On November 24th, the Swedish Dialogue Institute for the Middle East and North Africa, in collaboration with the Swedish Institute (SI), arranged an online roundtable with innovative entrepreneurs, ecosystem representatives and experts from the MENA region and Sweden, to share their expertise and experiences and to generate new ideas on the role that entrepreneurship can play in the implementation of Agenda 2030, and for job creation.
The roundtable brought together some 20 participants, mainly alumni from the SI’s leadership programmes YLVP and SHE Entrepreneur. The discussion was facilitated by Aurore Belfrage, economist, political advisor, sustainability-advisor, serial entrepreneur and tech investor. Other participants included Soraya Axelsson, head of H22 (an initiative by the city of Helsingborg to develop future welfare solutions aimed at improving quality of life in a smarter, more sustainable city), as well as representatives from SI, the Dialogue Institute and the Swedish Embassy in Cairo.
Regarding the situation for entrepreneurs in the MENA region, participants pointed to structural challenges (legislation, administrative procedures, lack of transparency, corruption, etc.), infrastructural challenges (including shortcomings in electricity systems and Internet opportunities), economic challenges (including access to capital ) and political and security challenges, not least in countries directly or indirectly affected by conflicts.
Participants emphasized that entrepreneurship is needed to be able to meet and deal with the sustainable development challenges in a post-pandemic world. They emphasized the importance of innovation to drive action and honour commitments on the implementation of Agenda 2030. This was not least relevant in the MENA region, where countries are facing a range of development challenges. At the same time they pointed to a political and economic establishment that often treat start-ups as “something nice to have” rather than realising that increased collaboration is essential to build a better future and together find innovative and impactful solutions in addressing common challenges. Participants testified that sustainable and innovative business ideas are too often seen as something that should be done non-profit, rather than in corporate format, which risks leading to the loss of important solultions to societal challenges. The message was clear; to be able to handle both global and local challenges, more exchanges, better dialogue and cooperation is required and entrepreneurs need to be part of these efforts. Participants also pointed to a lack of awareness between different actors on their respective roles, needs and challenges. Work is therefore needed on bridging gaps in knowledge and understanding, including between private and public sector, as well as with academia and civil society, and in creating more collaborative mindset and policies.
The meeting resulted in recommendations on areas where the Swedish Dialogue Institute for the Middle East and North Africa potentially could play a role and contribute to increased mutual understanding, between different stakeholders, and in identifyingways to jointly create innovative and effective solutions to local and global challenges and to sustainable development:
• Contribute to networking and dialogue between different stakeholders, incl. develop better understanding of each other and each other's roles, needs and challenges;
• Contribute to exchanges of experiences, including on best practices, e.g. exchange of experience with Swedish actors on how to create bridges between the public and private sectors, as well as with academia, civil society and others.
• Explore ways to create midset shifts and developsupportive policies.
Based on this meeting, the Dialogue Institute will further explore how to best contribute to work on the role that entrepreneurship can play in the implementation of Agenda 2030, possibly in collaboration with SI.
