Women drive the Kingdom's thriving startup scene
It's now almost impossible to imagine the Saudi economy without the thriving startup scene and its female entrepreneurs. Less than a decade ago, the situation was largely different. "There was literally no ecosystem for startup companies," said Maha Shirah, one of the first female Saudi entrepreneurs in Riyadh.
For women, starting a business was particularly tough. In 2014, when Shirah opened the country's first workspace for women, laws still restricted the participation of women in many industries.
Ten years on, the Saudi Ministry of Commerce has published a comprehensive list of workspaces for women, and the local startup landscape is not only thriving, but is driven by women across all industries.
"When it comes to laws affecting women's decisions to work, laws affecting women's pay, constraints on women starting and running a business, and laws affecting the size of a woman's pension, Saudi Arabia gets a perfect score of 100," the recent World Bank report Women, Business and the Law 2024 concluded.
The 2021-2022 Women's Report for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia also stated that 95% of Saudi women listed entrepreneur as a good career choice.
Although current statistics on female labour force participation and female entrepreneurs have yet to be published, the trend is apparent.
"Between 2017 and 2021, the Saudi female labour force participation rate doubled from 17.4% to 35.6%, comfortably exceeding the 'Vision 2030' target of raising it to 30%," Tim Callen, a visiting fellow at the Washington-based think tank Arab Gulf States Institute, wrote in January 2024.
There is no doubt that Vision 2030 – a socioeconomic set of reforms introduced in January 2016 by the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman – has been the key driver of this process.
Part and parcel of the overhaul is the inclusion of women in the workforce, tackling the pressing issue of unemployment, pushing for diversification from oil revenues and opening the country for tourists.
Women's rights in Saudi Arabia: a timeline
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1955 – first school for girls, 1970 – first university for women: girls have not always been able to go to school like these students in Riyadh. Enrolment at the first school for girls, Dar Al Hanan, began in 1955. The Riyadh College of Education, the first higher education institute for women, opened in 1970 -
2001 – ID cards for women: at the start of the 21st century, women could get personal ID cards for the first time. The cards are the only way for them to prove who they are, for example in disputes relating to inheritance or property issues. IDs were still only issued with the permission of a woman's guardian, though, and to the guardian instead of directly to the woman. Only in 2006 were women able to get IDs without permission -
2005 – end of forced marriages, on paper: Saudi Arabia banned forced marriage in 2005, but marriage contracts continue to be hammered out between the husband-to-be and the father of the bride, not the bride herself -
2009 – the first female government minister: in 2009, King Abdullah appointed the first female minister to Saudi Arabia's government. Noura al-Fayez became the deputy education minister for women's affairs -
2012 – first female Olympic athletes: Saudi Arabia agreed to allow female athletes to compete on the national team for the Olympics for the first time. One of them was Sarah Attar, who ran the women's 800 metre race at the 2012 Olympics in London wearing a headscarf. Before the Games, there was speculation that the Saudi Arabian team might be banned for gender discrimination if they didn't allow women to participate -
2013 – women are allowed to ride bicycles and motorbikes: Saudi leaders allowed women to ride bicycles and motorbikes for the first time in 2013 — but only in recreational areas, wearing full Islamic body covering and with a male relative present -
2013 – first women in the Shura: in February 2013, King Abdullah swore in the first 30 women to the Shura, Saudi Arabia's consultative council. This allowed women to be appointed to these positions, soon they would be allowed to actually run for office... -
2015 – Women may vote and be voted in: in Saudi Arabia's 2015 municipal elections, women were able to vote and run for office for the first time. By contrast, New Zealand was the first country to give women the vote, in 1893. Germany did so in 1919. At the 2015 Saudi polls, 20 women were elected to municipal roles in the absolute monarchy -
2017 – first female head of the Saudi stock exchange: in February 2017, the Saudi stock exchange names the first female chairperson in its history, Sarah Al Suhaimi -
2018 – women to be allowed to drive: on 26 September 2017, Saudi Arabia announced that women would soon be allowed to drive. Starting June 2018, they will no longer need permission from their male guardian to get a driver's licence and won't need their guardian in the car when they drive -
2018 – women to be allowed in sports stadiums: on 29 October 2017, the country's General Sports Authority announced that women would be allowed into sports stadiums for the first time. Three previously male-only arenas will soon be open for women as well, starting in early 2018
Structuring the Saudi startup scene
"I remember well that before 2017, very few courses at school or university focused on startups or entrepreneurship at all," said Shirah. She also recalled that starting a business was only an option for rich people, for everyone else, it "was considered a stigma".
Due to the governmental initiatives, however, nowadays "everybody with a solid idea can become an entrepreneur, obviously including women," she said.
Over time, the government has even become one of the most active investors in its local startup scene. This March's tech summit Leap24, for example, recorded a staggering $11.9 billion investment by the Saudi Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.
In Shirah's view, the Saudi startup scene is doing quite well already and growing still. She believes that from now on, more startup accelerators and incubators will be needed.
Startup incubators support early-stage startups in helping them to develop their idea into a business. Accelerators support already existing businesses with resources and mentorship.
Incubators, accelerators are the next step
For Marriam Mossalli, a Saudi entrepreneur advocating for female empowerment through her non-profit organisation Under The Abaya for years, advising startups has become a new endeavour.
In 2024, Mossalli launched C-Suite Advisory, an investment and business consultancy. The term C-Suite refers to a company's leadership positions like CEO (chief executive officer) and COO (chief operating officer). She has also invested in several female-run startups.
"As a female entrepreneur myself, I know firsthand the challenges presented to us," she said, adding that for her "it was time to put my money where my mouth is."
Entrepreneurs have meanwhile learnt that a failure can be part of the journey. "For decades, the concept of failure was frowned upon in Saudi Arabia," said Sebastian Sons, senior researcher with the German Centre for Applied Research in Partnership with the Orient.
"This has been changing as many young people recognise that failure can be part of their business experience and they are now willing to take this risk," he said.
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Startups as a strategy toward nation branding
Fostering a lively startup scene serves its reasons, said Sons, not only for society but also for Saudi Arabia's government.
"The focus is on economic diversification as the state is no longer able to absorb many employees in the public sector, and the private sector needs to be strengthened," he said. "The second reason is the external and internal impact of supporting startups."
On the one hand, the signals they are promoting personal initiative via startups as part of nation branding, he said. Sons added that there is another component as well: "It is also part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's power consolidation in the country."
But the situation for women's rights in Saudi Arabia isn't perfect, just because more women have the opportunity to become entrepreneurs.
According to the Human Rights Watch World Report 2024, "further legal reforms remain severely undermined by widespread repression under de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and a number of women's rights defenders, including Loujain al-Hathloul, remain banned from travel and under suspended prison sentences".
© Deutsche Welle 2024