16/10/2018
On 8th of November, 2018 Sharakah celebrated completing 20 years since it was incorporated back in 1998. His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said issued Royal Decree (76/98) to incorporate Fund for Development of Youth Projects as a closed joint stock company. The objective is to support the development of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the Sultanate of Oman. Sharakah offers three main services including creating awareness about the importance of Entrepreneurship and SMEs; Providing financial support for new and existing businesses; and providing consultation and advice to business owners to ensure their progress and sustainability.Sharakah aims to support Oman’s vision to diversify the economy, encourage the creation of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), develop the entrepreneurial capacity of Omanis, to assist in creating sustainable SMEs and creating job opportunities in the community.
Over the past 20 years, Sharakah has made a lot of achievements and have received recognition locally and internationally including getting the award of the best website in 2008 and the award of the Best Shariaa Compliant Product in 2011 From Malta Institute of Management. In its endeavor to enhance the quality of services provided, Sharakah obtained ISO 9001:2008 quality certification in 2012. In 2016, Sharakah was awarded as the “Best Enterprise” in the field of SMEs financial support at the Europe Business Assembly (EBA). Sharakah was also awarded the “Bizz 2016” award by the World Confederation of Businesses (WORLDCOB). Additionally, in 2017 Sharakah was awarded "Golden Plate of Excellence" in the field of social responsibility from the Arab Organization for Social Responsibility in UAE and awarded as the “Best Enterprise” in the field of Small and Medium Enterprises financial support at the Europe Business Assembly (EBA), Oxford, United Kingdom.
“We always strive to do things in a systematic and sustainable manner” said Abdullah Al Jufaili, General Manager. He added, “we have developed several tools and mechanisms to ease the process of evaluating projects. Amongst these tools is Risk Assessment Tool, which gives us an insight into the risk associated with each prospective business, in turn enabling us to draw a mitigation strategy. We have also developed a tool to monitor the performance of the businesses we support by evaluating 7 key functions. We have also developed Financial Analysis Tool that allows us to understand project profitability, payback period and other ratios.”
“One of the things that we are very proud of is the ability of Sharakah to self-sustain for more than 20 years without requiring additional funds or contribution. Our approach has always been to diversify our investment to make returns that would enable us to cover our operational expenses, grow and invest in more SMEs. “ added Al-Jufaili
”To date, Sharakah has supported more than 200 SMEs from different Governorates and in different sectors. We have spent OMR 6.06 million in SMEs support. Our objectives remain in ensuring the sustainability of the businesses we support and creating employment opportunities.”
“In the consultancy services, the last four years have witnessed productive cooperation with BP Oman to provide support and consultancy services for 86 projects in Khazzan Project for SME Development. We also delivered 26 workshops titled "Dynamic Entrepreneurship" to more than 863 beneficiaries and 44 "Calculate it Right" workshops for 1805 participants in cooperation with BP Oman and the National Finance Company. A cooperation agreement was also signed with the Public Authority for SME Development (Riyada) to evaluate the performance of 10 projects and draw a plan to improve their performance.”
In the past few years, many events have been organized to highlight the role of Sharakah in SME development, notably, Sharakah Forum which was held in December 2015. The event was attended by 240 people, the majority of the participants (60%) were entrepreneurs. Consequently, a semi-annual event “Ruwad Sharakah” was introduced as a platform for SMEs and beneficiaries from a Sharakah to network and share experience.”
The following is the excerpts from an interview with Abdullah Al Jufaili, the General Manager of Sharakah speaking about Sharakah and its achievements in the last 20 years
• What was the purpose of establishing Fund for Development of Youth Projects?
Sharakah was incorporated in 1998, the actual operations started towards the end of 1999. The objectives have always been supporting SMEs, contributing to economic diversification, and creating jobs for locals. Our support for SMEs takes the form of three types of service. One is the promotion of the spirit of entrepreneurship across Oman, in addition to championing successful entrepreneurs. The second involves financial support, itself comprising three schemes: an equity scheme, a bill discounting scheme, and a loan scheme. The third is consultancy service.
Sharakah went through various stages, since inception. SMEs and entrepreneurship development sector was still in its early development in 1998. In 2013, His Majesty gave direction to organize the SME Symposium at Seih Al Shamikhat in Willayat Bahla. The number of initiatives that supports entrepreneurship development have since increased. Both private and public sector organizations are playing a key role in SME development. The underlying objective is to leverage on the skills and capabilities of Omanis and help create an economy that is less dependent on Oil and Gas sector.
• What are Sharakah services?
Our support for SMEs takes the form of three types of service. One is the promotion of the spirit of entrepreneurship across Oman, we deliver seminars and workshops to existing business owners and those who are aspiring to become. We also offer up to OMR 350,000 in terms of financial support. Our intention is to see SMEs grow and expand not only locally but regionally as such we offer a basket of consultation services to our existing clients.
• What are the most prominent stages in Sharakah history?
Sharakah passed through various stages during its inception where it first started by providing support through equity financing. later in 2007, we started offering debt financing as loans and bill discounting schemes. We further introduced consultancy services to ensure the success of the businesses we have financed. Over the year our fund limit per project grown from OMR 200,000 to 350,000. The focus in the past few years has been on the manufacturing sector and innovative projects.
• Do you have any association with other organizations?
Sharakah would not have been able to accomplish what it has accomplished without the support and collaboration of other organizations. We are members of the International Network of SMEs (INSME) based in Italy. The network has members in 65 countries worldwide and it offers us an opportunity to exchange knowledge and expertise with other entrepreneurship development organizations. We have signed a number of cooperation agreements with the likes of Riyada, Al Raffd Fund, BP Oman, Oman Oil Company for Exploration & Production (OOCEP), National Finance Company (NFC), National Business Center (NBC), Zubair SEC, Grant Thornton and others. It’s the collaborative efforts of SME support organizations that has led to success of the sector.
• What about the private sector?
There’s a continuous cooperation with the private sector. Our most renown business cooperation is with BP Oman. For 4 years we have managed Khazzan Project for SME Development. During these 4 years, we have provided consultation services to 86 SMEs. In addition, we conducted a series of workshops named “Calculate it Right” for 580 students and 359 business owners. Further, we have worked with Riyadah to evaluate the performance of 10 SMEs and advised them on how to improve.
• What does Sharakah aim for in the future?
One of our main objectives is to support the government strategy to diversify economic income sources. We will continue to ensure that our role does not end by just helping an SME to start, but there is a more important role in helping them to sustain and grow.