THE CONTEXT

The MENA region includes a heterogeneous group of countries, both in terms of size, population, resource endowment and stage of economic and institutional development.

A recent pilot evaluation undertaken under the MEDA Enterprise Charter process, conducted jointly by the OECD and the European Commission and covering 8 MENA countries, highlighted progress made in a number of enterprise policy areas, such as company registration, micro-finance and industrial modernisation. However skills gaps and access to finance have been identified as main hurdles to entrepreneurship. The report showed also a need to strengthen support to innovative and fast growing enterprises, develop and reinforce links between local and foreign enterprises but also research centres, universities and vocational education institutions.

The Enterprise Financing Network’s MENA 100 initiative aims at recognising and rewarding outstanding initiatives that support entrepreneurship at the regional level.

The Enterprise Financing Network© (EFN) was launched, in order to assist the region’s efforts in enhancing entrepreneurial culture and improving the conditions for financing entrepreneurship. The network is a unique platform linking together all participants involved in the entrepreneurial process - innovators, entrepreneurs, incubators, business angels, venture capital funds, private equity funds along with international organizations, financial institutions, policy makers and government officials.

It helps mobilise resources and develop financial instruments to facilitate greater access to finance for the creation and expansion of enterprises, contributes to diminishing the equity financing gap in the region and advocates for appropriate government policy to support growing enterprises.


KEY OUTCOMES

The major outcomes of the project will include:

The Awards ceremony resulting in high-level exposure to winners from the MENA Countries and their promotion through the media and specialist websites. The Creation of a platform for entrepreneurship benchmarking and the elaboration of an Entrepreneur Toolkit for MENA policy-makers; The Assessment of the business climate in MENA and the evaluation of the maturity of SME’s and incubators in the region; Introductions to business and private sector associations and initiatives and the creation of design and implementation procedures for identification of potential entrepreneurs in the region. Creation of a specialised process documented into a manual format for future entrepreneurship assessments and creation of MENA measurable standards.

EXPECTED BENEFITS

The ultimate objective of this coordinated and innovative approach is to recognise and reward outstanding initiatives that support entrepreneurship at the regional level.

This initiative could build the basis of a continuous grass-roots campaign to persuade young people in the MENA region to be more entrepreneurial and try to inspire millions of them to turn their business ideas into reality.

Through the EFN network and face-to-face networking opportunities this initiative is aimed at helping them create the international networks they need to achieve their projects.

There are obvious benefits for existing and budding young entrepreneurs: by forming networks with their counterparts in the region but also worldwide, they can conceive new ideas, enter new markets and find new resources. There are also many less tangible benefits of aligning national activities, such as the opportunities for intercultural learning, improving regional and international relationships and sharing best practice.

The 21st century is the age of entrepreneurs. The MENA region needs their creativity, their dynamism and their foresight more than ever before. This Project would give “entrepreneurship” a face and would be the occasion to recognize the individuals who contribute significantly to their society and their communities.

The 2008 Enterprise Policy Assessment has been developed through a joint effort by the OECD, the European Commission, the European Investment Bank and the European Training Foundation in countries of the MED region to benchmark enterprise development policies