81297762-Entrepreneurship promotion in selected Jordan Governorates

Jordan's major challenge is to combat the increasing unemployment, particularly among young people. The current official un-employment rate has increased from 15.3 per cent (2016) to 22.6 per cent (DoS, Q2/2022), and especially affects women and youth. Jordan"s economic growth has slowed over the last decade. Employment has been particularly affected by the recent global pandemic and the high, long-term influx of refugees. According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) Report 2020, only 9.1 per cent of the adult population in Jordan is involved in an entrepreneurial activity - either in the founding stage or running a company. This puts Jordan in 34th place out of 50 of the economies surveyed. In addition, newly founded companies often re-main micro-enterprises and show little potential for scaling. There are several challenges facing the entrepreneurship ecosystem in Jordan. To name a few, framework conditions for entrepreneurs are not sufficiently conducive and administrative hurdles and bureaucratic procedures hinder entrepreneurs rather than enable them. Additionally, there is a lack of support structures for entrepreneurship and cooperation in the governorates. Markets and business potentials in the governorates are not sufficiently used by entrepreneurs. Objective The growth and employment potential of entrepreneurship in selected governorates in Jordan have improved. Our approach The project "Entrepreneurship for Sustainable Economic Devel-opment and Employment" (E4DE), works alongside the Ministry of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship and other national part-ners to create and improve sustainable employment opportunities in Jordan, while also addressing specific challenges for women"s employment. Focal areas are: 1. Improving human and planning capabilities of actors in the public and private ecosystem to develop support measures for entrepreneurs. Examining the framework conditions for entrepreneurship to design and implement appropriate measures in cooperation with local actors. 2. Consolidating ecosystems in the governorates to promote start-ups and companies. Improving the entrepreneurial and technical conditions with new start-up networks and better start-up services in the governorates. 3. Supporting new entrepreneurs and existing companies in making greater use of the markets and business potentials in the governorates. This complements initiatives and creates a direct link to employment through founding and scaling up businesses.