With less than a month to go until November 17, GEW hosts are putting the finishing touches on their Global Entrepreneurship Week campaigns. Beyond the collection of global picks, the lineup of events around the world includes cross-border collaboration between Armenia and Turkey, entrepreneurial workshops to inspire young people in Andorra, the launch of a national action plan to support entrepreneurs in Canada, an International Exhibition of Innovation in Egypt, a 5-mile walk in Nigeria, a National Demo Day in Palestine and a Business Expose in St. Lucia.
Andorra
Coworking Andorra, the official GEW host organization in Andorra, is hosting a national GEW campaign for the first time this year. They are working with the country’s Education Ministry to jointly launch a workshop for young people between the ages 16-20 to infuse them with the entrepreneurial spirit.
Armenia
Armenia Startup Cup, the official GEW host organization in Armenia, is hosting the Turkish-Armenian Startup Weekend in collaboration with Economic Policy Research Foundation of Turkey (TEPAV) November 7-9 in Yerevan, Armenia. This will be the first Turkish VC and accelerator delegation visiting another country and the organization includes a joint Startup Weekend in the margins of a larger event: HackathonYAN. Turkish entrepreneurs will also join the Startup Weekend in Armenia, sponsored by the European Union, to create joint teams of Turkish and Armenian entrepreneurs. Magdalena Yesil, a Turkish-Armenian national, and now the most senior Turkish investor in Silicon Valley, will deliver the keynote address.
Canada
In Canada, entrepreneurs create almost half of all jobs in the country and generate nearly a third of the country’s Gross Domestic Product. Futurpreneur Canada, the official GEW host organization, recently launched an action plan for a more entrepreneurial Canada: Unlocking the Power of Youth Entrepreneurship. Through this initiative 1,000 young entrepreneurs, business and non-profit leaders, policymakers and educators came together in 2014 to advance youth entrepreneurship. The action plan is organized around three pillars required to ensure that entrepreneurs achieve “the four Cs” necessary for success: confidence, competence, capital, and connections.
- Building confidence in entrepreneurship as a viable career path
- Earlier and ongoing education and experience, and
- Access to the capital and connections required to support the launch and growth of new entrepreneurs.
Developed through a nation-wide series of roundtables, the plan recommends specific actions for each stakeholder group to better support existing and future entrepreneurs. To help advance the plan,Futurpreneur Canada has also developed Action Entrepreneurship Link, an online inventory of programs, activities and events in Canada that support youth entrepreneurship. It allows organizations to demonstrate how they are acting upon the recommendations from entrepreneurs and leaders.
Egypt
The Middle East Council for Small Business and Entrepreneurship, the official GEW host organization in Egypt, has launched a new event, Cairo Innovates as part of its national campaign. Cairo Innovates — the first Cairo International Exhibition of Innovation (CIEI 2014) is scheduled to take place November 19-20, 2014, at the GrEEK Campus in Cairo.
Cairo Innovates is a two-day event that brings together regional innovators and scientists between the ages of 18-35, as well as mentors, investors and crowdfunding platforms. The aim is to create a buzz for science and offer regional innovators the opportunity to develop their projects. The event will create an interactive Maker’s Campus bringing a series of global movements to Egypt for the first time. These include “Meet the Egyptian Crowdfunders”, the MENA-region EU Scorecard for Innovation, and the launch of the Arabic version of Alex Osterwalder’s book, Business Model Generation.
Nigeria
GEW Nigeria will kick off with hundreds of young people coming together to do a 5-mile “Walk for Entrepreneurship” on November 15 in Lagos and Abuja to raise awareness for entrepreneurship. The Entrepreneurship Development Center, the country’s official host organization, has dedicated each day of GEW Nigeria to a different theme.
- Day 1: Creative Industries
- Day 2: Youth Entrepreneurship Summit
- Day 3: Agro Ignite – dedicated to agriculture
- Day 4: GEW Women, as part of the global theme to celebrate women in entrepreneurship
- Day 5: Enterprise Day and Tech Fair
Palestine
Palestine for a New Beginning, the official GEW host organization in Palestine, has partnered with the Palestinian Ministry of Labor (MOL) for a bigger and stronger campaign this year.
GEW Palestine features three flagship events including an opening session attended by members of the government, the private sector and civil society leaders; a conference hosted by the largest university in Palestine to discuss how to improve the current state of entrepreneurship in the country and a closing celebration of innovation. The closing celebration on November 23 involves a National Demo Day to showcase and highlight the top Palestinian entrepreneurs. All participating entrepreneurs are ready to take their startups to the next level, but they need a bit of help with funding, mentoring, expertise or market access. There is an open invitation from Palestine for a New Beginning to investors, mentors and experts around the world who are interested in working with Palestinian entrepreneurs to attend the National Demo Day. If you would like to attend, please contact Amber Amieh (ambar@pnbpalestine.ps) for more information.
St. Lucia
The St. Lucia Chamber of Commerce Industry and Agriculture, the official GEW host organization in the Caribbean island nation, has partnered with the Small Enterprise Development Unit (SEDU) of the Ministry of Commerce, Business Development, Investment and Consumer Affairs for Business Expose, the flagship event of GEW St. Lucia. The event brings together the major business development and support agencies including the St. Lucia Registry of Companies, SEDU, St. Lucia Development Bank, BelFund, St. Lucia Youth Business Trust, Invest St. Lucia, University of the West Indies (St. Lucia) and Monroe College, all of which will showcase the services they provide for small businesses.