AAIB says 5-year AUC Venture Lab pact backed 150 Egyptian startups

Collaboration between the Arab African International Bank (AAIB) and AUC Venture Lab (V-Lab) has resulted in accelerating around 150 startups in Egypt in five years, marketing and corporate communications director Sherif Hassan said on Thursday.

These new startups, like for instance the bus-hailing app SWVL, have contributed to the creation of around 1,500 new jobs, achieving revenues of up to 300 million Egyptian pounds, with investments worth 916 million pounds, Hassan added.

“The survival and sustainability rates for these new projects stood at 80 percent, very much above the world average of 20 percent.” Hassan said.

In 2013, AAIB had the leadership and foresight to be among the first supporters of the AUC V-Lab, the leading university-based incubator in Africa and the Middle East region.

The partnership was part of AAIB’s sustainability journey that started as early as 2003. Throughout these years, AAIB has been tackling several development pillars including health, sports, environment, reducing inequalities, and youth empowerment, Hassan added.

“Now, after the launch of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015, AAIB has been relying on these global goals as references to better select our initiatives and assess and measure our performance.” Hassan said.

The bank believes in the power of entrepreneurship in Egypt, for its importance of empowering youth and including them to the work market, he added.

Egypt has a fertile ground for entrepreneurs given the growing population, AAIB official said, referring to the state official statistics which showed that 65 percent of population are below 35 years old.

Egypt’s labour force reached approximately 28 million persons, including 5 million women employed only, he added. Around 67 percent are unemployed, ranging between 15 and 29 years old.