Dubai- 11 August, 2008: The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Dubai-based Arab Business Angels Network (ABAN) to foster entrepreneurship and increase job opportunities across the Arab world.

The MoU was signed by Sultan Lootah, Vice President - Entrepreneurship and Employment, Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation, and Walid Hanna, CEO, Arab Business Angels Network. 

The agreement underpins the Foundation’s efforts to build a network of Arab entrepreneurs for promoting entrepreneurial activities in collaboration with strategic partners across the region. It also reflects the Foundation’s vision to stimulate employment and entrepreneurship as key tools for empowering young people and encouraging them to innovate with the ultimate goal of tackling the escalating issue of unemployment across the Arab world.

Under the agreement, ABAN and the Foundation will cooperate in designing, organizing and hosting a series of entrepreneurship related activities including seminars and workshops. ABAN will also contribute to the Arab Entrepreneurship Network that the Foundation is in the process of establishing.  

Sultan Lootah said: “The Arab world has a huge untapped resource of human capital with over 60 per cent of its population under the age of 60. Yet, unemployment depletes this potential and turns it into an unbearable burden that hampers development efforts across the region. Entrepreneurship offers unlimited opportunities to unleash the latent competency among our youth and increase their involvement as a key catalyst for economic development in this part of the world.”

He added: “The Foundation is very keen to partner with leading private and government organizations that have the knowledge, expertise, resources and, most importantly, the will to initiate a difference in the Arab world. We have embarked on building a regional network as a platform for nurturing entrepreneurial businesses, offering various forms of support to the Arab youth for launching and operating their own businesses. We are confident the network will yield remarkable long-term results in the near future.”

Walid Hanna, CEO, Arab Business Angels Network said: “The Foundation’s awareness on the importance of entrepreneurship as a primary asset for economic development is highly impressive. With the support of Dubai International Capital, our founder and Lead Angel Investor, we are glad to partner with such a progressive and proactive foundation and contribute to its endeavour of empowering the younger generation and offering them new opportunities to launch and run their own businesses.”   

ABAN operates a Business Angel network for the MENA region.  An ideal environment to explore exciting investment opportunities with like-minded individuals, either personally or as part of a syndicate, the ABAN Network offers a wide range of benefits to its angel members granting them access to ABAN pipeline and providing the selected entrepreneurs with seed capital funding . ABAN also invests through two main vehicles, a $ 10 million seed capital fund and a $ 5 million fund dedicated for women-led ventures targeting regional start-up companies with high growth potential. 

As part of its efforts aimed at establishing the Arab Entrepreneurship Network, the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation has recently signed a number of collaborative agreements with leading corporate and educational organizations across the Arab world. Young Arab Leaders Organisation, Bahrain Development Bank, PICTI of Palestine, Berytech of Lebanon, Al Akhawain University in Morocco are among the organizations that have joined hands with the Foundation to support and develop a rich base of successful Arab entrepreneurs.