After the revolution and the challenges that the country faced during that period, it was only right for such an event to happen to highlight the power of the youth and unleash their ideas for a better Sudan.
Global Entrepreneurship Week connected more than 12 different cities around Sudan gathering young Entrepreneurs and change-makers together in a roadshow full of learning, knowledge gaining, and new opportunities. GEW 2019 celebrated four distinct themes: Education, Ecosystem, Inclusion, and Policy.
The event highlighted powerful voices, organizations, and ambassadors to reinforce the GEW themes and connecting key players and stakeholders.
The event is organized for the 6th time by the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Community (IEC) and was held for three days 21st, 22nd, and 23rd of November at the Friendship Hall.
GEW 2019 Main Themes:
- Education: Education can inform and expose people of all ages to entrepreneurship our community can mobilize entrepreneurship education through many different vehicles from early childhood learning centers to colleges and universities, vocation institutions and more. Providing the right information and tools to those with an interest in entrepreneurship can foster creativity and skills to grow sustainable businesses improving not only local entrepreneurial ecosystems but also strengthening the skilled job force.
- Eco-system: Many entrepreneurship support organizations around the world are working hard to facilitate collaboration and partnership between startup ecosystems, sharing knowledge and connecting local ecosystem leaders has become increasingly important in building healthy and thriving entrepreneurial communities. GEW Ecosystem theme aims to inspire the Sudanese community to collaborate and share their networks and markets to help their rising startups thrive. This theme celebrates the shared challenges of entrepreneurship communities and hubs around Sudan.
- Inclusion: Entrepreneurship is a positive force that drives innovation to improve lives in communities, but not everyone has the same opportunity. Race, age, gender and where one’s life shouldn’t be an obstacle to entrepreneurship, anyone anywhere in Sudan should be able to start a business without barriers.
Inclusion is supporting diversity in all forms by providing opportunities to local innovators, refugees, and minors including women and youth.
Activities and workshops were held to explore the obstacles the entrepreneurs may face and discover solutions through training and mentorship.
- Policy: Startup Ecosystems run by entrepreneurs but the government plays an important role in helping them flourish and in removing barriers, resetting the environment and emphasizing connections.
The policy theme highlighted the work of government and policymakers to help entrepreneurs start and scale.
-
GEW Roadshow :
- Innovation and Entrepreneurship Community (IEC) started GEW roadshow with YLP in 2015 with the intention to promote the idea of Entrepreneurship in Sudan different states to encourage the youth in the states to think way and beyond and have ideas that can be innovated into businesses, in the long run, to benefit from it financially and to help them make connections and enable them to access knowledge, know-how techniques, and needed business skills to develop themselves.
-
Startup Weekend Nayla:
- Bringing the world of business and innovation to Darfur has been a long term goal for IEC & GIZ and joining forces was a step in the right direction to achieve this goal. With its sixth-year in Khartoum, startup weekend nyala was the first of its kind where participants developed solutions that address local market problems with viable business plans and include technologies and innovation.
- The main objective was to start a conversation and to encourage businesses to expand, have new ideas and learn how to run & grow their businesses.
-
Startup weekend Khartoum : ( Financial Inclusion ):
- IEC and UNDP were looking for innovative solutions on the topic of Digital payment, logistics, and commerce.
- Financial inclusion was the gate for innovators to develop solutions that address the financial sector problems and provide visionary solutions for the government financial regulatory network of partners with a viable business prototypes that include innovations in risk management, trading, investing, personal finance, big data, retail banking, regulatory compliance, mobile payments and enterprise social.
- GEW 2019 main goal was to include everyone in this event to open new opportunities and help startups from all over Sudan to make connections and introduce them to new ideas and resources.
- Starting startup weekend in Nayla (Darfur) was a great step to introduce innovation and entrepreneurship to Nayla in a concentrated program that ended up with two projects reaching the finale in Khartoum and receiving investment from major companies to support them in their projects.