Under the umbrella of the Ministerial Group for Entrepreneurship, the Arab Republic of Egypt announced the launch of the Startup Charter, the first strategic document of its kind aimed at organizing and enhancing the environment for startups, entrepreneurs, and innovators, in line with the directives of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi to provide full support to startups.

The announcement was made in the presence of Prime Minister Dr. Mostafa Madbouly, Dr. Rania Al-Mashat, Minister of Planning, Economic Development, and International Cooperation and Chair of the Ministerial Group for Entrepreneurship, along with several other ministers who are members of the group, as well as representatives of startups, venture capital funds, supporting entities, civil society members, and entrepreneurs, during the 13th edition of the RiseUp Summit for Startups.

Enhancing Startup Capabilities

The Startup Charter aims to strengthen the capacity of startups and create a conducive entrepreneurial environment to achieve sustainable and accelerated economic growth based on knowledge and competitiveness, while generating decent job opportunities.

The Charter sets strategic objectives for the next five years, including:

  • Coordinating policies that support entrepreneurship to enable around 5,000 startups.

  • Maximizing the economic impact of startups by creating approximately 500,000 direct and indirect job opportunities.

  • Supporting expansion and access to international markets, while developing local talent to reduce brain drain.

  • Encouraging venture capital and attracting investments through the Unified Financing Initiative.

  • Linking urgent challenges in various state sectors to innovative solutions provided by startups.

The Charter as an Operational Tool

Dr. Rania Al-Mashat emphasized that the Charter is not merely a theoretical document, but a flexible operational tool that continuously evolves to update policies and legislation for startups in line with market needs and technological developments.

She explained that the priorities included in the Charter were determined through extensive consultations with relevant authorities and the entrepreneurship community to ensure a sustainable work environment, based on practical steps and clear objectives that support innovation and encourage investment.

Unified Definition of Startups

The Charter provides an official definition of startups: newly established companies characterized by rapid growth, flexibility, and innovation, aiming to deliver or develop products, services, or business models in the market.

This unified definition enables startups to obtain a classification certificate, allowing them to benefit from a range of government incentives and facilitation measures.

Unified Financing Initiative

The Charter includes a Unified Financing Initiative, which aims to coordinate available financial resources from government entities and implement innovative mechanisms to maximize their impact up to four times.

The initiative targets mobilizing $1 billion over five years through government resources, guarantees, and joint investments with venture capital funds, investment entities, and private financial institutions to support the growth of startups and enable them to reach local and international markets.

Unified Startup Guide

The Ministerial Group for Entrepreneurship has also developed a comprehensive guideline covering all government services and licenses required by startups, including fees, necessary documents, and issuance steps.

This guide aims to:

  • Simplify understanding of legal and regulatory requirements.

  • Enhance startups’ ability to enter the market and scale quickly.

  • Prevent violations and improve compliance.

  • Enable startups to benefit from government incentives and promote regulatory transparency.

Improving Business Environment and Government Procedures

The Charter includes a set of short- and medium-term measures to improve the business environment, including:

  • Bridging procedural gaps and enabling startups to benefit from government incentives.

  • Facilitating tax procedures, liquidation, and exit processes for startups.

  • Studying regulatory challenges and proposing practical solutions suitable for various business activities.

  • Supporting crowd funding mechanisms to provide innovative financing sources for startups.

Scale-Up Support Program

The Charter also focuses on supporting startups in the scale-up stage, enhancing their growth, enabling them to attract investments, expand regionally and internationally, and pursue IPO or strategic exit opportunities, aiming to create new “unicorn” companies in the Egyptian market.

Policy Monitoring Observatory

The Charter establishes an observatory to monitor entrepreneurship policies, responsible for collecting and analyzing data on policy implementation and challenges, and issuing periodic reports to support decision-making.

The observatory includes a Council of Elders with representatives from the entrepreneurship community to ensure direct monitoring of implementation and provide recommendations to the Ministerial Group.