Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation
The American University in Cairo’s School of Business kickstarted the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program (EIP) in 2010, a pioneering initiative in the MENA region. EIP played a vital role in spotlighting entrepreneurship’s impact on economic development, contributing significantly to Egypt’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. By fostering ideation and innovation, EIP supported startups across various stages, linking them with accelerators, incubators, and investors. In 2015, aligning with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, EIP evolved into the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CEI). This transformation expanded its focus to include critical themes such as gender, climate, and sustainability. Over time, entrepreneurship and innovation became central concepts for achieving key objectives like financial sustainability, employment, and gender equality. CEI’s evolution demonstrates that fostering entrepreneurship and innovation as a mindset can contribute to community development. Today, CEI stands as a respected brand in the ecosystem, serving as a go-to reference for stakeholders engaging with youth, women, startups, MSMEs, and underserved communities.
Office of the Assistant Provost for Innovative Learning Experiences
The Learning Innovation and Interdisciplinary Design Lab stands as a dynamic hub of creativity and forward-thinking in higher education. Our primary mission is to craft immersive curricular and co-curricular learning experiences that cultivate an innovation mindset. We are dedicated to advancing future-of-work competencies among students, blending interdisciplinary approaches with the latest educational trends and integrated pedagogies. By designing experiences where cognitive skills, interpersonal skills, and positive behavior traits converge, our lab empowers students to become change agents in their respective fields, ready to tackle the challenges and opportunities of a rapidly evolving global landscape.
African Engineering and Technology Network (Afretec)
The African Engineering and Technology Network (Afretec) is a pan-African collaboration of technology-focused universities from across the African continent. Afretec will create a platform for technology-focused universities in Africa to drive inclusive digital growth by collaborating on teaching and learning, knowledge creation, and entrepreneurship activities within the area of engineering and technology.
Member Universities:
- Carnegie Mellon University Africa
(Kigali, Rwanda) - The American University in Cairo
(Cairo, Egypt) - University of Lagos
(Lagos, Nigeria) - University of Nairobi
(Nairobi, Kenya) - University of Rwanda
(Kigali, Rwanda) - University of the Witwatersrand
(Johannesburg, South Africa)