In an attempt to encourage youth and new startups to work towards Egypt’s 2030 vision, PepsiCo signed a cooperation protocol with the Ministry of Social Solidarity and Rise-Up to hold a one of a kind hackathon for aspiring startups and SME’s. If you’re an entrepreneur paving your way to success, keep reading because this should tickle your fancy!
What is Egypt 2030 Hackathon?
A 3-day Hackathon was held targeting an audience range of 30-50 contestant made up of entrepreneurs, innovators, scientists, developers, and designers. The design sprint that involves creative problem-solving, addressed a specific issue and let the competitors tackle it. Different groups participated in the contest with 3-7 members per group; those were either participants or played the role of mentors.
But what does that have to do with Egypt’s SDG 2030?
Remember when we said that the Ministry of Solidarity itself is involved? Well, the Hackathon aimed to help solve the country’s most crucial and challenging issues. Those include social development and economic development. The protocol signing was held in presence of Minister of Social Solidarity, Ghada Wali, herself as well as the Founder and CEO of Rise-Up Summit, Abdel Hameed Sharara, and Mohamed Shelbaya, CEO of PepsiCo Egypt.
The greater goal here is to help attain two main pillars; zero hunger and gender equality in business society. Speaking of which, it’s worth mentioning that PepsiCo has previously taken steps towards these goals. In cooperation with the United Nations Food Program, PepsiCo Tomooh Food Education program has been supporting the cause for 11 years. The initiative successfully reached more than 200,000 beneficiaries; 50% of which are females. The program aims at providing proper nutrition for school kids and providing their families with food boxes in exchange for registering their children in schools. In addition to that, PepsiCo achieved gender equality by placing 41% of its female workforce in managerial positions.
Why is this a great deal?
Most importantly, the lucky winner was granted a prize worth EGP 500,000. For entrepreneurs, this will be a great opportunity to help them get started. Additionally, this opportunity did not just enable startups to take part in taking positive steps towards solving their country’s most critical challenges. It’s also supposed to raise international awareness towards Egypt’s vision alignments with UN’s SDG 2030! Not just that, but this competition will position both PepsiCo and Rise-Up; who’ve been cooperating for five years in a row now, as sustainable development enablers across the whole world and not just in Egypt.
This takes us to the importance of a healthy entrepreneurial ecosystem and how this initiative is expected to leave a positive print. Small businesses that were surrounded by incubators for creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship mentors will have greater chances of success.
