INJAZ Al-Arab celebrates leaders of tomorrow at 16th YEC
DUBAI, UAE, Nov 7: INJAZ Al-Arab, a member of Junior Achievement (JA) Worldwide, the world’s largest non-profit business education organization, celebrated the 16th edition of the Young Entrepreneurship Celebration (YEC) at the InterContinental Dubai Festival City.
The celebration, which marked a return to in-person events following two years of virtual programming, was held in partnership with the Federal Youth Authority, and celebrated the achievements of students who participated and won the National Company Program Competition in their respective countries.
The competition saw 80 students, from across 12 countries, compete for awards following a rigorous period of mentorship and programming. This year’s teams were mentored by industry experts from across Boeing, FedEx, Mastercard, Investcorp,the Project Management Institute and Citi Foundation, exploring in depth skills sessions across design thinking, innovation, growth and development, customer service and business strategy, and deepening their understanding on a wide spectrum of business concepts.
Following the judging process, the coveted ‘Company of the Year’ university prize was awarded to Homey from INJAZ Qatar, Homey is an application that connects the home business owners with the customers who want to buy from these home-based businesses. To save people’s time, money, and effort, Homey brings all the home businesses (i.e., food, cloth, jewellery, embroidery) under one platform to provide their services to customers who wants to buy them.
Connections
The high school edition of the prize was awarded to Join Me from INJAZ UAE, Join Me is a safe digital female community that introduces females to a diverse world of connections with other females of similar interests (Joinists) in which they share ideas and social activities that encourage them to advance their career, build a personal brand and have a voice while forming connections with other Joinists.
Commenting on the event, Akef Aqrabawi, President & CEO, INJAZ Al Arab, said: “Year after year, we continue to see incredible innovation and creativity driven by today’s youth, and this year’s participants are no exception. We are proud to be celebrating the 2022 winners of the INJAZ Al-Arab Young Entrepreneurs Competition, and to witness the continued impact of our programmes in empowering our future. Thank you to our students, volunteers, partners, and judges for yet another successful edition of the Young Entrepreneurs Competition, and we look forward to what’s to come as we work together for the future of our youth and the region.”
Additional awards included the ‘Product of the Year’, which was awarded to Redacom from INJAZ Morocco within the university track, while Salamtek from INJAZ Bahrain won the high school edition. 2022’s ‘Best Social Impact’ award went to the university track’s Caftech from INJAZ Bahrain, and high school track’s Artemis from INJAZ Oman.
Join Me from INJAZ UAE won the ‘FedEx Global Possibilities’ Award. The evening also saw Homey from INJAZ Qatar take home the ‘Investcorp Value Creation’ Award, while Artemis from INJAZ Oman were awarded the ‘Citi Client Focus’ Award for the Highschool edition and Caftech from INJAZ Bahrain won the university edition for ‘Citi Client Focus’ Award.
The ‘Mastercard Excellence in Technology’ Award was won by Afkary from INJAZ Egypt, the ‘Boeing Business Challenge’ Award was given to “Go for Fit” from INJAZ Qatar. PMI ‘Project Management Award’ went to Afkary from INJAZ Egypt for the high school track and Caftech from Bahrain for the University track.
Partnership
Launched in 2007, the INJAZ Al-Arab Youth Entrepreneurship Celebration is the culmination of six months of rigorous experiential learning and application for students across the MENA region who have won the internationally acclaimed INJAZ National Company Program. In partnership with the companies behind the awards, and with the support of thousands of volunteers, INJAZ Al-Arab has continued to drive an impactful program that sees many student companies evolve into some of the region’s most promising youthled start-ups.
Operating in 13 countries across the Middle East and North Africa, INJAZ Al-Arab is the only non-profit organization in the region that harnesses the mentorship of business leaders to help inspire a culture of entrepreneurship and business innovation among Arab youth.
Partnering with leading companies in the private sector, INJAZ Al-Arab equips Arab youth to drive the economies of the Arab World forward through training designed to inspire them to develop ambition, entrepreneurship, and professional skills.Named one of the top 100 NGOs in the world by NGO Advisor for six consecutive years INJAZ Al-Arab has influenced the lives of over 5 million students since its inception in 2004.
INJAZ Al-Arab is a member of Junior Achievement; the world’s largest and fastest-growing youth business organization dedicated to educating students about workforce readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy through experiential, hands-on programs.