Qalaa Holdings subsidiary the Egyptian Refining Company (ERC) reinforces its commitment to education and community development with its fourth annual round of ‘Mostaqbali’ student scholarships. During the ceremony, 27 students from ERC’s local community received scholarships to pursue higher education at some of the country’s most prestigious public and private universities and 26 scholarships to attend the Don Bosco institute were awarded.
The Egyptian Refining Company (ERC), Qalaa Holdings’ c.US$ 4.4 billion greenfield refinery in the Greater Cairo district of Mostorod, announces today the recipients of its fourth annual scholarships for local students, bringing the total number of scholarships awarded thus far to 81. The 2019 scholars were announced at a ceremony held at company headquarters in Mostorod in the presence HE Hala El Saeed, Minister of Planning, Major General Abdel Hamid Abdel Aziz El-Hagan, Qalyubiya Governor, Monitoring and Administrative Reform, ERC and Qalaa executives, local NGOs, and representatives from universities, the Ministries of Social Solidarity, Education, Planning and Petroleum.
Scholarships are awarded annually to students from the local community to pursue undergraduate degrees in a diverse array of majors at well-respected Egyptian universities including the Zewail University of Science and Technology, the Arab Academy for Science, Technology & Maritime Transport, Nile University, Ain Shams University and the American University in Cairo.
In a further expansion of the ‘Mostaqbali’ program, this year an additional 26 students will be awarded scholarships to attend vocational training at the highly regarded Don Bosco Cairo, an Italian secondary school that focuses on much-needed vocational and technical training.
“We believe that we have a fundamental responsibility to improve the educational landscape in Egypt as part of our commitment to leaving the communities in which we operate better than when we entered,” said Qalaa Chairman and Founder Ahmed Heikal. “Since inception, we have funneled significant investments in both traditional and vocational education, in line with our belief that the cornerstone of sustainable development is quality education, which not only directly contributes to the betterment of individual students, but also to the wellbeing of their communities.”
The ‘Mostaqbali’ program, currently in its fourth year, has to date given a total of 81 students the opportunity to pursue undergraduate degrees: 78 of them at local universities and 3 at universities abroad. It has additionally awarded a total of 96 public school teachers since 2017 with scholarships to the American University in Cairo (AUC) to improve their technical skills, particularly in the early education space.
“ERC is a transformative energy project that has economic, social and environmental benefits,” said Dr. Mohammed Saad, ERC’s Managing Director. “Throughout our journey, we have remained committed to bringing positive change to neighboring communities through sustainable, grassroots, programs that provide real solutions to the challenges that our community faces. We are exceptionally proud that educational initiatives like Mostaqbali have brought tangible benefits to hundreds of community members over the years.”
“This year we are also very pleased to be offering 26 scholarships for vocational training component through our partnership with the Don Bosco Cairo. The addition of these vocational training scholarships directly addresses the market need for skilled labor,” added Saad.
The Mostaqbali Program delivers on the several of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) including SDG #4 Quality Education, SDG #8 Decent Work and Economic Growth, SDG #9 Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure, SDG #12 Responsible Consumption and Production and SDG #17 Partnership for the Goals.
In addition to academic scholarships, the ‘Mostaqbali’ program has provided a total of 7,798 students with in-kind aid, 8,173 eyeglasses and 939 teachers with educational training during the past four years.
 
ERC continues to be active in the field of community development across the board. It seeks to bring about positive change throughout its neighboring communities of Mostorod, El Khesous, Shobra El Kheima and Matarreya and believes in maintaining a dialogue with community leaders on the ground to ensure maximum levels of awareness and to guarantee that resources are being allocated in an efficient and targeted manner for the benefit of all parties concerned.  Through the tireless work of a dedicated community development team, it operates four main programs: education support ‘Mostaqbali Scholarship for Students and Teachers’, youth volunteering program ‘Reyada’, women and youth economic empowerment programs ‘Tamkeen’ and ‘Mashrouy’, and the special needs program ‘Takaful.’
“ERC stands as an excellent example of a Qalaa subsidiary that invests responsibly and takes into account environmental, social and governance practices throughout its operations with the goal of making a positive, comprehensive impact in terms of people and the planet, in addition to profit,” said Ghada Hammouda, Qalaa’s Chief Sustainability & Marketing Officer. “ERC is not only a key import-substitute, valuable public-private partnership that will have a positive impact on Egypt’s economy, it will also improve air quality by reducing the release of sulfur dioxide and incite positive change throughout the community by investing heavily in the development of human capital through programs like ‘Mostaqbali’.”