Thanks to the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, women will now be eligible to drive and can opt to be drivers for ride-hailing services like Careem, as well.
As per royal decree, the ban on women drivers will be lifted on June 2018. Nearly 1000+ women have already registered on the Careem driver app.
“We had a significant number of Saudi women getting training for the captain role and there are already 1,000 Saudi women who signed up to be captains at Careem.” Magnus Olsson, Co-founder Careem
However, Careem isn’t only ride-hailing app quickly capitalizing on the new supply of drivers. Uber has planned to set up special training centers for women who want to work for the company.
Vision 2030 – Saudi Arabia’s post-oil economy plan, aims to provide more opportunities for women in the economy. In January, over 107K women have been enrolled for 140 roles in passport and immigration services.
Due to massive economic diversification, the e-commerce market is expected to double from $95 billion in 2013 to $200 billion by 2020 in the MENA region. This will further increase demand in the transport and logistics sector which will, in turn, see a new rise in job opportunities as well for Saudi women.
However, the biggest improvement would be the recent update that women can now start businesses themselves, without the need for male consent.
“No need for a guardian’s permission. Saudi women are free to start their own business freely” Abdul Rahman Al- Hussein, Ministry spokesperson
The #No_Need campaign(an initiative by an Arabic company Taysir) aims to guide women with the necessary procedures to start a new business. There would be no need to visit a notary to set up a new business, one can do the necessary business documentation electronically as well.
Earlier under the guardianship system, women were required to have a “proof of permission” from a male guardian to sign any form of government paperwork, enroll in classes or even travel.
Women entrepreneurs in Saudi Arabia would lead to a massive growth in the private sector as well as a new shift in the cultural landscape of the kingdom.
“One of the directives of Vision 2030 is to activate the role of Saudi women in society and to give them their full rights and the rights guaranteed by Shariah” Nojood Al-Qassim, Head of the Department of Personal Status, Family Legacies and Women’s and Children’s Rights to Arab News
Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 aims to provide a more progressive and modernized kingdom for women. With women being allowed to drive, enter stadiums, start businesses and even being granted tourist visas(over the age of 25) without the need of a male chaperone to enter the country.
With inspiring Arab woman entrepreneurs from all regions of GCC and subsequent MENA region to encourage women in Saudi Arabia, we will soon be seeing a whole new shift and growth in the kingdom’s economy, from 2018 onwards.
Shoutout To All Aspiring Women Entrepreneurs
We at Appscrip, encourage more women to take the reigns and grow the global economy daily. We stand with #No_Need and we support all aspiring women entrepreneurs with their app-related business ideas.
Check out the testimonial from one of our women trailblazers and founder of SalesPaddock, Alison Koenig.
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