Intilaaqah Egypt Supports Entrepreneurship for All

Shell LiveWIRE programmes are committed to helping entrepreneurs to achieve their best, regardless of circumstance. That’s why Shell Intilaaqah Egypt hosted an entrepreneurship workshop focused on youth with disabilities.

Intilaaqah Egypt partnered with the Special Abilitites Student Support Unit of the Ain Shams University’s Faculty of Commerce to deliver “Bright Ideas,” a one-day workshop focused on enterprises at the idea stage. All 36 participants were either students or recent graduates with disabilities or their volunteer assistants, supported by the university’s Special Abilities Student Support Unit. 

Intilaaqah Egypt hosts “Bright Ideas” workshops and other enterprise development training sessions throughout the year to help youth transform their ideas into a business idea and help them start and properly manage their startups. For this workshop, Intilaaqah Egypt and the Faculty of Commerce’s Special Abilities Students Support Unit created a safe space for entrepreneurs with disabilities by ensuring the students join the training supported by their volunteer assistants and deliver the training in the ground floor of Shell Egypt premises which is a disabilities friendly building.

 “Understanding the very limited employment opportunities people with disabilities have, I strongly believe that it’s critical that we provide these people with the knowledge and skills that enable them to become economically and socially empowered entrepreneurs,” said Nashwa Saleh, social investment manager with Shell Egypt.

Intilaaqah Egypt’s commitment to entrepreneurs with disabilities isn’t new. In fact, the programme has always supported entrepreneurs with different kinds of disabilities since inception.

One of the entrepreneurs said the Intilaaqah training gives him the opportunity to be viewed as an entrepreneur and not as someone with a disability.

“I don’t want to be just employed as part of a hiring quota or viewed as having certain limitations,” he said Essam Ashmawy, one of the entrepreneurs who joined the workshop. “For me, I have no limitation.”

Although the workshop has wrapped up, Intilaaqah Egypt’s engagement with the entrepreneurs continues.

“All of the students are keen to explore opportunities to run their own business and rigorously asking about more Intilaaqah training,” Saleh said. “I look forward to following their progress and providing them the coaching they need to help get their businesses off the ground.”

Looking ahead, Shell Intilaaqah is planning to lead a five-day training to help these entrepreneurs start and manage a successful enterprise. The team is also organizing a workshop focused specifically on entrepreneurs with hearing disabilities.

To learn more about the Bright Ideas workshop, check out this video created by Mostafa El Rakaiby, one of the participants.