An Egyptian book is giving the government a recipe and strategies to foster small and medium-sized enterprises and entrepreneurship development in the North African country.
“The book also provides the consultancy effort needed to support governments in setting targets for SME policy development and to identify strategic priorities to further improve the business environment,” said Amr Sukkar, the author of the book who is also a management associate professor and business economist expert at the European Union.
The book includes “contribution to set a guide to illustrate the scientific way for the identification of stakeholders and dialogue platforms as well as the institutionalisation of the processes and systems required to improve the regulatory framework for SME development”.
A report released by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, launched by the School of Business Administration at the American University in Cairo, said that there has been a positive trend for entrepreneurship in Egypt since 2016, as entrepreneurial activity is still in the early stages and the desire to move towards the field of entrepreneurship is high.
According to statistics provided in the report, societal perceptions of entrepreneurship in particular showed that 75.9 per cent of Egyptians see entrepreneurship as a preferred career option.
The report also found that 43.5 per cent of those who are not entrepreneurs realise there is an opportunity to start a new business. Entrepreneurial intentions remain high, with 55.5 per cent of Egyptian non-entrepreneurs surveyed indicating an interest or intention to start a business in the next three years.
Sukkar believes that the Egyptian government exerted all-out efforts to boost entrepreneurship and small- and medium-sized enterprises, but “there is still a lot more to be done”.
“Efforts are still scattered,” he told the Egyptian Mail.
“There is no one entity that is concerned with entrepreneurship in Egypt,” Sukkar added.
He also said that there should be one entity that gathers all bodies and agencies concerned with small and medium-sized enterprises as well as startups.
Sukkar also manages and directs a leading medical company, and teaches management for MBA and DBA programmes at different business schools as well as public administration and management at several prestigious international and local universities.
He develops and delivers training programmes in entrepreneurship, SMEs, and strategic management.
Moreover, he is a project and strategic management consultant for several organizations.
He is experienced in international and multinational corporations. He also published articles focused on SMEs, leadership, governance, and sustainable development in international scientific journals.
