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Abu Dhabi Global Market Academy (ADGMA), the academic and knowledge arm of Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), the international financial centre of UAE’s capital emirate, announced the launch of the Abu Dhabi Entrepreneurship Initiative, in line with its commitment and ongoing contribution to the national vision to transition to a knowledge-based economy.

ADGMA marked the launch of this pioneering initiative by signing an agreement in partnership with Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development (KFED), Avnon Academy, startAD and the Human Resource Authority (HRA). The new program, under the banner ‘SME Hub’, is developed to enable the creation of entrepreneurs and start-ups in a supportive ecosystem.

With a mission to create a robust and sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystem for National and Expatriate entrepreneurs, the SME Hub aims to provide an interactive platform that enables them to be embedded in an innovation-driven, growing and thriving community.

Through this initiative, participants would have access to tailor-made training and start-up accelerator programmes, which support the development of the tech ecosystem in Abu Dhabi. The initiative also offers a series of thought leadership events, seminars and webinars, in addition to networking and mentorship events that reflect the uniqueness of this partnership and position ADGMA as a major contributor towards building Abu Dhabi’s knowledge economy.

Commenting on this initiative, Hamad Sayah Al Mazrouei, COO of ADGM and Managing Director of ADGM Academy said, “We are thrilled to collaborate with our key partners to promote, develop and enhance financial literacy in UAE’s capital emirate and the nation as a whole. We believe that this collaboration will add further value to ADGM Academy in its continuous endeavour to empower and prepare a highly competent workforce and positively contribute towards the developing UAE’s knowledge-based economy.”

H.E. Alia Al Mazrouei, CEO, Khalifa Fund said, “It’s my utmost pleasure to sign this declaration for the ‘Abu Dhabi Entrepreneur Initiative’, alongside our partners, ADGM Academy, AVNON Academy, the Centre of Excellence for Applied Research and Training, the Human Resources Authority, and StartAD. Khalifa Fund is continuously identifying new and innovative ways in which we can pursue collaborative efforts alongside industry leaders and other enterprise development experts. I look forward to combining our talents, insights and expertise to develop a cohesive task force which will contribute to the further enhancement of the UAE’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.”

Tomer Avnon, Founder and President of the Avnon Group, said: “The Avnon Academy is designed to democratize education about cybersecurity and artificial intelligence while fostering a wider understanding of relevant industries. By delivering world-class financial education and literacy, this collaboration with The Avnon Academy will enable Abu Dhabi to position itself as a leading centre of innovation studies.”

Ramesh Jagannathan, Managing Director of startAD, the accelerator powered by Tamkeen and anchored at NYU Abu Dhabi, said, “While the UAE is fertile ground for companies large or small to develop and scale new ideas, what is really exciting is the opportunity it provides to use Abu Dhabi as a base to serve a vast and diverse market. The MENA region is home to the world’s largest youth population - 200 million youth who are ideal participants in the wave of technological change. The real prize, however, is a global consumer class set to reach 5.2 billion people by 2030, out of which over three billion of them will be in India, China, and Africa. Given the MENA is part of this “ICA Corridor”, there is an opportunity to ride the wave of India and China’s growing global tech ecosystem by becoming dominant in the global entrepreneurial economic landscape. The key part about this vast market is that it is hugely diverse, with its own product needs, regulatory frameworks, and cultural mores.”

He further stated, “As a nation-building accelerator, startAD is proud to catalyse meaningful connections between visionary stakeholders like ADGM Academy to build a future-focused, technology-driven economy. The partnership will create a virtuous circle where start-ups can develop their products more rapidly, and corporates will have access to regionally relevant ideas and talent. Buoyed by favourable regulations and the ease of doing business, backed by the support of corporates who also wish to innovate and transform their sectors, this is a historic opportunity to serve a frontier market the size of Europe and North America.

To visit ADGM Academy website, click on: https://www.adgmacademy.com/