Silatech ( ar, صلتك) is an organization based in
Qatar
Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it ...
, founded by Her Highness Sheikha
Mozah bint Nasser. The current CEO of this organization is Mr. Hassan Al Mulla. Silatech means "your connection" in Arabic. The initiative seeks to create jobs and economic opportunities for young people in the Arab world, targeting 18- to 30-year-olds. by 2016, Silatech claims to have helped 200,000 young Arabs to obtain jobs.
The initiative’s model involves building partnerships with governments, private companies and
NGO
A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...
s.
History
Silatech was launched at the United Nations
Alliance of Civilizations
The United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) is an initiative that attempts to "galvanize international action against extremism" through the forging of international, intercultural and interreligious dialogue and cooperation. The Allian ...
Forum in January 2008 by Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned, initially targeting six pilot countries:
Bahrain
Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...
,
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...
,
Qatar
Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it ...
,
Syria,
Tunisia
)
, image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa
, image_map2 =
, capital = Tunis
, largest_city = capital
, ...
and
Yemen
Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...
.
The initiative’s $100 million seed capital was donated from the personal funds of Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned and the former emir of Qatar, Sheikh
Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani
Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Hamad bin Abdullah bin Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani ( ar, حمد بن خليفة الثاني; born 1 January 1952) is a member of the ruling Al Thani Qatari royal family. He was the ruling Emir of Qatar from 1995 ...
. Operations began in 2009.
Founding partners of Silatech include
Cisco
Cisco Systems, Inc., commonly known as Cisco, is an American-based multinational digital communications technology conglomerate corporation headquartered in San Jose, California. Cisco develops, manufactures, and sells networking hardware, ...
,
Gallup, and
ImagineNations. Silatech seeks to harness the "
youth bulge
A population pyramid (age structure diagram) or "age-sex pyramid" is a graphical illustration of the distribution of a population (typically that of a country or region of the world) by age groups and sex; it typically takes the shape of a pyramid ...
" in the Arab world and tackle youth unemployment - which is as high as 35% in some Arab countries - by promoting the economic empowerment of Arab youth.
Board of Trustees of Silatech are Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser (Chairperson of the Board of Trustees), Ms. Amal Bahwan, and Abdulla Mubarak Al Khalifa.
Activities
In 2016, Silatech was active in 16 countries, running projects with partners in the areas of microfinance, career advice and employability,
small and medium enterprises (SME) development, civic engagement and research and policy advocacy.
Employability
One of Silatech’s first partnerships was with Cisco to create a technology platform for ICT education and youth interaction with prospective employers.
Together with
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washin ...
, Silatech has developed Ta3meel, a set of online training programs and curricula and an online portal that provides skills and employer connections, with the aim of reaching two million young people.
Meanwhile, another initiative, Tamheed, in collaboration with Mindmill, has created an online career guidance platform with psychometric testing, which has been used by young people in Qatar, Morocco,
Palestine, Syria, Egypt, and the
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia ( The Middle East). It is located at t ...
(UAE).
Partnering with
Tunisiana, the main private telecommunications operator in Tunisia, Silatech launched e-mobile employment platform MobiWorks in 2013, reaching 300,000 Tunisians in less than a month, and offering mobile learning for entrepreneurship, career guidance and
financial literacy
Financial literacy is the possession of the set of skills and knowledge that allows an individual to make informed and effective decisions with all of their financial resources. Raising interest in personal finance is now a focus of state-run progr ...
.
Offline, Silatech has supported career counseling, for instance, partnering with the International Youth Foundation in 2012 to provide four days of career guidance training in the
West Bank
The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
for participants from nine NGOs, universities and colleges in Palestine. Collaborating with
Pearson Education’s Edexcel brand, Silatech developed an accredited course and new qualification (Silaqual) for construction industry training in Yemen.
The project started in 2009 and at least 1,024 construction workers were trained in 2010.
Financial inclusion
The Consultative Group to Assist the Poor and Silatech hosted a workshop in
Rabat on 12–13 March 2013 on youth
financial inclusion
Financial inclusion is defined as the availability and equality of opportunities to access financial services. It refers to a process by which individuals and businesses can access appropriate, affordable, and timely financial products and service ...
in the region.
In June 2013, Silatech launched a youth savings initiative in Morocco with Al Barid Bank and GIZ called "Tawfir al-Ghad" (Saving for Tomorrow), with the aim of providing saving accounts and financial literacy training to 30,000 young people.
This project was the expansion of a youth micro-savings pilot with Al Amal Microfinance Bank in Yemen, where 11,000 young people opened savings accounts for the first time between 2010 and 2013. The micro-savings project has also expanded to Egypt.
Microfinance
In August 2011, Silatech signed a Memorandum of Understanding to create a fund to support small and medium-sized enterprises, investing $10 million in the fund, with the General Authority for Investment in Egypt. Silatech and
UNWRA
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is a UN agency that supports the relief and human development of Palestinian refugees. UNRWA's mandate encompasses Palestinians displaced by the 1948 P ...
announced ‘Mubaderati’ (Initiatives) in February 2012, providing a select group of entrepreneurs with financing to help begin their businesses. Silatech guarantees part of the loan, which reduces the risk for UNWRA and young Palestinian borrowers, thereby freeing up millions of dollars worth of additional loans from UNWRA. A partnership with Attawfiq Microfinance in 2012 introduced "''Boudour''" (Seed), the first loan product specifically for youths in Morocco, which over 7,000 entrepreneurs had received by June 2013.
In 2012, Silatech and the micro-lending platform
Kiva
A kiva is a space used by Puebloans for rites and political meetings, many of them associated with the kachina belief system. Among the modern Hopi and most other Pueblo peoples, "kiva" means a large room that is circular and underground ...
partnered to create Kiva Arab Youth, allowing people to make online loans of at least $25 to help fund microentrepreneurs under 30. Silatech matches loans made by the community - initially, this was up to $175,000, but has since been raised to $375,000. Through the Kiva Arab Youth project, $3 million was raised for 2,500 young people by April 2013.
In June 2013, Silatech announced it would collaborate with the international payments firm Dahabshiil and the
American Red Cross to promote crowdfunding in
Somalia
Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...
using remittance payments.
In September 2013, Grameen-Jameel (a joint venture with the
Grameen Foundation
Grameen Foundation, founded as Grameen Foundation USA, also known as "GFUSA", is a global 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based in Washington, DC, that works to replicate the Grameen Bank microfinance model around the world through a global n ...
) joined with Silatech to enable new access to microfinance for young people in countries such as
Libya
Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...
.
By 2012, Silatech had raised $35 million of co-funding for microfinance initiatives, had 12 financial institution partners in five countries, and had helped to start or grow 15,000 youth-run businesses, making it the largest supporter of youth microfinance services in the Arab region.
SME investment
Silatech launched SILA, a network of
angel investors to invest in early-stage businesses in Qatar, in partnership with
Qatar Development Bank, Wamda,
Oasis500 and the MIT Enterprise Forum in October 2012.
Competitions
The winners of the third annual Al Fikra Business Plan Competition were announced in April 2013, with winners receiving unspecified cash prizes, incubation, professional development and managerial and technical advice from Enterprise Qatar.
The Al Fikra Business Plan Competition is managed by Enterprise Qatar, with Silatech and the SILA early-stage investment network as co-organizers.
Silatech also supported the regional MIT Enterprise Forum Arab Business Plan competition held in April 2013.
In 2014, Silatech held the first Arab Mobile App Challenge in partnership with the Applied Innovation Institute and
Ooredoo
Ooredoo QSC ( ar, أريد; formerly ''Qtel'') is a Qatari multinational telecommunications company headquartered in Doha. Ooredoo provides mobile, wireless, wire line, and content services with market share in domestic and international telec ...
. Workshops were held in Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and the UAE in late 2013, followed by competitions in these countries in January 2014, with the top three entries from each country sent to the finals in Doha.
The winners, who were announced on 2 February 2014, earned prizes of $50,000, $30,000 and $20,000, and one team from each country was selected to compete at the
Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
Conferences
Silatech has been active in organising conferences at national and regional levels. On 11–12 January 2012, Silatech brought 300 Libyan youth and government officials together in Benghazi to discuss youth empowerment, which resulted in the creation of the National Youth Leadership Council. On 16–18 February 2013, Silatech organized the Arab Youth and Entrepreneurship Conference in Qatar with The Arab Urban Development Institute and in partnership with the World Bank.
The conference brought 300 people together to discuss the challenges facing young entrepreneurs and the ways in which local governments, NGOs and the private sector could come together to support young entrepreneurs.
Silatech organized a conference on 16–17 October 2013 at UC Berkeley’s Fung Institute to bring figures from the Arab world together with scholars, venture capitalists, and Silicon Valley innovators. Silatech has also supported
Global Entrepreneurship Week
Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) is an international initiative that introduces entrepreneurship to young people in six continents. GEW emerged in 2008 as a result of Enterprise Week UK and Entrepreneurship Week USA 2007. Since its creation, more ...
; in Qatar in November 2013, and the first ever such event in Libya also held in November 2013.
Research
In 2008, a collaboration between Silatech,
FTSE Group
FTSE International Limited trading as FTSE Russell ( "Footsie") is a British provider of stock market indices and associated data services, wholly owned by the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and operating from premises in Canary Wharf. It operat ...
and the Qatar Financial Markets Authority (QFMA) created a new index project, supporting individual exchanges across the Arab World to launch small and medium enterprises markets. Joining with the Wolfensohn Center for Development at the
Brookings Institution
The Brookings Institution, often stylized as simply Brookings, is an American research group founded in 1916. Located on Think Tank Row in Washington, D.C., the organization conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in e ...
, the
Dubai School of Government and the
Issam Fares Institute at the
American University of Beirut, Silatech launched "Taqeem" in June 2009, a project to assess the impact of current policy and investment in the areas of employment and entrepreneurship, and to identify, scale and promote best practices.
Silatech collaborates with Gallup to investigate youth attitudes to employment and entrepreneurship across the region in the ‘Silatech Index.’ Since 2008, twice-yearly reports have sought to measure and quantify youth opinions in three areas: job creation and availability, access to resources required to find jobs, and policies blocking their success.
In 2012, Silatech collaborated with the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor and Sanabel to survey regional microfinance institutions, identifying gaps in youth financial inclusion and seeking to use the information to improve policy.
Civic engagement
In January 2014, Silatech and Innovations in Civic Partnership launched a program allowing universities in Egypt, Morocco, Palestine, Tunisia and Yemen to apply for grants assisting institutional change and improving civic engagement.
In February 2014, Silatech and Innovations in Civic Partnership convened a forum in Amman, Jordan, for more than 40 university presidents and senior administrators to discuss integrating civic engagement into higher education.
Organizational governance
Rick Little was CEO of Silatech from its founding in 2008, until July 2011. Tarik Yousef subsequently took over as CEO of Silatech.
Silatech’s current members of the board of trustees are
Martti Ahtisaari
Martti Oiva Kalevi Ahtisaari (; born 23 June 1937) is a Finnish politician, the tenth president of Finland (1994–2000), a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, and a United Nations diplomat and mediator noted for his international peace work.
Ahtisa ...
,
David Bell, Rick Little,
Hessa Al Jaber,
Nemir Kirdar
Nemir Amin Kirdar (28 October 1936 – 8 June 2020) was an Iraqi Turkmen banker, billionaire, businessman, financier and author. As a founding father of private equity, and an economic and cultural bridge-builder, he was the founder and CEO of ...
,
Ahmad Mohamed Ali Al-Madani and Mohammed Al Naimi, with Sheikha Mozah as chair.
In 2012, the Cisco CEO
John Chambers was also a board member.
In 2011,
Mary Robinson
Mary Therese Winifred Robinson ( ga, Máire Mhic Róibín; ; born 21 May 1944) is an Irish politician who was the 7th president of Ireland, serving from December 1990 to September 1997, the first woman to hold this office. Prior to her electi ...
, Nabil Kuzbari and Khaled Bin Mohammed Al-Attiyah were board members (along with the current board members Martti Ahtisaari, David Bell and Rick Little), when
Ameera al-Taweel
Ameera bint Aidan bin Nayef Al-Taweel Al-Otaibi ( ar, أميرة بنت عيدان بن نايف الطويل العصيمي العتيبي; born 6 November 1983) is a Saudi Arabian philanthropist and former princess. Born into a non-royal cade ...
joined the board in April 2011. In 2009, John Chambers and Wim Elfrink of Cisco and
Ratan Tata
Ratan Naval Tata, GBE (born 28 December 1937) is an Indian industrialist and former chairman of Tata Sons. He was also the chairman of the Tata Group from 1990 to 2012, serving also as interim chairman from October 2016 through February 2017 ...
were also board members.
Board meetings have been held in Tunis on 17 January 2012,
and in Rabat on 9 June 2013. The extent to which the board of directors is involved in decision-making and the governance of Silatech is unclear.
Programmes
Youth Employment Initiative in Qatar, Al Amal Bil Amaal
The Youth Employment Initiative in Qatar, Al Amal Bil Amaal, was started by Silatech to help young men and women in Qatar get jobs. This project is based on the
Qatar National Vision 2030
Qatar National Vision 2030 ( ar, رؤية قطر الوطنية 2030; abbreviated as QNV 2030) is a development plan launched in October 2008 by the General Secretariat for Development Planning in the State of Qatar. The aim of QNV 2030 is to "tr ...
, which tries to balance economic and social growth for all Qataris by investing in them and making sure that everyone gets care, attention, and justice. The goal of the program is to help residents of Qatar, especially those who are unemployed because of COVID-19 or don't have the skills they need to get a job in Qatar, learn new skills and become more financially independent.
Bedaya Center
Bedaya Center for Entrepreneurship and Career Development, a Silatech-Qatar Development Bank partnership, offers youth career guidance, self-assessment, employability skills development in employability and entrepreneurship, mentoring, volunteering, practical training, networking, and lecturers programs. Silatech's Employment and Enterprise Development programs collaborate with Bedaya to serve Qatari adolescents through the Bedaya Center.
Qatar Ta3mal Youth Employability Portal
Qatar Ta3mal is an online employment marketplace for Qatari youth and job seekers. Ta3mal, a Silatech-Microsoft initiative, offers career guidance tools like "Tamheed," e-learning courses, employability and entrepreneurship training, and entry-level job opportunities in the country. Silatech's career counseling product, Tamheed, incorporates online psychometric and linguistic evaluations, a career advising framework, and career advisor training and capacity building. In less than a week, youth workers can become Tamheed consultants, providing tailored scientific advice. Over 80% of Qatari college students have access to Tamheed through university and college partnerships.
TAMM Volunteer Network
"Tamm," meaning "consider it done" in Qatari Arabic, promotes youth volunteerism and civic involvement by linking volunteers with organizations that need them online. Silatech, Social Development Center, Reach Out to Asia, and Qatar Center for Voluntary Activities founded Tamm in early 2015.
Challenge 22
Challenge 22 is a 2015 innovation award from the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy, Silatech, and Qatar National Research Fund. Challenge 22 brings together, encourages, and challenges Middle Eastern and North African entrepreneurs, inventors, and scientists to exhibit their ideas to billions in 2022 and beyond.
GEM Report
Silatech, in collaboration with Qatar University's Social and Economic Survey Research Institute, conducted the inaugural Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) survey in Qatar. The survey aimed to gather data on the entrepreneurial attitudes, aspirations, and activities of both Qatari nationals and non-Qatari residents, ensuring a nationally representative sample.
References
External links
Silatech
{{Authority control
2008 establishments in Qatar
Civic and political organisations of Qatar
Youth organisations based in Qatar
Youth empowerment organizations