Shell Egypt and the British Council Celebrate the Success of the Intilaaqah Programme Graduates, 2015
May 17, 2016
Over 1,200 young Egyptian entrepreneurs received training in 2015, reaching a total of 7,700 entrepreneurs over the past 11 years
New partnership between Shell Lubricants Egypt (SLE) and the Social Fund for Development (SFD)
Cairo, 17 May 2016
Shell Egypt and the British Council Egypt celebrate the success of eleven years of the Shell Intilaaqah Egypt Programme, by hosting an annual awards ceremony tonight, where outstanding Programme graduates will be honoured.
The Shell Intilaaqah Egypt Programme is designed to help young Egyptians, between the age 18-35, start their own small business. Tonight, 19 young entrepreneurs will be awarded at the Shell Intilaaqah Egypt Annual Awards Ceremony, competing in six categories; ‘Best Business Idea’, ‘Best Business Idea for Disabled’, ‘Best Business Plan’, ‘Best Existing Business’, ‘Woman Entrepreneur’, and ‘Health & Safety’.
Aidan Murphy, VP Egypt, Country Chairman & Managing Director, Shell Egypt, said: “Shell’s commitment to Egypt extends beyond our mission to meet the country’s energy needs. Through initiatives like the Shell Intilaaqah Egypt Programme, we are able to empower young Egyptians with the right skills they need to start their own business.”
“The unmitigated success and sustainability of the Programme – for 11 years in a row – would have not been possible without the belief and commitment of our valuable partners, namely the British Council, the Social Fund for Development (SFD), in addition to Misr El-Kheir Foundation -- the right partnerships that contribute to national economic development,” Murphy added.
The uniqueness of the Shell Intilaaqah Programme is in how it supports young Egyptian entrepreneurs by not only providing training and technical assistance, but also encouraging the integration of local content into the supply chain of large corporations; leading to business growth and creation of new job opportunities.
“To-date, the Programme has successfully trained around 7,700 young entrepreneurs, including 280 with special needs since the programme’s inception in 2004. I am proud to say that the programme has contributed to the development and creation of 750 small businesses, across 15 Egyptian governorates and cities, Luxor being the latest addition to our geographic reach,” said Lamiaa Ashour, Intilaaqah Programme and Social Investment Manager, Shell Egypt.
At the event, the Programme will unveil a new partnership between Shell Lubricants Egypt (SLE) and the Social Fund for Development (SFD). Integrating the efforts of both parties and being the first of its kind in Egypt, this new partnership aims to help young Egyptian entrepreneurs become Shell-authorized retailers through providing them with Shell’s technical training, coupled with Intilaaqah’s entrepreneurship training – rendering a world-class oil change service.
The SFD will be providing financial and non-financial services. Representatives from both parties will sign a Memorandom of Understanding (MoU) to inaugurate such partnership.
“The Intilaaqah project is exciting because it offers an alternative to old economic models. With Intilaaqah, Shell and the British Council are helping young Egyptians stand on their own two feet and thrive. The project shows that governments can deliver better for their citizens when they partner with business and civil society to encourage aspiration, not reliance on a handout. I hope that the government will encourage more businesses and civil society organisations to follow this model and together build a brighter and more prosperous future for Egypt and its young people.” British Deputy Ambassador Helen Winterton said
Jeff Streeter, Director, British Council Egypt said: “it is important for us at the British Council to support young people with the skills they need to create jobs and increase employability. Our partnership with Shell for Intilaaqah has had a great impact on thousands of young Egyptians, through their development of business, planning, entrepreneurial and organizational skills. It is not always the case that there is a job waiting for us when we leave formal education; sometimes we need to go out and create that job for ourselves. We are giving people the skills to do just that through Intilaaqah, so they can participate in one of the most dynamic parts of the economy”.
Eng. Bahaa El-Wessimy, Head of the Social Solidarity Section of the Masr El-Kheir Foundation (MEK), said that the Foundation has established a partnership with Shell Egypt last year to train 500 young men and woman entrepreneurs. Within the scheme of this partnership, MEK provides the trainees through their field offices spread across all of Upper Egypt and boarder areas while Shell provides the trainers and their approved curriculum which covers the basics of feasibility studies, projects planning, and how to launch new projects. Wessimy added that “the purpose of the training is to offer assistance to young entrepreneurs and provide the basic skills for managing their small businesses, and, in that manner, build a capable human cadre and a generation of entrepreneurs who are able to manage successful projects in the fields of trade, industry and charity in addition to creating more job opportunities for young people.”
Earlier this year, Shell Intilaaqah Egypt announced its 2015 competition where around 250 Intilaaqah graduates applied for the six categories of awards, and a judging panel event was held on 21 March at the British Council premises in Agouza. Members of the judging panel ranged between government representatives, SME patrons, partners, members from academia, NGOs, and the media.
Shell Intilaaqah Egypt – At a Glance
The Shell Intilaaqah Egypt programme was first initiated in 2004 by Shell Egypt as part of its corporate social responsibility, and has gained the support of British Council Egypt since 2006. The Programme targets young Egyptians, aged 18-35, to help them start their own businesses, providing proactive engagement with the society. Youth who enroll to the Intilaaqah programme receive entrepreneurship training across different disciplines, including: SME market analysis, marketing, finance, and business management.
Geographical Spread
Shell Intilaaqah Egypt is spread out in 15 governorates and cities to date: Alexandria, Assiut, Aswan, Beni Suef, Cairo, Fayoum, Giza, Luxor, Matruh, Minya, Quena, Qalyubia, Sharkia, Sohag, and Suez.
A Wide Network of Development Partners
The British Council is the main partner. Other partners in Cairo include the Social Fund for Development (SFD), Misr El-Kheir Foundation (MEK).
Other partners include, the Egyptian Human Resources Development (EHRD), the Egyptian Foundation for Women University Graduates, ASDAA’ Association, Business Enterprise Support Tools Project (BEST), Make Egypt, and Future Lights Development Organization (FLDO).
Intilaaqah and LiveWire
The Shell Egypt Intilaaqah programme is an adoption of ‘LiveWIRE’; Shell International Youth Enterprise Programme. LiveWIRE was first launched in the UK in 1982, and is now running in almost 17 countries worldwide.
For more information about LiveWIRE,
For more information about Shell Intilaaqah Egypt, please visit: www.facebook.com/shell
For more information, please visit: www.britishcouncil.org
About Shell:
Shell companies in Egypt are wholly owned by the Royal Dutch Shell plc. Active in Egypt since 1911, Shell Egypt business today spans Upstream Oil and Gas Exploration & Production, lubricants production and marketing.
For further information, please contact:
Ms. Sherine Nehad, Media Relations Manager, Shell Egypt N.V.
Mobile: +(20) 1271 110 420
Email: sherine.nehad@shell.com
About the British Council
The British Council creates international opportunities for the people of the UK and other countries and builds trust between them worldwide. We are a Royal Charter charity, established as the UK’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations.
Our 7000 staff in over 100 countries work with thousands of professionals and policy makers and millions of young people every year through English, arts, education and society programmes.
For more information, please visit: www.britishcouncil.org.
You can also keep in touch with the British Council through http://twitter.com/britishcouncil and http://blog.britishcouncil.org/.
For further information, please contact:
Ola Tanani, Corporate Communications Manager, British Council
Email: ola.tanani@britishcouncil.org.eg
Phone: +(20) 2 3300 1851 / + 20 (0)106 5299 826
About Misr El-Khier Foundation:
Misr El-Khier Foundation is a non-profit organization registered with number 555/2007 according to Law 84/2002. The organization aims to serve, develop and empower the Egyptian society for a better livelihood everywhere in Egypt. The organization also aims at transforming the Egyptian people from living in the state of extreme poverty to subsistence, from subsistence to sufficiency, and from sufficiency to efficiency. This would enable humans to positively contribute to a self-growing, solidarity society through working in five development sectors including health, education, scientific research, social solidarity and other walks of life.
Misr al-Khier foundation is based on scientific thinking in presenting developmental services accessed by more than seven million beneficiaries during eight years.