The Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development has signed a partnership agreement with Facebook, the leading social networking and technology company, bringing training for women entrepreneurs and businesses in the UAE. The collaboration will see Khalifa Fund supporting Facebook’s worldwide initiative titled ‘She Means Business’ in the UAE.
Under this initiative, a series of courses will be delivered across the Emirates. The training will be managed and conducted by Khalifa Fund and will be provided to female entrepreneurs who are either seeking to, or have, set up their own start-up enterprise in the UAE. The one-day training, which will be provided to participants free of charge, will offer training on sourcing business ideas, growing internationally, and using social media to leverage commercial opportunities. One thousand female entrepreneurs will be trained under this initiative.
Speaking on the signing of the partnership agreement, Mouza Al Nasri, CEO of Khalifa Fund, commented: “According to the Global Entrepreneur Monitor, about 80% of women in UAE believe that entrepreneurship is a positive career choice, demonstrating a keen appetite for entrepreneurship amongst females in the UAE. This partnership which we have signed with Facebook reflects Khalifa Fund’s continued aim of increasing access to training, financing and support for those women who are aspiring to start and grow their early-stage start-ups into successful businesses.”
Over the course of its history, Khalifa Fund has worked with 455 female entrepreneurs, investing a total of AED 316.4 million in start-ups and SMEs, which have been founded or led by women. Since the creation of Khalifa Fund in 2007, the number of female entrepreneurs in the UAE has increased by 29.9%.
Out of about 11,000 entrepreneurs who have attended Khalifa Fund’s training programs, 59% of them have been women.
“At Khalifa Fund, we are dedicated to continuing to enhance female access to entrepreneurship in the UAE, and we are delighted to be able to do such with a company like Facebook. Through offering aspiring female entrepreneurs the opportunity to learn skills related to conceptualizing, setting up, and running a business, we hope this collaboration will further access to entrepreneurship for women,” Al Nasri concluded.
Commenting on the partnership, Derya Matraş, Regional Director for Middle East, Africa and Turkey at Facebook said, “For a region where diversity is pivotal and female entrepreneurship is building rapidly, we are honored to be playing an active role in the movement alongside our new partner Khalifa Fund. Since the launch of our #SheMeansBusiness program in Dubai in 2017, we have trained over 14,000 women across Middle East and North Africa to use Facebook and Instagram to connect, share and grow their businesses. We are positive that during this year, #SheMeansBusiness will further encourage the entrepreneurial spirit in the UAE and will support women as they embark on their journey as business leaders, catalyzing the growth of the digital economy.”
The ‘She Means Business’ Facebook training sessions will be running in the UAE throughout 2020.
