Exciting Social Enterprise Group I met at the Skoll World Forum

One of the more interesting people I met at the Oxford Skoll meeting this year was Raja Moubarak, founder of Winquest. Raja is a seasoned business executive with senior level experience in multinationals (Coca-Cola, B&W/BAT, BOC Group, Societe Generale) in Europe, Asia and in multiple Middle East/North African countries (MENA), as an entrepreneur and as Managing Director of one of the oldest retail groups in the MENA region.

His idea is straightforward: he believe the Middle East/North Africa region is ripe for values-centered for-profit social enterprises that can both make plenty of money and deliver social benefits. With his long expertise in bringing products to this region, he's working to find connections with companies interested in expanding into this area. But, just companies that have social good as a crucial part of their DNA.

It's probably not a coincidence that the Obama Administration is focusing efforts on entrepreneurship in the Muslim world: there's nothing like jobs to provide a moderating influence on a society. [Plenty of other things would help, like education and more political openness, but successful business enteprises and jobs would be a great start!]

I know I'll be watching to see if Raja's bold idea takes root: seems like a promising approach to sustainable social good.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Hi Jim, I am trying to get in touch with Raja Moubarak, from Winquest but I can not access his website.

Can you please help me.
Thank you.
6:01 AM
Jim Fruchterman said…
Shoot me an email with a little information on why you see a good connection, and I'll be happy to forward to Raja.

jim at benetech dot org
11:49 AM
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