Episode 14 - Increasing competitiveness in the Arab World

Wamda

The Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region has the highest unemployment and youth
unemployment rate in the world at 10 per cent and 27 per cent respectively, as well as the lowest
female participation rate at 21 per cent. These rather sobering facts were identified in the Arab
Competitiveness Report 2018, published by the World Economic Forum.
Speaking to the region’s top 100 entrepreneurs, the study highlights the pitfalls of doing business in the
region and the challenges and opportunities facing the private sector.
Wamda’s Walid Faza spoke to Ali AbuKumail, senior private sector specialist at the World Bank and one
of the lead researchers of the report, about the ease of doing business in the region, particularly in
Jordan, and how governments can foster a better environment for entrepreneurship.