GEM 2024/2025: Where Does Egypt Stand on the Global Entrepreneurship Map?

The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) 2024/2025 Global Report – “Entrepreneurship Reality Check” puts Egypt under a magnifying glass and reveals a clear paradox: widespread recognition of entrepreneurial opportunities and capabilities among Egyptians, versus relatively limited real activity and a policy and institutional environment that still sits below the “adequate” threshold for supporting entrepreneurs in a sustainable way.

I. Executive Summary

1. What does the report measure – and why does it matter for Egypt?

GEM tracks levels, patterns and context of entrepreneurship across more than fifty economies using two main pillars:

• The Adult Population Survey (APS), which measures actual entrepreneurial activity, attitudes, perceptions and intentions toward entrepreneurship.
• The National Expert Survey (NES), which assesses the quality of the entrepreneurial environment across 13 framework conditions, combined into the National Entrepreneurship Context Index (NECI) on a 0–10 scale.

2. Key takeaways for Egypt

• Egypt’s NECI score for 2024 is around 4.2 out of 10, i.e. below the “adequate” threshold (5.0), placing the country in the lower tier globally (around 40th of 56 economies).
• Around three years ago, Egypt’s NECI score was about 4.3 with a better position (closer to 29th), indicating a relative decline in ranking even though the score itself has barely moved.
• Early-stage entrepreneurial activity (TEA) is relatively low: the share of adults involved in starting or running a new business is about 5.1%, placing Egypt near the bottom of the participating economies.
• A large gender gap persists: men’s TEA rate (around 7.6%) is roughly three times that of women (around 2.6%), signalling substantial structural and cultural barriers for women entrepreneurs.
• At the same time, the data show that many Egyptians see good opportunities, believe starting a business is feasible, and feel they have the skills and knowledge to do so. Yet, fear of failure and constraints in the institutional environment prevent this positive mindset from translating into actual ventures.
• Egypt’s main strengths lie in market dynamics and physical infrastructure, while critical weaknesses appear in entrepreneurship education, R&D transfer, and government policies and programmes for entrepreneurs.

II. Overview of the Release

Report Title (AR/EN)

Arabic: GEM 2024/2025 Global Report: “Entrepreneurship Reality Check” (as translated from the Arabic article).
English: Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2024/2025 Global Report: Entrepreneurship Reality Check.

Issuing Bodies and Partners

• Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM).
• Global Entrepreneurship Research Association (GERA), in partnership with a wide network of national teams hosted in universities and research centres.

Edition and Periodicity

• Latest edition: GEM 2024/2025 Global Report (using 2024 data).
• Periodicity: Annual series since 1999, enabling time-series analysis of entrepreneurship dynamics.

Type and Status of the Publication

• Type: Global analytical report with index and country rankings (Index + Analytical Report), including scores, rankings and international comparisons.
• Status: Active ✅ – widely recognised as the leading global reference for measuring entrepreneurship at the individual and national context levels.

Coverage

• APS data from 51+ economies.
• NES data from more than 50 economies (around 56 in the current cycle).
• Broad coverage across income levels and regions, with important representation of middle- and low-income countries, including Egypt.

III. Methodology and Measurement Logic

GEM’s results rest on two main pillars that together define the measurement logic of the report:

1. Adult Population Survey (APS)

• Nationally representative sample of adults (typically ≥ 2,000 individuals per economy).
• Measures:
  • Entrepreneurial intentions.
  • Early-stage entrepreneurial activity (TEA).
  • Established business ownership.
  • Motives for starting businesses (opportunity vs. necessity, etc.).
  • Job creation expectations.
  • Degree of innovation and sustainability orientation.

2. National Expert Survey (NES)

• Group of national experts in each economy (academics, entrepreneurs, policymakers, financiers and ecosystem actors).
• Assess 13 Entrepreneurial Framework Conditions (EFCs), including:
  • Entrepreneurial finance.
  • Government policy (support, taxes, bureaucracy).
  • Government entrepreneurship programmes.
  • Entrepreneurship education at school and post-school.
  • Commercial and professional infrastructure.
  • R&D transfer to the market.
  • Market dynamics and entry burdens.
  • Physical infrastructure.
  • Social and cultural norms.

NECI – National Entrepreneurship Context Index

• Calculated as a simple average of expert scores across the 13 EFCs on a 0–10 scale.
• A score of 5.0 marks the minimum “adequate” level; scores below 5.0 indicate that the environment is perceived as less than adequate for supporting entrepreneurs.
• NECI produces an international comparison table that shows economy rankings and allows tracking of progress or decline over time.

IV. Egypt’s Results – A Focused Numerical Reading

1. Snapshot in Numbers

2. Short Time-Series Perspective

Around three years ago, Egypt’s NECI score was about 4.3 with a much better global rank (closer to 29th). The latest edition shows that while the score has remained almost unchanged, many other economies improved faster, resulting in a clear deterioration in Egypt’s relative position.

3. The “Opportunities are there… but activity is limited” paradox

A large share of Egyptians:

• Perceive good opportunities to start a business in their local area.
• Believe that starting a business is feasible.
• Feel they have the necessary skills and knowledge.

Yet, fear of failure and a range of environmental constraints (procedures, finance, information, tolerance for failure) remain major reasons why many potential entrepreneurs do not actually start new ventures.

V. Pillars and Sub-dimensions – Where Are the Strengths and Weaknesses?

1. Relative Strengths

• Market Dynamics: A score above the adequacy threshold indicates active markets, demand and growth opportunities in several sectors. This pillar offers a solid base on which a broader entrepreneurial class could be built.
• Physical Infrastructure: A relatively good score reflecting acceptable levels of roads, communications and basic services compared to peers at similar income levels.

2. Critical Weaknesses

• Entrepreneurship Education (Schools and Universities): Very low scores indicate that entrepreneurial skills, project management and innovative thinking are not systematically embedded in education. As a result, entrepreneurship is often acquired informally or through trial and error rather than structured learning.
• R&D Transfer to the Market: Weak evaluations point to a large gap between universities and research centres on one side, and the business sector on the other, where many research outputs do not become start-ups, products or services.
• Government Policies and Programmes: Low scores for “taxes and bureaucracy” and “government entrepreneurship programmes” suggest that complex procedures, compliance costs and weak programme design constrain company formation and growth.
• Commercial and Professional Infrastructure & Social Norms: Scores below adequacy in support services (advisory, accounting, legal) and social norms indicate an ecosystem where supportive structures and tolerance for failure and re-entry are still underdeveloped.

3. Diagnostic Summary for Egypt

VI. International Signposts – What Can Egypt Learn?

At the international level, the GEM 2024/2025 report provides several signposts:

• A number of middle- and low-income economies have achieved relatively high NECI scores, showing that improving the entrepreneurship environment is not reserved for high-income countries. It is largely a matter of policy choices and programme design.
• Economies that improved their rankings most tend to have invested in:
  • Early entrepreneurship education.
  • Simplified business start-up procedures.
  • Targeted tax and regulatory incentives for start-ups and SMEs.
  • Specialised incubators and accelerators in high-value sectors.
• Other economies saw their rankings fall despite stable income levels, simply because their reforms did not keep pace with global competition.

VII. Policy Implications for Egypt (ENCC Policy Box)

VIII. Measurement Considerations and Data Notes

1. Limits and Constraints of Measurement

• GEM data are based on sample surveys, not administrative statistics; they therefore provide a complementary picture to official national data, not a replacement.
• Indicators rely on perceptions and self-reports at a given point in time, making them sensitive to short-term shocks (economic, political, health-related, etc.).
• Time-series comparisons across editions must consider any changes in methodology, coverage or number of economies.

2. Egypt-specific Data Notes

• The report does not provide sub-national breakdowns by governorate or region; the current picture is national/aggregate.
• The report does not publish an official regional ranking (e.g. Middle East or Africa) for Egypt; such comparisons must be inferred from global tables and treated with caution.
• Some figures here are rounded or approximate for communicative purposes; users should refer to the original GEM tables for detailed modelling or legal/policy documents.

IX. What Comes Next from ENCC?

The Egyptian National Competitiveness Council (ENCC) intends to use GEM 2024/2025 results as follows:

• Prepare an official Fact Sheet within ENCC’s FS 2.0 International Indices track, linking GEM indicators to ongoing and planned business environment reforms in Egypt.
• Develop a detailed policy paper anchored in the weakest NECI pillars, proposing a reform package (regulatory, educational, institutional) with measurable targets over a 3–5 year horizon.
• Integrate GEM and NECI indicators into Egypt Vision 2030 monitoring dashboards related to entrepreneurship, innovation, employment and private investment.
• Start a structured dialogue with relevant ministries, agencies and international partners on how to translate these findings into joint programmes, particularly in entrepreneurship education, financing and innovation ecosystems.

X. Selected References and Links

External (GEM)

• Global Entrepreneurship Monitor – main website:
  gemconsortium.org
• GEM 2024/2025 Global Report page – full report, annexes and country tables.