New fund to help budding male Saudi entrepreneurs

A new fund has been established under the auspices of the Saud bin Fahad Charity Foundation to help young male Saudis launch business projects.
“Through Nami, I want to help young male Saudis with business potentials to succeed,” said Prince Mohammed bin Saud bin Fahad bin Abdulaziz, who owns the fund.
He said that a number of young Saudis will be selected to undergo training conducted by experts in the Kingdom. “For the first year, five young male Saudis will be chosen. If the results of their training are good, each of them will given SR300,000 as assistance to start a small business,” he said.
The prince said loans will be interest-free and that they will have to repay the amount within a specified time to be agreed upon as per the contract.
About the repayment facility, he said, “We will have to be flexible because the business will be new. Payment could be quarterly or yearly, depending upon their capacity and capability.”
He said the fund is on the lines of Al-Manahil Fund which is being run by his mother, Princess Madawi. Under this scheme, an interest-free loan of SR300,000 is extended to a young Saudi female entrepreneur and the payment is to be made in installments in five years.
The prince said he has launched Nami as a reciprocation to the assistance he had received earlier. “I have been helped by a lot of people when I was just starting a business. Now that I am better off than before, I’d like to help others,” he said.
The prince runs his own businesses, like Faden Media, which has “invested in in-mall advertising.”
“The big LED screen in a tower along the King Abdulaziz Road in Jeddah is one of our projects. It’s one of the world’s biggest, if not the biggest,” he said.
The prince studied at the King Fahd University in the Eastern Province, Al Faisal University in Riyadh and earned a degree in human resources management from the CBA in Jeddah.