When I joined the entrepreneurial scene in the UAE in the summer of 2014, Entrepreneur Middle East had just started out in Dubai, and the conversation about the MENA region’s startup ecosystem, at the time, was in its nascent stages. Most of the coverage about entrepreneurship in the region was limited to sharing the origin stories of various startups and their unique selling points, which was, in itself, an indication of how the region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem was struggling to develop.However, just three years down the line, a lot has changed. As Essa Al- Zaabi, Senior Vice President, Institutional Support Sector, at the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said, in his address at Entrepreneur Middle East’s 2017 Enterprise Agility Forum, presented by du: “Dubai has become a leading hub for startups and entrepreneurs, who want to expand their footprint in the GCC, Middle East and North Africa.” He also noted how the UAE (and indeed, the wider MENA region) has also seen an increase in the number of funds, accelerators, competitions and training programs that cater to the startup and SME community.Having said that, perhaps one of the biggest improvements that I’ve seen recently has been in the quality of the conversation that we’re having about entrepreneurship in the MENA region. Once upon a time, I think there was a genuine belief in the region that if we just copy-pasted different successful elements and mentalities from Western startup ecosystems (like Silicon Valley), then we would automatically create a successful ecosystem in the MENA region.If only it were that easy- unfortunately, it’s not, and this was confirmed by the candid experiences that were shared by the speakers at the 2017 Enterprise Agility Forum. Throughout the various discussions at the event moderated by Aby Sam Thomas, Editor in Chief, Entrepreneur Middle East, and Fida Chaaban, Chief Communications Officer, KBW Investments, all of the speakers seemed to share a common theme when it came to their insights on the ecosystem: firstly, they were unconventional, secondly, they were nuanced, and, lastly, they were localized.
Not only do these three qualities indicate that our entrepreneurs (and ecosystem stakeholders) are becoming more experienced, it also demonstrates how they’re becoming more introspective. And perhaps, more importantly, it shows how our ecosystem is finally finding the confidence to develop, and begin to share its own body of entrepreneurial wisdom and knowledge, which is shaped by stakeholders from the region to empower a new generation of entrepreneurs in the region. Here are 11 points that prove the increasing maturity of the MENA region’s startup ecosystem.1. We’re starting to understand that money isn’t the only important element of successAccording to Hans Henrik Christensen, Director, Dubai Technology Entrepreneur Centre, “Out of 810 startups in [DTEC], only 2% manage to get VC money.” Lucy Chow, Director of Women’s Angel Investment Network (WAIN) added that there’s no doubt that “we need capital in the region.” This is true especially at the seed stage, since many entrepreneurs in the MENA region still struggle to secure investments in the early stages of their businesses. However, is funding (or having the access to funding) the only thing that guarantees success?Not by a long shot. Anyone who is an entrepreneur knows that there’s much more to success than having money. While being able to receive investment from corporates, angel investors and VCs is an essential part to helping entrepreneurs grow and scale their startups, there are also other things that these stakeholders can give entrepreneurs that are just as valuable- if not more. For instance, when asked what corporates in particular could do to enable young entrepreneurs to become successful, Nabra Al Busaidi, Executive Director of Young Arab Leaders, said that “corporates should provide startups with the access to larger markets and industry-specific mentoring.”
Imagine if young entrepreneurs in the MENA region could have access to funding, their target market and the knowledge that they would need to unlock the full potential of their startups? They would be unstoppable. While it’s true that the MENA startup ecosystem has a long way to go as far as access to funding is concerned, it’s a sign of maturity that our ecosystem’s stakeholders are starting to understand that funding isn’t the only key to success. Now, they understand that funding is only one part of a comprehensive “success package,” which truly aims to activate the full potential of entrepreneurship in the region.
2. We’re decentralizing and democratizing the idea of organizational successThere used to be a time when the business scene was dominated by large companies and larger-than-life CEOs who supposedly embodied the idea of materialistic success, which so many of us were taught to pursue growing up. However, with the increasing rates of internet penetration and the decreasing costs of smart technology globally, young people (especially millennials) are no longer happy to accept the status quo. Many of them don’t feel happy or successful with what they currently do, because they feel that they should be able to do better with all the opportunities that the current age has to offer them.In the MENA region, the youth also believe, like Hany Fahmy Aly, Executive Vice President – Enterprise Business at du, that the “world cannot be dominated by one or two global platforms,” and that “there’s a need for platforms that cater to the region.” Essentially, young people in the MENA are tired of feeling like unsuccessful outsiders in their own economic systems, and now they’re trying to change that. How, you ask? By trying to replace our society’s traditional idea of success with a more nuanced and equitable one that allows more companies and individuals to “win.”
Whether they’re using their coding skills to build apps, or their wallets to support companies that are sociallyconscious, young people are working hard to constructively acquire more of the “success pie.” Luckily, this socio-economic shift hasn’t gone unnoticed by the MENA region’s business ecosystem. In Fahmy Aly’s keynote address at the 2017 Enterprise Agility Forum, he demonstrated this shift by highlighting how important it is for startups to define their values, to uphold them, and further empower their team to be the best that they can be.But what was truly powerful about Aly’s keynote address was the concluding remark: explore where all that can take you. This is an acknowledgement of the very simple fact that success is no longer linear. So, if we want more young people and startups to succeed in these unstable economic times, then our ecosystem has to continue “stabilizing” the idea of success by spreading the responsibilities, risks, and benefits to more stakeholders in our communities.