- The Developing Inclusive and Creative Economies programme launched as British Council celebrates 80 years working in Egypt;
- New programme will work with government, academia and business to support social and creative enterprises;
- Grants will be available to develop partnerships between social and creative organisations in UK and Egypt.
The British Council has launched a 30 million EGP programme to fuel the creative economy and social enterprise sector in Egypt.
Called Developing Inclusive and Creative Economies, the two-year programme will stimulate the creative and social enterprise economy – an area of economic development that mixes culture, creativity, technology and entrepreneurship – with projects that improve the lives of marginalised members of society.
The project will operate on three main layers of intervention. The first will bring together key government actors, national institutions, academia and relevant organisations to work on promoting the creative economy and social enterprise sector. The second will work with social and creative businesses and organisations to understand and develop the market in Egypt and the third will provide grants to inpiduals to kick-start projects.
The programme will provide funding for projects that empower women and girls, foster youth employment, support people with disabilities and engage marginalised groups.
Launching the project, the head of Developing Inclusive and Creative Economies, Ahmed Fouad of the British Council said: “The creative economy has been described as the engine of the modern economy. As we move away from oil as a driver for economic development, some have described creativity as the next fuel for the economy in the future.
“By supporting young, creative and social entrepreneurs and working with policymakers and intermediaries to create an ecosystem in which they can thrive, our programme takes a whole-system approach that will help mitigate poverty, inequality and joblessness for young people, promote women’s empowerment and support marginalised groups.”
In Egypt, Developing Inclusive and Creative Economies will work with government and business to better understand the state of the social and creative economy, the barriers to its development and offer recommendations to support long-term, inclusive growth.
“This programme aims to build on our previous projects in the social and creative sectors for the past years, as well as building on existing initiatives carried out by other organisations and partners in these sectors.
“We are offering expertise, funding and partnerships with Britain to help stimulate exciting new economic areas in Egypt. By focusing on creativity and marginalised groups we continue to demonstrate the core values of the British Council’s work as a cultural organisation that focuses on people and opportunities.”
Egypt has been chosen alongside four other countries (Brazil, Indonesia, Pakistan, and South Africa) to take part in the Developing Inclusive and Creative Economies programme.
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