On June 16, Silatech signed an agreement in Khartoum with the Sudan Rural Development Company (SRDC) to provide entrepreneurship training for 1000 Sudanese youth. Signed by Silatech Deputy CEO Raed Al Emadi and Sudan Rural Development Company General Manager Dr. Jafar Farah, the agreement marks the first major program Silatech has undertaken to date in Sudan.

The training comes as part of a microfinance program in which the SRDC will provide approximately USD 1 million total to finance businesses of the 1000 selected entrepreneurs upon the completion of their ten-day entrepreneurship training course. Financed by Silatech and conducted through local implementation partner “Do Solutions,” the ten-day program will be conducted shortly after Ramadan.

A large number of the 1000 youth entrepreneurs who will take part in the training attended the June 16 ceremony, along with numerous other Sudanese dignitaries and officials, including government ministers, regional governors, and executives from top Sudanese financial institutions. The event took place at the Presidential Hall, and was held under the patronage of HE Dr. Abdul Rahman Hassan, Governor of the Central Bank of Sudan.

Silatech is a regional social initiative that works with partners throughout the Arab world to provide employment and entrepreneurship opportunities for young people. Silatech is currently working with 30 microfinance institutions in 11 countries throughout the region, and has to date enabled more than 90,000 youth-run businesses to start and grow, supporting more than 140,000 youth jobs. Silatech is the Arab region’s largest provider of youth-focused microenterprise services.