The Kingdom of Bahrain has launched a range of ambitious initiatives to diversify its economy through entrepreneurship. The government-backed Bahrain Development Bank (BDB) recently gave a shot-in-the-arm to the nation’s small to medium sized enterprise (SME) drive when it successfully closed its $100 million Al Waha Venture Capital Fund of Funds (Al Waha FoF), which aims to invest in promising regional tech startups.

“The fund is registered in Bahrain but we’re investing in funds regionally and some internationally. It is a critical asset for the regional startup ecosystem,” says Areije Al Shakar, senior vice president and head of development services division at BDB, who is leading the Al Waha FoF management team.

As part of her role at BDB, Al Shakar is also vice president of Bahrain’s ‘Rowad’ initiative, which provides entrepreneurs with access to different learning tools: such as training programmes, workshops, coaching programmes, incubation and a seed funding programme (Seed Fuel).

Source Credit: Wamda
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