Arabian Cement Company (ACC) has launched its social start-up programme ‘Khaleeha Suessi,’ in collaboration with Nahdet El Mahrousa (NM), an incubator of early stage social enterprise in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region.

The programme aims at promoting positive social impact and employment opportunities by providing entrepreneurs with the tools needed to successfully establish their own social startups, said a statement.

The first phase of the programme began in on May 24 and will run till July 4, where applicants are to submit their initial proposals.

This phase also includes hosting one information session in Cairo and two sessions in Suez to raise awareness about the programme and provide more information about it.

Once the applications have been considered by the panel of experts, as many as 15 to 30 shortlisted applicants will be announced on July 12.

The following phases of the programme include offering support to the selected applicants to enable them to develop a final proposal about their enterprises, with the final five to seven enterprises being chosen on October 10 for the incubation phase; receiving the seed funding.


Jose Maria Magrina, chief executive officer, ACC, said: “Impactful social programmes have been, and will continue to be, one of the main pillars of our strategy for the Egyptian market. Today, I’m honoured to launch this programme for Suez, the governorate where our business is based.

“At ACC, we’re keen to give back to the community where we operate, and we can’t think of a better way to do so than by supporting the youth of Suez to realize their dreams and establish successful enterprises. This programme is a unique one, in terms of concept and implementation. As such, I believe that we’ve been able to take our contribution to supporting the society to the next level."

In order to qualify for the year-long programme, enterprises must offer an innovative business idea that has the potential to become scalable and sustainable, and have social impact in Suez.

The programme will build the entrepreneurs’ technical skills in fields such as management; business and strategic planning; marketing; and public relations, and provide direct access to experts for legal and financial consultation.

Loay El-Shawarby, chairperson, Nahdet El Mahrousa, said: “At Nahdet El Mahrousa, we empower young and innovative Egyptian social entrepreneurs. We support them to develop their ideas into businesses that target a specific social problem.

“In the long-run, we hope to see the number and size of these enterprises to grow and become the foundation on which we build a new Egypt. We have worked across a range of governorates, but are excited to be implementing a project in Suez for the first time.”

The number of startups in Egypt is on the rise, and entrepreneurship is playing an increasingly important role in employing youth and tackling pressing social problems, said the statement.

The objective of the Khaleeha Suessi is to extend the local growth of entrepreneurship to Suez, encouraging young professionals to transform their communities from within, it added. - TradeArabia News Service