Nearly half of Arab youth aspire to start their own business in next five years

Nearly half of Arab youth aspire to start their own business in next five years

The Arab world has a promising opportunity to promote youth entrepreneurship with nearly half of young Arabs saying they plan to start their own business in the next five years. This entrepreneurial zeal also reflects an increased preference to work for the private sector rather than the government.

These are some of the notable findings of the landmark 15th annual ASDA’A BCW Arab Youth Survey, the largest study of its kind of the Arab world’s largest demographic, its over 200 million youth, by ASDA’A BCW, a leading communications consultancy in Middle East and North Africa based in Dubai.

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Youth unemployment in the region is one of the highest in the world at over 26 percent with nearly one in three youth (32 percent) aged 15 to 24 not engaged in employment, education, or training, according to a World Bank report. The United Nations observed that the region must create 33.3 million jobs by 2030 to absorb the large number of young people entering the workforce, a daunting task that Governments must take forward with urgency.

Exploring Arab youth attitudes on their future careers, the survey found that 42 percent of