The United States government, through the U.S. Agency for International Development, is collaborating with Google to train and tutor small business owners, business advisors, as well as hundreds of Egyptian women.
Through a focus on digital skills and online marketing, the program will support entrepreneurs build and promote their online brands and will also equip business advisors in Egypt with the skills to better support startups.
The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified the benefits of e-commerce and of helping businesses survive and thrive, thus making this partnership with Google, and all U.S. government programs that fund entrepreneurship, even more vital.
The United States Agency for International Development and Google selected 20 youth- and women-owned startups and 50 business advisors for the start phase of the project.
The majority of the participants have enabled Egypt’s entrepreneurship ecosystem through former participation in USAID projects and are part of Egypt’s major networks established by the agency, which includes the Women’s Entrepreneurship Network, the Youth Entrepreneurship Network, and Egypt’s first women’s angel investment which is the Tiye Angels.
The program combines joint mentoring and consultation with courses acquired through Google’s “Maharat min Google” (“Skills from Google”) e-learning platform. The site offers free courses, tools, and training on digital marketing in the Arabic language to students, educators, job seekers, and businesses.
It is part of the “Grow Stronger with Google,” a Google’s regional initiative, which U.S. Ambassador Jonathan R. Cohen attended the launching event in October 2020. The initiative aims at fast-tracking economic recovery in the region by helping almost a million businesses and individuals acquire new digital skills and expand their businesses by the end of 2021.
Since the late 1970s, the USA has invested over $30 billion to facilitate Egypt’s economic development and supporting Egyptian entrepreneurs. The United States Embassy in Cairo does support many local entrepreneurs yearly at every level, starting with training youth in the soft skills essential to entrepreneurship.
The American Embassy sends young, early-stage entrepreneurs on many professional development programs, including a Spring 2021 series of skills-building workshops for women startup founders.
Through the USAID, the U.S. government has played an immense role in shaping the entire entrepreneurship system in Egypt by creating some of the country’s first business incubators and attracting private and public sector partners to join the initial U.S. investment.
Overall, the U.S. has helped more than 10,000 Egyptians strengthen their businesses through mentorship programs, incubators, and accelerators.