With an ambitious plan to create thousands of new job opportunities for Arab youth, Silatech yesterday signed a slew of agreements with different organisations, in the presence of H H Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Founder and Chairperson of Silatech.
Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) were signed with Qatar National Bank (QNB), Ministry of Communication Technologies and Digital Economy of Tunisia, World Congress for Muslim Philanthropists and Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development. A new strategic partnership was struck with Enda Tamweel, during a ceremony held at the Qatar Foundation headquarters.
These agreements will provide new job opportunities and support young entrepreneurs to start businesses in countries such as Tunisia, Sudan and other Arab nations. In Tunisia alone 630,000 job opportunities will be created once the agreements are put into practice.
Early yesterday Sheikha Moza also chaired the first meeting of Silatech’s new Board of Trustees. During the meeting, Silatech’s ‘Annual Performance 2016’ and ‘Strategy and Achievements Report 2016’ were presented and the organization’s ‘Operational Plan for 2017’ was approved by the board.
“The engagement of a diverse Board of Trustees will enable Silatech to promote its support for young people in the Arab world, unlock their full career skills and engage them in the development of their communities,” said Sheikha Moza.
Commenting on signing agreements between Silatech and its partners, she said, “These strategic agreements demonstrate our ongoing commitment to our young people to help them achieve their aspirations. We need to tackle the challenge of unemployment through innovative and effective solutions.”
Silatech’s agreement with QNB will lead to a partnership programme, ‘Sama Al Shabab,’ and support youth-owned enterprises in Sudan and create jobs.
The agreement between Silatech and the Ministry of Communications, Technologies and Digital Economy , expects to create 50,000 jobs by 2020 and reduce migration of Tunisian competencies.
Silatech will join with the World Congress for Muslim Philanthropists to develop ‘Narwi’ platform, the first innovative Micro-waqf platform launched by Silatech in 2015 to connect youth entrepreneurs with donors and help them access finance to start income generating projects.
It aims to attract major donors and investors and other supporters to ensure the continuity and expansion of the platform, to support youth enterprises and create jobs.
The MoU with Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development (ISFD) will promote collaboration between Silatech and the Fund in areas of economic empowerment and job creation for youth in member states of ISFD.
While, the partnership with Enda Tamweel, one of the most successful Micro Finance institutions in Tunisia, aims to create more than 580,000 jobs across Tunisia by providing support to young entrepreneurs to start businesses .
“Silatech actively seeks to activate the vision of HH Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Founder and Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of Silatech, in order to achieve an Arab world that allows young people to work and participate in the economic development of their communities. We can only achieve this vision through collaborating with partners and mobilizing resources and expertise to make a real impact in the life of the Arab youth,” said Sabah Al Haidoos, Chief Executive Officer of Silatech.
During the ceremony, Abdi Duale from Somalia, a beneficiary of Silatech’s programmes, shared his story. The twenty-eight-year-old once dreamed of going to the Europe looking for a better life and all his attempts failed. Then he learnt about a loan programme for startup entrepreneurs developed by Silatech, “Through the loan, I started a cafeteria. That changed my life, thank you Silatech, now I have became an active member in my community,” said Duale.
The Peninsula Qatar
