April 11
In implementation of its strategy in serving the community and discovering distinguished students
Crédit Agricole Foundation for Development and Education First Foundation sign cooperation protocol with Academy of Scientific Research and Technology to launch the Ebhar Misr competition
Pierre Finas: Crédit Agricole Group supports the Sustainable Development Goals and provides opportunities for young innovators
Eng. Assem Ragab: Seeing the innovative young people gave us the impetus to launch more initiatives… We broke the boundaries through the online platform that we launched last year.
Salma El-Bakri: Education is the only way to advance the nation… We are delighted to cooperate with the Academy of Scientific Research and Technology to reach all Egyptian youths
Cairo, September, 2020 - As part of Crédit Agricole Egypt’s strategy to achieve sustainability, drive development processes in the society, and foster the young people while giving special care to the distinguished ones, Crédit Agricole Foundation for Development and the Education First Foundation signed a joint cooperation protocol with the Academy of Scientific Research and Technology, with the aim of collaborating in the launch of Ebhar Misr competition for scientific and social innovation, to students of Egyptian schools and universities.
The signing of the cooperation protocol was witnessed by Eng. Assem Ragab, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Crédit Agricole Egypt and Crédit Agricole Foundation for Development, Dr. Saqr Ahmed Saqr, President of the Academy of Scientific Research and Technology, Dr. Salma El-Bakri, Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the Education First Foundation, and Dr. Hossam Badrawi, Chairman of the Advisory Committee of the Education First Foundation.
The signing of the cooperation protocol between Crédit Agricole Foundation for Development and the Education First Foundation and the Academy of Scientific Research and Technology, targets discovering and fostering talented students in the field of science and technology, as well as cooperating in organizing scientific competitions for school and university students in Egypt and the Arab World. Under the cooperation protocol, Crédit Agricole Foundation for Development and the Education First Foundation will provide technical and academic support for the various competitions and activities of the Ebhar Misr program, and the Academy of Scientific Research and Technology will undertake the technical and academic supervision of the competition. The three parties will also join hands to discover talented students through the Children University, the Bedayati Project, the ‘Cairo Innovates’ Program, the Cairo International Exhibition for Innovation and Technology Incubators, and the Next Generation Scientists Program.
Mr. Pierre Finas, Managing Director of Crédit Agricole Egypt, commented: “Crédit Agricole Group has strong interest in achieving sustainability, and this is not limited to the innovative banking operations offered by Crédit Agricole Egypt, as this is primarily attributed to the bank's interest in the communities in which it operates, coupled with supporting sustainable development with its various goals, including raising the level of education, and providing opportunities for young people to show their creativity in the scientific and cultural fields. The partnership between Crédit Agricole Foundation for Development, Education First Foundation, and the Academy of Scientific Research and Technology will further bolster our efforts to achieve our initiative and goals of spreading education to a wider range and supporting the innovative young people”.
During the signing of the cooperation protocol, Eng. Assem Ragab, Chairman of Crédit Agricole Egypt and Crédit Agricole Egypt Foundation for Development, said: “Since the launch of its operations, the Crédit Agricole Foundation for Development has strong interest in partnerships and synergies with the various entities to achieve sustainability in education, health, agriculture, and entrepreneurship. Through the cooperation with the Education First Foundation, we have been able to establish Ebhar Misr, the first electronic platform dedicated to discover talented people in Egypt, achieve equal opportunities and ensure the possibility of the participation of all Egyptian youths in the initiative. Also, through our cooperation with the Academy of Scientific Research, Ebhar Misr will be able to expand in sponsoring development projects, inventions and innovative ideas of Egyptian youths".
Ragab added: "We at the Crédit Agricole Foundation for Development have a dream, namely to reach and support distinguished young people. Over the past two years, and through the Ebhar Misr initiative, we were like those who carefully select the seed to grow and nurture. The success we have achieved and seeing the creative young people gave us the impetus to launch more initiatives and competitions in the areas of energy, water and artificial intelligence, with the aim to reach a further extent, especially after we broke the boundaries through the electronic platform that we launched last year in order to reach all young people all over Egypt."
On her part, Dr. Salma El-Bakri, Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the Education First Foundation, said: “We believe that education is the only way to advance the nation, and that in order to achieve this goal, there should be a partnership between civil society organizations and the state to achieve a true educational renaissance. Over the past two years, and through our partnership with the Crédit Agricole Foundation for Development, we have contributed to fostering and sponsoring talented young people through ‘Ebhar Misr’ initiative. Those young people have impressed us with their ideas and talents and pushed us for more work to expand our initiative and from here came our cooperation today with the Academy of Scientific Research and Technology; a cooperation that we are proud of, and through which we hope to reach more young people in Egyptian schools and universities".
The areas of the competition to be launched by Ebhar Misr in cooperation with the Academy of Scientific Research and Technology include energy, water, and artificial intelligence in serving the society. Four winners from those who submit the best projects will be chosen, while the age groups in the competition will be divided into two levels: The first includes the secondary stage with a maximum limit of 19 years on 1/6/2021, and the second level includes the undergraduate stage with a maximum limit of 25 years on 1/6/2021. The winners will be empowered to implement their projects, and will also receive a prize of EGP 75,000 for the first place, and EGP 50,000 for the second place for each level. In addition, it is allowed to apply as a team (3 members maximum) and in case of winning, the prize will be distributed among them.
Launched by the Crédit Agricole Foundation for Development two years ago, the ‘Ebhar Misr’ initiative is aimed at fostering and sponsoring young talents aged from 14 to 18 years old in the fields of science, sports, information technology, and arts. This comes out of the belief of Crédit Agricole Foundation for Development in the necessity of developing young people, which is the cornerstone of achieving a prosperous future and a better tomorrow for Egypt.
The ‘Ebhar Misr’ initiative has a program that includes a number of various activities and events aimed at discovering talented students and youths in the fields of arts, science and technology. On top of these activities comes the ‘Ebhar Misr’ Camp for School Students, which is held annually with the aim of discovering 25 talents from across Egypt. It is held this year for the third year in a row. In addition, there is the ‘Ebhar Misr’ Art Exhibition, which is held at the Egyptian Opera House at the end of October and at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Zamalek at the beginning of November.
The 'Ebhar Misr" initiative also organizes an integrated program to sponsor students with distinguished talents, through which students receive advanced training by a group of specialists from international academies and institutions. Students also have opportunities for training in major companies and receiving scholarships. They are selected based on accurate exams after their application electronically from all parts of Egypt through the 'Ebhar Misr' platform that was launched last year by the Crédit Agricole Foundation for Development in cooperation with Education First Foundation.
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