The Air Strikes Continue, But A Yemeni Entrepreneur Brings Jobs To His People
Summary
“If you leave your home, you cannot guarantee you will get back home.” A Yemeni entrepreneur has survived airstrikes and lost many friends, but is still building a jobs platform in Sanaa. He founded his company in 2015 with partners Osama Alshami and Maher Alrahomi, about a year after the war started, with a $6,000 grant from a program run by the U.S. embassy. That is key for any entrepreneur in general and in particular in this region.” When I reported from Cairo a couple of years ago, I learned how entrepreneurship represents hope in societies where there are limited options for young men and women to find jobs. It’s a critical tool, enabling businesses to advertise even in the worst of circumstances, a source of news and – maybe most important, and most taken for granted – a social connection to the outside world. I asked Facebook how many small businesses are on its platform in Syria, Yemen, and Burundi – examples of conflict zones where I have been in touch with entrepreneurs – but the company said it doesn’t have statistics.