ITIDA and AUC’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation Collaborate to Support Female Entrepreneurs Through Heya Raeda 2021 Program

The program aims to support 300 early-stage female entrepreneurs

The Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center (TIEC), an arm of Information Technology

Industry Development Agency (ITIDA), is happy to announce its collaboration with The American

University in Cairo (AUC) Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CEI) and School of Continuing

Education (SCE) to support female entrepreneurs through Heya Raeda 2021 program.

The program reaches out to female entrepreneurs and helps them start their own projects with a focus

on the logical side of business development rather than a theoretical approach. The program aims to

induce the basic business development functions as a secondary practical skill set allowing them to

efficiently run successful operations, reduce the waste of resources and opportunities, and help

onboarding them onto other entrepreneurship programs within TIEC and the ecosystem at large.

The “Heya Raeda” 2021 program has been developed this year by ITIDA, TIEC, and will be delivered by

AUC School of Business’s CEI and SCE to train female entrepreneurs on startup methodologies, concepts

and cultivate their business development skills.

Amr Mahfouz, ITIDA’s CEO, stated “we are excited to team up with the AUC School of Business Center

for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CEI) to support female entrepreneurship and foster their

technology innovation. This collaboration aims to instill entrepreneurial spirt and encourage female

entrepreneurs in the ICT sector, as we target supporting 300 early- stage projects of female

entrepreneurs representing 60% increase in the number of beneficiary female entrepreneurs combined

in the past three editions of the program (500 female entrepreneurs in 2018, 2019, 2020).”.

“Adding the Heya Raeda 2021 program collaboration to AUC’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CEI) portfol

reaffirms its mission toward entrepreneurship advancement and its role in economic development and

empowerment, especially for women.”

Barakat added: “CEI has been a pioneer hub for entrepreneurial stakeholders not only in Egypt but for

the MENA region. Since its inception, CEI has worked diligently on promoting entrepreneurial education,

supporting the entrepreneurial ecosystem and offering capacity-building opportunities.”

The program will employ online interactive webinars and training modules, which incorporate generating

and validating ideas, business modeling, communication skills, strategies and key technology enablers.

The program will also incorporate a range of guest speakers and participant pitches.

“AUC’s School of Continuing Education mission is to improve the employability and provide lifelong

learning to participants by extending the resources of the University to Egypt and beyond through high

quality, accessible and flexible programs,” explained Dr. James Ketterer, Dean of the School of

Continuing Education.

He added, “In light of this mission, Heya Raeda 2021 program is an addition to SCE’s extensive

portfolio, as we aim to expand outreach and empower our community by enhancing its productivity and

performance. We design programs that are tailored to suit diverse needs, directed at learners’ career

advancement, and enhancement of their professional qualifications to enrich their lives.