The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) research program is an annual assessment of the national level of entrepreneurial activity. Started as a partnership between London Business School and Babson College, it was initiated in 1999 with 10 countries, expanded to 21 in the year 2000, with 29 countries in 2001 and 37 countries in 2002. GEM 2009 is set to conduct research in 56 countries.

Egypt joined the GEM consortium of countries in 2008. The GEM Egypt 2008 research is the first comprehensive study to address the issue of entrepreneurship in Egypt.

To gather data, the study utilised two types of surveys, the Adult Population Survey (APS) and the National Experts Survey (NES). The APS was administered to 2,600 Egyptians in the summer of 2008, selected from a nationally-representative sample of the adult population. The 36 national experts participating in the NES were selected on the basis of their knowledge and experience related to the set of entrepreneurial framework conditions known to have an impact on entrepreneurial activity levels at the country level.

The outcome of GEM Egypt 2008 is a systematic, reliable, and internationally comparable study that measures the level of entrepreneurial activity in Egypt and describes its key characteristics. Key issues emerging from the study will serve to better inform policymakers and concerned stakeholders about what needs to be done to elevate the level of entrepreneurial activity in Egypt, and the quality, sustainability, competitiveness and growth of new businesses.