The Swedish Embassy in Cairo celebrated Thursday the International Day of Women Entrepreneurship, an event that brought together a large number of Egyptian government officials and some of the nation’s top female entrepreneurs.
Swedish Ambassador in Cairo Håkan Emsgård invited attention to the participation of women in Egypt’s entrepreneurial scene.
“Gender equality is a priority for the Swedish government,” Ambassador Emsgård said.
He added that 33 per cent of new companies in his country in 2019 were initiated by women.
“We continue to see an increase [in the number of women initiative businesses] each year,” the ambassador said.
He expressed pleasure that the Egyptian government considers gender equality as a priority.
“It needs to become easier for women to grow their businesses through financing and networks where support can be found,” the Swedish diplomat said.
“We have a good base to stand on in order to do better,” he added.
He said by creating an ecosystem for women to take part in and benefit from, governments would be adding an important building block for the future.
He said by making full use of the abilities of women, Egypt will realise the full potential of its population of over 100 million.
Ambassador Emsgård told The Egyptian Gazette that the potential is there when women have an idea.
He added that the private sector can play an important role in helping women in this regard.
“The task of public society is to create an environment supportive of entrepreneurs, males and females,” Ambassador Emsgård said.
Thursday’s event was organised jointly by the Swedish Embassy and Entreprenelle, an Egyptian social development and business impact organisation, which aims to support women economically by educating, training and linking them to entrepreneurship resources.
