INJAZ Al-Arab/JA MENA Holds 2025 Youth Entrepreneurship Celebration
November 21, 2024
INJAZ Al-Arab/JA MENA held its 2024 Youth Entrepreneurship Celebration (YEC) this week in Dubai, UAE. Hosted by INJAZ UAE, INJAZ students came from ten countries in the MENA region to compete in the annual regional Company of the Year competition. YEC immersed high school and university students in an entrepreneurial ecosystem where they interacted with business professionals, mentors, educators, and other students from the region.
The 2024 YEC also marked the 20th anniversary of INJAZ Al-Arab/JA MENA, which began teaching entrepreneurship, work readiness, and financial health in the region in 2004.
Meet the Student Companies
High School
INJAZ Bahrain: Jawik creates sustainable, multi-purpose products from Bahraini clay to control indoor humidity, improve air quality, and support traditional crafts.
INJAZ Egypt: Wash to Flush offers a water-saving solution that reuses hand-washing water for flushing, addressing water scarcity with an eco-friendly design.
INJAZ Kuwait: Grubs provides subscription-based, nutritionally balanced meals, ranging from breakfast to snacks and lunch.
INJAZ Oman: Courts specializes in sports services, facilitating stadium bookings and event organization through an app to enhance the sports community.
INJAZ Palestine: 3a Balata manufactures piezoelectric tiles for sustainable energy, aiming to improve quality of life with innovative Palestinian products.
INJAZ Qatar: SmartPatch by Nano offers a non-invasive, affordable diagnostic device for premature infants with HIE, improving medical diagnostics.
INJAZ Saudi Arabia: Poly Space recycles polypropylene with Yanbu palm wood to produce high-quality, multi-use plastic granules for sustainable materials.
INJAZ UAE: Limitless is an AI-driven educational platform that customizes content for diverse learners, reducing teachers’ workload and making learning accessible.
University
INJAZ Algeria: carVup produces high-quality tongue depressors from recycled paper and cardboard, offering a sustainable alternative to wood.
INJAZ Bahrain: Temprah’s Arctic product uses advanced cooling technology to improve the lives of outdoor workers in the Middle East’s heat, with a focus on sustainability.
INJAZ Egypt: AgriEagle specializes in sustainable agriculture and innovative farm management methods, including solar operating systems.
INJAZ Kuwait: NEMA’s app gamifies food waste donations, converting surplus food into resources and promoting sustainability through technology and social responsibility.
INJAZ Morocco: Glove Voice creates a smart glove that translates sign language into spoken words using AI, enhancing communication for deaf and mute individuals.
INJAZ Oman: Gelatous manufactures organic halal gelatin from high-quality Omani fish. Free of chemicals, Gelatous is safe for use in food, cosmetics, and health products.
INJAZ Qatar: On Budget offers surplus and unsold fast-fashion products at discounted prices, reducing clutter and benefiting both brands and customers.
INJAZ Saudi Arabia: AtbaaLe provides automated, self-service paper printing with electronic payment and online file uploads for flexible and efficient printing solutions.
INJAZ Tunis: EcOlive produces eco-friendly bricks from clay and olive pomace, promoting sustainable construction and reducing environmental impact.
INJAZ UAE: ltifaq is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform that uses a chatbot and agent to quickly retrieve and analyze legal information, saving professionals time on research.
Day 1: After students arrived and got a good night’s rest on Monday, they spent the first official day in sessions hosted by YEC sponsors. FedEx kicked off the day’s sessions with the Global Possibilities Seminar for both high school and university students. The seminar is a requirement for INAJZ student companies that want to qualify for the FedEx Global Possibilities Award. The award recognizes the team that excels in ideation and demonstrates exceptional creativity, problem-solving, and innovation, in alignment with FedEx’s leadership.
Next up, students attended the Alshaya Group seminar, the first of four seminars involved in the treasure hunt, a new challenge this year for YEC attendees. Through sessions hosted by Alshaya Group, the Project Management Institute Educational Foundation/PMIEF (all attendees), TikTok (high school), Investcorp (university), Mastercard (university), and Boeing (high school), students learned to build a global business, master digital media, and pitch to investors. Each sponsor seminar represented a step in the treasure hunt, ultimately leading to an award for each.
Day 2: Students started the day with the PMIEF seminar, followed by the Investcorp and TikTok seminars. In the afternoon, each student company rehearsed their company presentations on stage and began setting up their expo booths. The day capped off with a stage rehearsal and a networking dinner for university and high school teams.
Day 3: The pressure kicked in on the third and final day of YEC. Student companies presented their businesses to judges and an audience comprised of members of the public and their peers. At the expo, students gave judges a more in-depth look at the their products and services. In the evening, students, judges, and stakeholders walked the red carpet that led into the awards ceremony at the Al Ras Ballroom, and INJAZ Al-Arab/JA MENA announced the winners of the region’s top awards.
Awards
The FedEx Global Possibilities Award recognizes the student company that demonstrates it is driven by innovation, connecting to new markets, fueling community development, sustainability, and social corporate responsibility. Winner: 3a Balata, INJAZ Palestine
The Product of the Year Awards:
Product of the Year, High School: NANO, INJAZ Qatar
Product of the Year, University: Gelatous, INJAZ Oman
And the prestigious Company of the Year Awards:
Company of the Year, High School: Limitless, INJAZ UAE
Company of the Year, University: Temprah, INJAZ Bahrain
In addition to the winners, INJAZ Al-Arab announced INJAZ Egypt will host YEC in 2025. Watch the full awards ceremony on Facebook.
As INJAZ Al-Arab/JA MENA Company of the Year (High School), Limitless will join regional champions Treberei from JA Europe, FlameGuard from Junior Achievement USA, and O’BGE from JA Asia Pacific to compete for the 2025 De La Vega Global Entrepreneurship Award. JA Americas will announce its Company of the Year on December 5 at the competition in Uruguay, and JA Africa will announce its Company of the Year on December 6 in Mauritius.