Telecom company Zain is now the first company in Jordan to partner with Wamda on Corporate Entrepreneurship Responsibility (CER), an initiative designed to boost entrepreneurship throughout the Middle East and North Africa.

Specifically, Zain Jordan has created a CER division that will support young pioneers from across Jordan to develop their ideas into viable startups that benefit the community. In an agreement signed by Ahmad Al Hanandeh, the CEO of Zain Jordan, and Wamda Chairman Fadi Ghandour, Zain Jordan also plans the launch of an Entrepreneurship Business Incubator, which will work to support Jordanian youth to develop their ideas and recruit regional talent, in hopes of inspiring other companies to join ranks. 

“We are fully aware of the importance of embracing and supporting entrepreneurship within the maximum capacities to change  the several sectors into qualitative ones,  by achieving sustainable development, and enhancing the competitive strength of all sectors on both regional and international levels,” Al Hannadeh said in a statement.

"Our youth is a fortune be reckoned with, as we are holding high hopes for them, and believing that the Jordanian youth are capable of initiating development at all levels across the Kingdom, if of course they were oriented properly to achieve the highest levels of creativity and innovation, as it is our first motivation to launch a business incubator to adopt and implement the youth creative  ideas, in order to  form a  real nucleus of massive projects that will have an active role in economic development,”  he added.

Wamda's CEO, Habib Haddad, added some thoughts: ”Corporate Entrepreneurship Responsibility initiative (CER) is an initiative that Wamda is pioneering in order to activate the entrepreneurial ecosystem across the region. Our partnership with Zain is a significant step towards involving the private sector in the growth of local small and medium-sized businesses across the Arab region, and Zain‘s leading role in supporting entrepreneurs makes it an ideal partner for launching CER in Jordan. We very much look forward to working with Zain to evolve the local and regional ecosystem.” 

For more on CER, read Wamda Chairman Fadi Ghandour's manifesto.