Khalifa Fund supports Facebook's “She means Business” initiative

10X Industry

Mita Srinivasan
10X Industry
Published:

Khalifa Fund supports Facebook's “She means Business” initiative

Free training sessions will cover key topics including sourcing business ideas, growing internationally, and using social media to leverage commercial opportunities

The Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development has agreed to support Facebook’s worldwide initiative titled ‘She Means Business’ in the UAE. Under the partnership agreement signed last week, a series of courses will be delivered across the Emirates.

The training will be managed and conducted by Khalifa Fund and will be provided to female entrepreneurs who are either seeking to or have set up their own start-up enterprise in the UAE. The one-day training, which will be provided to participants free of charge, will cover key topics including sourcing business ideas, growing internationally, and using social media to leverage commercial opportunities. One thousand female entrepreneurs will be trained under this initiative.

Mouza Al Nasri, CEO of Khalifa Fund, commented: “This partnership with Facebook reflects Khalifa Fund’s continued aim of increasing access to training, financing and support for those women who are aspiring to start and grow their early-stage start-ups into successful businesses.”

Khalifa Fund has worked with 455 female entrepreneurs, investing a total of AED 316.4 million in start-ups and SMEs that have been founded or led by women. Since the creation of Khalifa Fund in 2007, the number of female entrepreneurs in the UAE has increased by 29.9%.

Out of about 11,000 entrepreneurs who have attended Khalifa Fund’s training programs, 59% of them have been women.

Commenting on the partnership, Derya Matraş, Regional Director for Middle East, Africa and Turkey at Facebook said, “For a region where diversity is pivotal and female entrepreneurship is building rapidly, we are honored to be playing an active role in the movement alongside our new partner Khalifa Fund. Since the launch of our #SheMeansBusiness program in Dubai in 2017, we have trained over 14,000 women across Middle East and North Africa to use Facebook and Instagram to connect, share and grow their businesses.”

The ‘She Means Business’ Facebook training sessions will be running in the UAE throughout 2020.