Heya Raeda 2021 to support female entrepreneurs in Egypt

ITIDA and AUC’s CEI to support female entrepreneurs through Heya Raeda 2021 Program in Egypt. TheTechnology Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center (TIEC), a division of the Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA), is pleased to announce a collaboration with the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CEI) and School of Continuing Education (SCE) at The American University in Cairo (AUC) to support emerging female entrepreneurs through the Heya Raeda 2021 program.

The program assists female entrepreneurs in starting their businesses by emphasizing the logical side of business growth rather than a theoretical approach. The curriculum intends to instill essential business development functions as a secondary practical skill set, allowing them to efficiently operate successful operations, avoid waste of resources and opportunities, and assist them in onboarding into other TIEC and ecosystem entrepreneurship programs.

This year, ITIDA, TIEC established the “Heya Raeda” 2021 program, which will be provided by AUC School of Company’s CEI and SCE to teach female entrepreneurs on startup techniques, concepts and foster their business development skills.

Amr Mahfouz, ITIDA’s CEO, stated, “we are excited to team up with the AUC School of Business Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CEI) to support female entrepreneurship and foster their technology innovation. This collaboration aims to instill entrepreneurial spirit and encourage female entrepreneurs in the ICT sector, as we target supporting 300 early-stage projects of female entrepreneurs representing a 60% increase in the number of beneficiary female entrepreneurs combined in the past three editions of the program (500 female entrepreneurs in 2018, 2019, 2020).”.

Hala Barakat, Director, Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, noted: “Adding the Heya Raeda 2021 program collaboration to AUC’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CEI) portfolio reaffirms its mission toward entrepreneurship advancement and its role in economic development and empowerment, especially for women.”

Barakat added: “CEI has been a pioneer hub for entrepreneurial stakeholders not only in Egypt but for the MENA region. Since its inception, CEI has worked diligently on promoting entrepreneurial education, supporting the entrepreneurial ecosystem, and offering capacity-building opportunities.”

The curriculum will use online interactive webinars and training modules to cover idea generation and validation, business modeling, communication skills, strategies, and important technological enablers. A variety of guest speakers and participant pitches will be included in the program.

“AUC’s School of Continuing Education mission is to improve the employability and provide lifelong learning to participants by extending the resources of the University to Egypt and beyond through high quality, accessible and flexible programs,” explained Dr. James Ketterer, Dean of the School of Continuing Education.

He added, “In light of this mission, Heya Raeda 2021 program is an addition to SCE’s extensive portfolio, as we aim to expand outreach and empower our community by enhancing its productivity and performance. We design programs that are tailored to suit diverse needs, directed at learners’ career advancement and enhancement of their professional qualifications to enrich their lives.”