Dr. Rania Al-Mashat, the Minister of International Cooperation, recently attended the graduation ceremony of 20 startup companies from the sixth batch of the “Orange Corners” program.
This program aims to support entrepreneurship and startups in Upper Egypt through a partnership between the Dutch government, represented by the Ministry of International Cooperation, and the private sector, represented by the Bank of Alexandria and Madinet Masr Company.
The program provides technical support and training to emerging companies, especially those led by female entrepreneurs, to help them achieve growth and success in the market. With the addition of the sixth batch, the program has supported a total of 116 companies across its six cycles.
In her speech, the Minister said that the sixth session constitutes an important milestone in the ongoing efforts to enhance the entrepreneurship environment in Egypt and support female entrepreneurs, especially since 59% of the companies that graduated from the program are run by female entrepreneurs.
This highlights the increasing role of women in the entrepreneurial scene in Egypt, especially in Upper Egypt, and in this regard, Al-Mashat congratulated the pioneers and entrepreneurs on their achievement in this training program, noting that their graduation represents an important turning point in their career path.
The Orange Corners Egypt program is an effort that provides entrepreneurs with training, business networks, and assistance as they launch and expand their creative firms. The project involves two independent business incubation programs, one in Cairo and one in Upper Egypt (Assiut), each of which offers recurrent training classes for 15 to 25 entrepreneurs for a duration of six months. The training is especially tailored to developing enterprises in agriculture and the creative sectors, with a minimum participation rate of 50% for female entrepreneurs. The Orange Corners initiative is carried out by local implementing partners Cultiv (Cairo) and Outreach Egypt Development Consultations (Upper Egypt).
