Special Al-Jazeera Net - Cairo
In the morning, the young Egyptian Mohamed Ashmawi goes to his work as a computer engineer, and in the evening he sells sandwiches on a mobile cart in a neighborhood in the capital, Cairo.
The case of Ashmawi, 25, is not very different from the situation of thousands of young people in Egypt, who are forced to work in more than one job in light of the high costs of life in the country.
The 20-year-old decided to start his own business before graduating from the College of Information Systems, where he and his friend, the lawyer, thought of a project in partnership with them, within the limits of their simple capabilities.
The two friends bought a mobile cart in which they prepared "cold sandwiches" and sold them to passers-by and café-goers. From their point of view, this project does not require significant time or effort.
The cart provides its customers with nine varieties of cold foods, which do not need time to prepare, such as cheese of all kinds, luncheon, tuna, nutella and jam, at a fixed price per sandwich equal to 5 pounds (less than half a dollar), so that the entire project costs less than 15 thousand pounds (934 dollars).
Ashmawy chose "Rap" as a name for his project, as he aspires to expand it to include multiple regions, but he hopes that he will obtain a permit from the neighborhood to practice his activity, as he is subject to harassment by the municipality, he said.