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An erstwhile colleague of ours journeyed to Cairo, Egypt, and wrote a blog post about a meeting he had. One day we hope to do a “Catalyst in the Mideast” trip (any volunteers?), to go with our other “Catalyst in….” trips, but we decided to publish this one-off piece by Charles Kaye.

On a trip to Cairo this summer, I met a luminary of social entrepreneurship in the Arab world and beyond. At the second attempt, I thankfully remembered my passport.

An extraordinarily driven person, Raghda El-Ebrashi, was awarded the United Nations prize for Social Entrepreneurship in Egypt 2007. In the same year, she visited London to receive the “35 Under 35” award, set up by the World Business magazine, London, and the Shell Corporation. She was amongst 35 women from all corners of the globe, all under 35, who champion social business and impact through entrepreneurship. She has now won a string of awards, which appear not to interest her a great deal.

Coming from a well-heeled family, she started her vocation in the domain of community development at a young age. At just 24 (25) years of age, she teaches (Strategic) Management at the German University in Cairo while working on a PhD in social entrepreneurship. Driven by piety and zeal, she runs a social enterprise, Alashanek ya Balady Association for Sustainable Development (www.ayb-sd.org).

Alashanek ya Balady aims to develop the talents of young Egyptians through societal and environmental projects. The diversity of social offerings struck me straight away. The organization runs a host of ambitious community development programmes in impoverished areas, from the provision of micro-credit, to assisting poor youths in seeking work and helping children’s’ artistic talents to flower.

A social entrepreneur in a country where, by her own admission, the concept of social entrepreneurship is scarcely understood, let alone supported. She somewhat forlornly informs me that the government ministry responsible for the regulation of social businesses and enterprises, the rather quaintly named “Ministry for Social Solidarity”, does not legally recognize that entities with a social mission may make revenue. I begin to appreciate that governments across the region, and the world, can really facilitate the social value creation process by accepting the notion of blended value: “the idea that the value generated by any organization (both for-profit and non-profit) is financial, social and environmental and that these three constituents of value are indivisible from one another.” ( from www.socialinvestments.com).

At one point in our discussion, I ask about what many Egyptians and she make of climate change-related global threats. She is almost nonplussed, shrugs: the people she works with have far more urgent matters to worry about. At that moment, I begin to appreciate that the construction of a sustainable global society requires that those at the top of the so-called pyramid properly assume their responsibilities. Sustainable development is about so much more than grand emission reduction targets.

In spite of the lack of governmental and other sources of encouragement and assistance, El-Ebrashi has such a clear sense of purpose: she to wants to assist poor Egyptians to develop their own country. As she puts it: “The government and most Egyptians do not appreciate the human potential that is locked down by poverty.” She proudly informs me that Alashanek Ya Balady means “For You My (beloved) Country”.

Charles Kaye

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