Global Education Initiative

MENA Roundtable on Entrepreneurship Education

Marrakech, Morocco
October 2010

In collaboration with Deloitte and GV Partners

World Economic Forum

December 2010
The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of the World Economic Forum or Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu
Limited and its member firms (Deloitte).

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Contents

Foreword 5
1. Introduction 7
1.1 Manifesto 7
2. Entrepreneurship, Job Creation and 21st Century Skills 10
2.1 The role of entrepreneurship in the MENA region 10
2.2 Creating an entrepreneurial ecosystem in the MENA region 16
2.3 Challenges 18
3. Entrepreneurship Education Policies in MENA 20
3.1 Trends across the region 20
3.2 Policy challenges and gaps 21
4. Practices and Partnerships 23
4.1 21st century skill development: paradigm shift in the education system 24
4.2 Building policy commitment and an enabling regulatory environment 24
4.3 Leveraging and scaling good practices through multistakeholder partnerships 25
4.4 Developing clear outcomes, goals and measuring impact 26
5. Next Steps 27
6. Acknowledgements 28
7. Appendices 30
7.1 List of Reports Referenced 30
7.2 List of Participants 31
7.3 Entrepreneurship Education Profile Matrix 34
7.4 Entrepreneurship Education Profiles 35

Global Education Initiative | 3

Foreword

The World Economic Forum’s Global Education Initiative (GEI) advocates positive and sustainable change in education
through quality, innovation and entrepreneurship. Capitalizing on the successful launch of the 2009 report, Educating
the Next Wave of Entrepreneurs, the GEI will continue championing this issue globally in 2010 and 2011. The primary
vehicle to achieve this will be a series of high-level regional entrepreneurship education roundtable meetings; the first was
convened in Brussels, Belgium, in May 2010. The second roundtable which is the focus of this report was convened in
the Middle East and North Africa region on the occasion of the World Economic Forum on the Middle East and North
Africa in Marrakech, Morocco, on 24 October 2010. The third roundtable is scheduled to take place in Latin America on
26 April 2011 on the occasion of the World Economic Forum on Latin America in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The objectives for
each of these regional meetings are as follows:

1. Convene stakeholders from business, government, academia, international organizations, civil society and non-
governmental organizations in a roundtable to develop action plans to advance entrepreneurship education within the
region in question
2. Focus on strengthening entrepreneurship education at the secondary and higher education levels
3. Provide a tangible opportunity to influence policy in entrepreneurship and innovation in education
4. Provide an open forum to discuss regionally the possibilities for implementing the recommendations of the 2009 GEI
report, Educating the Next Wave of Entrepreneurs
5. Develop and establish concrete partnerships and cross-sector collaboration in the region targeted that will lead to the
globally relevant advancement of entrepreneurship education

In the MENA region, the quality and relevance of education are critical given the demographic and social implications.
Although progress has been made in key areas such as basic enrolment, millions of youth leave school without
employable skills, and millions more emerge from university lacking the capabilities needed to compete for entry into
private sector employment. Youth unemployment in the region averages 25%, and there are deep concerns about existing
education models being able to provide the skills required for economic growth and development in the 21st century.

Integrating innovation and entrepreneurial thinking into the education process is a prerequisite to build and foster the 21st
century skills, aptitudes, attitudes and entrepreneurial mindsets that the youth of the region need to acquire to succeed
and grow opportunity moving forward. Some countries have already started to develop their entrepreneurial ecosystems
but this tends to focus on the higher education level and, as yet, only a handful of countries in the region are actively
introducing national policies related to the implementation of entrepreneurial learning in their national education curricula.

The MENA Roundtable on Entrepreneurship Education is the first milestone in advancing the policy dialogue in the region,
and complements the solid work that has already been done in this area by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the International Labour Organization (ILO), the European Training Foundation (ETF),
INJAZ and others at both the international and national level in several countries. Building on the momentum from the
roundtable, our focus now is to develop a sustainable platform driven by local partners that continues to raise visibility
on the importance of entrepreneurship education across the MENA region and promote the implementation of the
recommendations outlined in this report. We invite you to join us in this journey.

We would like to thank the Global Education Initiative Steering Board for their many years of unconditional support
of the initiative and the mission of the World Economic Forum. We specifically thank GEI Steering Board members –
Abraaj Capital, Cisco, Deloitte, EMC, Intel, Manpower and Microsoft – for their leadership and stewardship of the MENA
Roundtable and this report.

Alex Wong Andreas Cox

Senior Director Associate Director
Head of Centre for Global Industries (Geneva) Global Education Initiative
Head of Global Education Initiative World Economic Forum
World Economic Forum

Global Education Initiative | 5

1. Introduction

On 24 October 2010, on the occasion of the World

Economic Forum on the Middle East and North Africa
in Marrakech, Morocco, the Steering Board of the
World Economic Forum’s Global Education Initiative, the
MENA Advisory Group and other leaders from business,
government, academia, international organizations and civil
society gathered for a private high-level roundtable meeting
on entrepreneurship education. The roundtable outcomes
included a series of recommendations and the Manifesto
for Creating Jobs and Economic Growth in MENA through
Entrepreneurship and 21st Century Skills.

This report provides a summary of the discussions and outcomes of the MENA Roundtable on Entrepreneurship
Education, organized by the World Economic Forum’s Global Education Initiative (GEI), as well as background research on
the MENA region.

1.1 Manifesto for Creating Jobs and Economic Growth in MENA through Entrepreneurship and 21st Century
Skills

The gap between skills and jobs is widening further in the MENA region, “Transformational changes in society,
and many countries in the region lag behind other countries around the the economy and technology have
world in terms of competitiveness. The region must invest in developing created an imperative to prepare young
entrepreneurial and innovative skills to build sustainable economic people with 21st century skills. Skills in
development, create jobs and generate renewed economic growth. The entrepreneurship, innovation, creativity,
MENA region needs to equip future generations with the necessary skills for problem solving and collaborating
the 21st century. The discussions led to the creation of this manifesto, which across borders are crucial. These skills
is built on four pillars. will prepare them to address global
challenges and become leaders and
I. Transform the Education System by Integrating 21st Century Skills innovators. Collaboration between
and Entrepreneurship business, government and community
leaders is key to bringing about change.
Educational institutions, from the earliest levels up, need to adopt 21st
century methods and tools to develop the appropriate learning environment Through Deloitte21, Deloitte member
for encouraging creativity, innovation and the ability to think “out of the box” firms are focused on arming underserved
to solve problems. Entrepreneurship enables the development of leadership young people with 21st century skills.
and life skills and has become increasingly recognized as a key competency. They are working with community leaders
to scale innovative programmes that
Entrepreneurship and innovation are driving new ways of learning, living and develop these skills. We look forward
working. Embedding entrepreneurship and innovation, cross-disciplinary to continuing to collaborate with other
approaches and interactive teaching methods in education requires new leaders through the Global Education
models, frameworks and paradigms. Changes in the educational system are Initiative to make a long-term impact.”
needed across all levels and should address the lifelong learning process
as well as critical links and interactions between levels (primary, secondary, Ainar Aijala, Global Managing Director,
higher and vocational education). Consulting, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited

It is also critical to train, develop and motivate teachers to use interactive

teaching methods, leverage international best practices and develop the
necessary local content. Entrepreneurs and others with entrepreneurial experience should be integrated into classroom
discussions and hands-on projects with students. Entrepreneurs provide great value in the learning process and also
serve as role models for students. Engaging them also enhances entrepreneurial spirit within the institution overall and
creates stronger links with the local community and the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Training programmes outside formal
education play a key role in providing greater access to entrepreneurial training and should be expanded.

Global Education Initiative | 7

There are many new models being tested around the world, both inside and outside formal educational systems, which
need to be shared more broadly to fuel new and more effective approaches to entrepreneurship education. More must
also be done to facilitate student exchanges, faculty collaboration and research across borders.

Suggested Actions
• Require entrepreneurship in the curriculum at all levels
Catalyse change in the education system by requiring the integration of entrepreneurship and 21st century skill
development
• Empower teachers with the necessary tools, training and incentives
Develop training programmes and build networks for entrepreneurship educators across the region leveraging
existing international programmes as well as creating new local initiatives

II. Build Policy Commitment to Facilitate the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem

Governments across the MENA region must act now to address the growing skills gap. This requires a clear and coherent
commitment at the highest political levels.

Policies should send a strong signal of support for entrepreneurship and also set the strategic framework in which schools
and universities can work to implement programmes and activities within their institutions. To do so, greater coordination
is necessary across ministries and action is needed at the national, regional and local levels.

To facilitate an entrepreneurial ecosystem, the appropriate regulatory framework is necessary. Regulations that restrict
entrepreneurship, such as bankruptcy laws, should be modified. However, policies and national strategies are not
enough. The engagement of stakeholders in the entrepreneurial ecosystem – academia, business, the NGO community,
international institutions and foundations – is critical to ensure the development of relevant policies and to assist in the
implementation of programmes.

Suggested Actions
• Create a cross-country and sector coordinating body to drive action
Extend the role and membership of the World Economic Forum MENA Action Group for Entrepreneurship Education
and continue the work of the group to drive action and commitment across the region
Engage policy-makers, create champions and instil urgency for action

III. Leverage and Scale Good Practices through Multistakeholder Partnerships

Entrepreneurship thrives in ecosystems in which multiple stakeholders play key roles. In particular, education should
be better linked with practice to ensure that future skills match future jobs. Academia should be encouraged to reach
out to the business community and integrate them into the learning process. Students need to have the opportunity
to experiment and experience entrepreneurship. Greater awareness and access to role models and success stories
(international, national and local) is needed to encourage young people to pursue their potential. The media and new
forms of social media should be leveraged to raise awareness as well as facilitate networks and partnerships.

While an increasing number of entrepreneurship education programmes exist in the MENA region today, scalability
and penetration remain key challenges. In today’s environment, technology plays an increasingly important role in the
educational process, both as a delivery channel and a teaching tool.

Not only can technology help reach larger audiences, including those who previously might not have had access to
entrepreneurship education, but it can also help in the development of interactive and locally relevant programmes and
materials. Technology provides a mechanism for reaching greater economies of scale as well as providing broader sharing
of practices.

8 | Global Education Initiative

 “Job creation is among the most critical
Suggested Actions
challenges facing leaders around the
• Identify and celebrate good practices
globe today. We believe that a workforce
• Identify opportunities to share good practices through the creation of
grounded in 21st century skills and ICT
resource guides and online tools
literacy is essential to innovation and
• Celebrate entrepreneurship across the region by leveraging
economic growth and that the private
international events (Global Entrepreneurship Week, regional business
sector, in concert with government and
plan competitions, etc.) and creating local initiatives
civil society, must play a major role. The
• Leverage media (including TV) and technology to provide greater
partnerships developed through the
access and awareness
WEF Global Education Initiative since
its inception have created sustainable
IV. Ensure the Appropriate Metrics and Incentives Are in Place models for building a strong education
system with access for all children.
More effective measurement and evaluation of the impact of We look forward to the continued
entrepreneurship education programmes and policies are needed. These acceleration of education transformation
should be based not only on inputs but also on outputs and outcomes. with even greater scale and reach.”
Evaluation needs to cover both short-term results and longer term impact in
both formal and informal education. Paul S. Otellini, President and Chief
Executive Officer, Intel Corporation, USA

At the same time, there is limited data on entrepreneurship education.

For comparable data across countries, there needs to be agreement on the definition of entrepreneurial competency,
the scope of what should be measured and agreement on the process of data collection. Existing data collection
efforts should be coordinated to enable the development of an agreed upon framework and process for collecting
entrepreneurship education indicators.

Suggested Actions
• Develop an entrepreneurship education scorecard for the MENA region
Leverage existing and develop new indicators to provide a benchmarking of developments in countries across the
region and create incentives for action

Global Education Initiative | 9

2. Entrepreneurship, Job Creation and 21st Century Skills

To set the scene for this session, background was provided on the findings of the 2009 World Economic Forum Report
Educating the Next Wave of Entrepreneurs and data from the region was shared. The participants then discussed the
importance and evolution of entrepreneurship in the region, including the role of the entrepreneurial ecosystem as well as
the need for matching future skills to future jobs.

Opening Remarks
Bill Souders, Senior Director, Corporate Affairs, Cisco, USA
Alex Wong, Senior Director, Head of Centre for Global Industries, Head of Global Education Initiative, World Economic
Forum

Scene setting
Isil Oge, Senior Associate, Corporate Finance, Deloitte Turkey
Karen E. Wilson, Founder, GV Partners, Adviser and Board Member, EFER, and Senior Fellow, Kauffman Foundation,
France

Firestarters
Khaldoon Tabazza, Chief Executive Officer, Riyada Enterprise Development, Jordan
Ahmed Younis, Director of Strategic Partnerships and Communications, Silatech, Qatar

Table Discussion Leaders

Desmond Bermingham, Director, Education Global Initiative, Save the Children International, United Kingdom
Farhan Kalaldeh, Executive Director, Queen Rania Center for Entrepreneurship, Jordan
Branka Minic, Senior Director, Global Corporate and Government Affairs, Manpower, USA
Assibi Napoe, Chief Regional Coordinator, Education International, Ghana
Feroz Sanaulla, Director, Middle East, Turkey and Africa, Intel Capital, United Arab Emirates

Facilitator
Karen E. Wilson, Founder, GV Partners, Adviser and Board Member, EFER, and Senior Fellow, Kauffman Foundation,
France

2.1 The role of entrepreneurship in the MENA region

The session opened with remarks from the World Economic Forum stating that the
purpose of the roundtable was to have an open forum in which participants could
discuss key issues in the region and also to build both a network and a commitment
for action among the participants.

The facilitator began by saying that entrepreneurship has never been more important
than it is today, especially in the MENA region. Now more than ever, entrepreneurs
are essential to create jobs and economic wealth, as well as to address the growing
set of global challenges society is facing. Recent studies from the Kauffman
Foundation1 have demonstrated that entrepreneurs have been major drivers of
economic growth and job creation in the US.

The 2009 World Economic Forum Report Educating the Next Wave of Entrepreneurs
discusses definitions of entrepreneurship and highlights one from Howard Stevenson
of Harvard Business School: “The pursuit of opportunities beyond the resources
you currently control.” The report also emphasizes the importance of building the
entrepreneurial ecosystem, which is discussed further in section 2.2.

The report reviews entrepreneurship education in youth, higher education as well as

outside formal education in what was termed “social inclusion”. Both in the report
and in the roundtable discussions, the importance of links between programmes in
primary, secondary, vocational and higher education are highlighted as well as the
role of informal and out-of-school programmes
1
www.kauffman.org

10 | MENA Roundtable on Entrepreneurship Education

The report also examines what, how, who and where
to teach entrepreneurship education and highlights the
importance of embedding entrepreneurship in education,
using interactive teaching methods and training of teachers.
Some other successful approaches to entrepreneurship
education include cross-disciplinary approaches, curriculum
development, outreach to business and leveraging
technology. At the same time, some key challenges remain,
including the fact there is “no one size fits all” solution –
each country/region needs to modify the approach to fit
the local context. In addition, continuous learning, effective
measurement and evaluation are needed to ensure
programmes are meeting their goals. Finally, scalability
remains a key challenge and is one of the reasons for
holding the roundtable and working on building links and
collaboration across key stakeholders from various sectors in
the region.

2.1.1 The need for entrepreneurship: data and research findings

Except for the high-income Gulf countries, the GDP per capita of MENA countries is lower compared to many developed
and developing nations in the world (see Figure 1). The main challenges that countries face in developing their economies
are poor education outcomes, unfavourable business environments and overbearing governments.2

Figure 1: GDP per Capita (PPP US$) 2009

The economies are currently comprised of small and medium size enterprises and are characterized by a high level
of informality and low involvement of women. For growth to prosper, the economies need to be geared towards more
export-oriented, labour intensive and knowledge-driven sectors instead of the more traditional sectors that are currently in
place such as agriculture, natural resources and public works3.

2
The Arab World Competitiveness Review 2010
3
The Environment for Women’s Entrepreneurship in the Middle East and North Africa Region, World Bank

Global Education Initiative | 11

The MENA region has significantly lower telephone, Internet and personal computer penetration rates compared to the
rest of the world (see Figure 2). Having more available access to information technology could help the region become
more innovative and entrepreneurial.

Figure 2: Technology Penetration Rates

About 90% of the youth in the world live in developing economies with significant percentages in the Middle East and
North Africa.4

Figure 3: Population by Age

In all regions of the world, the share of youth is expected to decline (though not in all countries) by 2050. However, in the
MENA region this ratio will increase until 2035 before starting its declining trend.5 Therefore the region will have to continue
to educate and create jobs for an increasing share of youth in the coming decades.

4
Global Employment Trends for Youth. 2010: International Labour Organization
5
Youth in the Middle East and North Africa: Demographic Opportunity or Challenge? Population Reference Bureau
6
The Road Not Travelled, Education Reform in the Middle East and Africa. 2008 World Bank MENA Development Report

12 | Global Education Initiative

The region invested about 5% of GDP in education over the past 40 years. This investment has resulted in increased
enrolment rates for both males and females (see Figure 4). However, the education systems of the region are not
yet sufficient to produce graduates with the skills and expertise necessary for progress in the business environment,
Unemployment is particularly high among graduates, and a large segment of the educated labour force is employed by
governments.6

Figure 4: Primary School Enrolment Ratio

Comparison of youth labour force participation rates across the world ranks the Middle East and North Africa region in last
place (see Figure 5).

Figure 5: Youth Labour Participation Rate

Global Education Initiative | 13

Another issue is the region’s labour structure. Despite increased enrolment rates in education, the MENA region has the
highest rates of inactivity among women in the world (see Figure 6).
Women’s inactivity rate in the Middle East is 74.6% and 72.6% in North Africa. These rates are significantly high
compared to the world average of 48.4%. Male inactivity rates are 24.7% in the Middle East and 23.6% in North Africa.7

Figure 6: Female Participation in Workforce

According to the Global Competitiveness Index 2010, only high-income Gulf countries and Tunisia rank in the top 50
economies in the world (see Figure 7). The Global Competitiveness Index includes many pillars such as institutions,
infrastructure, macroeconomic environment, health and primary education, goods market and market size. Figure 7
shows selected pillars of the index in which most of the MENA countries have lower rankings compared to their overall
rankings. According to these pillars, the challenges to increase competitiveness in the MENA region are mainly related
to higher education and training, labour market efficiency, financial market efficiency, technological readiness, business
sophistication and innovation.

Figure 7: Global Competitiveness

7
Women in Labour Markets, Measuring Progress and Identifying Challanges. 2010. International Labour Organization

14 | Global Education Initiative

According to the Silatech Survey on Arab youth, 31% of young people say they would like to migrate to another
country (see Figure 8). A great majority of this 31% is educated and currently employed and would like to start their own
business. The survey finding suggests that “it may be unfulfilled ambition or lack of perceived opportunity rather than only
unemployment that prompts some young people to leave their homelands for other countries.”8

Figure 8: Silatech Mobile-employed

8
Silatech Index 2010: Voice of Young Arabs

Global Education Initiative | 15

The same survey conducted by Silatech also shows that an entrepreneurial spirit is present among the youth; 26% of
young people who are not business owners say they would like to start their business in the coming year (see Figure 9).
This rate is significantly higher than the young respondents in the United States.

Figure 9: Silatech Entrepreneurship Tendencies

% of young people who are not already business owners say they are planning to start their own business in the next 12 months

Jordan
Palestinian Territories
Morocco
Bahrain
United Arab Emirates
Egypt
Lebanon
Syria
Libya
Algeria

Iraq
Qatar
Yemen

Kuwait
Djibouti
Tunusia
Comoros
Sudan

0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4 0.45 0.5
Source: Silatech Index : Voice of Young Arabs 2010 (in partnership with Gallup)

2.2 Creating an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in MENA

Entrepreneurship thrives in ecosystems in which multiple

stakeholders play key roles. This has been evident in
the Silicon Valley, the Boston area and other thriving
entrepreneurial regions US, Europe and elsewher.

Academic institutions are central in shaping young people’s

attitudes, skills and behaviours. Educational institutions,
particularly at the higher education level, provide a critical
role as intellectual hubs in entrepreneurial ecosystems by
serving as incubators for innovation and research, and
focal points for collaboration among researchers, students,
professors, companies and entrepreneurs.

However, actors outside education systems play an

increasingly critical role in working with formal and informal educational programmes as well as reaching out to
underserved and socially excluded target groups. These other stakeholder groups include governments (national, regional
and local) and companies (both large and small). Therefore, creating a functioning entrepreneurial ecosystem requires
collaboration and multistakeholder partnerships.

16 | Global Education Initiative

Foundations, NGOs and other organizations can play
important facilitation or intermediary roles, often helping to
link various stakeholders. Most important are the champions
(often serial entrepreneurs but also educators, staff or
students) who leverage their social capital and serve as
catalysts for building the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Greater interaction between business, schools and

universities needs to be encouraged in the region.
Companies and entrepreneurs can play instrumental roles
in shaping entrepreneurial mindsets of young people by
providing knowledge, expertise, mentoring, social capital and
financial support. Policy-makers at the international, national,
regional and local levels all have important roles to play in
setting the appropriate legal and fiscal frameworks to encourage entrepreneurship and in filling market gaps as necessary.

In the MENA region, about 95% of the economy is made up of small and medium size enterprises. Several of the
speakers stated that a vast amount of opportunities exist in the MENA region; however, the region must create an
entrepreneurial ecosystem such that this potential can be fulfilled. As shown in the research in the previous section, there
are clearly huge differences between countries in the region. Some countries are currently more focused on encouraging
high-growth entrepreneurship to transform the economy, whereas other countries have a dire need for job creation of any
kind. The approach to entrepreneurship education and ecosystem development will differ according to the needs of the
individual countries.

There are many significant initiatives in entrepreneurship in the MENA region but they need to be scaled. This requires
multistakeholder partnerships and the leveraging of technology. “Evidence has demonstrated that technology plays a key
role in catalysing innovation and in providing opportunities for growth and entrepreneurship,” said Bill Souders, Senior
Director, Corporate Affairs, Cisco.

Global Education Initiative | 17

 Figure 10: GEM Report
Fear of Failure

70

60

50
Average
40

30

20

10

0
Yemen Jordan West Bank and Tunisia Iran Algeria United Arab Morocco Lebanon Syria
Saudi Arabia Gaza Strip Emirates
Source: Global Entrepreneurship Monitor : 2009 Global Entrepreneurship Report

Early-Stage Entrepreneurial Activity

30

25

20 Average

15

10

0
Yemen Jordan West Bank and Tunisia Iran Algeria United Arab Morocco Lebanon Syria
Saudi Arabia Gaza Strip Emirates
Source: Global Entrepreneurship Monitor : 2009 Global Entrepreneurship Report

Serious regulation and policy reforms are needed in the Arab world to create a more desirable business environment.
To transform the MENA economies into economies of the 21st century, innovation and entrepreneurship are critical. But
innovation and entrepreneurship cannot happen in isolation from the rest of the world. Governments in the region should
allow visas for cross-border knowledge workers. In addition, regulations such as bankruptcy laws need to be adjusted to
remove barriers to entrepreneurship. The fear of failure is high in many countries in the region, thus stifling entrepreneurial
activity.

2.3 Challenges

The issue of developing entrepreneurial skills and mindsets must be tackled through the entire education system as well
as outside formal education. Today, too few graduates are equipped with the skills needed in the job market. Educational
systems need to change to focus on 21st century skills, not those of the past. While changing the education system is
not an easy process, steps must be taken urgently to implement a short-, medium- and longer term agenda that can
move education in the right direction. There must be commitment from the leadership of both the political and educational
systems to make the necessary changes. In addition, coordination is needed across ministries and sectors.

Entrepreneurship should be embedded in the curriculum at all levels. However, the programmes need to be tailored for
each age group, particularly in terms of motivation and behaviour. For all ages, skills such as leadership and self efficacy
are a key component. For young students in primary school, raising awareness and generating interest is important.
For vocational, secondary school and university students, entrepreneurship should be more experiential, hands-on and
action-oriented. For all ages, role models and mentors, particularly those from the local area, are important to provide
inspiration.

As mentioned earlier, links between academia and business are important, not only in making sure the curriculum is
relevant but also in providing role models, mentorship and expertise. Academic and business links are also critical for
building an entrepreneurial ecosystem, without which, it is difficult for entrepreneurs to thrive. This requires partnerships
(and trust building) across sectors and a regulatory environment that facilitates business creation and growth.

18 | Global Education Initiative

To create an entrepreneurial culture, parents also need
to have an understanding and positive attitude towards
entrepreneurship as their views influence those of their
children. Young people should be encouraged, both at home
and at school, to pursue entrepreneurial opportunities. It was
agreed that there needs to be a more common language
about why entrepreneurship is important for the economy,
society and culture.

The following items were identified by the participants as the

key elements to establish entrepreneurship education and an
entrepreneurial culture in the region:

• Bottoms-up and top-down approaches should be used.

• Strategies should be locally relevant – local needs and priorities should be identified.
• Entrepreneurship education should be linked to learning.
• Risks of failure should be reduced by increasing the sharing of information and also by changing the legal system in
some countries.
• Mentorships are important and should be leveraged.

Global Education Initiative | 19

3. Entrepreneurship Education Policies in the MENA Region

• Access to funding and obtaining work permits needs to be easier.

• The region should make use of global financial crisis (it can be a good opportunity to promote innovation and
entrepreneurship).
• The gap between decision-makers and front-line
implementers should be bridged.
• Entrepreneurship skills can be taught in schools
(through learning-by-doing and experiential learning).
In this session, an overview of national policies on
entrepreneurship education in selected countries across the
MENA region was presented. Participants then discussed
policy gaps and challenges across the region.

Special Remark
Lamis Al Alami, Minister of Education and Higher Education
of the Palestinian Authority

Discussion Leader
Hoda Baraka, First Deputy to the Minister of Communications and Information Technology of Egypt

Facilitator
Fernando Reimers, Ford Foundation Professor of International Education and Director of International Education Policy
Program, Harvard Graduate School of Education, USA

3.1 Examples from across the Region

Palestine

Palestine does not have an industrial-based economy and 99% of the economy is comprised of small and medium
size enterprises with less than 20 employees. It is therefore important to clarify the role that entrepreneurship plays and
why it is important. For the government of Palestine, entrepreneurship education is not only a means to increasing the
opportunity for employment by also for enhanced economic development.

Entrepreneurship needs to be embedded in the educational system. In terms of scaling entrepreneurship education, the
Ministry of Education and Higher Education has a very important role to play at all levels of education. There is a particular
issue, however, in terms of the pool of unemployed university graduates, in whom a lot has been invested but with little
return. The country has recently developed, and revised for the second time, the strategy for vocational and technical
education. A technical and vocational education council has been formed including all public stakeholders – the Ministries
of Education and Higher Education, Labour, Economics, Social Affairs and Women’s Affairs.

While there are many individual initiatives going on, the major challenge is to evaluate and scale best practices.

Egypt

Egypt provides another example of including other public bodies, in addition to the Ministry of Education, in the process
of developing innovation and entrepreneurship education in the country. The Ministry of Communications and Information
Technology has partnered with the business sector to use Information & Communications Technology (ICT) to create a
more innovative environment. The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology has also started working with
the Ministry of Higher Education to focus on leveraging ICT to accelerate education.

Egyptian culture needs to be geared towards entrepreneurship. There is a vast pool of local talent and, in the past
years, the country has attracted multinational companies to leverage these local skills. The next step is to build more
partnerships and empower Egyptians to be more entrepreneurial.

Some of the key issues in Egypt include localization, partnerships and mentoring, access to finance, access to markets

20 | Global Education Initiative

and scaling. It is necessary to develop a strategy to enable entrepreneurship. When working in partnerships with
multinational businesses, the first step in this strategy is localization. The second step is providing access to financing.
The system for financing in the country needs to be set up. Mentors and partners are needed from businesses to teach
and lead the way. For entrepreneurship to develop having access to markets is the next challenge, and this is also where
partnerships with multinational companies are essential. Business partnerships create the means to access to markets.
The role of the government in this strategy is to facilitate the creation of the ecosystem. Once the government has
established this and provides support for the system, then everything will start to move. On the basis of these concepts,
Egypt has been working on developing a system for the last five years. In 2011, an initiative will be launched which will

Figure 11: European Training Foundation Index on Policy

encompass all of the above-mentioned components.

3.2 Policy challenges and gaps

Currently there are few policies in place for entrepreneurship education in the region. Tunisia is the only country that has
clearly identified entrepreneurship education in its national development strategy.
However, strategy alone is not enough. There must be a clear implementation plan that engages all the necessary
stakeholders. At the same time, there are many entrepreneurship education initiatives outside the public education system
and a strategy is needed to scale them up.

In Jordan, the number of entrepreneurship initiatives has increased from three or four 10 years ago to around 50
today. Last year, an alliance was created between these initiatives to include all stakeholders, supportive organizations,
investment companies, universities and entrepreneurs. This has created one united source which is far better positioned

Global Education Initiative | 21

to approach the government to demand changes in policy
for scaling and going forward.

Essentially, a paradigm shift is required in national

education systems. It must be clear who “owns” the
strategy, how to prioritize efforts and, importantly, how to
measure the results. Education reform will not work without
policies in place to change the existing metrics.

The building blocks for entrepreneurship should be

identified and required outcomes need to be monitored
to ensure the efficiency of programmes and policies.
Providing entrepreneurship education does not mean that
all learners will go into entrepreneurship. It does, however,
equip all learners with training in areas such as math skills,
working in teams, leadership, critical thinking and problem
solving, and therefore creates a labour force with the skills
demanded by business. These entrepreneurship education
elements should be built into national curricula from as
Building blocks for Entrepreneurship Education:
early an age as possible.
An Example from ILO’s KAB Programme
Training teachers is critical. How should/can they be trained
ILO’s KAB Programme works with ministries to introduce
and who will pay for the time and resources required to
entrepreneurship education to national curriculums.
do this? All stakeholders must be active participants in
In Syria an entrepreneurship education course
based on KAB has been agreed upon as part of the
national curriculum for secondary vocational schools,
intermediate institutes and universities.

22 | Global Education Initiative

4. Practices and Partnerships

education, including parents, students, business and the

government.

The aim of entrepreneurship education should be to allow

students to shape their ideas for their future and to equip
them with entrepreneurial tools for when they are ready and
willing to start entrepreneurial ventures. Most importantly, it
must empower students to take charge of and change their
own futures.
In preparation for the roundtable, the key NGO and private
sector initiatives in entrepreneurship education in the
MENA region were identified and a matrix was created to
provide an overview of their regional coverage by country.
A summary of the organizational profiles and information
on related initiatives was also made available to facilitate connections between participants (see appendix for matrix and
organizational profiles).

In this session, new multistakeholder partnerships and initiatives for entrepreneurship education in the region were
announced. The participants then split into four groups to discuss key entrepreneurship education issues which led to the
creation of the Manifesto highlighted in section 1.1.

1) 21st century skill development: paradigm shift in the education system

2) Building policy commitment and an enabling regulatory environment
3) Leveraging and scaling good practices through multistakeholder partnerships
4) Developing clear outcomes, goals and measuring impact

Firestarters
Rane Johnson, Director, Worldwide Education Audience Marketing, Microsoft Corporation, USA
Martina A. Roth, Director, Global Education Strategy Research and Policy, Intel Corporation, Germany
Soraya Salti, Senior Vice-President, Middle East and North Africa, INJAZ Al Arab - JA Worldwide, Jordan
Mary de Wysocki, Director, Corporate Affairs, Cisco, USA

Breakout Discussion Leaders

1) 21st century skill development: paradigm shift in the education system
Amin Amin, Chief Executive Officer and Founder, CADER (Changement for Arab Development & Education Reform),
Jordan
Riadh Bouzaouache, Senior Coordinator, Head of Entrepreneurship Education Program North Africa, University of
Sousse, Tunisia

2) Building policy commitment and an enabling regulatory environment

Klaus Haftendorn, Chief Technical Adviser, Know About Business (KAB) Programme, International Labour Organization
(ILO), Geneva
Dale D. Murphy, Director of Entrepreneurship, Dubai School of Government, United Arab Emirates

3) Leveraging and scaling good practices through multistakeholder partnerships

Waleed Al Banawi, Vice-Chairman, Banawi Industrial Group, Saudi Arabia
Shahzad A. Bhatti, Chief Executive Officer, TriMillenium Learning, Malaysia

4) Developing clear outcomes, goals and measuring impact

Nicholas Burnett, Managing Director, Results for Development Institute (R4D), USA
Abdelaziz Jaouani, Human Capital Development Specialist, European Training Foundation (ETF), Italy

Global Education Initiative | 23

Facilitator
Karen E. Wilson, Founder, GV Partners, Adviser and Board
Member, EFER, and Senior Fellow, Kauffman Foundation,
France

The session opened with announcements about partnership

and entrepreneurship education initiatives from the region.

Soraya Salti, Senior Vice President of INJAZ Al Arab,

announced their new joint initiative with Aramex as a pilot
programme for leveraging the business sector. In this
context, the best ideas from a business competition will
be selected and seed-funded by Aramex. This programme
will differ from others by providing constant support for the
entrepreneurs with Aramex partners providing mentoring for the start-ups during their initial stages, as well as access to
the Aramex network.

On the issue of scaling, Soraya Salti stressed the importance of evaluations and that once assessments can be made,
best practices, as measured through outcomes, can be taken to the ministers. INJAZ Al Arab has been working actively
in entrepreneurship education in the region and they will be focusing on measuring the outcomes of their efforts over the
next two years in partnership with Citibank and an expert from Harvard Graduate School of Education.

The GEI Steering Board representatives from Cisco, Intel and Microsoft also stressed the importance of evaluation and
announced their new joint initiative focusing on evaluation and assessment of entrepreneurship education practices,
which they hope will facilitate policy changes and the scaling of initiatives which are working well. In addition, Cisco, Intel
and Microsoft presented a resource guide which they put together for the MENA Roundtable. It highlights their initiatives
in entrepreneurship education in the region; they would like to build on it by adding the many other initiatives in the region.
Their goal is to create a common framework and a set of resources which are easily available to all stakeholders in the
region, which provides an overview of activities in the region as a way to help build collaboration and partnerships.

Sherif El Diwany, Senior Director for the Middle East and North Africa at the World Economic Forum, joined the roundtable
to talk about the need for education reform in the region. He highlighted the need for scaling, measurement and putting
the proper incentives in place. In addition, he stressed the importance of multistakeholder involvement in education
reform.

4.1 21st century skill development: paradigm shift in the education system

The group identified qualities defining 21st century skills as cognitive, social and emotional capacity, flexibility, self-
confidence, having respect for himself/herself and others, having a sense of identity/belonging, empowerment, ethical
development, ability to apply knowledge towards problem solving, understanding economics, the ability to access and
use information effectively, and communications skills across cultures and languages.

Teachers are the key to reaching students and will provide the scaling needed in entrepreneurship education. Teachers
should be empowered to also develop 21st century skills. An environment needs to be created where teachers can also
develop to become cycle breakers, leaders and guides. Partnerships can be created between schools of education and
business schools to facilitate faculty training.

To empower youth and teachers with these 21st century skills, all stakeholders (ministers, regulatory bodies, private
sector, civil society, teachers, parents and students) should all have roles and responsibilities.

4.2 Building policy commitment and an enabling regulatory environment

The group started by tackling the question of what policy-makers can do to encourage more entrepreneurship. First,
it was agreed that entrepreneurship should be part of the state-mandated curriculum. Second, it was noted that the
evaluation of programmes should be in terms of encouraging entrepreneurial thinking, which is an important skill for all
students even though only a small portion will actually take the step to begin their own businesses. Third, it was agreed

24 | Global Education Initiative

that all important stakeholders need to be at the table and invested in these policy
changes. The group discussed the need for pathways to entrepreneurship as
students move through the educational system.

Decisions need to be taken at the highest level of government. It was noted that
there needs to be a high-level entrepreneurship champion or council – someone
or a body at a senior policy level to bring consensus across ministries and sectors.
The proper incentives also need to be in place for the key stakeholders involved in
implementing the policies. Government can help scale, but the driver of change has
to come from a multistakeholder partnership focused on positive social change. The
private sector can help drive effective, timely change.

The role of teachers was discussed and, in particular, the issue of the low “brand”
of teachers. Teachers are key to implementing entrepreneurship education so their
status, training and incentives are important.

The issue of matching student skills to jobs was also discussed. It was
acknowledged that there needs to be some type of local-based market clearing
mechanism, which is not overly reliant on the educational institutions themselves.

The group recommended that the objectives of entrepreneurship policy should

focus on high-quality content and changing the mindset of students – helping them
find their passions and then focusing on creativity and later, on specific skills. It was
noted that education should be flexible but with proper support for schools and universities. Finally, it was noted that the
programmes, particularly at the higher education level, should help students and entrepreneurs in creating and scaling
high-growth, high value-added, job-creating start-ups. Successful entrepreneurship in the region should be celebrated,
creating role models of high-growth, “born global” entrepreneurial firms.

In terms of the strategy, a high-level champion should be identified within the government (as in many Scandinavian
countries) and the head of government should make a public commitment to the importance of entrepreneurship and
entrepreneurship education. Multistakeholder partnership should provide curriculum guidance, interns and mentors. In
addition, systematic ways should be identified for the private sector to employ students before graduating so that they
can be more readily integrated into the workforce thereafter.

The biggest challenges are sustaining the funding commitment and establishing the network for public, private and
NGO stakeholders to work together (possibly by leveraging existing regional bodies in the Arab world and professional
associations). Institutional commitments are needed to identify tasks, commitments and measurable outcomes.

4.3 Leveraging and scaling good practices through multistakeholder partnerships

The first action discussed was to leverage the World Economic Forum’s MENA Advisory Group, which was put together
to provide input into the roundtable, as a coordinating body to drive follow-up action in the region. This body which should
be refocused as the MENA Action Group on Entrepreneurship Education should use metrics for evaluation to identify
the best practices needed for the region. Multistakeholder partnerships following these good practices should help scale
entrepreneurship education. These partnerships should be based on mutual respect, transparency and accountability.
Each partner has to have ownership and benefit. There needs to be a lead partner and metrics for success. Each partner
has to bring something to the table, while eliminating ego as a disruptive factor.

With these partnerships, the next step would be to create an entrepreneurship learning system that has 1) adoptability to
local system requirements, 2) local people for endorsement, 3) leadership continuity, 4) succession planning, 5) political
engagement and 6) a system-driven approach. Through these partnerships, support for teachers should be established.

Global Education Initiative | 25

Private individuals and alumni should also be part of the system. Technology “Entrepreneurship education can help
can be employed as an accelerator, providing data for metrics and reducing our region establish new businesses and
the risk of failure by allowing for experiments before taking initiatives to scale. create jobs that use technology to deliver
more culturally and globally diverse
products and services.”

4.4 Developing clear outcomes, goals and measuring impact Charbel Fakhoury, General Manager,
Microsoft Gulf, Microsoft Corporation, United
One of the major challenges in the way of entrepreneurial education is the Arab Emirates
lack of evaluation. This concern was emphasized by all participants during
the roundtable, as both individual organizations and public institutions need a reference to measure the outcomes of their
efforts to better formulate a strategy to increase the scale and efficiency of their initiatives. “The only thing that matters is
that which is measured.”

A metric for measuring entrepreneurship education needs to be applied to the education system in general and, given
the characteristics of the region, should pay attention to gender equality as well as out-of-school education and the large
informal education sector. These should be measures that can be used in a cross-country way and adapted by individual
countries for local use.

An immediate action plan suggested by the working group is to create a scorecard for each country using a small number
(10 to 20) of critical indicators. The scorecard should identify inputs, outputs and outcomes and be based on data that
already exists.

Input data can be selected on policy and entrepreneurship education indicators. Output data can include some of the
innovation metrics of the World Economic Forum Competitiveness Index. Outcomes can measure aspects of critical
thinking like the PISA Index. The group creating this scorecard should include researchers and business people and can
be connected through an intermediary such as an international organization. Money would need to be raised to support

26 | Global Education Initiative

5. Next Steps

this initiative.

This scorecard index should then be maintained through partnership with technology firm(s) to create a network and
database.

The roundtable brought together key stakeholders from across the MENA region engaged in entrepreneurship education.
This included policy-makers, academics, business leaders, NGOs and students. Following the roundtable, the participants
had the opportunity to join the INJAZ Al Arab Annual Pan-Arab Young Entrepreneurs Competition, touring the booths set
up by student entrepreneur teams from 13 countries across the region. The teams were extremely impressive in terms of
their strategies and marketing abilities and the experience helped provide the link between the discussions during the day
and the outcomes being sought in the region. In the evening the roundtable participants joined INJAZ Al Arab’s regional
community for a networking dinner.

In the closing session, Charbel Fakhoury, General Manager for the Gulf Region for Microsoft Corporation, highlighted the
importance of entrepreneurship to improve the social and economic environments in regions. “Competitiveness today is
about how effective you are about driving change,” he stressed.

In terms of results of the roundtable, the first outcome was feeding the key findings and recommendations into the
Education Summit held by the World Economic Forum in Marrakech on 25 October 2010.

The second outcome was the production of the Manifesto for Creating Jobs and Economic Growth in MENA
through Entrepreneurship and 21st Century Skills which was presented during Global Entrepreneurship Week at the
Entrepreneurship Celebration in Dubai, hosted by Abraaj Capital.

The third outcome was the agreement to continue the work initiated by the MENA Advisory Group, which was put
together in the summer of 2010 to provide input on the preparations for the roundtable. This group, whose name will now
change to “Action Group”, will be expanded, with additional participants from the roundtable, and will create a network to
build on the links and synergy established during the roundtable. It will enable the group to continue to work together to
take actions which will contribute to promoting entrepreneurship education and building the entrepreneurial ecosystem in
the MENA region. The group will pursue the items outlined in the Manifesto and will report back at the World Economic
Forum on the Middle East in 2011.

Global Education Initiative | 27

6. Acknowledgements

The World Economic Forum recognizes the GEI Steering Board Members – Abraaj Capital, Cisco, Deloitte, EMC,
Intel, Manpower and Microsoft – for their leadership and stewardship in the development of the Roundtables on
Entrepreneurship Education, and all the GEI Steering Board Members for their many years of support.
Steering Board Task Force on Entrepreneurship Education
Omar Lodhi Executive Director Abraaj Capital United Arab Emirates
Fred Sicre Executive Director Abraaj Capital United Arab Emirates
Bill Souders Senior Director, Corporate Affairs Cisco USA
Mary de Wysocki Director, Corporate Affairs Cisco USA
Rana Salhab Partner, Human Resources Deloitte Middle East
Renata Horakova Global Corporate Initiatives, Program EMC Corporation USA
Manager

Joe Haberman Co-Global Practice Managing Partner, Heidrick & Struggles USA
Education and Social Enterprise

Ferruh Gurtas Corporate Affairs Director, Middle East, Intel Corporation Turkey
Turkey and Africa

Martina A. Roth Director, Global Education Strategy Intel Corporation Germany

Research and Policy

Branka Minic Senior Director, Global Corporate and Manpower USA

Government Affairs

Rane Johnson Director, Worldwide Education Microsoft Corporation USA

Audience Marketing

Kimberly Voltero Student Audience Marketing Manager, Microsoft International France

Microsoft Worldwide, Academic
Audience Marketing
Julie Engerran Director, Corporate Responsibility Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu United States
Limited

Stasha Fyfe Community Investment Program Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu United Kingdom
Manager Limited

28 | Global Education Initiative

MENA Advisory Group on Entrepreneurship Education
Sherif Kamal Dean of Business School American University of Cairo Egypt
Cagatay Guney Director, Human Resources Deloitte Turkey
Tarek Yousef Dean Dubai School of Government United Arab Emirates

Ahmed Ezzat Managing Director Endeavor Egypt Egypt

Abdelaziz Jaouani Human Capital Development European Training Foundation Italy
Specialist (ETF)

Fernando Reimers Ford Foundation Professor of Harvard Graduate School of USA

International Education and Director Education
of International Education Policy
Program

Rana Salhab Partner, Human Resources Deloitte Middle East

Tayeb Kamali Vice-Chancellor Higher Colleges of Technology United Arab Emirates

Soraya Salti Senior Vice-President, Middle East INJAZ Al Arab - JA Worldwide Jordan
and North Africa

Klaus Haftendorn Chief Technical Adviser, Know About International Labour Geneva
Business (KAB) Programme Organization (ILO)

Tony Feghali Director, Entrepreneurship Initiative Olayan School of Business at Beirut

American University of Beirut

Farhan Kalaldeh Executive Director Queen Rania Center for Jordan

Entrepreneurship

Siham Al Figuigui Country Leader SIFE Morocco

Rick Little Chief Executive Officer Silatech USA
Riadh Bouzaouache Senior Coordinator, Head of University of Sousse Tunisia
Entrepreneurship Education Program,
North Africa,

Additional Acknowledgements
Karen Wilson Founder, GV Partners, Adviser and Kauffman Foundation Switzerland
Board Member, EFER, and Senior
Fellow
Isil Öge Senior Associate, Corporate Finance Deloitte Turkey

Global Education Initiative | 29

7. Appendices

7.1 List of Reports Referenced

Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2009 Global Report. GEM

The Arab World Competitiveness Review 2010. World Economic Forum, 2010

The Environment for Women’s Entrepreneurship in the Middle East and North Africa Region. World Bank, 2008

Global Employment Trends for Youth. International Labour Organization, 2010

Youth in the Middle East and North Africa: Demographic Opportunity or Challenge? Population Reference Bureau, 2007

The Road Not Travelled: Education Reform in the Middle East and North Africa. World Bank, 2008

Women in Labour Markets: Measuring Progress and Identifying Challenges. International Labour Organization, 2010

The Silatech Index: Voices of Young Arab. Silatech, 2010

Report on the implementation of the Euro-Mediterranean Charter for Enterprise. European Training Foundation, 2008

Entrepreneurship Education in the Arab States: Case Studies on the Arab States (Jordan, Tunisia, Oman and Egypt).
UNESCO and StratREAL, 2010

Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Special Report: A Global Perspective on Entrepreneurship Education and Training. GEM,
2010

Global Competitiveness Review 2010. World Economic Forum, 2010

Educating the Next Wave of Entrepreneurs. World Economic Forum, 2009

30 | Global Education Initiative

7.2 List of Participants

Participants of the Middle East Roundtable on Entrepreneurship Education

Fahd El Hassan Technical and Functional Consultant United Systems and Solution Morocco
Waleed Al Banawi Vice-Chairman Banawi Industrial Group Saudi Arabia
Amin Amin Chief Executive Officer and Founder CADER (Changement for Arab Jordan
Development & Education
Reform)

Bill Souders Senior Director, Corporate Affairs Cisco USA

Mary de Wysocki Director, Corporate Affairs Cisco USA
Isil Oge Senior Associate, Corporate Finance Deloitte Turkey
Dale D. Murphy Director of Entrepreneurship Dubai School of Government United Arab
Emirates

Assibi Napoe Chief Regional Coordinator for Africa Education International Ghana
Robert H. Reed Senior Editor Elite 103 USA
Issam Lahlali Chief Technology Officer Eskuila Morocco
Abdelaziz Jaouani Human Capital Development Specialist European Training Foundation Italy
(ETF)

Karen E. Wilson Founder, GV Partners, Adviser and GV Partners France

Board Member, EFER, and Senior Fellow,
Kauffman Foundation

Fernando Reimers Ford Foundation Professor of Harvard Graduate School of USA

International Education and Director of Education
International Education Policy Program

Soraya Salti Senior Vice-President, Middle East and INJAZ Al Arab - JA Worldwide Jordan
North Africa

Mhammed Abbad Director-General Injaz Al-Maghrib Morocco

Andaloussi

Hans H. Wahl Executive Director, Social INSEAD France

Entrepreneurship

Andrew Youssef Programme Manager, LIFT-OFF Initiative Institute of International Egypt

Education Center for
Leadership Excellence

Global Education Initiative | 31

 Feroz Sanaulla Director, Middle East, Turkey and Africa Intel Capital United Arab
Emirates

Ferruh Gurtas Corporate Affairs Director, Middle East, Intel Corporation Turkey
Turkey and Africa

Martina A. Roth Director, Global Education Strategy Intel Corporation Germany

Research and Policy

Laith Zraikat Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer Jeeran Jordan

Hissam Kamal Director, Investments Khazanah Nasional Berhad Malaysia
Hassan

Noorazman Abd Aziz Executive Director, Investments Khazanah Nasional Berhad Malaysia
Michael Hay Professor of Management Practice in London Business School United
Entrepreneurship Kingdom

Jamal Belahrach General Manager, North Africa and India Manpower Morocco
Ocean

Branka Minic Senior Director, Global Corporate and Manpower USA

Government Affairs

Charbel Fakhoury General Manager, Microsoft Gulf Microsoft United Arab

Emirates

Rane Johnson Director, Worldwide Education Audience Microsoft Corporation USA

Marketing

Zeid Shubailat Education Director, Microsoft Middle East Microsoft Corporation Jordan
and Africa

Kapil Gupta Foreign Service Officer Middle East Partnership USA

Initiative, Economic Programs

Sami Abdellaoui Student Moulay Youssef High School Morocco

Lina El Yakhloufi Student Moulay Youssef High School Morocco
Sachin Duggal President and Chief Executive Officer Nivio SA Switzerland
Yasar Jarrar Partner PwC United Arab
Emirates

Farhan Kalaldeh Executive Director Queen Rania Center for Jordan

Entrepreneurship

Khaldoon Tabaza Chief Executive Officer Riyada Enterprise Jordan

Development

32 | Global Education Initiative

Desmond Director, Education Global Initiative Save the Children International United
Bermingham Kingdom

Siham Al Figuigui Country Leader SIFE Maroc Morocco

Ahmed Younis Director of Strategic Partnerships and Silatech Qatar
Communications

Nicholas Burnett Managing Director The Results for Development USA

Institute (R4D)

George Khalaf Director, Middle East and North Africa The Synergos Institute USA
Region

Shahzad A. Bhatti Chief Executive Officer TriMillenium Learning Malaysia

A. Bennani President University Ibn Zohr Morocco
Riadh Bouzaouache Senior Coordinator, Head of University of Sousse Tunisia
Entrepreneurship Education Program,
North Africa

From the Government and International Organizations

Klaus Haftendorn Chief Technical Adviser, Know About International Labour Geneva
Business (KAB) Programme Organization (ILO)
Hoda Baraka First Deputy to the Minister of
Communications and Information
Technology of Egypt
Lamis Al Alami Minister of Education and Higher
Education of the Palestinian Authority
Olav Seim Director, Education for All, International UNESCO Paris
Coordination Division

From the World Economic Forum

Richard Samans Managing Director, World Economic World Economic Forum
Forum
Alex Wong Senior Director, Head of Centre for Global World Economic Forum
Industries (Geneva), Head of Global
Education Initiative

Sherif El Diwany Senior Director, Middle East and North World Economic Forum
Africa
Andreas Cox Associate Director, Global Education World Economic Forum
Initiative
Irina Dhowtalut Team Coordinator, Global Education World Economic Forum
Initiative

Global Education Initiative | 33

7.3 Matrix for Entrepreneurship Education Activity from a Cross-section of Organizations in the MENA Region

34 | Global Education Initiative

7.4 Entrepreneurship Education Profiles
Steering Board Organizations Involved in Entrepreneurship Education Initiatives in the MENA Region
Abraaj Capital
Headquarters
United Arab Emirates
Website
www.abraaj.com/
Focus
Abraaj Capital is the biggest private
equity group in the Middle East, North
Africa and South Asia (MENASA). Since
inception in 2002, Abraaj Capital has
raised about US$ 7 billion and distributed
almost US$ 3 billion to the investors.
With headquarters in Dubai, the Abraaj
Group operates seven offices in the
region including Istanbul, Cairo and
Riyadh.
Programmes
Wamda.com
Riyada Enterprise Development
Celebration of Entrepreneurship
Abraaj Capital Art Prize
Cisco
Headquarters
USA
Website
www.cisco.com
Focus
Over the past 20 years, Cisco has used
technology to advance its business
and become one of the world’s leading
companies. Cisco’s vision is to offer the
lessons learned from its own experience,
combine business relevant knowledge
from leading business and learning
resources, and connect entrepreneurs
with people, information and the
leadership of local organizations. The
result will be strengthened business
skills that help entrepreneurs grow,
differentiate, and innovate – and
dramatically improve their potential for
success
Programmes
The Cisco Entrepreneur Institute
Cisco Networking Academy
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited
Headquarters
USA
Website
www.deloitte.com
Focus
Deloitte21 is Deloitte’s global ambition
to drive innovations in education and
skills for underserved young people
that will help them succeed in the 21st
century economy. Deloitte is committed
to developing underserved students’
skills so they can become entrepreneurs,
innovate, lead, be creative, think critically
and make good decisions – the skills
needed to address the global challenges
of today and the future.
Programmes
Deloitte Middle East supports INJAZ
al-Arab by providing volunteers to teach
courses, delivering management training
to staff, and is helping launch an ethics
curriculum across the region. A Deloitte
partner is also on the Board.
Deloitte Turkey has an education
foundation (DEVAK) to grant scholarships
to talented students and to establish
educational institutions.
Global Education Initiative | 35
 Steering Board Organizations Involved in Entrepreneurship Education Initiatives in the MENA Region
Intel Corporation
Headquarters
USA
Website
www.intel.com
Focus
Intel has been fostering the next
generation of innovators through its
extensive commitment to education,
including wide-ranging support of
universities and students around the
world. The Intel ® Education Initiative
includes teacher training programmes,
promoting excellence in science and
math, encouraging technology innovation
at universities and community learning.
Programmes
The Intel® Higher Education Program
Technology Entrepreneurship - Theory to
Practice
Theory to Practice Seminars
The Arab Technology Business Plan
Competition
Intel® Learn Technology and
Entrepreneurship
TechnoWomen Program
36 | Global Education Initiative
Manpower
Headquarters
USA
Website
www.manpower.com
Focus
Manpower helps clients raise
productivity through improved quality,
efficiency and cost-reduction across
their total workforce. Around the
globe, Manpower leverages its core
competencies in partnerships with
governments, businesses and/or NGOs
for initiatives that help to provide greater
opportunities for long-term unemployed/
under-employed persons, people with
disabilities, disenfranchised minorities
and immigrants, victims of disaster,
victims of exploitation, refugees and
youth.
Programmes
Junior Achievement (Global)
YouthConnect (Global)
NBS Entrepreneurial Screening (Global)
Entrepreneurship Training (Regional -
Middle East and Africa)
Microsoft Corporation
Headquarters
USA
Website
www.microsoft.com
Focus
Microsoft believes that technology is a
vital strategic and communication tool to
achieve the potential of entrepreneurship
in the 21st century. It is helping start-ups
around the world realize their potential by
providing world-class tools, technologies
and market resources to students and
entrepreneurs, bringing new ideas, new
companies and new software innovation
to life.
Programmes
DreamSpark is simple
Microsoft BizSpark
The Imagine Cup
Microsoft Software Business
Management for Students Curriculum
Microsoft Innovation Centers (MIC)
Selected Profiles – Multilateral Organizations Involved in Entrepreneurship Education Initiatives in the
MENA Region
International Labour Organization
Headquarters
Switzerland
Website
www.ilo.org
Focus
The ILO is devoted to advancing opportunities for women
and men to obtain decent and productive work in conditions
of freedom, equity, security and human dignity. Its main aims
are to promote rights at work, encourage decent employment
opportunities, enhance social protection and strengthen
dialogue in handling work-related issues.
Programmes
Training through the International Training Centre of ILO
Know About Business (KAB): is an entrepreneurship education
programme with specific adaptations for vocational education,
secondary education and higher education.
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
Headquarters
France
Website
www.unesco.org
Focus
UNESCO works to create conditions for dialogue among
civilizations, cultures and people based upon respect for
commonly shared values. UNESCO’s unique competencies
in education, sciences, culture and communication and
information contribute towards realization of those goals.
Programmes
One of UNESCO’s main objectives is to attain quality education
for all and lifelong learning. They lead the global Education for
All movement (EFA), aiming to meet the learning needs of all
children, youth and adults by 2015.
Entrepreneurship Education (EPE) in the Arab States
Enhancing access and quality of TVET programmes through
entrepreneurship education in Jordan
Global Education Initiative | 37
 Selected Profiles – Organizations Involved in Entrepreneurship Education Initiatives in the MENA Region
AUC School of Business
Headquarters
Egypt
Website
www.aucegypt.edu/
Focus
The School of Business, under
the American University in
Cairo, strives to create an
environment that fosters the
development of principled,
innovative business leaders and
entrepreneurs who can make a
difference.
Programmes
Entrepreneurs Society
Women’s Entrepreneurship and
Leadership Program
Entrepreneurship and
Innovation Program
El-Khazindar Business
Research and Case Center
Egyptian Bio-digesters
Company
38 | Global Education Initiative
Education for Employment
Foundation
Headquarters
EFE is a network of local
organizations
Website
www.efefoundation.org
Focus
The Education for Employment
Foundation (EFE) was founded
on the belief that when young
people have satisfying jobs and
the hope of building a future,
they help lay the foundation
for prosperous economies and
stable societies. EFE’s mission
is to improve the futures of
young people in the Middle
East and North Africa by
giving them the tools to build
livelihoods for themselves.
Programmes
EFE operates on three levels:
Education, Employment and
Alumni Support
Endeavor
Headquarters
USA
Website
www.endeavor.org/
Focus
Established in 1997, Endeavor
is the global non-profit that
pioneered the concept of
High-Impact Entrepreneurship
in emerging markets. Endeavor
helps entrepreneurs overcome
barriers to growth by providing
the key ingredients to success:
mentorship, networks, strategic
advice, talent, skills, access to
smart capital and inspiration.
Programmes
Endeavor selects and supports
a group of extraordinary
emerging market entrepreneurs
who have the potential
to transform industries,
communities and even
countries. Once selected,
entrepreneurs are provided
with customized services from
a volunteer network of 1,000+
global and local business
leaders (“VentureCorps”) who
serve as mentors, advisers,
connectors, investors and role
models.
LIFT-OFF Initiative
European Training Foundation
Headquarters
Italy
Website
www.etf.europa.eu/
Focus
ETF is a specialized EU agency
supporting 29 partner countries
on human capital development.
ETF’s mission is to support
transition and middle-income
countries in harnessing their
human capital potential reform
of education, training and
labour market systems in the
context of the EU external
relations policy.
Programmes
ETF’s initiatives include
development of entrepreneurial
policy indicators, country
assessments, policy support,
good practice identification
and support and development
of thematic entrepreneurship
expertise networks.
Capacity building on
entrepreneurship for career
guidance counsellors in
Lebanon
Selected Profiles – Organizations Involved in Entrepreneurship Education Initiatives in the MENA Region
Injaz al-Arab
Headquarters
Jordan
Website
www.injazalarab.org
Focus
INJAZ al-Arab harnesses the
mentorship of Arab business
leaders to help inspire a
culture of entrepreneurship
and business innovation
among Arab youth. Operating
in 13 countries across the
Middle East and North Africa
region, INJAZ al-Arab is a
confederation of national
operations collaborating with
corporate volunteers and
ministries of education to
provide experiential education
and training to Arab youth
in work readiness, financial
literacy and entrepreneurship
Programmes
INJAZ al-Arab programmes
include:
Success Skills
More than Money
Banks in Action
Entrepreneurial Master Class
Job Shadow
Business Ethics
Leadership
Company Programme
Queen Rania Center for
Entrepreneurship
Headquarters
Jordan
Website
www.qrce.org/
Focus
QRCE is a non-profit
organization established
in 2004 to help develop
technology entrepreneurship
in Jordan. The Center is
part of El Hassan Science
City and plays the role of a
National Center of Excellence
for Entrepreneurship. Over
the last five years, the Center
has organized many activities
that benefited thousands of
entrepreneurs, professionals
and students in Jordan.
Programmes
Queen Rania National
Entrepreneurship Competition
(QRNEC)
Made in Jordan Competition
(MIJC)
DART (students body of
QRCE), Trizmatic (a programme
for systematic innovation that
offers training and consulting
services in business and
technology)
Technology Commercialization
Program (TCP)
Students In Free Enterprise
Headquarters
USA
Website
www.sife.org
Focus
SIFE is an international non-
profit organization that works
with leaders in business and
higher education to mobilize
university students to make a
difference in their communities
while developing the skills to
become socially responsible
business leaders.
Programmes
Community outreach projects
Leadership and career
opportunities
Regional and national
competitions
Prestigious international events
such as World Cup
Silatech
Headquarters
Qatar
Website
www.silatech.com
Focus
Silatech is an innovative social
enterprise created to meet
the urgent need to generate
new jobs and opportunities
for young people starting first
in the Arab world, where the
challenge is at its most severe
globally. As a not-for-profit
social enterprise, Silatech has
created novel connections with
the private sector, creating a
commercial incentive for global
businesses to address the
challenge of youth employment
while also being able to explore
new markets.
Programmes
Youth Microfinance Initiative
Construction Skills Training and
Placement Initiative
The Silatech Index: Voices of
Young Arabs
Global Education Initiative | 39
Contact Information

Andreas Cox
Associate Director
Global Education Initiative
World Economic Forum
Tel.: +41 (0)22 869 1291
E-mail: andreas.cox@weforum.org

Alex Wong
Senior Director
Head of Centre for Global Industries (Geneva)
Head of Global Education Initiative
World Economic Forum
Tel.: +41 (0)22 869 1460
E-mail: alex.wong@weforum.org

40 | Global Education Initiative

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