About GEN in Libya

GEN began working in Libya in 2012 when it partnered with the National Board for Technical and Vocational Education (NBTVE) and the British Council in Libya to organize the country's first entrepreneurship competition—an event initially open only to NBTVE students. The enthusiastic response from the entrepreneurial community led GEN to organize a Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) campaign in 2013, built around a wider national competition for innovative graduation projects from universities and technical institutes. Silatech, a Qatar-based youth employment organization, supported the debut, with Zeyad Ben Halim coordinating the program for GEN. The event marked a country in transition with the GEW campaign launching a new movement among Libyan founders, planting the seeds for more than a decade of ecosystem building.

GEN and its growing coalition of Libyan partners centered the 2014 campaign around a nationally televised graduation-projects competition, which featured entrants from across the country and cash prizes for the top three teams. The Ministry of Education supported the campaign, and Al-Jazeera broadcast the competition. The campaign continued to grow in the years that followed. By 2017, GEN’s coalition included 35 partner organizations, and programs took place in cities across the country, including Albaydha, Derna, and Shahat. The Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Education spoke at the closing ceremony.

As the annual campaign matured into a year-round platform, GEN established a formal affiliate in 2022: GEN Libya, operating as an association under the Libyan Authority for Scientific Research. GEN appointed Mokhtar Jwaili to found the organization, and he serves as its managing director. Jwaili is a professor of entrepreneurship and small business at the College of Business and Finance in Tripoli, as well as a senior adviser on technical and vocational education to the Ministry of Education. GEN Libya works to coordinate the country's emerging entrepreneurship ecosystem and embed entrepreneurial learning across the education system. Alongside the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, GEN Libya led the establishment of the National Committee for Innovative Higher Education Graduation Projects. With support from the Ministry, it also led Libya's initial assessment of its entrepreneurial ecosystem.

The Ministry of Technical and Vocational Education (MTVE) has supported GEN’s most recent GEW campaigns in Libya. The 2024 edition spanned colleges and institutes nationwide, featuring the TAQNEYA Technology Expo, student idea-and-project competitions, and a series of training sessions delivered with project support from GIZ (Germany's development agency) and the Ministry of Local Government. A recurring theme across these campaigns was the inclusion of women and young founders. GEN Libya has worked with the Women Support and Empowerment Office within the Ministry of Technical and Vocational Education, as well as municipal partners like Gharyan, to bring workshops and pitch sessions to students and first-time entrepreneurs beyond Libya’s largest cities.

Government engagement is a consistent feature of GEN's work in Libya. GEN Libya advises the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, the Ministry of Technical and Vocational Education, the Ministry of Local Governance, and the National Economic and Social Development Board, along with its Entrepreneurial Learning Initiative. GEN is also supporting the introduction of entrepreneurial skills across all levels of education. Libya's ministries have supported GEN’s efforts and anchor GEW each November. Additionally, GEN Libya coordinates the country's participation in the Global Entrepreneurship Congress (GEC). Libya joined GEN's Startup Nations policy community in 2022 and its Global Entrepreneurship Research Network the following year.

GEN connects Libyan founders to its global programs. The country has organized national qualifiers for the Entrepreneurship World Cup (EWC), the global pitch competition GEN launched in 2019 that offers training, mentorship, and a share of $1 million in annual prizes. The Ministry of Education has served as the national EWC organizer since it first ran in Libya in 2020. Libyan entrepreneurs have also joined the GEN Starters Club, a global community of promising founders. Among them are Rawan Abu Aisha of the Permanent Innovation Company and Alla Eldin Elsgier, chief executive of Manassat.co.

GEN maintains important relationships across Libya's public and private sectors. Public partners include the Ministry of Economy and Commerce, the Ministry of Labour and Rehabilitation, the Financial Facilities Fund, the Human Resource Development Fund, Libya Enterprise (the national MSME program), the National Planning Council, and the General Union for Chambers of Commerce, Industry, and Agriculture, alongside universities and enterprise centers such as Libya Open University and the UNESCO-UNEVOC office in Libya. Private partners include Al-Naseem for Food Industries, HEMFA Business Solutions, and Trust Insurance Company. To carry the work beyond Tripoli, GEN Libya has reached founders in Benghazi and other cities, which included staging a dedicated conference and exhibition in Benghazi.

GEN's affiliate in Libya has earned a distinct place in the network's global community. Libyan founders now take part in the Starters Club, Libyan policymakers participate in the Startup Nations community, and Libyan researchers engage with the Global Entrepreneurship Research Network—a clear measure of how far the country's engagement has grown since its initial student competition in 2012.

Looking ahead, GEN is working to widen entrepreneurship's reach as an alternative to Libya’s heavy reliance on public-sector employment, particularly for young people. GEN's priorities include advising on the Libya Startup Act project, steadily expanding entrepreneurial learning across the education system, and continuing the country's participation in GEN global programs. Its enduring goal in Libya is connecting the country's founders with the knowledge, networks, capital, and policy support they need to build and scale companies through periods of both stability and change.