Due to the range of public and private initiatives available for female entrepreneurs, one out three start-ups being developed at the Qatar Business Incubation Centre (QBIC) are spearheaded by women, a QBIC official has said.
“Many women are grabing these opportunities, which are made available to them through various programmes offered by both the private and public sector. In terms of applications or start-ups at QBIC, our ratio is 1:3 or one out three projects are led by women,” QBIC CEO Aysha al-Mudahka told Gulf Times.
“That’s a good sign considering that women can actually do it full-time. A lot of the women incubatees at QBIC working there full-time. It’s more flexible in terms of choosing their own schedules to manage their businesses, and we’re proud of that,” she explained.
Al-Mudahka noted that education has played a significant role in the success rate of women in entrepreneurship.
“Whether they are with QBIC or not, I think women entrepreneurs are doing great because in terms of education, there’s a high percentage of women contributing to society and entering the workforce,” she stressed.
Al-Mudahka’s observation on the role of education mirrors the views expressed earlier by BAE Systems Middle East & Africa head of communications Louise Robson, who noted that women’s interest in the male-dominated field is a growing trend in Qatar.
Robson also noted that more female Qatari students are taking up engineering courses and have shown keen interest in STEM (S&T, engineering, mathematics) subjects.
STEM subjects and the growing interest of young students in technology could help encourage the youth to build more technology-oriented companies and start-ups in Qatar, according to QBIC incubatee Raghad Akram Abughazzeh,
Abughazzeh, together with Ranim Samir Abukhalil, established the student company “Qaho,” and developed a small device incorporated with a high-tech tracking system that helps people search for lost items.
She also stressed on the need to encourage the youth to establish more innovative start-ups could help develop Qatar’s technology ecosystem and spur growth in the country’s non-hydrocarbon sector.
Asked about QBIC’s latest initiatives for women, al-Mudkha said QBIC and the French embassy in Qatar have forged a partnership for a programme that is focused on women.
But the QBIC chief executive declined to provide further details about the project and said: “The programme is still a work in progress and we will make the necessary announcements once details of the project have been finalised.”