A few days ago, I tasted a delicious cupcake in Cake & Co, a trendy bakery in Riyadh owned by Nawal, a young Saudi woman whose passion for baking drove her to set up a business in 2014, offering custom-made cakes and cookies. Overseeing every aspect of the business, from decorating cakes to managing a team of seven and doing the accounts, she is the very model of the new successful Saudi women entrepreneurs who are revitalising and boosting the Saudi economy.

Today, entrepreneurship is a globally acclaimed innovation process that mobilises people and resources. It is crucial to economic development and a key factor for growth and expansion. And for women, it is a powerful tool of empowerment, offering flexible arrangements that enable them to balance work and family responsibilities.

When I worked for the United Nations, I ran training programmes for young women in Saudi Arabia designed to help them to set up and run their own businesses. I remember well the motivation and determination of the women on my courses.

They ended up starting their own businesses and succeeded; making a difference not only to their own lives but also to their families and their community.

Source Credit: Arabian Business
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