Lebanon is certainly going places when it comes to the entrepreneurial front! According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2016 National Report-Lebanon, the young people and the women are the main driving forces of the fast-developing entrepreneurial community in Lebanon. The UK-Lebanon Tech Hub based its findings on the global research study by the GEM Consortium, assessing the level of entrepreneurship in 65 countries worldwide.
The Lebanese part of the study was conducted among 2,600 adults aged 16-64 across the nation.
The report has revealed that two in seven Lebanese between 25-44 years of age are either starting or running were own businesses in 2016. Furthermore, four out of ten respondents admitted that they were thinking of becoming entrepreneurs within the next three years. To sum up, the data showed that more than four in ten adults in Lebanon were either active entrepreneurs, starting or running a new venture, or running an already-established business.
In addition to that, the report proved that the number of female entrepreneurs had increased rapidly in the past couple of years. 16 percent of the female respondents said they were already involved in a startup, which was two times higher than the levels in Europe, 6 percent, and in the US, 12 percent.
The survey also showed an increased self-confidence among the Lebanese youth. More than two-thirds of the surveyed confirmed that they possessed the required skills and capabilities to start their own businesses. Furthermore, only a quarter of them would be deterred by fear of failure. Therefore, the global survey by the GEM Consortium placed Lebanon among the leading countries for innovative business startups and introducing new products or services.
According to Nadim Zaazaa, Chief Executive Officer of the UK Lebanon Tech Hub, one of the main reasons for the startup boost in Lebanon is the introduction of the 331 initiative by the Central Bank. In his view, it opened many doors to self-initiation and entrepreneurship and brought back to Lebanon many young people, including many women. Now, the country has the ambition to become one of the top ten entrepreneurial nations in the world.