Sidelines

Positivity And Possibilities

This month we reveal our fourth annual 30 Under 30 cohort for the Middle East. This list is an important and refreshing one. Whereas most of our lists and rankings highlight well-established heads of business that have strived over decades to reach the top of their game, this list focuses on young talent and emerging leaders—those that are challenging, disrupting, and reshaping the world around them. Sure, they have all already accomplished a huge amount, but if this is what they can do within a handful of years after graduating, imagine what the future might hold.

Many members of the Class of 2021 have founded or co-founded their own companies, with some entering the world of entrepreneurship straight after their studies, such as the three co-founders of The Concept, and Asrar Damdam, founder of Uvera, who we spoke to for features this month. What's notable about the founders of both of these companies is that they were all encouraged and assisted in their endeavors early by external forces. They didn't take handouts to set up their businesses; they won them. Damdam pitched her idea at a pre-accelerator entrepreneurial training program during her PhD, whereas The Concept founders won a competition set by an accelerator and incubator company for pre-seed capital in the final year of their bachelor's degrees. This is a good example of how investors can play an important role in finding and inspiring the next generation of entrepreneurs, not by waiting for them to come knocking on the door with a pitch, but by mining ideas straight from the untapped talent pool across universities.

This commitment to entrepreneurship is not just about unearthing the next batch of life-changing and money-making innovations; it's about developing and investing in the ever-changing economy. According to data from McKinsey, if MENAP's youth fully participated in the region's economy, its output could double. This isn't over-reaching for such a young region. In 2019, nearly half of MENA's total population were under 24 years old, according to UNICEF.

Of course, founding a business is not the only way to define success or to make a difference to the world. For example, among the other entries to our 30 Under 30 for 2021 are five Arab athletes that have recently made their way home from the Tokyo Olympics carrying medals for their countries, some for the first time. Tunisian Ahmed Hafnaoui made global headlines when he beat the odds to win the gold medal for the 400m men's freestyle swimming competition aged just 18. And social entrepreneurship continues to flourish among the younger generation, with Ally Salama, founder of EMPWR, and illustrator Rafik El Hariri using their work to try to make the topic of mental health more mainstream in the Middle East.

This list is full of good energy and hope for the future. I found a lot to be inspired by in this month's issue. I hope you do too.

—Claudine Coletti, Managing Editor