Egypt's economic reforms are robust, entrepreneurship needs more incentives: Shell Egypt deputy chair

Doaa A.Moneim , Thursday 30 Jan 2020

Speaking to Ahram Online, Moataz Darwish pointed to the environment sector in Egypt as an untapped space for entrepreneurship and investment

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Currently the government and external relations manager and deputy country chair for Shell Egypt, Moataz Darwish believes that the economic reform programme Egypt has adopted since 2016 is robust, paving the way for an upgrade in entrepreneurship.

Speaking to Ahram Online on the sidelines of StartEgypt Forum, held Wednesday at the Greek Campus of The American University in Cairo, Darwish added that the environment sector is conductive for startups and innovation. Young people have to make use of current incentives to create innovative ideas to deal with the problems and challenges the Egyptian market witnesses, daring to take more risks, he added.

"Egypt's government is working hard on this sector, introducing all facilities for young people, channeling with the private sector and incubating fresh ideas. But the matter requires more coordination between the executive bodies, in order to simplify the process for both entrepreneurs and investors," Darwish said.

The government has approved legislation that eases the procedures on establishing companies, but there is more to do, according to Darwish.

The entrepreneurship ecosystem in Egypt needs to be more organised, through new legislation that can provide incentives to investors to take risks through providing funds for new startups and entrepreneurs, besides providing training for them. On the other hand, the government should create more links with the private sector and more public-private partnerships.

Darwish added that Shell has worked in the entrepreneurship sector globally since 1982, adding Egypt into its focus in this regard since 2004.

"The programme Shell has adopted is called "Shell Intilaaqah," and over the past two years, we have started the "Shell Explorer" programme to deal with new challenges in domestic market experiences in the wake of the new economic reforms undertaken in Egypt.”

"We work on the mindset of entrepreneurs, to catalyse them to create ideas eligible to be a company," he added. 

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