The Egyptian Heya Raeda Programme

The Heya Raeda Programme is an initiative implemented by the Egyptian Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center – TIEC – which is part of the wider strategy called Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center, promoted by the Egyptian Government – to support women entrepreneurship. This successful programme was explored during one of the policy labs INSME organizes within the framework of THE NEXT SOCIETY project with the aim to highlight relevant initiatives, policies and projects that contribute to the creation of a fertile entrepreneurial ecosystem in the Mediterranean basin and have a high replicability potential.

The entrepreneurial ecosystem in Egypt is one of the fastest in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region, however, an in-depth analysis reveals also that the number of female entrepreneurs is remarkably small. By taking the Egyptian female entrepreneurial ecosystem into consideration, TIEC pointed out that the main barriers that hinder the development of companies led by women are the lack of knowledge and confidence together with the will to avoid the competition with men. In order to enhance women’s confidence and help them develop their business in Egypt, TIEC started  “Heya Raeda”, a program for female entrepreneurs that also involves female coaches, female trainers, and mentors. The Heya Raeda is a nearly-stage Entrepreneurship Programme for female entrepreneurs operating in the ICT field that produce technological products (Website, Mobile Application, Software, IOT platform, …) or that use technology to foster the selling of their products (online platform / digital marketing interface).

The program is aimed at providing the audience with hands-on knowledge of Business Validation, Business Modelling, and Key Technology. After the participation in this program, the audience will be able to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of their business and they will be made aware and encouraged to take part in other programs to boost female entrepreneurship.
COUNTRY

Egypt

 ORGANIZATIONS IMPLEMENTING THE PROJECT

The initiative was funded by the Information Technology Industry Development Agency.  Among the partners that sustained this project, there is the International Labor Organization (ILO) (2017-2018).

START & END DATE OF THE PROJECT

2017 – Present

TARGET GROUP

The project addresses early-stage female entrepreneurs (female-led startups, small businesses wishing to become startups, and females with new venture ideas).

 AIMS OF THE PROJECT

The Heya Raeda is a program aimed at training female entrepreneurs on startup methodologies in order to help them develop their business ideas. The main target is to provide the attendees with knowledge, tools, and skills needed to successfully run their business.

 METHODOLOGY
The first step of the program is the selection of the participants. TIEC announces on its social media and on its partners’ media channels that the selection for a new edition of the program is opened. The selection criteria to choose are:
– Age, the participant should be older than 21 years;
– Experience, the participant should have the skills and experience to succeed with her business idea;
– Availability to attend the 5 days of training.
The program foresees:
-4 days on Business Development (1 day for Idea Generation & Validation and 3 days for Business Modelling & Value Proposition). During these two modules, the female entrepreneurs are assessed, and their entrepreneurial abilities are strengthened. Different sources and techniques of idea generation and validation will be analyzed:
-1 day of Pitching techniques, where participants will explore some of the most useful pitching techniques. Since the program turned completely digital in 2020, the last day will focus more on key technology enablers for business success. The main strength of this initiative is the Interactive workshops with one-on-one mentorship focused on developing and improving the Business Models and Value Propositions of the participant companies.
Another key means of learning to use during the program is: Case Studies, Group Discussions& Sharing Experiences, Videos, Games, and Readings.
The program took place in physical classrooms till the end of 2019 while since 2020 is carried out digitally through interactive webinars as well as online courses.
 RESULTS ACHIEVED

The number of female entrepreneurs who graduated until 2019 is 209 while they are expected to be 300 only in 2020, 10%of which are should turn their activities into potential startups (registering their company and joining an incubator). The results of 2019’s surveys showed the following data:

  • 50% of the companies were still in business;
  • 15% of the participants to the Heya Raed a program find another opportunity in a follow-up program in Egypt;
  • 14% of the attendees had their company registered.
 KEY CHALLENGES IN IMPLEMENTING THE INITIATIVE AND SOLUTIONS USED TO MITIGATE THEM

So far, the main challenge faced by the program has been the reaching of its target audience. To overcome this issue TIEC is making partnerships with many entities involved in the promotion of female empowerment. TIEC also promotes and gives visibility to the initiative in online communities for women. After every edition the female entrepreneurs have to take part in a survey, this is a very important instrument to understand barriers to participation and to adjust the structure of the program following the ladies’ needs (for instance the number of hours to attend every day and the schedule).

  LESSONS LEARNED
– Females are more comfortable participating in a whole female environment.
– E-commerce has higher female participation compared to the other business sectors. Most of the female entrepreneurs after attending the program and achieving the certification (around 70%), started working in the e-commerce sector.

SUSTAINABILITY OF THE INITIATIVE AND POTENTIAL REPLICABILITY

Fund: The Initiative is funded by the government. Sustainability is guaranteed as long as the program keeps achieving its KPIs. The KPIs evaluated each year are the followings:

-number of participants;

-number of graduates joining a follow-up program;

-number of graduates registering their companies;

-number of jobs created by those graduates.

Operations: The workshops are delivered by service providers from the private sector, which makes the workshops easier to replicate in other countries and for multiple editions.

Training Content: TIEC defines the content of the workshops, but takes also advantage of the expertise of different service providers in order to make the training more effective according to the subject.

Target Market: In order to give the chance to take part in the program to the highest number of brilliant female entrepreneurs, all the lessons and the learning materials are in Arabic. The number of female entrepreneurs running a small business that could take advantage of a program like Heya Raeda is remarkable and since the structure of the initiative is not complex, its applicability in other countries would considerable support the spur of female entrepreneurship.

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