Middle East: Here’s Why SMEs are Viable to Fighting Youth Unemployment

Middle East: Here’s Why SMEs are Viable to Fighting Youth Unemployment

Highlights





In the Arab Spring protests a few years later, it was a key factor in an uprising that spread like wildfire.







Youth unemployment has long been a concern in the Middle East. In 2008 the financial crisis resulted in a surge in youth unemployment in the region. In the Arab Spring protests a few years later, it was a key factor in an uprising that spread like wildfire.

Now the COVID-19 pandemic has presented another setback and youth unemployment in the MENA region is currently the highest worldwide, reaching over 25 percent.

Several countries have established comprehensive roadmaps to develop their economies such as the Saudi Vision 2030 reform plan launched by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Although this provides clear directions for creating skilled jobs, the Middle East cannot afford to sit back and wait for a long-term goal that is over a decade away to solve problems like youth unemployment. Instead, drastic measures need to be taken to protect the growing youth population in the immediate aftermath of the pandemic.

So, what is the answer? The public sector has proven inefficient in catering to the demand of the unemployed youth due to an over-regulation of the labor