Business Oriented TV Show in Sudan Aims to Empower Youth Entrepreneurship

[Henry B Fuller]

Khartoum (September 05, 2021) - The Young Businessmen Association and the British Council join efforts to bring to life a competition that helps combat youth unemployment in Sudan.

The Mashrouy competition’s first season was held in 2013, where twelve contestants compete against each other and present their business ideas to a panel of Judges. Mr. Ahmed Abdellatif, founder of the Young Businessmen Association, is one of the judges on the show alongside Mr. Kamal Ahmed al-Zubair, Ms. Abida Yahia Mahdi and Mr. Syed Ahmed Hassan. Since its inception, the show aimed to get the Sudanese people to start thinking with a business mindset. It is mainly targeted towards youth and the female population to present their business ideas.

Mr. Abdellatif saw the beginning of a real transformation to the country’s attitude towards Entrepreneurship. As the show even witnessed some older contestants who also applied to take part. Mr. Abdellatif observed that it was a great step towards overcoming prevailing norms. “At least now you have a foot in the door. You know you won’t be ridiculed” Mr. Abdellatif says to an older female contestant who applied for the show’s second season. He further explains about typical scenarios that Sudanese youth face; “There is neither moral support nor economic support.”. However, he believes strongly in youth empowerment and refuses discouraging thoughts. “People at home are discouraging you, saying don’t be unreasonable,” explains Mr. Abdellatif, as he provides examples of how the youth are being held back. “You either have old money or there is no way,” Mr. Abdellatif adds.

Mashrouy’s competition offered 300,000 SDG as the first prize, second prize is 200,000 SDG and third prize is 150,000 SDG. All three winners will also travel to the UK for one week to meet other creative entrepreneurs and receive further training.

About Mashrouy

Mashrouy, which means 'My Project', is a competition that was established in 2013 and aims to spread the idea of entrepreneurship among young people and to shed light on the vast opportunities that entrepreneurship can provide to the youth of Sudan. Mashrouy was developed with a joint effort of the Young Businessmen Association and the British Council. It is the first business TV show in Sudan.

Mr. Ahmed Amin Abdellatif Brief Bio

Mr. Ahmed Amin Abdellatif is the founder of the Young Businessmen Association as well as the president of CTC Group, one of the leading business groups in Sudan specializing in the agricultural sector, consumer electronics and information and communication technologies. Ahmed has a particular interest in the fields of Sudanese Economic Development, Youth Entrepreneurship and Family Business, delivering keynote presentations and speeches at a number of universities, associations and local, regional and international events. He received his education in several universities around the UK; Reading University, Cambridge University and IMD.

For more information, visit https://ahmed-alamine-abdellatif.blogspot.com/

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