TUI Futureshapers North Africa
TUI Futureshapers North Africa nurtures innovative projects in tourism by training, connecting and funding entrepreneurs in Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco. It equips current or potential business founders with the necessary skills, knowledge, and networks to enable them to develop businesses that create jobs. Contributing to a more sustainable and equitable future for the region, the project enhances peer-to-peer learning and network creation.
Youth unemployment in Egypt is generally high, sitting at around 23%. But due to the scarcity of employment opportunities in the market, entrepreneurship has become a growing trend amongst young people, allowing them to take charge of creating their own job opportunities. However, the mismatch between the availability and quality of education on the topic and systemic tools to empower entrepreneurship is an obstacle to the sustainable growth in jobs in this area. In addition to this fundamental issue, there are strong demographic and regional disparities in terms of access to opportunity. Systematically disadvantaged groups, such as women, people with disabilities, refugees and communities in remote or rural areas, are therefore a priority for support.
TUI Futureshapers North Africa, a partnership with enpact Stiftung, provides entrepreneurs in the region with the knowledge and tools to generate jobs in the tourism industry. The programme is divided into four pillars which address different phases of development for businesses.
The first phase is ideation. Two-day ideation marathons for 100 participants create awareness around entrepreneurship as well as networking opportunities.
The second phase is a pre-incubator, which is a two-month programme for 50 people and combines training and mentoring with demo day events, where participants can pitch and present their business concepts.
The incubator phase of the programme will reward eight teams of up to three participants each with monthly financial support and a free workplace at enpact’s Startup House in Cairo, as well as further mentoring and training to support them in the transformation of their idea into a business.
The final phase of TUI Futureshapers North Africa is the accelerator programme, a support component for 10 startup founders from Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco. These entrepreneurs have access to three months of mentoring, expert training and roundtable events as well as guaranteed participation in two, one-week startup camps in Egypt. These are designed as forums to come together and network, brainstorm, learn and overcome obstacles for the respective businesses.
In total, TUI Futureshapers North Africa provides over 180 people with access to technical support and supports 170 livelihoods. The 20 events organised through the programme bring together around 1000 people interested in the topic of entrepreneurship.
Project Partner
enpact is a non-profit organisation working with entrepreneurs and supporting organisations across all development stages. Its approach is designed to facilitate quick and efficient access to the crucial resources needed for the sustainable growth of any business: financial support, training, mentoring and network development. All projects of the foundation are founded on peer-to-peer knowledge exchange, connecting resources across ecosystems, and building global communities that support entrepreneurial activity.
