Came across a great article today written by Mishaal Al Gergawi in GulfNews.com that gives a clear and concise view on why entrepreneurship hasn't taken off fully in the Arab world or to use his words "why aren't they popping as fast as popcorn?"
Mishaal breaks the reasons down to regulations, education, research, amongst other reasons. My personal favorite from his list is social stigma, and how it isn't acceptable or accepted socially in our part of the world to fail. This point specifically is very true and was one of the main barriers that we faced when going both digital and entrepreneurial in the late 90s, we have definitely come a long way since then, and in some parts of the Arab world mainly North Africa and Levant it is more acceptable to fail.
Governments are now more aware than ever on the need to nurture and grow the small medium enterprise, a lot of the Gulf states are pushing for entreperenurial programs to nurture local talent and provide the necessary infrastructure for SME's to launch their businesses. The likes of N2V, Sawari Ventrues, seed startup, and initiatives like Startup Weekend Cairo provide a decent launch pad to take entrepreneurship to the next level and work hand in hand to place Small Medium Enterprise as the cornerstone for the growth and sustainability of the Arab economies.
I would suggest you take a look at Mishaal's article @ GulfNews.com it is a good read.
Feel free to share your views on this topic and what you believe needs to be done to develop entrepreneurship / SME's in the Arab world.
Mishaal breaks the reasons down to regulations, education, research, amongst other reasons. My personal favorite from his list is social stigma, and how it isn't acceptable or accepted socially in our part of the world to fail. This point specifically is very true and was one of the main barriers that we faced when going both digital and entrepreneurial in the late 90s, we have definitely come a long way since then, and in some parts of the Arab world mainly North Africa and Levant it is more acceptable to fail.
Governments are now more aware than ever on the need to nurture and grow the small medium enterprise, a lot of the Gulf states are pushing for entreperenurial programs to nurture local talent and provide the necessary infrastructure for SME's to launch their businesses. The likes of N2V, Sawari Ventrues, seed startup, and initiatives like Startup Weekend Cairo provide a decent launch pad to take entrepreneurship to the next level and work hand in hand to place Small Medium Enterprise as the cornerstone for the growth and sustainability of the Arab economies.
I would suggest you take a look at Mishaal's article @ GulfNews.com it is a good read.
Feel free to share your views on this topic and what you believe needs to be done to develop entrepreneurship / SME's in the Arab world.
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