Opinion: Saudi Women entrepreneurs are agents of change
By Dr. Mona S. AlMunajjed / Arabian Business
SOURCE: Arabian Business - Opinion: Saudi women entrepreneurs are agents of change
Vision 2030 is introducing women to new levels of leadership and economic empowerment, writes Mona S. AlMunajjed, Saudi sociologist
A few days ago, I tasted a delicious cupcake in Cake & Co, a trendy bakery in Riyadh owned by Nawal, a young Saudi woman whose passion for baking drove her to set up a business in 2014, offering custom-made cakes and cookies. Overseeing every aspect of the business, from decorating cakes to managing a team of seven and doing the accounts, she is the very model of the new successful Saudi women entrepreneurs who are revitalising and boosting the Saudi economy.
Today, entrepreneurship is a globally acclaimed innovation process that mobilises people and resources. It is crucial to economic development and a key factor for growth and expansion. And for women, it is a powerful tool of empowerment, offering flexible arrangements that enable them to balance work and family responsibilities.
My motto has always been that women’s economic empowerment contributes to the country’s economic development and to job creation, a necessity in Saudi Arabia, where although Saudi women’s participation in the labour market has reached 19.5 percent, the female unemployment rate is 30.9 percent (2018).
There is a large pool of dynamic Saudi women with the talents to run their own businesses. Providing women with the right education and opportunities will enable the country to use this massive resource and make entrepreneurship an impetus for prosperity.
When I worked for the United Nations, I ran training programmes for young women in Saudi Arabia designed to help them to set up and run their own businesses. I remember well the motivation and determination of the women on my courses.
They ended up starting their own businesses and succeeded; making a difference not only to their own lives but also to their families and their community.
Female entrepreneurs in Saudi Arabia are now establishing and managing more SMEs than ever before. Saudi women account for 39 percent of the total number of entrepreneurs in the kingdom, up 35 percent over the past 10 years, according to official statistics presented for World Entrepreneurship Day 2017. They are free to start their own business without the permission of a male guardian, and the number of commercial registers held in the name of Saudi businesswomen reached 98,853 in July 2018. They are mainly in the services sector, operating in small businesses such as fashion, interior design, jewellery, cosmetics, clothing, art, and other professional services in the fields of education, event management, exhibition organisation, public relations and marketing. Other areas include commerce, ICT, real estate, tourism, the restaurant business and manufacturing.
Women’s participation in the labour market is a top priority in the kingdom’s national development plan, and many national and private initiatives are taking place. The Saudi government’s Vision 2030 aims for bold economic reform, replacing the traditional reliance on oil with the creation of a dynamic private sector generating jobs for the young population. It focuses not only on developing an education system in line with the market, but also on boosting SMEs as vital agents of economic development.
The newly established SME Authority has been revved up with a new strategy, an up-to-date Kafala loan guarantee programme, and a law to reduce the administrative burden on smaller companies. These measures will help to increase employment by facilitating access to funding, introducing business-friendly regulations, providing specialised training institutions, and encouraging venture capital funding, all of which will help young entrepreneurs to market their ideas and products and export them through e-commerce and international partnerships. The goal is to encourage Saudi financial institutions to allocate up to 20 percent of overall funding to SMEs by 2030.
MISK, The Prince Mohammed Bin Salman Bin Abdulaziz Foundation, promotes entrepreneurship to young Saudi men and women. In cooperation with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, MISK launched the Grand Challenge initiative of $10m for the empowerment and motivation of young Saudis to bring change for a better community. $100,000 will be awarded to each of the 100 young innovators selected to find innovative solutions to crucial global challenges.
Women now make up more than 20 percent of all new hires at Saudi Aramco, and the company promotes through Wae’d – its entrepreneurship arm, the empowerment of young Saudi men and women. Aramco seeks to spread entrepreneurial awareness among 1 million young Saudis through entrepreneurship clubs and university roadshows. It promotes a culture of technology-based entrepreneurship by extending funds and business development aid to more than 50 technology pilots.
The non-profit Centennial Fund helps young women with financial loans for their projects in their cities and villages. The Badir Programme for Technology Incubators, an initiative from King Abdul Aziz City for Science and Technology, promotes an entrepreneurial culture through workshops and training programs for women university students. With the Human Resources Development Fund, it has launched the 9/10ths Startup Accelerator Programme, which develops early stage young entrepreneurs into potential high-flyers.
Source: arabianbusiness.com