British Council Wants To Pump EGP 30 Million Into Social And Creative Enterprises in Egypt

In celebration of the 80 years of working in Egypt, the British Council has launched the Developing Inclusive and Creative Economies programme, offering EGP 30 millions to fuel the creative economy and social enterprise sector in the country. The programme will provide funding for projects that empower women and girls, foster youth employment, support people with disabilities and engage marginalised groups.

In Egypt, Developing Inclusive and Creative Economies will work with government and business to better understand the state of the social and creative economy, the barriers to its development and offer recommendations to support long-term, inclusive growth. "By launching this new programme in our 80^th year in Egypt, the British Council can demonstrate how our work is still extremely relevant to Egyptians in the 21st century," says British Council's country director, Alex Lambert.

The two-year programme will stimulate the creative and social enterprise economy – an area of economic development that mixes culture, creativity, technology and entrepreneurship – with projects that improve the lives of marginalised members of society. "The creative economy has been described as the engine of the modern economy," says Ahmed Fouad, head of Developing Inclusive and Creative Economies. "As we move away from oil as a driver for economic development, some have described creativity as the next fuel for the economy in the future," he adds.

There are three main layers of intervention to the programme; the first layer will bring together key government actors, national institutions, academia and relevant organisations to work on promoting the creative economy and social enterprise sector. While the second will work with social and creative businesses and organisations to understand and develop the market in Egypt, and the third will provide grants to individuals to kick-start projects. 

Main Image: The British Council's acting country director Alex Lambert. 

Courtesy of British Council Media Office