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Quarterly Report / Strengthening Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Development (SEED) i

March 01, 2017 This publication was produced for review by the United States Agency for International Development. It was prepared by AECOM.

STRENGTHENING ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT (SEED) QUARTERLY REPORT (YEAR 2, QUARTER 1)

Quarterly Report / Strengthening Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Development (SEED) i

STRENGTHENING ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT (SEED) QUARTERLY REPORT (YEAR 2, QUARTER1) Submitted to:

USAID | Egypt

Prepared by:

AECOM International Development

DISCLAIMER:

The authors’ views expressed in this document do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Agency for International Development or the United States Government.

Quarterly Report / Strengthening Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Development (SEED) ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

List of Acronyms and Abbreviations ............................................................................................................................ iii

Executive Summary ........................................................................................................................................................... 1

1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................. 2

1.1 Contract Overview ..................................................................................................................................... 2

1.2 Financial Report .............................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.

II. Component Activity Implementation .................................................................................................................... 3

2.1 Component A: Entrepreneurship Skills and Opportunities .............................................................. 3

2.2 Component B: Financial and Non-Financial Services .......................................................................... 8

2.3 Component C: Intergration of Msmes in Value Chains ................................................................... 14

III. Implementation of Grants Component .............................................................................................................. 20

3.1 Description of Grants .............................................................................................................................. 20

3.2 Key Activities Accomplished Under the Grants Component ........................................................ 21

3.3 Key Activities Planned for the Next Reporting Period .................................................................... 23

3.4 Lessons Learned for Future Implementation ...................................................................................... 23

IV. Cross Cutting Activities Implemented ................................................................................................................ 24

4.1 Gender and Youth .................................................................................................................................... 24

V. Cross-Cutting Initiatives ......................................................................................................................................... 26

5.1 Business Enabling Environment ............................................................................................................... 26

5.2 Communication and Marketing .............................................................................................................. 28

5.3 Information and Communication Technology .................................................................................... 29

5.4 Development of the SEED ICT Platform ............................................................................................. 31

VI. Management and Administrative Issues .............................................................................................................. 32

6.1 Personnel ..................................................................................................................................................... 32

6.2 Operations .................................................................................................................................................. 34

VII. Monitoring and Evaluation...................................................................................................................................... 34

7.1 Development and Submission of the Seed M&E Plan ....................................................................... 34

7.2 Performance Measurments ..................................................................................................................... 37

7.3 Indicators ..................................................................................................................................................... 41

Annex 1. Success Stories ............................................................................................................................................... 43

Quarterly Report / Strengthening Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Development (SEED) iii

LIST OF ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

Arab Academy for Science, Technology & Maritime Transport (AASTMT)

American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt (AmCham)

American University of Cairo (AUC)

Business to Business (B2B) Business Development Services (BDS) British University in Egypt (BUE)

Contracting Officer (CO)

Chief of Party (COP)

Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR)

Department for International Development (DFID)

Egyptian Banking Institute (EBI) Eitesal Business Nurturing Initiative (EBNI) European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Egyptian Chamber of Apparels and Home Textiles (ECAHT) Egyptian Center for Public Policy Studies (ECPPS) Egyptian Financing Supervisory Authority (EFSA) Environmental Monitoring and Mitigation Plan (EMMP)

Egyptian National Competitiveness Council (ENCC)

Egyptian Organization for Standards & Quality (EOS) Emergency Preparedness Plan (EPP)

Egyptian Regulatory Reform and Development Activity (ERRADA)

European Union (EU)

Federation of Chambers of Commerce (FEDCOC)

Federation of Egyptian Industries (FEI) Global Affairs Canada (GAC)

General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI)

Government Authority for Government Services (GAGS) Gender Action Plan (GAP)

Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC)

Deutsche Gesellscahft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (German Federal Enterprise for International Cooperation) (GIZ)

Government of Egypt (GOE) Industrial Development Authority (IDA)

Initial Environmental Examination (IEE)

Information, Communication, Technology (ICT)

Industrial Council for Technology and Innovation (ICTI) International Labour Organization (ILO)

http://www.eos.org.eg/en

Quarterly Report / Strengthening Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Development (SEED) iv

LIST OF ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS CONTINUED

Industrial Modernization Centre (IMC)

Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA)

Knowledge Economy Foundation (KEF)

Key Performance Indicators (KPI) Local Compensation Plan (LCP)

Long-Term Technical Assistance (LTTA)

Market Information Systems (MIS) Micro and Small Enterprises (MSE)

Micro, Small, and Medium Size Enterprises (MSME)

Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E)

Monthly Action Plans (MAP)

Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) Ministry of Social Solidarity (MOSS) Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) National Council of Women (NCW) National Supplier Development Program (NSDP)

Operational Security Plan (OSP)

One-Stop-Shop (OSS) Program Management Unit (PMU)

Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC)

Request for Proposals (RFP) Strengthening Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Development (SEED) Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA)

Social Fund for Development (SFD)

Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) Scope of Work (SOW)

Short-Term Technical Assistance (STTA)

Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center (TIEC)

Training of Trainers (TOT)

Technology Innovation and Commercialization Offices (TICO)

Technology Transfer Offices (TTO)

Quarterly Report / Strengthening Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Development (SEED) 1

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The USAID/Egypt Strengthening Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Development (SEED) Project is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development and implemented by AECOM. The goal of the USAID SEED Project is to strengthen the development of entrepreneurship and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs). USAID SEED focuses on increasing employment and income for entrepreneurs and MSMEs through five main objectives: 1) stimulating entrepreneurship and innovation, 2) enhancing formalization of private enterprises, 3) improving business development services to MSMEs, especially those owned by women and youth, 4) integrating entrepreneurs and MSMEs into progressive value chains, and 5) addressing enabling environment policy reform initiatives to facilitate MSME development that is aligned with the Government of Egypt’s (GOE) socio-economic development strategy. During Year 2 Quarter 1 (Y2 Q1), USAID’s SEED Project built on the market analysis, networking, and strategic partnerships established in Year 1, to accelerate the pace of implementation. During this Quarter, SEED undertook activities to address 15 Performance Measurements planned for Year 2, as laid out in AECOM’s contract with USAID. The Project has now met its Life of Project (LOP) goals for four performance measurements, specifically designing pilot incubators, conducting workshops on managing incubators, facilitating loan guarantee agreement, and completing the selection of value chains for MSME integration. In addition, the Project was able to exceed a number of its M&E indicator targets across all three Components for the Quarter. The Project exceeded its target by 33% for number of entrepreneurs attending Project events. More importantly, 48% of the entrepreneurs receiving SEED interventions were women, compared to a Contract target of 35%. These indicators help demonstrate the interest in entrepreneurship in Egypt, especially among women. SEED has also doubled the Quarterly target for number of enterprises integrated into larger supply chains, from the 10 planned to the 20 actually delivered in Y2 Q1, primarily in the Ready-Made Garments (RMG) Value Chain (VC). Most significantly, 8,709 entrepreneurs and MSMEs were able to benefit from financial services provided by Project-assisted financial intermediaries, which exceeds our LOP target of 5,000. USAID’s SEED Project plans to continue focusing on this indicator, as our current Quarter’s results demonstrate the great demand for financing in Egypt. USAID SEED project staff have met all work-plan goals for the first Quarter of Year 2, but more importantly, they have put in motion plans to achieve the remaining goals detailed in the Year 2 Work Plan. In the final three quarters of Year 2, the Project will tackle some of the some of the bigger pieces of infrastructure in the business ecosystem. The Project will focus on replicating business incubators, establishing One-Stop Shops (OSS), creating new Business Development Service (BDS) centers, and designing and building the ICT platform that can serve as a legacy for the SEED Project and link entrepreneurs and MSMEs to important services needed to assist the private sector to become more competitive.

The Project’s current Quarter 1 results, combined with the additional activities planned for Year 2, will allow the Project to begin achieving the higher level impact of job and business incomes creation and growth that is the overall goal of USAID’s SEED Project. We believe that by the end of Year 2, the Project will begin demonstrating increases in employment and revenue growth, as well as assisting new entrepreneurial start-ups to take root.

While the Project’s implementation has accelerated, there are additional management challenges that are being addressed to improve Project efficiency and effectiveness. USAID SEED is in the process of recruiting a new Chief of Party (COP) and improving communications and workflows between the home and field offices. A key initial task of the new COP will be to integrate activities across components, better manage strategic partnerships across stakeholders, and ensure transparency in management


approach. In addition, with the increased pace of implementation, the Project has identified a need to improve our process work flows to facilitate faster implementation. SEED is looking at streamlining procedures between the field and home office, and putting into place blanket RFPs that will allow the Project to quickly respond to targets of opportunity, rather than having to publish separate procurements for each Project activity that is designed.

The greatest challenge faced by SEED during Quarter 1 was the Government of Egypt’s (GOE) decision to float the Egyptian Pound (EGP), and the subsequent currency devaluation. Staff have faced significant challenges as their salaries have essentially been cut in half, while the inflation rate has risen significantly. Aside from the challenges in recruiting and retaining long-term staff, the Project has also found it significantly more difficult to recruit qualified local Egyptian consultants, who demand daily rates in line with inflation rates. On a more positive note, the devaluation has essentially doubled the budget of all expenses paid in EGP, and therefore given the Project more resources to onboard additional support staff and undertake new and innovative activities. Overall, the USAID SEED Project plans to continue with the rapid pace of implementation experienced in Quarter 1 throughout the remainder of Year 2, by streamlining management systems and delivering the tangible programmatic results demanded for sustainable solutions.

1. INTRODUCTION

This Quarterly Report provides an overview of activities for the First Quarter of Year 2 of the USAID Strengthening Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Development (SEED) project, which began on November 1, 2016 and ran through January 31, 2017. The Year 2 Quarter1report begins by outlining the objectives and approach of the project as per the contract and presents the project’s high-level budget summary. It then provides a detailed account of the accomplishments of each of the SEED Components (A, B, and C) and Cross Cutting initiatives, including an outline of the activities completed and the deliverables achieved in Year 2 Quarter 1, while including status reports on Performance Measurements , Indicators, and Success Stories in the Annexes.

1.1 CONTRACT OVERVIEW

USAID’s SEED Project is part of the USA and Government of Egypt Trade and Investment Promotion in Egypt (TIPE) bilateral agreement. SEED provides technical assistance, capacity building, and training to relevant stakeholders and counterparts in order to support the growth of MSMEs and promote entrepreneurship in Egypt. Stakeholders and counterparts include public sector reform champions, universities, Business Development Service (BDS) providers, mentors, business associations, investors, financial institutions, public organizations, MSMEs, and entrepreneurs. SEED will collaborate with relevant development partners (donors) and other USAID contractors to take full advantage of synergistic opportunities in achieving results. Special focus will be given to disadvantaged areas and population groups such as women and youth. Youth is defined, for the purpose of this Project, as individuals who are between the ages of 15 and 29 years old. The SEED Project is a USAID contract awarded to AECOM International Development under Contract No. AID-263-C-16-00003. The Project covers a three year base period that runs from November 1, 2015 to October 31, 2018, with a fourth option period from November 1, 2018 through October 31, 2019. SEED’s strategic and operational approach provides a sustainable response that fulfills each of the five results as articulated in the Contractual Scope of Work (SOW). SEED will achieve these goals using best practice approaches to ensure that local counterparts absorb assistance and sustain results. We envision the following leading impacts:


• A.1 Stimulated entrepreneurship among women and youth. Entrepreneurship will be stimulated among women and youth because local counterparts—women and youth organizations, schools, and universities—have the capacity to provide services, support, and education that is engaging and inspires confidence in women and youth to pursuing an entrepreneurial career.

• A.2 Improved availability and accessibility of entrepreneurship services, with a focus on business incubators and accelerators. Egyptian entrepreneurs will have access to improved services because incubators will have strengthened management and technical capacity to respond effectively and cost-efficiently to entrepreneurs’ demands as they emerge over time. These incubators will understand and respond to the service needs of disadvantaged populations and mature entrepreneurs in disadvantaged areas.

• B.1 Improved availability and accessibility of effective and efficient BDS. Egypt’s entrepreneurs and MSMEs will have improved availability and accessibility to effective and efficient support services; BDS providers, including incubators, accelerators, and One Stop Shops (OSS) will understand how to better help MSMEs develop market-driven business models; and BDS providers will gain specific knowledge and tools focused on the needs of women and youth MSMEs.

• B.2 Improved availability and accessibility of financial products and services. Egyptian entrepreneurs and MSMEs will have improved access to new and existing financial products and services because Micro-Finance Institutions (MFIs) will better understand and respond to the needs of MSME borrowers; investors will be able to more easily, quickly, and effectively identify and fund promising MSMEs; and MSMEs will be more financially literate due to increased availability of training and tools provided to evaluate financing options.

• C.1 MSMEs integrated into select progressive value chains. MSMEs will be better integrated into value chains because sector/industry associations will have the capacity to build MSME skills; will provide reliable and timely market information, facilitate relationships with large-scale buyers; and will support MSMEs as part of a continuous learning effort. Providing information to both sides on the benefits of working with each other, as well as addressing the perceptions each have of the other, will foster a closer relationship between large company supply chains and MSME providers of goods and services.

SEED will continue to identify suitable tools and implementing partners to ensure the sustainability of all its interventions throughout the project.

II. COMPONENT ACTIVITY IMPLEMENTATION

2.1 COMPONENT A: ENTREPRENEURSHIP SKILLS AND OPPORTUNITIES

2.1.1 KEY ACTIVITIES ACCOMPLISHED UNDER COMPONENT A

In Year 2 Quarter 1 (Y2 Q1), USAID’s SEED Component A Team continued to deliver the activities laid out in the Year 2 Work-plan, while exploring new initiatives and activities. The Component A Team has now been fully staffed, which contributed to achievement of all Performance Measurements, fulfilling activities planned for Y2 Q1, while laying the foundation for Y2 Q2 planned activities. A challenge still resides in the activity planning and approval process, which the team is currently working on, specifically in terms of reducing the time required for the full process. During this Quarter, the Component A Team conducted several networking events and business plan competitions in order to further the programmatic goal of establishing and expanding women and youth-focused entrepreneurial networks. In addition to completing 3 Networking Events; “Start Up Weekend” and “Business Plan Competition”,


the Team also delivered trainings to incubators across multiple governorates, further expanding SEED’s commitment to providing technical assistance to underserviced regions and populations.

RESULT A.1: STIMULATED ENTREPRENEURSHIP AMONG WOMEN AND YOUTH

UNIVERSITY ENTREPRENEURSHIP PROGRAM DESIGNED AND IMPLEMENTED The focus of Y2 Q1 was to initiate activities related to entrepreneurship programs in schools and universities. To support local universities, the team has selected Heliopolis University and the Arab Academy for Science, Technology & Maritime Transport (AAST) for targeted SEED technical assistance in the development of entrepreneurship programs, and support in structuring the center of entrepreneurship in both universities. In addition, SEED signed 2 MOUs; 1 with AAST and 1 with Giza Systems Foundation. In Y2 Q1, the team worked on developing SOWs and refining areas of collaboration in both universities to determine best next steps for program implementation. More specifically, Component A solicited proposals related to university entrepreneurship such as:

• Proposal to design a center of entrepreneurship; • Proposal to develop an entrepreneurship university program; and • Proposal to build capacity of entrepreneurship organizations.

NEW ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND FINANCIAL LITERACY PROGRAMS DELIVERED IN HIGH SCHOOLS ACROSS EGYPT To support schools, the Component A team worked on exploring new and innovative methods to implement entrepreneurship programs in high schools. These included issuing multiple RFPs related to youth entrepreneurship and university based programming. Subsequently, the team finalized awards related to a Business Plan Competition RFP and awarded 3 vendors: AAST, E-Youth and Awtad. A total of six competitions will be implemented by the three vendors, two of which are planned to take place in Q2.

WOMEN AND YOUTH ENTREPRENEURSHIP NETWORKS ESTABLISHED AND STRENGTHENED In December, Component A delivered a start-up weekend in Aswan, in partnership with AAST, fulfilling one of the two Start Up Weekend Performance Measurements planned for Year 2. The event focused on the initial stage of business planning, and educated university students and nascent entrepreneurs on how to develop ideas into viable business plans. The Start Up weekend was attended by 190 attendees from Upper Egypt, of which 36% were female.

Networking among MSMEs, especially in areas with significant underserviced women and youth populations, continued to be an area of great focus for USAID’s SEED Component A Team. In November, the Team conducted one networking event in Cairo, which supported the opening of the Global Entrepreneurship Week in collaboration with MCSBE and ILO. In partnership with the Alexandria Business Women Association (ABWA), the Team hosted another Networking Event in November, held in Alexandria, and titled “Alexandria Women Entrepreneurs”. A third and final Networking Event was held in Aswan in December. The three Networking Events contributed to the target of seven workshops in Year 2 to facilitate the establishment of women and youth networks and the mentoring platform. Finally, the team supported the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in November, held in Gouna, by providing speakers to three different panels.

Overall, an area of focus throughout this Quarter’s Component A activities was the close coordination with the Communications, Outreach, and Marketing Team, to create a marketing campaign that documents SEED efforts in the various entrepreneurship areas. In addition to the first documentary that was created in Year 1, which explored SEED activities in the Delta, a second documentary was developed to capture SEED support to the entrepreneurship ecosystem in Aswan. Component A


understands the importance of creating and properly disseminating success stories, in cooperation with the Communications, Outreach, and Marketing Team, throughout the lifetime of the Project.

RESULT A2: IMPROVED AVAILABILITY AND ACCESSIBILITY OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP SERVICES, WITH A FOCUS ON BUSINESS INCUBATORS AND ACCELERATORS INCUBATORS STRENGTHENED AND MANAGED ACCORDING TO INTERNATIONAL BEST PRACTICES During this Quarter, the Component A team continued to build capacity of the 3 selected Pilot Incubators. On November 6, 2016, a one-day Capacity Building Workshop for Pilot Incubators entitled “Results-Based Monitoring for Incubators” was delivered, in collaboration with SEED M&E Team. The Workshop was attended by 11 participants from the three pilot incubators (Egyptian Chef Association, Injaz and Ebni). To ensure proper reporting on SEED specific indicators, SEED’s Component A and M&E Teams met with the Egyptian Chef Association (ECA) and Injaz. SEED developed a customized M&E Toolkit, provided information regarding seeds performance measurement and indicator reporting requirements, and discussed opportunities for SEED technical assistance in developing the Incubators as international centers of excellence. To assess areas of training SEED could provide further support in, the Component A Team took part in ECAs Competition, which included capacity-building courses and activities for the new generation of chefs and startups. A significant challenge to the Team in Q1 was the law related to receipt of funds for NGOs from foreign entities. As a result of the funding difficulties faced by ECA related to this law, Component A has moved them to consideration for a possible future replicated incubator, and is looking for a replacement Pilot Incubator. In Quarter 2, the Team will have finalized the selection of the Pilot Incubator to replace ECA. To support future incubator twinning, SEED met with the manager of the American University of Cairo’s (AUC) VLab Incubator, where the Team discussed the potential for twinning partnerships and Pilot Incubator replication. AUC’s VLab, along with Flat6 Labs and Endeavour, were identified as examples of local best practice incubators, following both Component A Staff and SEED Consultant evaluations. In order to proceed quickly with program implementation, the Team also determined the fastest approach to create and sign an MOU between the two organizations. In Y2 Q2, Component A began planning for replication of 8 Incubators, as well as the Industrial Council for Technology, Innovation and Entrepreneurship’s incubators. SEED’s team of staff and consultants plan to implement a two-step capacity building plan, during Year 2, to build international best practice programming into replication. The first step will include the designing and delivering a “Starting Up a New Incubator” toolkit, to consist of five modules delivered over six workshops. The second step will focus on designing and delivering an “Operating an Incubator” toolkit, to consist of four training modules delivered over five workshops. Furthermore, the Team completed the SOW for the International Incubator Consultant to return to Cairo in order to replicate and expand the eight incubators in geographical locations where there are no available services to the entrepreneurs and startups. The International Incubator Consultant will provide assessments and trainings in support of this expansion. In addition, the SEED team is finalizing wo SOWs for Local Incubator Consultants to work on the findings and suggestions made by the International Incubator Consultant. The SEED team finalized the selection criteria framework that will be used in the selection of the eight replication incubators. This framework will be applied to 10-15 shortlisted incubators, before reaching a selection of the eight target replication incubators. Furthermore, a self-assessment tool will to be sent to the eight incubators selected for replication, to assess their capacity building needs and develop


targeted technical assistance and consultant support customized to each incubator before, during, and after replication. SUPPORT INCUBATORS AND ACCELERATORS WITH TECHNOLOGY COMMERCIALIZATION To build the capacity of the Technology Transfer Offices (TTO) and university incubators, SEED developed the SOW for a local consultant to provide three workshops in three different regions of Egypt: Greater Cairo, the Nile Delta, and Upper Egypt. The first TTO Workshop, held in Cairo on December 24-26, 2016, was conducted in collaboration with the Academy for Science, Research and Technology (ASRT), addressed “Market Opportunity Mapping (MOM)”, and was attended by 47 participants. The second TTO Workshop was held in Tanta on December 27-29, 2016, and was attended by 25 participants. The third TTO Workshop was held in Sohag on January 2-5, 2017, and was attended by 50 participants from governorates across Upper Egypt. Overall, the goal of delivering these activities was to raise the the operational efficiency of TTOs by providing tools and skills that improve success rates of technology transfer (commercialization); provide participants with the skills and tools to bridge the gap between academic/research institutions in Egypt and private sector investors; and foster a network of TTOs that allows for a fluid knowledge exchange. Overall the TTO Workshops were attended by a total of 110 attendees in the three governorates and targeted TTOs in various universities including Ain Shams University, Assiut University, AUC, the British University of Egypt, Cairo University, Heliopolis University, Sohag University, and Tanta University. While delivery of the Incubator Study Tour is planned for September 2017, the Component A Team has developed an RFP to be issued in March 2017 for a US based company to coordinate and manage the technical side of arranging the visits to the best practice incubators in relevant US cities. An international Business Incubation Certificate BIM program is also in the works, to coincide with the two week visit, and to be conducted with incubation managers.


2.1.2 KEY ACTIVITIES PLANNED FOR THE NEXT REPORTING PERIOD

• Implement Upper Egypt Road Show Networking Events planned in Assiut, Sohag and Aswan in collaboration with Markade;

• Finalize the program details and timeline related to the three awardees of the Business Plan Competition RFP;

• Work with the Gender and Youth Manager on establishing the physical women and youth network; • Publish an RFP for school programs to introduce entrepreneurship programs across schools in Egypt; • Work with selected consultants on entrepreneurship programs for Heliopolis University and AAST; • Cooperate with the Industrial Council for Technology and Innovation (ICTI), under the Ministry of

Trade and Industry (MTI), on possible areas of collaboration in their 13 technology centers, and build their capacity to operate as incubators/accelerators;

• Work with representatives of all the entrepreneurship units in MTI to build the capacity of their selected staff;

• Publish the incubators study tour RFP for a company to begin organizing the technical side of arranging the visits to the best practice incubators in relevant US cities;

• Publish an RFP and select a vendor to work on building a Mobile Application tool to help raise awareness of entrepreneurship activities for incubators;

• Work to expand and replicate eight incubators through a capacity building process; and • Continue to work with the Grants Cross Cutting Component on proposals related to

entrepreneurship programs. The following table reflects the activities planned for Year 2 Quarter 2 under Component A: Name Description Location Date

Incubators Assessment Tour Local tour to assess potential incubators to be replicated

Luxor, Qena, Assiut, Sohag and Alexandria

February 12 – 21, 2017

Techne Drifts Entrepreneurship road show targeting 3 cities in Upper Egypt Assiut February 14, 2017

Techne Drifts Entrepreneurship road show targeting 3 cities in Upper Egypt Sohag February 15, 2017

Techne Drifts Entrepreneurship road show targeting 3 cities in Upper Egypt Aswan February 17, 2017

Business Plan Competition Competition focused on innovation in export, in partnership with AAST Aswan February 19 – 21, 2017

Export & Supply Chain Business Plan Competition

Competition focused on innovation in export, in partnership with AAST

Alexandria, Cairo, and Port Said

March 6 & 10, 2017

FabLab on Wheels competition Support Giza Systems select a team to manage the fixed fablab through a business plan competition

Sohag March 24, 2017


2.1.3 LESSONS LEARNED FOR FUTURE IMPLEMENTATION

Throughout the Quarter, the Team recognized that visiting key stakeholders, partners, and potential incubator replication candidates at their premises and/ or respective governorates was crucial to fully understanding the team dynamics, the supporting environment, and the local market being served. In travelling to partner sites, the Team has also been able to identify reform champions. In order to achieve a more streamlined Project, Component A has learned the importance of coordination across Components. Notably, the Component A Team plans to integrate incubators and entrepreneurs, who have received Component A assistance, into the upcoming Crowdfunding Forum to be implemented by Component B, while delivering Component B’s Access to Finance modules to the replication incubators, as it seems it is of high need for their clients. In line with this, the Component A Team has realized the necessity of building flexibility and adaptability into programming, especially in governorates where multiple stakeholders already exist in the ecosystem. Finally, M&E involvement in the technical aspect of all activities that SEED supports is of high value to ensure activities are not only meeting SEED performance measurements, but also contributing to overall indicator targets. Additionally, documenting and following up on all success stories and the impacts of SEED activities is crucial to the overall success of the Project

2.2 COMPONENT B: FINANCIAL AND NON-FINANCIAL SERVICES

2.2.1 KEY ACTIVITIES ACCOMPLISHED UNDER COMPONENT B:

RESULT B.1: IMPROVED AVAILABILITY AND ACCESSIBILITY OF EFFECTIVE AND EFFICIENT BDS

INCREASED NUMBER OF EFFECTIVE ONE-STOP-SHOPS (OSS) USAID SEED, with the assistance of international Consultant Amjad Zaim, prepared an assessment report of identified OSS operating in Cairo. The report examined existing OSS, identified those that offer best practices, and established which OSS models should be replicated across Egypt. The report, concluded in the end of Y1 Q4 and was finalized in Y2 Q1, identified OSS such as the Tamayouz Qalyoubia and Alexandria’s SSBC as the most applicable and replicable models. In addition, the report looked at other OSS throughout Egypt and detailed key constraints, areas for improvement, relevant stakeholders, and interventions to improve efficiency and effectiveness. The report recommends some key OSS practices to link with twinning partners that the Project is pursuing, to include: • Use the best practices and operational models of the Tamayouz Qalyoubia (an OSS operational role

model) to improve the operations of the Tamayouz/OSS in Sohag and Alexandria, and Alexandria’s Smart Service Business Centers.

• Use the operational model of the Tamayouz Qalyoubia and the IT support tools from Alexandria’s SSBC (a pioneer in OSS OSS networks) to improve the capacity and service offerings of the General Authority for Free Zones and Investment’s (GAFI) OSS in Cairo.

During Y2 Q1, USAID SEED used the assessment findings to inform its next steps in establishing and replicating new OSS. Potential stakeholders nominated in the report include GAFI, the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce (FEDCOC), the Federation of Egyptian Industries (FEI), and the Social Fund for Development (SFD).


The Component B Team is currently considering interventions to support FEI’s request for assistance in establishment of an OSS that will facilitate SMEs registration in order to pursue GOE procurements, under Law 5. The assistance potentially includes creation of operational and procedural manuals; procurement of ICT equipment; recruitment of a consultant to build staff capacity to operate and manage the OSS; and development of a sustainability strategy. Meetings are planned throughout Quarter 1 and 2 with GAFI officials, as well as the heads of a number of Chambers of Commerce in several governorates, to discuss where SEED can support plans to establish or improve OSS. There are a number of existing OSS throughout the country, therefore Component A will prioritize already existing centers. These centers will benefit from improvements in operational performance, and therefore have a greater immediate impact on the business ecosystem. Other areas of impact include the expansion of existing OSS to new areas that are currently underserved. SEED will postpone providing the SFD with technical assistance, given the Egyptian cabinet’s recent approval of an overhaul and merger of the SFD into a new authority that will be responsible for the development of SMEs. Further information regarding this merger can be found here: http://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2016/12/10/social-fund-merged-new-smes-authority-source/ Following the analysis of the OSS Report, SEED developed the SOW and began recruiting a team of three full-time staff to oversee OSS improvement and/or replication. The team will be comprised of two consultants specializing in the IT component of OSS development, and another specializing in the legal aspects and government relations. ASSIST BDS PROVIDERS IN IMPROVING THEIR SERVICES During this Quarter, Component B hired a BDS Provider Capacity-Building consultant, Ms. June Lavelle, to deliver a training course for BDS providers, with modules that included Management, Human Resources, Marketing and Financial Sustainability. The training was attended by 77 participants affiliated with 32 BDS providers that maintain operations in Cairo, Alexandria, Assiut, Aswan, and Menya. The participants were also provided with a BDS operations manual, which is mainly a procedural manual for the delivery of BDS. The manual comprised success factors associated with BDS, tips on formulating SME strategies, pricing of services offered, and quality assurance parameters. Participant feedback from this program was very positive, especially with respect to the comprehensive nature of the material developed by June Lavelle, and the fact that it addressed everything from the fundamental to the advanced aspects of the presented material. Based on the needs and requirements of the 77 participants, as reflected in the program evaluation sheets, and from conversations between USAID SEED staff and participants, the Project is preparing for at least two capacity building training programs in Y2Q2, to deliver additional training in marketing of BDS and financial sustainability of BDS Centers, focusing on the specific challenges in Egypt. The BDS marketing training will enhance the capacity of BDS providers to market their services to a larger pool of MSME clients, and will provide participants with a BDS Marketing Operations Manual that can be customized for participant organizations. The BDS financial sustainability workshop will introduce participating BDS providers to methodologies associated with exploring, testing, and capitalizing on sources of revenue, alongside client charges, in order to achieve financial sustainability. NEW TOOLS INTRODUCED FOR EXPANDED BDS SERVICES TO DISADVANTAGED AREAS During Y2 Q1, SEED recruited local consultant Ghada Kabesh to develop a comprehensive directory of public and private entities involved in the provision of BDS to MSMEs. The resulting database includes contact information for each entity and organizational details, such as years in business, core service offerings, business sector or value chain focus or concentration, and geographic reach. In addition, the consultant identified select BDS providers that are good candidates for additional Project assistance to build capacity or the establishment of a BDS Center.

http://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2016/12/10/social-fund-merged-new-smes-authority-source/


Following the completion of the BDS Directory, SEED’s ICT Team is developing a facilitation tool to allow MSMEs nationwide access to information on compiled BDS providers. In this respect, the ICT team is in the process of issuing an RFP to select an IT firm to create and launch a mobile application. The mobile application will promote the accessibility of information in the directory. INCREASED CAPACITY AMONG BDS PROVIDERS AND ASSOCIATIONS TO ADVOCATE FOR POLICY CHANGE SEED is continuing to identify organizations that would be best suited to advocate for policy change. The advocacy capacity of each organization is measured via the SEED advocacy organizational tool, after thorough discussions with each organization. At this stage, SEED has identified 102 potential advocacy organizations (versus an original target of 20). Interviews were conducted with 32 organizations as prospective participants in SEED advocacy trainings, which SEED plans to deliver in the next Quarter. An international consultant, Mr. Malcolm Toland, was hired to develop the three advocacy training modules on evidence-based policy and public-private dialogues. In Phase I of this short-term technical assignment (STTA) the consultant began developing the initial training modules. In Phase II, Mr. Toland will work with two local consultants to adapt the modules to the local context, and deliver the training. The training will take place over three weeks; two weeks dedicated to training private sector participants, and 1 week dedicated to public sector training. Once the training program has been delivered to participants, there will be 1 week of follow-up for each group to refine their post-training action plans. Pursuant to the delivery of the advocacy trainings, a forum will be organized for both public and private sector organizations, in order to promote interactions, discuss best practices, and align thoughts regarding concerns and constraints to economic growth. The forum shall give seemingly disparate industries the ability to interact, as well as agree to policies and requests, before transferring these policy concerns to the appropriate government entity. Inventory and Classification Process of the MSME’s Legislative Tools SEED’s Component B team worked with the Egyptian Regulatory Reform and Development Authority (ERRADA) to identify all MSME-related legislative tools, i.e. the decrees issued comprising the procedural steps of law implementation, from the ERRADA database. The team identified 100 legislative tools that have a direct or indirect impact on MSMEs performance development. A task force was then formed to complete a legal review, identify international best practices for similar SME issues, and determine strengths and weaknesses of the Egyptian legislative tools. In addition, the Project organized three consultation sessions with public sector, private sector, and civil society stakeholders to discuss the determined legislative tools and make recommendations on improvements. A comprehensive report was completed with very promising recommendations, including: • It is important to clarify the objectives of different legislations, while compiling MSME legislation;

• It is beneficial to implement a periodic review of the compiled data to ensure that recently released legislation is included; and

• It is imperative to work towards setting a unified definition of MSMEs, as well as a implementing a unified law relative to MSMSEs.

The next step is to appoint an IT Consultant to work with ERRADA on the design of a website and database for the determined SME 100 legislative tools. The STTA has been hired but has not yet commenced work.


RESULT B.2. IMPROVED AVAILABILITY AND ACCESSIBILITY OF FINANCIAL PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

INCREASED FINANCIAL LITERACY AMONG MSMES AND FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS During this Quarter, local consultant Dr. Amro Adel was hired to develop three financial literacy training-of-trainers (TOT) manuals for professionals of 3 financial sub-sectors including the banking sector, the non-bank financial sector, and Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs). Each individual manual included four modules; 1 of which was customized to individual audiences, and three of which are standard throughout. The three standard modules include information on:

• How to be an Effective Trainer • Overview of Financial Literacy and Financial Inclusion • Overview of the MSME Sector

The fourth module in each manual will be customized based on the target audience:

• Banking Sector Services, whose audience included banking sector professionals; • Non-Bank Financial Instruments, whose audience included non-bank financial sector professionals;

and • Services offered by MFIs, whose audience included MFI practitioners.

The consultant finalized the three modules and delivered three TOTs, which included:

• TOT 1 was conducted in November 2016 and attended by 17 participants from 5 banks (24% of which were female). The objective was to provide bankers with the required skills to deliver training on financial literacy to bank clients, especially MSMEs and unbanked individuals, in order to increase their understanding of banking services, how to be bankable, and how to evaluate and select banking products.

• TOT 2 was conducted in November 2016 and was attended by 19 participants (53% of which were female). Participants from the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority, Financial Services Institute, as well as factoring / leasing experts attended this TOT, thus representing all non-banking financial instruments. The objective of this program was to provide participants with the required skills to increase the awareness and use of the non-banking financial instruments among MSMEs, and how to select the best financial option to respond to MSMEs’ financial needs more adequately, especially for unbanked segments.

• TOT 3 was conducted in December 2016 and was attended by 26 participants (20% of which were female) from eight microfinance institutions, in addition to three representatives of the SFD and the Executive Director of the Egyptian Microfinance Federation.

The training methodology followed a participatory and interactive approach. Participants were very active, contributed effectively to discussions, and added new ideas to be covered under financial literacy issues related to ecosystem, including cultural context. Training materials covered all of the targeted issues, with a multitude of examples and videos, to further explore various topics. Each participant had the opportunity to present a topic, followed by evaluation and guidance from the consultant with respect to the effectiveness of the training style and techniques. More than 90% of participants contributed effectively in discussions and raised fruitful remarks on the content and training skills. 56 of the 57 participants achieved post-testing results of 85 – 100%, compared to pre-testing results, in which 34 of the 57 scored 85 – 100%.

SEED Synergy with AMAL Project In line with promoting synergy and cooperation among various USAID Projects, SEED collaborated with AMAL Project (Advanced Marketing and Agribusiness Logistics) through the design and supervision of a training course on the topic of agribusiness SME access to finance. The training course took place in Luxor on January 18th and 19th and was attended by 35 participants from agricultural cooperatives, as well as South Valley University students, who showed potential in engaging with agricultural


entrepreneurial businesses. This training course addressed three main forms of finance that cater to agribusiness SMEs’ financial requirements, namely traditional bank finance instruments, Islamic finance products, and factoring/leasing. The second day of the program comprised practical interactive discussions, whereby participants had the opportunity to present their activity and receive advice on appropriate forms of finance to pursue.

2.2.2 KEY ACTIVITIES PLANNED FOR NEXT REPORTING PERIOD

B.1: NON-FINANCIAL SERVICES The following table reflects the activities planned for Year 2 Quarter 2 under Component B1:

Name Description Location Date

Seminar to Promote Awareness on SME Fair Market Valuation (FMV)

Seminar for Independent Financial Advisors, NILEX and SMEs to raise awareness on FMV and its Importance to Listed SMEs

Cairo Mid-February 2017

Development of the Strategic Plan and action plan for the establishment of a BDS Center at FEI

Create a strategic plan for the development of an BDS Unit at the FEI, coupled with an action plan.

Cairo

February / March 2017

Development of SME INDEX in collaboration with ECPPS

RFP posted to select a firm to implement the required survey and develop SME INDEX indicators

Cairo

March 2017

Training for the Judges of Economic Courts on Non-Bank Finance Laws

Capacity Building for the Judges of Economic Courts on Capital Markets Regulations and on Mortgage and Lease Finance Regulations

Cairo March 2017

Development of CGC Marketing Strategy

Working on recruiting an STTA to develop the CGC’s corporate image and to set a promising marketing strategy

Cairo

March 2017

Training on Marketing for BDS Providers

Training workshop to build BDS providers’ capacities to market their services Cairo March 26 – 27, 2017

Development of Strategic Plan for GAFI Bedaya Center (BDS)

Revise and update GAFI’s BDS Center strategy and set an action plan and a marketing plan

Cairo March / April 2017

Workshop for Parliamentary Officials on Non-Bank Finance Laws

Workshop for Parliamentary Officials to Raise Awareness of Non-Bank Finance and Lobbying for New Laws


Workshop for Media Officials on Non-Bank Finance Laws

Workshop with Media Officials to Raise Awareness of Non-Bank Finance and Promote Media Coverage of the Same


Training Workshop to Build BDS Providers’ Capacities to Achieve Financial Sustainability

Training Workshop to Build BDS Providers’ Capacities to Achieve Financial Sustainability

Cairo April 23 – 24, 2017

Development of FSI Strategic Plan

Working on recruiting an STTA to assess the current status of FSI in addition to setting the strategic plan and concurrent business plan

Cairo

April 2017


In addition to the activities mentioned in the table above, preparations are currently underway for the improvement of a number of existing OSS centers. A team of consultants is currently in the recruitment phase to achieve this deliverable: STTA 1 will specialize in government relations and legal frameworks, STTA 2 will focus on OSS IT systems, and STTA 3 will specialize in marketing. The team of consultants will provide suggestions for the locations of centers to be improved as well as the action plan for development of the OSS’s.


B.2: FINANCIAL SERVICES The following table reflects the activities planned for Year 2 Quarter 2 under Component B2:


Increased Financial Literacy Among MSMSEs and Financial Institutions

Financial Literacy (TOT) TOT workshop to increase financial literacy awareness among MSMEs Aswan March 05, 2017 – March 8,

2017

PBDAC: Financial Literacy TOT Delivery of TOT to PBDAC staff to enhance their ability to improve the financial literacy of SME clients

Cairo April 2017

Increased Capacity of Public and Private Institutions to Provide Funding Mechanisms to MSMEs

Seminar on the Role of Crowdfunding in supporting Entrepreneurs and Micro Enterprise

Linkage forum event to promote matchmaking between investors and MSMEs using Crowdfunding

Cairo March 01, 2017

PBDAC: Assessment of Employees Eligible for Operating the prospective SME Unit

RFP to implement the screening process for select PBDAC employees’ technical and soft skills to identify staff capable of running the SME Unit to be established


Products Development Training A training program for bankers on the methodologies associated with product development

Cairo April, 2017

PBDAC: Development of 5 Modules to Build the Capacity of Prospective SME Unit Staff Base

RFP to provide various training courses to enhance the capability of staff selected for the SME Unit to be established

Cairo May 2017


There is ample demand for SEED’s technical assistance interventions, whether in the field of OSS improvement and/or replication, in the development of BDS Centers, and/or in providing capacity building to improve service provision. Critical success factors include the selection of counterparts that have the highest potential of delivering impactful and sustainable impact, which is currently being achieved by Component B team members through extensive field visits and in-depth discussions with counterparts. More activity could have been implemented during the elapsed Quarter had there been a collective effort across all Components to identify a list of strategic counterparts as recipients of SEED technical assistance. The completion of this unified effort during Y1 would have served to more efficiently fine-tune pipeline activity and would have mobilized the implementation of deliverables. All Component teams have recognized this need for such coordination, and have developed several strategies for implementation in Quarter 2, to synchronize both activity and stakeholder involvement.


2.3 COMPONENT C: INTERGRATION OF MSMES IN VALUE CHAINS

2.3.1 KEY ACTIVITIES ACCOMPLISHED UNDER COMPONENT C

With the completion of its value chain selection process in Y1 Q4, USAID’s SEED Project was able to move forward with more targeted assistance in Y2 Q1. The Project worked with key partners to implement activities to assist selected value chains (dairy, fisheries, ready-made garments (RMG), plastics, and automotive parts) to integrate Project-assisted SMEs. Key Project partners include the Federation of Egyptian Industries (FEI), Industrial Training Council (ITC), Knowledge Economy Foundation (KEF), the Chamber of Food Industries (for dairy and fisheries value chains), the Chamber of Ready Made Garments, World Fish, Egyptian Plastics Exporters and Manufacturers Association (EPEMA), the Egyptian Auto Feeder Association (EAFA), Industrial Council for Technology and Innovation (ICTI), and investor associations. This Quarter, Component C has focused on building capacity and offering opportunities to MSMEs to establish backward commercial linkages, through supply chain management, and forward linkages through participation in the Business to Business (B2B) international exhibition. Next Quarter, USAID SEED will focus on building MSME’s capacity in establishing forward linkage capabilities, by developing quality management systems, lean manufacturing, six sigma process improvements, and marketing and sales skills. In addition, the Project will work on improving MSME’s access to market information through developing 2 Market Information Systems (MIS). The following is a summary of activities completed and initiated during Y2 Q1: • Delivered three rounds of training workshops to build capacity of SMEs in backward commercial

linkages; • Organized the first “SME Buyers Conference” to support the RMG VC; • Organized the FEI Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategic planning workshop; • Completed outreach campaign and networked with MSME-supporting organizations as potential

partners to SEED technical assistance in RMG, Fishery, Dairy and Plastics VCs; • Completed organization towards delivery of the first SEED Career Fair on February 7, 2017; • Assisted Giza Systems Education Foundation’s (GSEF) to launch their CSR initiative, Fab Lab on

Wheels (FLoW), in Sohag on February 15, 2017; • Arranged for the second SME Buyers Conference (franchising match-making event) to be held on

February 18, 2017; • Arranged for first training in CSR in Upper Egypt, to commence in March 2017; and • Developed plans to provide technical assistance to improve two market information systems in

Dairy and RMG VCs.

RESULT C.1. INTEGRATED MSMES TO PROGRESSIVE VALUE-CHAINS

SELECTION OF VALUE CHAINS FOR MSME INTEGRATION To guide future Component C activities, USAID SEED has designed a value chain mapping and assessment exercise and is recruiting STTA to complete this work in Y2 Q2. Mapping and assessments will be COMPLETED for the dairy, plastics, and automotive parts value chains. The consultants will produce physical maps for the value chains, define key constraints MSMEs face in integrating into those value chains, identify technical assistance interventions to be completed by SEED, and propose potential key stakeholders to partner with in implementation of the proposed interventions. Component C has received recently developed value chain maps and assessments for the ready-made garments and fisheries value chains, to be used in key activity implementation during the remainder of Y2.


In addition to the above VC-specific mapping and assessments, USAID’s SEED Project continued working with Allied Corporation, to conduct a market assessment of MSME’s general support, and information needs, in order to integrate into VCs. Allied’s assessment involves survey’s and market research gathered from both the general ecosystem, as well as specific MSMEs, and will tailor suggestions for support to MSME needs.

MARKET INFORMATION SYSTEMS STRENGTHENED TO IMPROVE MSME ACCESS TO INFORMATION IN SELECTED VALUE CHAINS During Quarter 1 of Year 2, the Component C Team completed detailed planning for MIS in the dairy and RMG value chains. In the dairy value chain, USAID has signed an MOU with KEF. KEF has the organizational capacity and experience to operate an MIS; they currently operate a well-regarded MIS for the horticulture value chain. Based on discussions with KEF, the MIS will provide online directories of milk producers, milk collection centers, dairy processors, service providers, and buyer groups/corporations. The MIS will disseminate market prices and technical guidance to producers. The assistance the Project will provide to KEF includes:

• Value chain mapping and assessment to identify business needs for the dairy MIS; • System analysis, • System design and development; • Content development; • Marketing and outreach for the new system; and • System testing, launching, and upgrading.

Implementation is expected to be completed by the end of the year 2. In the RMG value chain, the Project has decided to work with an entrepreneurial youth group, El Shahbander, in the Delta (Mahalla City) to upgrade an existing, but limited-scale, MIS for RMG and textiles. The upgraded El Shahbander MIS will provide a platform where RMG and textile sellers and buyers for domestic and foreign markets can make buy and sell online. USAID SEED has introduced the El Shahbander MIS to the Executive Director of the Egyptian Chamber of Apparels and Home Textiles (ECAHT) who expressed interest in getting ECAHT’s SME members to begin using the MIS to improve their access to markets. The MIS will disseminate information about suppliers, service providers, and input and product prices. The assistance USAID SEED will provide to El Shahbander includes:

• Systems design and development, including graphic design; • Updating the existing buyers and sellers database; • Marketing and outreach for the updated system; and • System testing, launching, and upgrading.

Implementation is expected to be completed by the end of the Year 2. IMPROVE MSME UNDERSTANDING OF MARKET AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR MSMES IN VALUE CHAIN This Quarter, USAID SEED began monitoring local and international B2B buyer conferences/ exhibitions to assess the need to design and support SMEs to participate in those conferences, relevant to the targeted VCs to present their goods and services to potential large business buyers. As part of Component C’s mandate to integrate MSMEs into progressive value chains through buyer conferences, the Team has supported 20 RMG SMEs to participate, for the first time, in the international RMG B2B Exhibition “Kids & Mothers” held at Cairo International Convention Center on January 20-22, 2017. Notably, this event is recognized as one of the most attended exhibitions in the region, attracting visitors and buyers from Egypt, as well as other Arab and African countries.


SEED has cooperated with ECAHT to support participation of these 20 RMG SMEs in the Exhibition, by covering 50% of their participation fees. The participating SMEs have presented their quality goods, successfully received about 500 purchase orders, and met hundreds of potential buyers. Some participant SMEs have indicated that they have sold out or have been contracted for the full summer production season. Number of Purchase Orders received during the Buyers Conference by each Participant SME:

Name of Business # of Purchase Orders

AL-King 20

AL- Kunaisi 30

Al-Sabagh 10

Dandasha 20

Dream Kids 15

Egyptian Group 50

ELLE 4

Flower K 17

Hebatex 20

Hedaya 40

LOLITE 20

Luna 6

Miss Egypt 100

Rainbow 25

REDA 10

Rewaya Fashion 20

Rouge 15

Smarty 50

Top Secret 20

VIVA 1960 10

This activity contributes to SEED’s performance standard: four MSME buyer conferences, and to SEED’s indicator: 150 MSME linkages in value chains. Component C will follow up closely with the SMEs to further enhance their capacities, promote access to market opportunities, and support integration in the value chain of ready-made garments. Meanwhile, the Team started arrangements for the 2nd Linkage Conference in dairy and RMG in the form of a franchising matchmaking event, to provide opportunities to entrepreneurs and small business for further integration into VCs of recognized international or local brands. The event will take place on February 18, 2017 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Giza and will be organized by Franchisingate. This event enables SMEs with local brands to expand and integrate into value chains through franchising agreements with other SMEs and start-ups. To SME investors, the event offers a diverse portfolio of investment opportunities in successful brands. The event attracts around 15 brands/franchisors and around 100 potential investors of SMEs and entrepreneurs. Targeted SMEs include readymade garments suppliers and distributors, and dairy products suppliers and distributors.


During the event, franchise partners will present their brands to investors including history of the brand, expansion plan, operating branches, franchise fees (upfront and royalty, etc.), total investment required, technical and commercial support provided, and estimated return on investment. Along with the presentations, the event organizer will arrange for one-to-one matchmaking meetings between franchisor and serious potential investors. This activity contributes to SEED performance standard: 4 MSMEs buyer conferences.

STRENGTHEN SECTOR/INDUSTRY ASSOCIATIONS ON BACKWARD AND FORWARD LINKAGES This Quarter USAID SEED addressed the needs of MSMEs to build capacity in establishing and managing viable backward linkages through supply chain management training, with partners such as FEI, ITC, and ECAHT. ITC SSDP Capacity Building and SCM Trainings Following signing of an MOU with ITC in Year 1 for establishing “SME Supplier Development Program (SSDP)”, USAID-SEED has developed a plan to build the capacity of the SSDP team. Component C will provide guidance in better managing and supporting consultancies and trainings, to improve technical and managerial capacity of SMEs to integrate into supply chains of large buyers. The plan includes provision of training workshops in supply chain management, quality management systems based on ISO 9001, lean manufacturing management, six sigma process management, and forward linkage (marketing and selling).

This Quarter, SEED began delivery of assistance to IMC SSDP, by developing and delivering the supply chain management (SCM) training. The training was delivered on November 28-30 and December 12-14, 2016 and was attended by 19 participants from SSDP and 9 companies in automotive feeding industries, engineering, and food industries.

In addition to delivering training in SCM to ITC SSDP, SEED has completed a round of training to the FEI Regional Office in 10th of Ramadan. This round began in Y1 Q4, on October 24-26 and completed in Y2 Q1 November 8-10, 2016. It was attended by 14 participants from FEI Regional Office and 13 companies in RMG, textile, and food industries.

A third round of SCM training was delivered to members of the ECAHT on December 19-21, 2016 and January 17-19, 2017, attended by 16 participants from 9 companies in RMG and Textile. This activity contributes to SEED performance standard; 5 training sessions to strengthen sector/industry associations on backward and forward linkages.

Sector/ Industry Member Directory USAID SEED started assessing technical assistance needed to support RMG VC players to develop and post a digital directory of SMEs sellers and large buyers information.

Tools for Responding to MSME Workforce Needs (Career Fair in Nile Delta) Working with ITC to address the needs of SMEs to access skilled and unskilled labor, USAID’s SEED team arranged for a career fair in Mahalla City (Nile Delta) to be held on February 7, 2017. The Fair will be attended by more than 20 companies in food industries, textile & RMG, automotive parts, poultry, mechanical engineering & machinery, pharmaceutical, trade, and services. The companies are offering more than 4,000 jobs in Greater Cairo, Alexandria, and the Delta. This activity contributes to SEED performance standard: 3 career fairs.


CSR INITIATIVES LAUNCHED TO FACILITATE TRAINING FOR MSMES AND INVESTMENT IN EQUIPMENT AND SOFTWARE This Quarter Component C was very active in promoting CSR among relevant stakeholders, starting with addressing one of the main constraints for CSR in Egypt; the absence of an overall strategy to help companies establish sustainable development goals. This prevents coordination of CSR planned and ongoing initiatives and tools among companies engaging in CSR. Component C is working on eliminating redundancy and duplication of efforts for CSR activities in the same geographic areas, target groups, or services.

FEI CSR Strategic Planning The Project supported FEI in developing its CSR strategic plan including laying out its mission, vision, overall strategic goal, strategic objectives, and intermediary objectives. USAID SEED STTA CSR Consultant Mr. Leslie Fox and the Component C team worked with FEI in engaging relevant CSR stakeholders in the development of the strategy including; FEI Board of Directors and Executive Management, Chambers of Industry, large companies, SMEs, GOE Ministries, business and investor associations, NGOs, and universities. A series of interviews with key stakeholders were conducted in December 2016, followed by four focus group meetings with stakeholders in January 2017. Mr. Fox developed an initial draft of the strategic plan based on the feedback from these meetings. The initial draft was presented, discussed, and agreed-upon at the Strategic Planning Workshop held on January 18, 2017 with 140 participants from MTI, USAID, and FEI’s CSR stakeholders. International CSR and local Egyptian best-practices were presented and discussed as well at the workshop. The draft strategy will be presented to the FEI Board of Directors for approval in March 2017 and will be officially announced at FEI’s 3rd Annual CSR Conference in April 2017. 3rd Annual CSR Conference In cooperation with FEI and ILO, USAID SEED Project is organizing the 3rd annual CSR Conference to be held in Cairo on April 10-11, 2017. The two-day event is titled “The Impact of CSR Initiatives on Promoting the Competitiveness of the Egyptian Economy.” This event will help USAID SEED to begin integrating the CSR activities of Egyptian companies into the Project’s activities. The event will include a GOE presentation on the role of CSR initiatives in supporting Egypt’s Sustainable Development Strategy 2030, and GOE support for CSR, such as tax deductions for CSR activities. The expected 800-1,000 conference participants will discuss USAID SEED-relevant topics, including promotion of entrepreneurship, development of MSMEs, business inclusion and value chain development, women in business, and innovation. The conference will also host a discussion on the use of information technology to support implementation of CSR initiatives. On the 2nd day of the event, there will be a matchmaking event for CSR stakeholders to present their CSR initiatives to solicit support and collaboration from other stakeholders.

CSR Trainings and Presentations USAID-SEED engaged the American University Cairo’s Gerhart Center to deliver a training program in CSR to companies in Upper Egypt, with the goal of raising awareness of CSR, and training company officers in developing CSR initiatives that address sustainable development issues and objectives including creating opportunities and support for MSMEs to integrate into value chains. The program includes four three-day workshops. The trainings will start in March and contribute to the Project’s goal of training 20 private sector organizations on CSR programs to facilitate MSME training and investment.

USAID SEED’s Component C Team Lead presented at and moderated a panel discussion on “Partnership and Networking for CSR Successes” at the Alexandria Business Women Association (ABWA) 8th Annual Conference in November 2016. USAID SEED presented on the evolution of CSR contributing to sustainable development, governance structures of CSR functions, and models for networks and partnerships for CSR implementation in Egypt.


Collaborating with Giza Systems Educational Foundation CSR Initiative USAID SEED signed an MOU with the Giza Systems Educational Foundation (GSEF) to collaborate on GSEF’s CSR initiative to promote entrepreneurship, innovation, and MSMEs development. The Fab Lab on Wheels initiative gives innovators and entrepreneurs, in five governorates (Bani Suef, Fayoum, Minya, Monufiya, and Sohag) access to a hi-tech fabrication equipment to produce models and prototypes of their innovative ideas. The initiative is co-funded by GSEF and DELL EMC with a budget of around EGP 4 million for a bus and equipment for the Fab Lab on Wheels that will spend two-months in each target governorate. In addition, a permanent Fab Lab will be left behind in each governorate, plus in-kind support by GSEF. Component C will provide the following support for the initiative:

• Host a launch event in each governorate; • Support outreach and awareness campaigns of the CSR initiative; • Develop an M&E system for each lab; and • Host a closed event to present results, successes, and future CSR opportunities.

In addition, USAID SEED will use the events to promote entrepreneurship, by hosting a competition in each governorate, that will allow youth to develop and present a business plans to run the permanent Fab Lab. Business Plan Competition winners will be hired to implement their plan to create permanent Fab Labs. INCREASED GOE AND INDUSTRY CAPACITY TO RESPOND TO POLICY CONSTRAINTS Outreach and Networking with MSME-Supporting Organizations Component C continued outreach and networking with MSME-supporting organizations to partner with in implementation of USAID-SEED initiatives. This Quarter, SEED met and discussed cooperation with:

• MTI Industrial Council for Technology and Innovation (ICTI) and its affiliated Food Technology Center (FTC) and Plastics Technology Center (PTC). Proposed areas of technical assistance and cooperation include VC mapping and assessment, technology centers capacity building, MSMEs capacity building, and industry-specific CSR initiatives.

• US Soya Export Council (USSEC). Proposed areas of cooperation include providing technical support for the development and use of soya in animal and fish feed industries in Egypt. SEED has proposed cooperation in joint activities to develop the role of MSMEs in aquaculture value chain, mainly to increase percentage of fish processing (currently lower than 5%) compared to selling fresh fish to markets.

Increase Access to Finance to Take Advantage of Market Opportunities During this Quarter, SEED identified access to finance constraints in aquaculture and RMG VCs. The aquaculture farms have almost no access to formal credit. The farmers obtain commercial credit from two sources; feed wholesalers (credit purchase) and fish wholesalers (advance payment). Such financing arrangements give no bargaining powers to aquaculture farmers to negotiate favorable prices for their inputs (feed) and their output (fish). Similarly, the fishing associations and fish processing SMEs in Aswan lack the access to finance necessary to improving their capacity to contribute higher value-add in the VC. Most of fish production from Nasr Lake is sold to wholesalers for fresh fish markets, while minimal quantities are processed, mainly due to lack of cold storehouses and fish processing equipment. USAID-SEED has discussed with World Fish, an international scientific research center specializing in aquaculture, who have a long presence in Egypt, to collaborate in accessing and supporting aquaculture farming industries with technical extension information. Additionally, World Fish will provide training in financial literacy awareness and access to formal credit, while SEED with provide tailored-financing products. An MOU will be concluded in Q2, after which programming will begin in earnest. In closing, RMG SMEs have limited access to formal credit, especially working with capital financing for those who sell their products in domestic markets where, wholesalers request extended payment terms


(up to 8 months or a full season). These terms constrain the limited resources of SMEs to invest in materials and supplies needed for a new cycle of production. SEED Components B and C will address this constraint by working with financial institutions to develop tailored financial products to RMG sub sector; including factoring as an alternative financing tool.


The following table reflects the activities planned for Year 2 Quarter 2 under Component C:


ITC Career Fair Career Fair in Delta El Mahalla Feb 7th, 2017

Launching FLoW in Sohag Supporting CSR initiative of GSEF Sohag Feb 15th, 2017

Franchising Matchmaking Buyers Conference Cairo Feb 18th, 2017

CSR 3rd Annual Conference Conference organized with FEI and ILO Cairo April 10-11, 2017

In addition to the aforementioned events, the following consultancies and capacity building activities will take place in Y2 Q2:

• Develop and deliver training in CSR to companies in Upper Egypt (Luxor) using AUC’s Gearhart Center between March – May 2017;

• Engage 2 consultants to conduct mapping and assessment of three VC (Dairy, Automotive Parts, and Plastics);

• Engage 4 consultants to build capacity of ITC SSDP by developing and delivering trainings in forward commercial linkages (marketing and selling), quality management systems, lean manufacturing, and six sigma process improvement;

• Engage 8 consultants to conduct system analysis, design, and program development or upgrades for two MIS in dairy and RMG VCs in Cairo and El Mahalla between March and October 2017; and

• Work with ECAHT on developing the first digital directory for RMG VC, to include web-based directories of VC stakeholders.


Component C faced significant challenges in recruitment during Quarter 1. In addition to highly technical SOWs, the team found the floating of the Egyptian Pound to be a substantial challenge during rate and salary negotiations. The Team is currently heavily recruiting several LTTA and STTA positions. In order to attract more candidates, the Team has begun advertising SOW more relevant to the local ecosystem. To negate the challenge of limited access to potential candidates, the SEED Project will use both online local and international recruitment platforms, as well as begin posting/publishing on widely-distributed Newspaper, such as Al Ahram.

III. IMPLEMENTATION OF GRANTS COMPONENT

3.1 DESCRIPTION OF GRANTS

The USAID-funded SEED Project includes a US$1M grants program entitled the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Fund or “EIF.” The role of the grants program is to assist business associations, private companies, and non-governmental organizations to systematically, strategically, and effectively advance the objectives of increasing their services, accessibility, and responsiveness to MSMEs such that they can better capitalize on market opportunities and promote entrepreneurship among youth and women.


The EIF will support grants that will be used for a variety of investments including the provision of equipment and commodities through in-kind grants to local community development organizations; grants to establish women and youth business association networks; and grants to businesses or industry associations for activities that clearly support SEED objectives. Funding from SEED can also be used to assist service providers meet international quality standards and promote collaboration on product marketing and promotion. In all cases, SEED will attempt to maximize the impact of the EIF to as large an audience as possible. EIF Objectives • Promote innovated ideas to expand organizational capacity of institutions to provide financial and non-

financial services to MSMEs; • Support precedent-setting, sustainable, and commercially viable business linkages within high potential

value chains; • Improve the ability of business associations and other groups to conduct evidence-based policy

analysis, research, and advocate for reform; • Maximize opportunities to engage youth and women’s entrepreneurship associations while expanding

access to services in disadvantaged communities; and • Foster the inclusion of women and youth entrepreneurs throughout the SEED Project.

3.2 KEY ACTIVITIES ACCOMPLISHED UNDER THE GRANTS COMPONENT

During this reporting period, two meetings for the Grants Evaluation Committee (GEC) were held. The first GEC meeting was held on November 2, 2016 at SEED’s Cairo office, and was attended by the USAID COR, USAID SEED COP, and USAID SEED Monitoring and Evaluation Senior Advisor as voting members, and the representative of the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) and USAID SEED Gants Manager as non-voting members. The aims of the meeting were to review the responsibilities of GEC, sign the Conflict of Interest Form, agree on the concept paper (CPs) evaluation process, and evaluate and select finalists from the 25 short listed concept papers.

The second GEC meeting was held on November 15, 2016 where the GEC members discussed and gave their final selection of concept papers. 16 concept papers were selected to be assessed technically and financially, before undergoing the full proposal submission stage. The 16 potential grantees were divided into 6 company/consultancy firms, 8 Egyptian NGOs, 1 INGO, and 1 semi-governmental entity (Commercial Chamber). The concept papers that were selected will cover all SEED components.

Letters with the decision of rejection (19 CPs) or low scores (96 CPs) were prepared and sent to all the applicants. Meanwhile, the selected 16 potential grantees were informed of SEED’s intent to conduct institutional assessment of their organizations, to ensure their ability and qualification to implement the proposed activities and manage the grant based funding.

An institutional capacity assessment tool to technically and financially review the potential grantees was developed. The Grants Team conducted 16 assessment visits to the potential grantees. At the conclusion of the assessment visits, it was determined that 13 potential grantees were qualified to develop and submit full proposals, while three grantees did not pass the financial assessment as their financial systems were too weak to manage the grants money. The potential grantees are as follows: Potential grantees qualified for the next stage: • Eitesal, The Egyptian Information, Telecom, Electronics and Software Alliance (ENGO),


• Agyal Association for Youth Development (ENGO), • Youth and Development Consultancy Institute, Etijah (ENGO), • Aswan Businessman Association (ENGO), • Egyptian National Competitiveness Council, ENCC (ENGO), • Together for Development and Environment (ENGO), • Care International (INGO), • Alexandria Chamber of Commerce (Semi-government), • North South Consultants Exchange (Consultancy Firm), • Horizon Interactive Studios (Company), • Istebdaa’ - Yomken (Company), • Yadawee (Company), and • Gateway to Egypt (Company). Potential grantees that were disqualified: • Egyptian Chefs Association (ENGO), • The Egyptian Center for Public Policy Studies, ECPPS (ENGO), and • Developers for Training & Consultancy (Consultancy Firm).

Number Governorate # of CPs Submitted

# of Shortlisted

CPs

# of CPs Selected by

GEC

# of Applicants Assessed and

Selected

1 Alexandria 6 3 1 1

2 Assiut 11

3 Aswan 3 1 1 1

4 Beni Suef 5

5 Cairo 61 18 11 8

6 Fayoum 5

7 Giza 18 2 2 2

8 Kafr El-Sheikh 1

9 Luxor 2

10 Minya 2 1 1 1

11 North Sinai 3

12 Qalyubia 4

13 Qena 7

14 Red Sea 2 `

15 USA 1

Total 131 25 16 13

To orient the 13 potential grantees that were qualified for the next stage, a two-day Proposal Writing Workshop will be held on February 1-2, 2017. The workshop will provide guidance on developing detailed proposals and budgets, following a template that is in compliance with USAID and AECOM rules and regulations. The workshop’s agenda was drafted, and includes presentations that will be delivered by USAID SEED Teams on developing the technical proposals with emphasis on objectives, activities, M&E plans, gender inclusion, branding and marking, as well as how to develop a detailed budget taking into consideration allowable and un-allowable cost.


To better prepare for a timely agreement drafting phase once grantee final proposals are accepted, the Grants Team developed 3 types of grants agreement templates:

• Standard Grant Agreement; • Fixed Amount Award Agreement; and • Simplified Grant Agreement.

The templates were created by the USAID SEED Grants Manager, and were revised by AECOM’s Contracts Administrator. In addition, AECOM’s Contract Administrator provided documents related to Mandatory Provisions for Non-US NGOs to be attached as annexes to the agreements. USAID SEED sent a suggestion to USAID Contracts Office to have the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) sign the grant agreements as co-signee or “witness”, in addition to the grantee and USAID SEED’s COP. The reasoning behind this is that such a signature would provide grantees with enhanced chances of obtaining the necessary approvals from the Ministry of Social Solidarity (MOSS) to receive funds from a foreign entity and to subsequently implement such activities. This suggested procedure would be appreciated by MTI, which values being involved in SEED efforts to serve MSMEs through grants funding. SEED is currently in the process of drafting an addendum to be included in the agreement, and will be reviewed by AECOM’s Contracts Administrator before contacting MTI.

3.3 KEY ACTIVITIES PLANNED FOR THE NEXT REPORTING PERIOD

• Hold the Proposal Writing Workshop for the 13 potential grantees in coordination with USAID SEED team;

• Follow-up and reply to the potential grantees questions during the development of their proposals; • Receive the full proposal applications from the potential grantees, review them, and give the final

version of the proposals to the GEC for their evaluation and selection; • Follow-up with USAID and AECOM to include MTI as co-signee on the grants agreements; • Prepare the grant agreements and all forms, certifications, and annexes in both English and Arabic

for the grant winner’s signatures; • Develop the project/s action plans with the grantees, who will sign the agreements and quickly start

implementation, especially if grantees do not need any official approvals to receive funding (i.e. companies and consultancy firms); and

• Hold a one-day orientation session for the accountants of the grants projects to go through all the necessary financial forms as well as develop the Project’s cash projections according to the action plans.

3.4 LESSONS LEARNED FOR FUTURE IMPLEMENTATION

During visits conducted to potential grantees for the assessment process, SEED noted that all potential grantees share the same concern; namely that their budgets, submitted along with their concept papers in early August 2016, were calculated prior to EGP inflation rate fluctuations, which to a large extent occurred as a result of the floating of the EGP, and therefore seriously affected their projected costs. Potential grantees have consequently expressed their concern with their ability to implement the activities originally planned, at the costs proposed prior to currency floating do not reflect current market rates. At this juncture, SEED suggested that USAID allow those asked to deliver a full proposal to increase their initial budgets by 30%, to enable grantees to implement their proposed activities effectively. This still falls well within the limits of the SEED EIF (grants) budget. SEED received the approval of USAID COR for this suggestion on January 9, 2017.


IV. CROSS CUTTING ACTIVITIES IMPLEMENTED

4.1 GENDER AND YOUTH

4.1.1 KEY ACTIVITIES ACCOMPLISHED

Gender and Youth Specific Activities During the reporting period SEED supported and participated in the Alexandria Business Women Conference entitled “Partnership & Networking - Together We Are Strong” which took place in Alexandria on Nov 19, 2016. Women and youth MSMEs, private sector entrepreneurs, and members of the banking and donor communities were strongly represented at the conference, which was attended by a total of 148 participants, 112 of which were female business women and company managers. SEED provided 6 speakers for the event, while a number of SEED staff participated in the events launch. Notably, Ms. June Lavelle, provided a session on “Best Practice of Networking Business Women”. SEED also led and moderated panels on the “Role of Partnership and Networking in Achieving CSR Success”. Additionally, SEED presented at and moderated a session on “Partnership and Networking for CSR Successes” which discussed how to better support women owned MSMEs. SEED presented the evolution of the CSR concept towards sustainable development, the governance and structures of the CSR functions, the types of networks and partnerships for implementation of CSR, and models of those networks and partnerships in Egypt. Panelists from CARE International, Unilever, Giza Systems Education Foundation (GSEF), and Professional Development Foundation (PDF) presented their initiatives and related networks and partnerships. The conference was a great opportunity to promote and support networking and cooperation between business women associations and their members, to expand their circle of social and economic knowledge and create more business linkages with other national and international businesswomen’s associations. The Gender and Youth team is working with the Ministry of Youth (MOY) to conduct a Youth Business Plan Competition. The Project administered a TOT on how to conduct successful business plan competitions, in coordination with Microsoft Egypt, which was delivered to youth leaders in 10 youth centers in 7 governorates. SEED continues to work with the MOY to conduct planned events. SEED also conducted a Gender and Capacity Building Workshop on January 18, 2017 with the National Council of Women and the Women Business Development Center (WBDC). The workshop’s objectives were to support NCW/WBDC and build their technical capacity in linking gender and business issues for MSMEs and business women, while strengthening participant’s knowledge and skills in assessing the needs of MSMEs. The ultimate goal was to develop action plans for upcoming activities targeting women owned MSMEs that were prime candidates for SEED technical assistance. During this reporting period SEED supported Ahead of the Curve in conducting a workshop targeted at male members of the ecosystem, who received training in best practices in championing gender equality and supporting women in business. The objective of the workshop was to begin engaging male business leaders and entrepreneurs, with decision making power in the private sector, in addressing and removing unconscious gender biases that prevent inclusive and diverse work environments. The participants were able to discuss and better understand the positive business impacts of women’s economic inclusion and advancement, while presenting ideas on how to source creative community development ideas for gender inclusion. Participants shared personal experiences with different male leaders, from various professional backgrounds, who had significant experience in team management and diversity programming. SEED will be developing a series of similar workshop with key partners and stakeholders.


Gender and Youth Mainstreaming Activities: In Y2 Q1, SEED’s Gender and Youth Manager worked with Component Teams to plan for further integration of gender and youth concerns into the Year 2 Work-plan, and agreed upon better methods to ensure proper analysis of women’s socio-economic issues and best practices in SEED programming. The Gender and Youth Manager met with most of the consultants who worked with SEED during this Quarter, to sensitize them with the methodologies and approaches to integrating gender, while ensuring their understanding of gendered issues in program design. Finally, similar trainings were administered to all newly hired SEED long term staff, to further ensure sustainable gender mainstreaming in SEED program management. In Component A, the SEED Gender and Youth Manager continued to work with representatives of key stakeholders, incubators, and other relevant organizations, to determine the structure and functions of the Women and Youth Entrepreneurs Network. The Gender and Youth Manager also held a meeting to provide guidance on gender and youth responsive mentoring, effective mentor-mentee relationships, and disseminated information on successful business development mentoring. Under Component B, the Gender and Youth Manager contributed to the SOW of the consultant who will develop selection criteria for new OSS/Tamayouz Centers that take into consideration distance and accessibility for female entrepreneurs in the governorates. Additionally, training material and presentations were developed for gender integration on the social performance of MFIs, to be used in all upcoming social performance trainings. In coordination with Component C, SEED Gender and Youth Manager developed the SOW for a consultant to conduct comprehensive gender sensitive detailed value chain mapping and assessments for 1-2 of the selected value chains.


• Pilot the first Round of Business Plan Competitions targeting female students and graduates in computer, science, and technology degrees to start cloud business or web based businesses, with implementation to begin in April 2017;

• Conduct a Women’s Entrepreneurship Boot Camp, targeted specifically at women entrepreneurs in Egypt, to equip participants with the tools for impact-driven entrepreneurship, enabling young women to adopt an entrepreneurial mindset and partake in the economy in an equitable manner;

• SEED will build capacity of women and youth specific partners such as NCW, FEI, ABWA, BWE21 to integrate gender equality and female empowerment, through evidence based research on best practices and subsequent trainings;

• Conduct a second round of gender sensitive BDS trainings, to be delivered to service providers in order to tailor services that attract larger numbers of women; and

• Continue to develop a comprehensive work plan with Component Teams to better mainstream gender and youth into component specific activities.


V. CROSS-CUTTING INITIATIVES

5.1 BUSINESS ENABLING ENVIRONMENT

INCREASED CAPACITY AMONG BDS PROVIDERS AND ASSOCIATIONS TO ADVOCATE FOR POLICY CHANGE AND GOE TO ENACT REFORMS During the First Quarter of Year 2, the Enabling Environment Senior Advisor continued to assess and identify organizations that would be best suited for intra-governmental advocacy. The Senior Advisor utilized an advocacy capacity based tool for organizational assessment, developed by the MSME Policy Reform Stakeholder Database consultant, to measure the advocacy capacity of each organization, based on extensive interviews and discussions. SEED’s initial goal was to identify 20 organizations; however, the Project has identified 102 potential advocacy organizations to date. 32 organizational interviews were conducted in order to form the first round of organizations best suited to participate in SEED advocacy trainings, which are planned to occur in Y2 Q2. Following delivery of SEED administered advocacy trainings, SEED will host a forum in which both the public and private sector stakeholders can discuss concerns and constraints to economic growth, in order to maximize coordination among all champion organizations. The forum will give seemingly disparate industries the ability to network, formalize a list of potential concerns, agree to policy requests, and transfer policy concerns to the appropriate government entity in a united manner. The forum further encourages a standardized process through which public and private sectors can interact and discuss best practices. As mentioned in Component B, the International Policy Reform Consultant, Mr. Malcolm Toland, began development of the aforementioned advocacy trainings in Quarter 1, which he will finalize and deliver to relevant organizations in Quarter 2. The Enabling Environment Senior Advisor continues to engage with ERRADA and ENCC, to build their capacity in regulatory reform and management. In order to further develop potential activities and areas of collaboration, SEED has developed SOW for three consultants to address needs in the legislative, economic, and IT sectors, including:

• Legislative: A legal review of regulations governing the use of emails as legally binding agreements (equal to physically signed documents); an analysis of laws or regulations that govern the e-gov. procedures; and an inventory of laws that require the electronic integration of ministries, governorates, and provinces onto a unified platform, with suggestions of best practice recommendations and road maps to begin this process.

• Economic: Creation of a cost-benefit analysis of the effects of accepting soft documentation (emails) on governance practices; assessment of the management and financial needs of the government; and development of a set of recommendations for the government to more efficiently, effectively, and sustainably provide demand driven services to MSMEs across Egypt.

• IT: Development of an inventory of electronic development projects the government plans to implement requiring electronic integration among governmental entities that issue certificates, industrial or commercial licensing, or services to OSS and/or Tamayoz; assess the technical and financial support needed to implement these government reforms; and develop a set of recommendations for the GOE’s use.

INCREASED GOE CAPACITY TO UNDERSTAND AND RESPOND TO CONSTRAINTS IN THE ENABLING ENVIRONMENT FOR MSME ACCESS TO FINANCE The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) requested SEED work closely with the Law 5 Technical Secretariat Committee responsible for public procurement. The Committee is composed of representatives from FEI, IDA, EOS, and GAFI. SEED will work with the Committee to encourage GOE


procurement representatives to consider MSME providers, as opposed to a short list of large local firms, and to inform MSMEs of this unprecedented access to government procurements under the SMEs Law 141/2004, which requires that 10% of all public procurements be provided by Egyptian SMEs. The Enabling Environment Senior Advisor also conducted meetings with the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority (EFSA), whose role it is to regulate the market and ensure its stability and competitiveness to attract more local and foreign investments. During the meetings, participants discussed how SEED could assist EFSA in raising awareness within Parliament of the laws and regulations related to non-banking financial services available to MSMEs. Additionally, SEED discussed the development a marketing campaign, including documentaries, to promote awareness of non-bank financial assistance, with a focus on leasing and factoring. Interested organizations included FEI, IDA, EOS, and the Government Authority for Government Services (GAGS). INCREASED GOVERNMENT CAPACITY TO UNDERSTAND AND RESPOND TO POLICY CONSTRAINTS TO MARKET MSMES INTO VALUE CHAINS During Quarter 2, the FEI Executive Director Eng. Nagi El Fayoumi expressed his interest in building the technical capacity of the FEI advocacy unit. A SOW was developed to recruit a Policy Advocacy Capacity Building Expert for FEI consultant, to develop a guiding manual for policy reform and advocacy, and deliver trainings to FEI and 20 industrial chambers related to this manual, in addition to training other related key stakeholders. To support Cross Cutting initiatives, the Enabling Environment Senior Advisor continues to work with FEI in order to assist them in establishment of an OSS. Assistance to FEI supports Component A’s goals of increasing and improving mentorship practices across Egypt; Component B’s financial and non-financial training goals; Component C’s value chain integration efforts; and the ICT Team’s work in creating the “SMEConnect” portal and mobile phone applications. The long-term hope of this intervention is that a single platform and process will be created, composed of every relevant authority including FEI, Industry Development Authority (IDA), the Egyptian Organization for Standards & Quality (EOS), and the Government Authority for Government Services, to ease the process for MSMEs to receive public procurement certifications and information. Components B, C, Marketing, and ICT attended the Law 5 Technical Secretariat Committee meetings and provided guidance on further mapping SEED’s interventions with FEI.

KEY COMPONENT A ACTIVITIES PLANNED FOR THE NEXT REPORTING PERIOD

• Develop 3 advocacy training modules each for Component B and Component C, to address evidence based policy reform and public-private dialogues;

• Deliver advocacy trainings to relevant private and public entities; • Finalize the FEI intervention roadmap and begin implementation; • Finalize the marketing outreach campaign for SEEDs key partners; • Provide ERRADA with consultants to support their mandate of governance and institutional capacity

building; • Continue to conduct meetings with key identified private and public entities, and establish a

collaboration framework; and • Coordinate with the WISE Project to identify areas of collaboration in regard to MSME regulatory

management and enabling business environment.

http://www.eos.org.eg/en


LESSONS LEARNED FOR COMPONENTS FUTURE IMPLEMENTATION • Ensure activities are complementing and collaborating across components, to ensure sustainability

and efficacy; • Accelerate the decision making process and ensure partners receive timely and unified responses to

implementation questions and concerns; and • Coordinate with other international donors to ensure activities are not repeated or provide

conflicting information across commonly targeted areas of intervention.

5.2 COMMUNICATION AND MARKETING

5.2.1 KEY ACTIVITIES ACCOMPLISHED

During Quarter 1, Communications focused on providing support to all Component and Cross Cutting Teams in delivering successful events that met Project deliverables and end results. Thanks to the Communications Team’s support, several events achieved high visibility, further supporting SEED’s goal of stakeholder engagement. The Communications Team supported events throughout Egypt, including Cairo, Upper Egypt and Delta, and received Communications support from the planning phase to the final field implementation and follow-up. Branding & Visibility Support: The Communications Team provided branding support to all the events conducted by USAID’s SEED Project, in cooperation with other partners, so as to make sure the BIM plan was adhered to. This included follow-up and managing the design and implementation of all the related visibility materials, inclusive of backdrop banners, rollups, folders, fact sheets, and all related info kits. In this regard the Communications Team provided support to a number of events, including:

• Global Entrepreneurship Week Opening in Cairo Nov 14th, (250 USAID’s SEED factsheets and USAID’s TIPE and Country Profile factsheets were distributed);

• Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Gouna Nov 18th, (300 copies of USAID’s SEED folders including SEED factsheets, USAID’s TIPE, Country Profile and Gender Report were distributed);

• Alexandria Business Women Association 8th Conference in Alexandria Nov 19th, (250 SEED factsheets, USAID’s TIPE, Country Profile and Gender Report were distributed);

• CSR Strategy Planning Conference Jan 18th (200 SEED factsheets, USAID’s TIPE, Country Profile and Gender Report were distributed); and

• Mothers & Kids Exhibition Jan 20th- 22nd. USAID’s SEED Project’s Website: Communications is closely coordinating with the ICT Manager to provide all due support to the design of the USAID SEED website. The developer has finished primary site design, which will now be sent to the DOC office for clearance. To ensure USAID approval, Communications provided photos and visibility materials for the pilot phase. Meanwhile, Communications is responsible for updating the database and supporting the process of DOC-approved photo selection and videos, for immediate uploading and website population, once the website is fully approved. Preparations for the SEED Grant Proposal Writing Workshop: The Communications Team ensured that all invitations, technical documents, and visibility materials for the February 1, 2017 event are BIM-conformant. Also Communications, provided sessions on Branding and Marking for the participants so as to provide further guidance for core effective proposal writing for the anticipated grantees.




Website Content Plan Visibility products, photos, stories and calendars to be published online. Cooperate in this regard with ICT and Marketing Managers

Cairo

February 1 – April 30, 2017

Provide and Update Events Calendars

This is an ongoing task including professional coordination with both SEED team and USAID DOC

Cairo


Events Management Continue providing all necessary support towards conducting all the project’s events.

Various Locations



• The Project experienced significant challenges in staffing events and providing support across Components. The Communications Team has worked with the Human Resource Manager to author SOW for Writer/ Editor, Logistics Assistant, and Communications Officer positions, to better provide personnel support to the Team.

• Communications learned the importance of event planning with a focus on post-event follow up. To better provide success stories following activities and interventions, the Communications Team will focus on interviewing participants while activities are being implemented, to better establish a baseline story to follow throughout Project implementation.

5.3 INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

USAID SEED’s Project is working closely with each of the Project Component Teams to use ICT tools and techniques to strengthen the business ecosystem and expand the Project’s reach to disadvantaged areas. As a Cross Cutting Team, the Information and Communication Technology staff continue to support Project-wide interventions. Component A USAID SEED’s Project is currently working with ASRT to establish an ICT Platform which will connect TTOs to each other and the international ecosystem. With around 34 offices spread across Egypt, and often present in public and/or private universities, SEEDs assistance in collaboration with ASRT through whom the TTOs are funded, will provide valuable communications streamlining to TTOs. Additionally, ASRT has proven to be a valuable partner in incubator capacity building. The Project is also planning to establish an ICT Platform for MTI, to connect all departments within the Ministry including, but not limited to, the Industrial Council for Technology & Innovation(ICTI), IMC, and ENPPC. The ICT Team and Component A anticipate this will be a mega-project for SEED in the later parts of Year 2 and into Year 3. Component B USAID SEED is ensuring that each supported OSS is fully automated using an integrated ICT solution. The Project is hiring two OSS ICT Advisors that will focus on implementing ICT solutions for each new


OSS and assist existing OSS to improve their ICT systems. During the life of the Project, SEED is committed to providing support to 12 OSS, with technical support to include procurement of the center ICT equipment, implementation of the internal operational ICT system, enhancing and upgrading the current implemented ICT systems with the best available international standards, and further assistance that is still being developed. The Project, in collaboration with ERRADA, will design and develop an online legislation portal that serves as an online referencing service for legislations affecting MSMEs. The online portal will provide legal information and studies for the MSMEs with integrated online services such as MSMEs e-services, financial indicators, and international studies. The establishment of this legislation portal will require implementing changes and upgrades to the ERRADA core database and internal system, which will be accomplished under the scope of the legislation portal activities. USAID SEED will support ENCC in enhancing and upgrading its website by utilizing new web development technologies and techniques. The Project is hiring a senior web developer to work with ENCCs team in achieving this objective. The new version of the ENCC website will include a different set of modules/features, such as website banner, dynamic menu, about us section, management team section, news and events, media room, and photo gallery in addition to supporting the bilingual content for all developed modules/features.

Component C ICT expertise will also be vital in the improvement of MSME’s access to market information, especially in the strengthening existing or establishment of new market information systems (MIS). In the coming Quarters, ICT will support MIS development by facilitating data collection, providing assistance in the procurement of ICT services, and training staff on managing data. Such support will help MSMEs take advantage of value chain opportunities and will play an essential role in connecting large buyers with MSME suppliers. Specific to the RMG value chain, the Project has already identified two existing MIS which SEED will provide technical assistance to. El Shabandar is an online MIS system requiring SEED assistance in establishing an online directory of MSMEs working in the RMG value chain. In addition, El Shabandar has an online B2B platform, eShop portal, and Yarn stock that are being considered for support. USAID SEED will hire a web developer, user interface designer, and graphics designer to support the El Shahbandar MIS platform.

5.3.1 KEY ACTIVITIES ACCOMPLISHED • Installation and configuration of SEED office main Server in addition to internal data storage; • Began implementation of the ICT technical support for El Shahbandar online platform; • Hired senior web developer to support the ENCC website; • Draft SOWs for ICT support to ERRADA, to establish an MSME unit and develop the MSMEs online

legislation portal; • Provided ongoing ICT technical support to the SEED staff; • Maintained and enhanced the SEED office’s ICT infrastructure; • Disseminated the SEED documentary videos on the SEED YouTube Channel; and • Continued work in providing the ICT consultations for Components and Cross Cutting Teams.

5.3.2 KEY ACTIVITIES PLANNED FOR THE NEXT REPORTING PERIOD • Manage the ICT technical implementation of the SEED ICT platform; • Explore potential ICT support to FEI to establish an online portal (April 2017);


• Explore potential ICT support to ERRADA for establishment of an MSME unit while developing the MSME Database (March - April 2017);

• Explore potential ICT support for ENCC to enhance their existing website (February 2017); • Explore potential ICT platform to connect TTOs (March 2017); • Explore potential ICT Platform for the MTI (April 2017); • Explore potential ICT support for CGC to develop the internal ICT policy and procedure manual; • Explore potential ICT support for CGC to procure and implement internal operational ICT systems; • Provide ICT support for Bashair MIS system (April 2017); • Work on implementing the ICT renovation of the new SEED office space expansion (March 2017); • Procure additional laptops and software licenses for the anticipated increase of SEED staff (February

– March 2017); • Procure additional heavy-duty multi-function copier/printer for the new SEED office space, following

expansion (February – March 2017); • Procure two heavy-duty Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) ta devices for the office copiers

(February – March 2017); • Obtain approval from USAID and launch the SEED YouTube Channel; and • Continue to work closely with both the Components and Cross Cutting Teams in identifying

potential area where the SEED ICT department can support technical interventions.

5.3.3 LESSON LEARNED FOR FUTURE IMPLEMENTATION

The ICT team struggled during this Quarter to replace the recently procured 10 laptops. After inspecting the delivered laptops, the team noticed that all the laptops have manufacturer defects. Laptops had to be returned and re-delivered twice, following vendor failure to inspect laptops prior to delivery. The Project decided to request that the vendor deliver the 10 laptops from a different brand. The Team learned that an extremely careful inspection is required prior to accepting delivery for vendors, as well as procurement regulations governing changes to IT equipment found to be defective.

5.4 DEVELOPMENT OF THE SEED ICT PLATFORM

Overview of Platform and Mobile Apps USAID SEED is developing an ICT Platform that will consolidate many of the ICT-related activities across the three components into one platform, where entrepreneurs and MSMEs across the ecosystem can go to obtain relevant information and resources. It will help entrepreneurs, start-ups and MSMEs find the necessary information and tools in order to develop their ideas, start a business, or expand their current business. It is, conceptually, an internet portal with a number of components/features that reflect USAID SEED’s efforts in the business eco-system and can provide a sustainable tool that will assist entrepreneurs and MSMEs after the Project ends. In order to understand the requirements of the platform, a market assessment survey of SMEs and existing websites used by the business community is being performed. The market assessment will look at the following: • The requirements of a focus group of 722 MSMEs using a market survey questionnaire; • Similar internet portals that provide support services to entrepreneurs or MSMEs; and • Organizations that can potentially take over hosting and managing of the ICT Platform when the

Project has ended.

Sustainability of ICT Platform One of the deliverables of the market assessment is to identify possible entities that are capable of taking over the ICT Platform when the Project has concluded. The Project is currently considering


public sector, private sector, or NGOs to host the platform. There have been several talks with Microsoft, as they are in the process of developing a similar platform, in order to create a partnership, which would lead to the sustainability of the Platform, however, the talks have been inconclusive. The ICT Platform will be designed with sustainability in mind. Some options that are being considered to generate revenue to support the platform include:

• Subscriptions by users and beneficiaries of the platform; • Advertisements; • Sponsorships; and • Donations.

Mobile Applications While the market survey is being conducted and analyzed, a number of mobile applications tools are being designed to provide specific services to the eco-system. Essentially, all tools will be integrated into the final ICT Platform, however, they will be designed as Mobile Applications, in which each application serves one tool, to facilitate access in disadvantages areas where computer access is limited. The current Mobile Applications that are being designed are:

• BDS Provider Directory: A comprehensive directory of all reputable BDS Providers, serving a number of different business sectors, who are able to provide a variety of non-financial services to MSMEs. ICT has also worked with Component B to develop a SOW for a consultant to work with SEED on developing a database for BDS financial services. The directory will allow users to find information about BDS Providers that work in their area. The application also provides a rating system to allow users to rate BDS providers.

• Incubator Directory: Similar to the BDS provider directory, this Application will provide information regarding Business Incubators and Accelerators.

Mobile Applications Development Strategy As demonstrated previously, each Mobile Application is considered a feature in the ICT Platform. Hence, the technology architecture for both ICT Platform and Mobile Applications has to be defined in order to have a fully integrated system. In order to develop the Mobile Applications, SEED had 3 options:

• STTA (Short Term Technical Assistance), where SEED would hire a professional developer for a set period of time in order to develop the Mobile Applications;

• Public Tender, where SEED would advertise the requirements for Mobile Applications, receive bids from software development companies, and perform vendor selection; and

• Business Plan style competition event, where SEED would organize a competition between software development companies across a number of weekends, in order to reach the final product.

A decision was made to go through with the public tender, due to time, cost, and quality considerations. As of February 2017, detailed requirement documents for both Mobile Applications are being finalized, while the Purchase Order for the public tender is being processed.

VI. MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATIVE ISSUES

6.1 PERSONNEL

During this Quarter, SEED welcomed ten new staff members. Their titles and positions are as follows: • Basma Ghanem, Senior Business Development Advisor; • Christine Sedky, Entrepreneurship Skills Development Senior Advisor; • Iman El-lbyary, M&E Advisor; • Nevine Dakroury, Component B Team Leader;


• Omar Rabie, Incubator Advisor; • Sherine Abdel Salam, Academic & Government Technical Advisor; • Abdel Nabi Qorany, Driver • Mahmoud Ibrahim, Driver • Mohamed Anwar, Driver; and • Dina Ali, Receptionist (begins March 5). In addition, SEED’s Human Resource Manager was able to identify and onboard a significant amount of local and international consultants, including:

• Fady Nessim, an experienced website graphics designer, designed a modern, user website for USAID SEED that is platform-independent and adapted for different operating systems and devices, including mobile devices.

• Ahmed Hassan helped redesign ENCC’s website by adding new features and functions, fixing existing bugs, and developed a new, more stable version of the website.

• Dr. Mohamed Erfan assisted senior management and the board of ENCC to develop a dynamic strategy and three-year business plan.

• Malcolm Toland completed the first phase of an assignment to train SMEs on evidence-based policy reform and advocacy. He will perform the second phase during the second Quarter.

• Leslie Fox completed the first phase of his assignment to assist FEI to develop a strategic plan. In April he will return to Cairo to finalize and deliver a 3 Year Strategic Plan to FEI’s CSR Unit. In April, he will develop the final strategic planning for FEI CSR Unit and survey analysis with lessons learned.

Additional STTA has been recruited to undertake assignments in the Quarter 2 in gender-focused BDS capacity building, establishing BDS Centers, Strategic Planning with GAFI, creating or improving incubators. This is addition to other LTTAS and STTAs that are currently and will be hired through FinBi and Segura. Current consultants and long-term personnel being recruited through FinBi include:

• Dr. Mostafa Tammam, an experience consultant to develop FSI Strategic Planning; • Mr. Mostafa El Sayed, and OSS IT capacity building Senior Advisor for Tamayouz and other OSS

centers who will contribute directly and indirectly to materially improving and/or replicating 12 OSS centers as mandated by the project;

• Mr. Mohsen Ismail, a consultant who will develop a database/directory of financial products offered to MSMEs;

• Ms. Ghada Kabesh, an experienced consultant to conduct Marketing Workshops; and • Dr. Hassan El Gogary, a very strong candidate to fill the position of OSS Government Relations. Because of Egypt’s economic environment, the country has seen a serious spike in inflation. As a result, AECOM requested a market adjustment to all staff salaries to begin compensating for large price increases. The market adjustment was to compensate for the inflation that occurred through the first half of the year. The Project’s Staffing Plan was updated to include this increase, however, in November the GOE floated its currency, which resulted in a significant devaluation of the Egyptian pound. As a result, all expenses paid in Egyptian pounds were drastically reduced. This had a significant negative impact on Project staff. AECOM is prepared to request a further market adjustment once USAID updates its Local Compensation Plan to account for the devaluation. In addition, all Project expenses paid in Egyptian pounds now cost 50-60% less. This is providing the Project an opportunity to increase the number of staff it hires. A new Staffing Plan that includes the revised organizational chart will be submitted to USAID for approval at the beginning of Quarter 2. The Project has begun recruiting for these new positions in order to move quickly with hiring once the revised Staffing Plan has been approved.


6.2 OPERATIONS

In Year 2 Quarter 1, field and home office project teams have worked together to facilitate several operational processes. Most notably, the Project has officially received, registered, and licensed the three project vehicles for use, after a lengthy shipment and customs clearance process. The vehicles were procured following USAID clearance in Year 1, and were purchased and shipped in strict accordance with USAID and AECOM regulations. In addition, the project has initiated a significant long and short term staff recruitment process. This has necessitated the procurement of additional office space. In the previous Quarter, SEED has reviewed and agreed upon a lease extension, which will be finalized following landlord customization of office space, and will be signed in Quarter 2.

VII. MONITORING AND EVALUATION

7.1 DEVELOPMENT AND SUBMISSION OF THE SEED M&E PLAN

KEY ACTIVITIES ACCOMPLISHED

In the previous Quarter, the Project’s Component Teams worked closely with the M&E Team to record and document the progress of indicators, performance standards, and expected outcomes of individual sub-results and tasks, by combining both qualitative and quantitative methods. The M&E Team does have a core methodology, as described in both the M&E Plan and Year 2 Work Plan, however, over the course of the previous Quarter, the M&E Team found that combining the qualitative and quantitative data, while using customized data gathering tools (eg analysis reports and monthly indicator updates), produced a more holistic picture of programmatic progress and impact, rather than using the methodology established in the M&E Plan alone. One example of customization was the pre and post- assessment tests administered to intervention participants, and tailored by the M&E Team, in coordination with the Component Teams, to incorporate technical questions specific to particular trainings. The central data gathering methods used in Y2 Q1 included:

• Preparation: The M&E Team engaged with all Component and Cross Cutting Teams, during the activity preparation stage, to agree upon individualized M&E frameworks for implementation during and after activity implementation.

• Data Collection: To avoid delays in information gathering, or reticence to share information on the part of the partners, the M&E Team designed follow-up sheets and trackers in cooperation with intermediary organizations, and assessed/ explained exactly what information needed to be collected with each organization, thereby ensuring maximum data collection.

• Verification of Data: To ensure that all data gathered was accurate; the M&E Team revised data gathered verbally against hard copy information, such as original participant lists, activity evaluations, and survey forms, while conducting field visits to partner organizations for in-person data verification.

• Analysis: The M&E Team formatted the post verification analysis of data into reports tailored and shared with each Component and Cross Cutting team, as well as technical consultants when necessary.

During Y2 Q1, in addition to diversifying data gathering methods, the M&E Team completed several important updates, visits, and data analyses, all while continuing to work on the customary M&E functions. As alluded to previously, the M&E Team updated the M&E plan to include achievements of Year 1, as well as updates of the projected targets for Year 2 and 3, to reflect updates from Year 1 achievements and outstanding performance standards/ indicators. The Team also modified measurements for specific indicators, such as 2.2.1, based on close coordination with the Data Quality Assessment (DQA) department within USAID. The most notable example of coordination was achieved during a two-day workshop, during which the DQA reviewed USAID’s SEED Project indicators and


methodologies, to ensure high quality data collection, and to review collection methods. The DQA report resulted in assurances that the Project complies with USAID’s high data quality standards, while suggesting a change of methodology in collecting data under indicator 2.2.1, which measures the number of clients benefiting from financial services provided through USG assisted financial intermediaries, including non-financial institutions or actors. One example of this was setting a specific timeframe of one year during which to measure impacts through intermediary organizations following interventions, in order to gather realistic numbers of clients served through intermediaries, rather than the initial practice of measuring results by counting all recipients of loans from loan officers who received SEED training at the Capacity Building Workshop. This provides for more accurate data, to assure that all information gathered is directly related to SEED interventions, and not exogenous factors or interventions. Updates based on the DQA meetings were sent to the Contracts Office Representative (COR), Ms. Ingi Lofti, and subsequently approved. The M&E Team also conducted a results monitoring training for the 3 selected Pilot Incubators, with special focus on training the incubators on how to properly collect SEED relevant indicators and tools. The M&E Team delivered information on the SEED specific data gathering methods, such as providing one excel sheet template for Incubator use, to standardize data gathering methods across all incubators, for easier and more systematized data gathering and analysis against SEED specific indicators and performance measurements. Additionally, during this Quarter, the M&E Team developed a technical survey for the Technology Transfer Offices, to assess their major operational and technical challenges in transferring technology to local markets. Assessment results will be shared among all TTO offices, as well as ASRT management, to identify gaps in management approach and research challenges related to entrepreneurship. A detailed M&E needs assessment was carried out for Giza Systems Education Foundation, which will be hosting their first CSR initiative in Cooperation with SEED Component Teams. The CSR initiative will result in supporting the organization in establishing an M&E unit of their own. SEED has published a SOW to assist the Component A and C Teams in working with Giza Systems set up said M&E unit. Support was provided from the M&E department, to the Component B Team, in selecting the BDS Providers SEED plans to work with, in addition to agreeing on what is considered BDS and what is not, by developing selection criteria and assessment areas of BDS services. Finally, tools to capture data were developed for the first Component C Buyer’s Conference, for the Kids & Mothers Exhibition, to record progress and track revenue of conference participants. For more information on this particular event highlight, please reference the Success Stories Annex.

KEY ACTIVITIES PLANNED FOR THE NEXT REPORTING PERIOD

• The Team will continue developing customized registration and evaluation forms for all events and workshops, especially the TOT trainings provided to banking, financial and non-financial services;

• The SEED Project will continue identifying needs of Project components, intermediary organizations or partners, continue providing M&E technical assistance, and collect data on Key Performance Indicators (KPI) for organizations receiving SEED assistance;

• The M&E team has completed a SOW and began recruitment of a consultant, to assist with the process of designing the assessment tools for the replicated incubators, provide support in actually completing said assessments of selected incubators, and mapping capacities of incubators to meet client needs;


• The M&E Team will support the Grants Department in developing the M&E scheme for the Proposal Writing Workshop for potential grantees, and develop report formats for the grantees to follow, in order to keep SEED data up to data on grant recipient implementation and results; and

• The M&E Team has publicized a SOW for an additional Monitoring and Evaluation Advisor, to support the department in following up on activities, collecting data, analysis, and periodical reports.

LESSON LEARNED FOR FUTURE IMPLEMENTATION

One of the greatest challenges identified by the M&E Team during Year 1 was the need to unify understanding among SEED staff, intermediary organizations, and partners of the necessity of timely and targeted data collection following all SEED interventions. To mitigate improper or poor data collection, the M&E Team developed the following approached to mitigate challenges associated with poor data collection, including: • The M&E Team held ongoing and in depth regular monthly meetings with SEED’s Technical Teams, to

follow up on progress and address data collection delays; • Emphasis was placed on holding collaborative meetings with partners to properly explain data needs

and avoid delays in reporting, as well as keep communication channels open, especially with organizations such as Injaz and CEOSS; and

• The Team responded quickly to ad hoc requests for technical assistance meetings with all SEED staff and partner organizations.


7.2 PERFORMANCE MEASURMENTS SEED Performance Measurement Achievements in Year 2 Quarter 1

Performance Standard Delivery Measurement

SEED Life of Project

Year I Achieved

Year 2 Year 2 Quarter1 Q2

Target Q3

Target Q4

Target Comments Total Target Planned Achieved

Result A1: Stimulated Entrepreneurship Among Women and Youth Women and youth entrepreneurship networks established and strengthened to coordinate the efforts of existing women and youth organizations in Egypt

Workshops

17 3 7 3 3 3 0 1

Networks

2 0 1 0 0 0 0 1

New entrepreneurship and financial literacy program delivered in high schools across Egypt

High Schools 15 0 10 0 0 0 0 10

University entrepreneurship program designed and implemented

Certificate Program Piloted

1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0

University Certificates Developed

8 0 2 0 0 0 0 2

Outreach campaign to raise awareness of available services and programs for female and youth entrepreneurs

Business Plans 9 2 4 0 0 2 1 1 Startup Weekends 6 2 2 1 1 0 0 1

Career Fairs 3 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 Result A2: Improved Availability and Accessibility of Entrepreneurship Services, with Focus on Business Incubators and Accelerators

Incubators strengthened and managed according to international best practices

Workshops 6 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 100% target completed

Pilot Incubators 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 100% target completed

Study Tour 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Incubator Replicated 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 3

Training Modules Designed

4 0 2 0 0 2 0 0




Year I Achieved


Target Q3

Target Q4


Entrepreneurship services to disadvantaged population

Mobile Phone Training Modules Developed

2 0 1 0 0 0 1 0

InfoMatch Mobile Tool Development

1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Support incubators and accelerators with technology commercialization

Capacity Building Workshops Delivered to TTOs

6 0 3 3 3 0 0 0

Workshops delivered to TEIC

2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Build the capacity of MTISME to fulfill its expanded mandate

Workshops 6 0 3 0 0 2 1 0 Strategy 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1

Result B1: Improved Availability and Accessibility of Effective and Efficient BDS Increase and replicate Tamayouz centers/OSS through twining

Tamayouz Centers/OSS 12 0 8 0 0 0 4 4

Assist BDS in improving their services

Training Delivered to BDS Providers

6 2 2 1 1 0 1 0

Online BDS Directory 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0

New tools introduced for expanded BDS services to disadvantages areas

Mobile Technology Tools

3 0 1 0 0 2 0 0

Number of People with Additional Access to Services

3,000 0 1,000 0 0 0 0 1,000

Increase capacity among BDS providers and associations to advocate for policy change

Evidence-Based Policy Module Designed

1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0

Public Private Dialogue 3 0 2 0 0 2 0 0




Year I Achieved


Target Q3

Target Q4


Result B2: Improved Availability and Accessibility of Financial Products and Services

Facilitate loan grantee agreement through CGC

Loan Guarantee MOU

1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 100% target completed

Broker relationships between MSMEs and crowdfunding organizations, angel investment, and venture capital

Investment Linkage Forums 6 2 2 0 0 1 1 1

Increase financial literacy including capacity building to use financial products among MSMEs

TOT Sessions Delivered

10 1 5 3 3 1 1 0

Financial Literacy Modules


Financial Products Database

1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0

Build capacity of Egyptian regulators to respond to policy constraints

EFSA Workshops Delivered

4 0 2 0 0 1 1 0

Result C1: MSMEs Integrated into Larger Value Chains

Selection of value chains for MSME integration

Analysis 3 Value Chains (Minimum) Conducted


Market information system(s) strengthened to improve MSME access to information in selected value chains

Information Technology System Developed or Strengthened

3 0 2 0 0 0 0 2

Improved MSME understanding of market and opportunities for MSMEs in value chains

MSME Buyer Conferences Delivered

4 0 2 1 1 0 0 1




Year I Achieved


Target Q3

Target Q4


Sector/Industry Member Directory

1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0

Strengthen sector/industry associations on backward and Forward linkages

Training Sessions Delivered

5 1 3 2 2 0 1 0

CSR Initiatives launched to facilitate training for MSMEs and investment in equipment and software

Dollar Value 500,000 0 100,000 0 0 50,000 25,000 25,000

Increased GOE and industry capacity to respond to policy constraints

Modules Developed 3 0 3 0 0 3 0 0


7.3 INDICATORS

SEED Indicator Achievements in Year 2 Quarter 1

No. Indicator Year 1 Actual

Year 2 Year 3

planned Total

Target Q1 Planned

Q1 Actual

Q2 Planned

Q3 Planned

Q4 Planned

Total Planned

1 Number of persons receiving new employment or better employment (including better self-employment)

0 0 0 150 0 350 500 500 1000

2 Revenue growth in firms receiving USG assistance 0 0 0 0 0 10% 10% 20% 30%

3 Employment growth in firms receiving USG assistance 0 0 0 0 0 10% 10% 20% 30%

R1: Entrepreneurship Skills and Opportunities Expanded

1.1 Number of USG supported entrepreneurs who launch and grew their business models

50 0 0 500 0 500 1050 900 2000

1.2 Number of start-up enterprises supported that are able to introduce new products to market

11 0 0 19 0 20 39 50 100

1.3 Number of entrepreneurship events provided by USG assistance 7 6 4 6 6 5 23 20 50

1.4 Number of entrepreneurs attending events and programs provided through USG assistance

1066 400 532 500 534 500 1934 2000 5000

IR 1.1: Stimulated Entrepreneurship Among Women and Youth

1.1.1 Number of people accessing mentorship programs 321 379 160 450 300 450 1579 1100 3000

1.1.2 Proportion of female participants in USG assisted programs designed to increase access to productive economic resources

35% 35% 48% 36% 37% 38% 38% 40% 40%

IR1.2: Improved Availability and Accessibility of Entrepreneurship Services

1.2.1 Number of incubators established as a result of USG assistance 0 0 0 2 0 2 4 4 8

1.2.2 Number of entrepreneurs who benefitted from incubators established or assisted through USG activities

50 0 0 250 0 300 550 400 1000


No. Indicator Year 1 Actual

Year 2 Year 3

planned Total

Target Q1 Planned

Q1 Actual

Q2 Planned

Q3 Planned

Q4 Planned

Total Planned

R2: Financial and Non-Financial Services Expanded

2.1 Number of private sector firms that have improved management practices or technologies as a result of USG assistance

0 0 0 200 0 300 500 550 1050

2.2 Number of microenterprises supported by USG enterprise assistance 195 200 TBD 105 300 200 805 1000 2000

IR 2.1: Improved Availability and Accessibility of Effective and Efficient Business Development Services (BDS)

2.1.1 Number of new BDS Centers established as a result of USG assistance 0 0 0 4 0 4 8 10 18

2.1.2 Number of BDS providers that were offered USG assistance 3 1 1 2 2 2 7 10 20

2.1.3 Number of one stop shops (OSS) assisted and replicated through SEED activities 0 1 0 2 2 1 6 6 12

2.1.4 Number of enterprises and MSMEs accessing BDS services, firms and organizations supported by SEED

0 0 0 600 0 700 1300 1700 3000

2.1.5 Number of days required to formalize a business at Tamayouz Centers receiving USG support

0 0 0 0 0 4 4 4 4

IR2.2: Improved Availability and Accessibility of Financial Products and Services

2.2.1

Total number of clients benefiting from financial services provided through USG-assisted financial intermediaries, including non-financial institutions or actors.

1728 0 6981 1000 0 1000 2000 1272 5000

2.2.2 Number of MSMEs managers and entrepreneurs benefitting from the financial literacy programs

0 100 0 100 150 150 500 500 1000

IR3.1: Integrated MSMEs to Progressive Value Chain

3.1.1 Number of USG supported enterprises integrated with larger supply chains 0 10 20 20 20 20 70 80 150

3.1.2

Number of private sector/associations received training on CSR programs that facilitate MSMEs training and investment in equipment and software.

0 0 0 3 3 4 10 10 20


NAME OF BUSINESS

# OF ORDERS

NAME OF BUSINESS # OF

ORDERS Al- Kunaisi 30 VIVA 1960 10

Smarty 50 El-King 20 Miss Egypt 100 Egyptian Group 50

Luna 6 Elle 4 Lolite 20 Al-Sabbagh 10

HebaTex 20 Top Secret 20 Hedaya 40 Dream Kids 15 Reda 10 Dandasha 20

Rainbow 25 Rewaya Fashion 20 Rouge 15 Flower K 17

ANNEX 1. SUCCESS STORIES

EGYPT

SUCCESS STORY Cairo Kids & Mothers Conference Cairo International Convention Center, January 20 – 22, 2017

In cooperation with the Egyptian Chamber of Apparels and Home Textile (ECAHT), USAID’s SEED Project participated in the organization of the 59th Business to Business (B2B) Fashion Exhibition (SME Buyers’ Conference) which took place on Jan 20th through Jan 22, 2017. The 3-day exhibition was held at the Cairo International Con- vention Center (CICC), where over 130 Ready Made Garment (RMG) suppliers and manufacturers filled the 2,000 square meters’ space.

This year the annual exhibition specialized in readymade garments (RMG) for kids and mothers. The exhibition attracts Egyptian businesses as well prominent buyers from Arab and African countries. USAID’s SEED Project supported 20 SMEs in the RMG value chain to join this exhibition for the first time by covering 50% of the exhibition participation fees.

USAID SEED-supported SMEs were thrilled with the results. The SMEs reported receiving 502 orders from buyers (see table below) with an average order of 5,000 Egyptian Pounds, which totals approximately $125,000 in initial orders. More importantly, the buyer linkages that were created will lead to additional sales once these initial orders are successfully fulfilled.

USAID’s SEED Project’s intervention resulted in approximately 500 orders to the supported SMEs during the exhibition.

USAID’s SEED Project supported 50% of the participation fees for 20 SMEs in the Kids & Mothers Exhibition.

The exhibition was held at Cairo International Convention Center for 3 days.

The SEED assisted SMEs received almost 500 orders at the conference.

One of the SEED assisted SMEs during an order negotiation.

“SEED plans to follow-up closely with the supported SMEs to further enhance their capacities, promote access to different market opportunities to integrate in RMG Value Chain”.


EGYPT

SUCCESS STORY USAID SEED Snapshot: Innovation Technological Advancements at a Business Plan Competition

What is a Business Plan Competition? For USAID’s SEED Project, it is the opportunity for innovative Egyptian entrepreneurs to present their creative and unique designs. On October 14 – 16, 2016, SEED hosted one such Business Plan Competition in Mansoura. The event, focusing on the theme of “Idea to Project”, saw many inventive competitors present their ideas to a panel of industry experts. While many worthy ideas were presented, one pitch stood out among the competition: the Almohnds Mobile Application.

Taher Usri, entrepreneur, civil engineer, founder of Almohnds Company, and the patent owner of Almohnds Mobile Application was awarded the 1st Place Prize for innovation and pitching excellence at the Mansoura Business Plan Competition. Mr. Usri’s application, targeted at assisting anyone interested in construction projects, provides the information necessary to put together an accurate cost estimate for project design and implementation.

The application stood out among the competition because of its user friendly interface, and focus on assisting both those with an engineering background as well as laymen simply looking for assistance with their next construction project. The Almohnds Mobile Application’s accuracy in projecting quantity and relevant costs of materials makes it invaluable to those interested in renovations, construction, finishing, and interior design, while providing useful information on companies currently working in the fields of engineering and construction.

While Mr. Usri’s online base was initially around 9,000 users, following trainings and feedback provided at the Business Plan Competition, usage rose to 12,000 consumers. SEED is currently working on admitting the Almohnds Application to the AUC VLab Incubator, one of the Project’s strategic incubator partners, and a model in local best practices. At the moment, the Almohnds Company is in the final stages of admission into the next cycle, which begins in February 2017. In addition, Taher Usri will participate in the Boot Camp and Business Plan Competition of EBDA3 Incubator, to begin on February 5, 2017 and lasting 3 weeks. Mr. Usri will be competing for mentorship and full incubation, with the opportunity of receiving up to 150,000 EGP in financial support.

In addition to incubation support, SEED will continue supporting the Almohnds Company through future Project interventions and activities. USAID’s SEED Project looks forward to working with Mr. Taher Usri, and entrepreneurs just like him, throughout the remainder of the Project.

Business Plan Competition enables young innovator to present application design

Taher Usri, founder of the Almohnds Company, received a special recognition by HE Minister of Trade and Industry, Tareq Qabil, in addition to receiving a cash prize of 5,000 EGP from Steel tycoon Gamal El Garhy, following receipt of SEED’s 1st Place Competition Award.

“Anybody with interest in renovation, construction, interior design and finishing will find this app useful for easily establishing project cost estimates.” explained a judge, when asked why the Almohnds app was so innovative.


EGYPT

SUCCESS STORY USAID SEED Snapshot: Gender Inspiration at a Start-Up Weekend

On October 27 – 29, 2016, USAIDs SEED Project hosted the Alexandria Startup Weekend: Women’s Edition, in partnership with UN Women and the Arab Academy for Science Technology & Maritime Transport (AASTMT) at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina. The event’s goal was to encourage and inspire women to become leaders within Start-Up Teams, and to connect these women with a vast number of resources and mentors available within the start-up community. The event followed the usual startup model, but with one interesting twist: while all participants were welcome to pitch their startup idea and receive feedback from their peers, women led each team. The SEED team invited a wide range of women entrepreneurs to compete, who were moderated by a judge’s panel composed of many talented and successful female entrepreneurs from across Cairo and Alexandria. The result was an event attended by 123 aspiring entrepreneurs, 75% of which were female. 80 pitches were filtered to 19 teams introducing new startup ideas, and ended up with 3 winning teams, all of which were founded and led by women. One memorable participant, Ms. Yousra Abd El Fattah, came to the competition with a plan to market her handmade Nubian-influenced jewelry. After the event, Ms. El Fattah had the confidence to revise her business plan and was so inspired by the Weekend’s focus on women’s leadership, she created a pendant design with both the Arabic and Nubian words for girl, reflecting the power of this word in both her community, and her business design. A few weeks following the Start-up Weekend, SEED staff visited her at the El-Fustat market, where she was selling her new designs. Happily, Ms. El Fattah explained that she had already sold out of jewelry for the day. In addition, she has begun selling her products online, through her Rknayh De-sign page. SEED looks forward to further follow up with Ms. El-Fattah, and USAID SEED event participants just like her.

Startup Weekends enable women-led SMEs to grow their business.

“While my team may have ultimately decided to pursue different Start-Up approaches, the Competition’s focus on women-centered leadership created a safe environment to learn in.” Yousra explained when asked what she learned from the Competition.

Yousra abd el fattah, owner of the rknayh design startup, and participant in the alexandria startup weekend: women’s edition, selling the jewelry designs she created during the eventaward.


U.S. Agency for International Development | Egypt

www.usaid.gov

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