Reading Time: 5 minutes Civil society in Lebanon has a long history of activity, stepping in where the government has been unable to attend to the needs of its citizens, mobilizing into organizations aimed at providing these services. However, just how active the sector is has proven hard to measure, and thus enhance. Even the exact number of registered…
McKinsey’s tourism vision for Lebanon
Reading Time: 3 minutes Tourism is one of the most promising sectors as a driver of economic growth in Lebanon, and so was an essential part of McKinsey’s Lebanon Economic Vision (LEV). The management consultancy’s report—presented in the form of a 1274 slide-long powerpoint presentation—dedicated around 120 slides to the tourism sector. How was this vision developed, and does…
How can Lebanon compete in tourism?
Reading Time: 3 minutes Dubai is ranked the fourth most-visited city in the world according to the Mastercard Global Destination Cities Index 2018. New attractions and experiences have contributed to Dubai’s success, bulwarked by a comprehensive marketing strategy. Campaigns promoting Dubai tourism showcase the city as a safe and exciting destination for travelers. Dubai’s marketing plan is primarily accomplished…
2018 has been a better year for startups
Reading Time: 2 minutes Lebanon’s startup ecosystem is in much better shape today than 10 years ago, thanks in large part to Circular 331 from Banque du Liban (BDL), Lebanon’s central bank. We at B&Y Venture Partners have invested in some fantastic companies with exceptional founders and are very pleased with the quality of our portfolio to date. Most…
The growing pains of Lebanon’s entrepreneurship ecosystem
Reading Time: 5 minutes Despite the one big news story that dominated watercooler conversations in entrepreneurship circles, the community at large had a comparitively good year. The quality and quantity of startups has increased, as witnessed at multiple demo days throughout 2018. Several exciting international and regional events were staged in Beirut, some for the first time. There is…
Lebanon’s entrepreneurship ecosystem
Reading Time: 4 minutes Lebanon’s entrepreneurship landscape has “leapfrogged” since August 2013, when Banque du Liban (BDL), Lebanon’s central bank, released Circular 331 that authorized Lebanese banks to invest in new startups in the knowledge economy. This policy has spurred the development of new growth capital funds and the entry of commercial banks into the equity market, unleashing (theoretically)…
Lebanese startups in need of investments
Reading Time: 5 minutes Historically, Lebanon’s economy has in large part depended on services, including tourism, F&B, financial services, education, and design. In addition, Lebanon has a strong agriculture sector that constitutes another pillar of the economy. Still, these services and resources are limited in scale due to the scarce availability of local resources, whether natural or human. As…
Can Lebanon construct a multi-channel digital future for serious journalism?
Reading Time: 10 minutes The tech entrepreneurship landscape in Lebanon is slowly producing more colorful and fragrant blossoms —more prosaically known as startup ventures. Also, the country’s entrepreneurship ecosystem, after some years of incremental progress by trial and error, appears to be heading in a direction where it can deliver on two important asset categorizations and ecosystem requirements: generating…
Social entrepreneurship in Lebanon
Reading Time: 5 minutes Anyone with any knowledge of Lebanon knows that the country is perpetually described as teetering on a cliff’s edge, frequently stuck in political stalemate, and with infrastructure that leaves much to be desired. And yet, amid all this insecurity is the trope of the entrepreneurial Lebanese. Because, despite the difficult living standards, rampant corruption, and…
Entrepreneurship and youth in lebanon
Reading Time: 4 minutes Lebanon may be officially classed as an upper-middle-income country by the international community, but it lags far behind other countries of a similar status. Serious deficiencies in the dynamics of the labor market—where youth unemployment is almost 40 percent, and women account for less than 25 percent of the workforce—are largely to blame. It is…