( Photo from El Mashrou3 )
El Mashrou3 is Egypt’s very first reality TV programme for and about young entrepreneurs. The show aired on Al Nahar, one of Egypt’s top television networks in December 2013, El Mashrou3 is a televised contest that combines the high drama and popularity of Reality TV with educational content to create “edutainment”.
The main goal of El Mashrou3 is to inspire Egyptians from all socio-economic classes and across different sectors, to take initiative and launch their own dream ‘Mashrou3’. The idea of owning one’s own Mashrou3 as a way to create self-employment and jobs is gaining traction across the globe as new technology and the internet give easier access to information, customers and help and mentoring from the entrepreneurship community.
El Mashrou3 tells the inspiring stories of 14 young Egyptian entrepreneurs who have started on this journey. The contestants and the projects are diverse; ranging from a Bedou from Arish who is setting up an olive press, an Alexandrian who has an e-learning platform, to a young man who sells T-shirts on Talaat Harb and wants to start his own clothing factory.
Throughout the series, all the contestants have their entrepreneurial abilities put to the test and developed through a series of intense challenges so that viewers learn what it takes to launch a successful business. In each episode a panel of distinguished judges and guests with industry expertise evaluate their performance and cast their votes, including Fatma Ghaly, Managing Director of Azza Fahmy, Wael Fakrany, CEO of Google Egypt, and Hany Sonbati, Managing Director of Sawari Ventures. Each episode also features a surprise visit from a celebrity including Nelly Karim, Dalia Al Beheiry, and Khaled Aboul Naga and along the way, the public will get to know the contestants and vote for their favorite Mashrou3s.
More than just a TV show, El Mashrou3 is part of a multi-channel campaign to empower and connect a new generation of entrepreneurs to each other and to the tools and resources that can help them launch their own Mashrou3. In addition, El Mashrou3’s Outreach Movement includes more than 40 on-the-ground partner organisations that support entrepreneurs with mentorship, finance, training, technology and other tools to help catapult the viewers’ projects from a dream to reality.
“It has taken 18 months of hard work and we are so excited to now share the final product with Egypt. We hope the show will encourage thousands more aspiring entrepreneurs to start new projects and more importantly, to realise their potential,” said Marwa Moaz, Managing Director of El Mashrou3 LLC. “Our vision is to support the entire entrepreneurship ecosystem by connecting a large audience to quality resources and tools.”
El Mashrou3 is sponsored by Samsung and Silatech and supported by USAid, Google, Volkswagen and a wide network of ecosystem partners including Injaaz, Ashoka, Mercycorps Egypt, Microsoft, and Endeavor.
“Our hope is that viewers will be inspired to connect to our partners and realize that they too, can launch successful mashrou3s, which is what Egypt desperately needs right now. More people tackling problems and finding opportunities through solving them” said Omneya Nabil, Business Development and Communications Director for El Mashrou3, “El Mashrou3 is about the power of entrepreneurship as a catalyst for positive change.”
