Ro’Ya: Developing the UAE’s female entrepreneurs

Women are driving entrepreneurship in the UAE, and the people behind theRo’Ya competition intend to keep it that way.

Early last year, MasterCard partnered with the Dubai Business Women Council (DBWC) to launch the program, which aims to mentor female entrepreneurs in the UAE.

Ro’Ya – which means ‘vision’ in Arabic – offers coaching to existing and aspiring businesswomen as well as the chance for applicants to win funding for their company.

It exists for good reason.

Women account for nearly 50 percent of the SME sector in the UAE and 48 percent of those are the sole owners of their firms, according to the country’s Ministry of Economy.

“With such a high rate of female success, we wanted to create an environment through which we could further foster talent,” said Nadin Halabi, DBWC business development manager. “Both DBWC and MasterCard want to encourage female entrepreneurs to be confident in pursuing their ideas.”

Original article by Rachel McArthur

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Ro’Ya: Developing the UAE’s female entrepreneurs