The EEA was created with a vision to gather up Egypt's brightest business models, with less than 15 years of operational status in order to provide a lucrative platform for these models to be showcased in front of a wide range of audiences. In addition, these business owners will have the opportunity to network with several tycoons in their respective fields. All applicants were able to apply for the awards list through our recently launched website that works as a platform that brings together entrepreneurs. The EEA is the platform where all entrepreneurs have the ability to display new projects and run for the event's competition, which includes more than 15 different fields. These include architecture and design, fashion and jewellery, e-commerce, education, physical health and a healthy lifestyle, food and beverages, media and advertising services, social entrepreneurship, and tourism. After hundreds, if not thousands, of Egyptian entrepreneurs applied in their respective categories, we have now reached the final phase of our competition. Three finalists have been selected from each category and will now have to contend in front of a prestigious council formed of iconic business giants. Among the Jury members that will get to decide who wins each awards in their respective categories are: Ahmed El-Sewedy, President and CEO of El Sewedy Electric; Aladdin Saba, Founding partner of BPE Partners; Ahmed Habib, President and CEO of Harvest Holdings and founding member of EO Cairo; Hussein Rifai, Co-Founder andExecutive Chairman of Inertia Holding; Dina Al Mofty, Founder of Injaz Egypt; Neveen El-Tahri, Chairperson at Delta Shield for Investment; Onsi Sawiris, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of HOF Capital; Thuraya Ismail, Executive Director and Eisenhower Fellow; and Wael Fakharany, CEO of Omnix International. It is worth mentioning that ever since the launch of the EEA, it has been recognised for its many distinctive attributes. These revolve around adopting categories and applying criteria for evaluating the owners of Egyptian companies, projects, and entrepreneurs that encompass stories of success, excellence, exceptional achievements, and a leading position in various fields. The date of the closing ceremony of the first edition of EEA has been set to take place on 12 June, which comes in partnership with Inertia Developments, along with EG Bank, Orange, Pepsico, and Fine. This is in addition to the EEA's strategic partnership with a group of international and regional associations and institutions such as Endeavor, AmCham, EO, and Gemini Holding. Amr Mansi, Founder and CEO of I-Events
