Cairo, September 25, 2023 -– The USAID Economic Governance ProjectActivity, , funded by the (USAID) in partnership with the PepsiCo, PepsiCo Foundation, Plug and Play Tech Center, the Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA), in collaboration with the Arab Youth Center, and Forbes Middle East, PepsiCo, and Plug and Play, proudly concludes the Arab Youth Hackathon in Egypt. This Hackathon is a regional entrepreneurship program aimed to foster innovative solutions addressing critical environmental challenges posed by climate change in the fields of agriculture, circular economy, water security, renewable energy, and resource optimization.
In his statement today, Mr. Sean Jones, Mission Director of USAID in Egypt, expressed his happiness for participating in this event, which supports Egyptian entrepreneurs and strengthens USAID’s partnership with the Egyptian people. He also congratulated the participants, expressing his pride with the youth’s ideas, stressing the importance of helping them for the success of these constructive projects.
“We are committed to Egypt’s green economy and to all the great ideas which comes from youth entrepreneurs to make that green economy a reality,” said Jones.
He added that we all face a lot of challenges as the raise of climate temperature and the reduce in the availability of clean energy, but the ideas and the solutions that youth entrepreneurs provide will help in solving these problems, noting that the private sector has the greatest role and potential to implement these solutions.
Spanning three days from September 22 to 24, the Arab Youth Hackathon in Egypt provided a platform for university students youth and early-stage entrepreneurs to engage in mentorship sessions and specialized workshops. The hackathon welcomed aspiring individuals who sought to shape their ideas or were in the process of testing concepts, which were further refined and developed during the event. The hackathon series will be held across Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Lebanon. Participating teams, consisting of two to three individuals aged between 18 and 35, with at least one team member over 21, were selected to partake in the program.
Proposed solutions were meticulously evaluated and chosen based on their level of innovation, financial viability, scalability, sustainability standards, carbon emission reduction potential, and alignment with the hackathon’s four main pillars: water, agriculture, climate, and circular economy.
The grand finale of the competition will take place during the “COP 28” event in Dubai in December 2023. This highly anticipated event will showcase the top 15 solutions and ideas presented by the five participating countries. The three outstanding winners will be awarded generous prizes funded by PepsiCo’s philanthropic arm, the “PepsiCo Foundation.”
The first-place winner will receive a cash prize of $30,000, the second-place winner will be awarded $20,000, and the third-place winner will receive $10,000. Moreover, all winners will have the invaluable opportunity to participate in a five-month business incubation program by Plug and Play Tech Center that will empower them to nurture and actualize materialize their ideas and innovations in real-world settings.
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