Alliance of global firms to support SMEs in Middle East and Africa digitise their ops

A new private-sector initiative launched today will help small to medium enterprises throughout the Middle East and Africa digitise their sales and operations.

Led by the social enterprise platform Potential.com, the campaign brings together several global organisations including Aramex, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Cisco, Schneider Electric and the World Free Zone Organisation who will offer small to medium business owners free resources, advice and services.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the cornerstone of economies throughout the world, accounting for over 90 per cent of all businesses and providing a major source of new job creation according to the IMF. In Saudi Arabia for example, SMEs constitute up to 99 per cent of all businesses, account for 64 per cent of employment and contribute 20 per cent of the Kingdom’s GDP.

Read: The SME Story: Amina Grimen and Ayat Toufeeq, co-founders of Powder.ae

SMEs can join the platform for free and use its video-based courses to help design their digitisation plans whilst collecting points. These points allow them to unlock offers, including free expert sessions on topics that are relevant to them and their industries, as well as additional resources to help them reduce costs and improve their digital systems. The program will also help SMEs to network with their peers regionally.

“SMEs are the lifeblood of economies, and we need to step up and support them,” said Shadi Banna, founder and CEO, Potential.com. “Last year transformed economies, with every business prioritising digitisation efforts. Through our collaboration with leading organisations, we’re here to support the SME do just that.”

Banna said the initiative hopes to benefit over one million small businesses in the first twelve months of its existence.