The best companies solve the biggest problems – the really hard ones that few people even know about, much less know how to tackle. They do it through ingenuity, perseverance, commitment, and hard work. And they overcome technological, structural, or political obstacles in the process. Big problems are really just big opportunities, and the best companies seize the biggest opportunities.
The Arab world – with its wealth of big opportunities – is ready for some (more) great companies. A range of challenges, each with a deep structural basis, have inhibited growth and social and economic development in the region. The energy, capital access, transportation, and healthcare sectors in every country in the Middle East could stand to be reimagined, if not entirely restructured. And each of them faces not just one, but many difficult problems – but there are many opportunities for those who decide to tackle them. With any luck, we’ll see a few big ideas in 2015 in the following sectors.
Energy
Most if not all the countries in the MENA region face significant energy challenges, not least those, including some Gulf states, whose GDPs primarily derive from sales of fossil fuels. In other places, like Egypt for instance, those challenges may result from large public deficits – partly a consequence of maintaining long-term fuel subsidies, a regressive welfare policy that benefits the wealthy.
The energy value chain is a long one. Lots of different processes have to happen, from the point of extraction to when and how energy is sold or consumed. Innovative and influential software companies could be founded to monitor consumption. Or, on the production side, a new company could seek to explore the relatively new frontiers of solar or wave energy. And in the middle of the chain, a technology company could work to build smart grids to allocate electricity on an as-needed basis, thereby minimizing wasted resources.
Original article by Ahmed Moor
Continue reading at Wamda:
The biggest opportunities for would-be founders in 2015
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