Held under the patronage of His Highness Sayyid Asa’ad bin Tariq bin Taimur Al-Said – Deputy Prime Minister for Relations and International Affairs and Special Representative of His Majesty Sultan – INJAZ Al Arab concluded its 13th annual entrepreneurship competition which saw over 80 students across MENA compete for the coveted ‘Company of the Year’, ‘Product of the Year’ and ‘Social Impact awards.
INJAZ Al Arab – The MENA regional operating centre of Junior Achievement Worldwide – hosted over 400 people including senior government officials, ambassadors and esteemed public figures at the awards ceremony. This year’s competition was a culmination of 19 teams from Oman, UAE, Bahrain, Algeria, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Egypt Tunisia, Palestine, Qatar, Yemen and Palestine.
Stealing the lime-light were Al Fazaa from Bahrain winning ‘Product of the Year and The Boeing Stem Challenge Award and being nominated to 3 other awards.
Akef Aqrabawi, CEO, INJAZ Al Arab, said: “The Middle East is home to a pool of motivated entrepreneurial talent who are striving to be the leaders of tomorrow. Our annual competition provides a platform to aspirational young Arabs to instill essential business & leadership skills and celebrate innovation & creativity. I’m extremely proud of our students, volunteers and partners who have brought to life yet another successful competition and look forward to our continued journey to create a generation of empowered, inspired individuals who contribute to the economic development of their countries.”
Ms. Hana Sarwani, Executive Director at INJAZ Bahrain remarked, “We are honoured to have represented the Kingdom of Bahrain at the annual young entrepreneur competition. Our success reflects the outstanding performance and innovativeness of our students and their will to reach new heights and push the boundaries of excellence. INJAZ Bahrain will continue to invest in innovation to prepare Bahraini youth for the world of business.”
The 13th regional competition was organized in strategic partnership with Al-Zubair Group, and with in-kind support from Ooredoo. The event is regionally supported by strategic partners including Citi Foundation, Fedex, Boeing, Mastercard, MBC, MetLife, Investcorp and in a strategic Media partnership with Hill + Knowlton Strategies.
In addition to the three main awards, students also competed over the ‘ Citi Foundation Client Focus Award, ‘Fedex Access Award’, ‘Boeing Business Challenge’, ‘MBC Al Amal Pitch of the Year’, ‘MetLife Innovation Award’, ‘Mastercard Excellence in Technology’ Award and ‘Investcorp Value Creation’ Award.
The Judging panel hosts representatives from Mastercard, ExxonMobil, Expertise France, H+K Strategies, Kijamii, Investcorp, MBC Group, MetLife, FedEx, Citi Foundation, Boeing, McKinsey and Ithmar Invest PSC.
Named one of the top 100 NGOs in the world by NGO Advisor, INJAZ Al-Arab has
influenced the lives of over 3.5 million students since 2004.The annual Young Arab Entrepreneurs Competition was introduced in 2007, the INJAZ AL-Arab competition aims to nurture the entrepreneurial skills of the Arab youth and help create future job opportunities.
The annual competition follows the completion of individual country rounds and
closes six months of training in work readiness, financial literacy and
entrepreneurship based on INJAZ Al-Arab’s internationally acclaimed Company
Program©.