AmCham-Middle East Youth Initiative Meeting in Cairo Explores Partnerships for Social Innovation

Ehaab Abdou and Samantha Constant participated in a roundtable entitled “Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Egypt: Building Stronger Public-Private Partnerships for the Next Generation” hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt, in cooperation with the Middle East Youth Initiative, on June 9 in Cairo.

At the Summit on Entrepreneurship hosted by US President Barack Obama, Egypt emerged as a focal point of interest to promote partnerships that advance the fields of entrepreneurship, social innovation, and youth development. In response to this, the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt and the Middle East Youth Initiative held a private roundtable with the goal of bringing together a group of experts representing multiple sectors to:

• Reflect on the Entrepreneurship Summit and its outcomes for Egypt;
• Present and discuss key findings and recommendations from the Middle East Youth Initiative‘s most recent study, "Social Entrepreneurship in the Middle East: Toward Sustainable Development for the Next Generation";
• Discuss and solicit initial feedback and commitments on the business case for a replication fund, a funding coordination mechanism for scaling-up innovative initiatives in Egypt; and
• Define a multi-stakeholder approach to promote and support entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship

The roundtable aims to contribute to the development of an action plan to promote innovative business solutions in education, income generation/microfinance, health, housing, and technology in Egypt.