Almost 85% of Omani adults consider starting a business as a good career choice according to the first GEM Oman National Report. In research carried out in 2019, 86% believe that entrepreneurs are well regarded and enjoy high status within the society, 75% believe that entrepreneurs receive substantial media attention and 55% would prefer a competitive environment.
The Oman National Team became a GEM member in May 2019 led by Dr. Abdullah AlShukaili, and members including Dr. Norizan Mohd Kassim, Mr. Bader AlSuleimani, Dr. Swadhin Mondal, Dr. Yasmeen Kausar, Dr. Zunaith Ahmed and Mr Mohammed Al Mawaaly. According to the team, some of the driving factors were to understand entrepreneurship in Oman across multiple phases; assess the characteristics, motivations, and ambitions of entrepreneurs; and understand the attitudes of the Omani society toward such activity. In addition, joining GEM provides the team a platform for sharing data, knowledge, research and experience with international partners. Furthermore, this can help the policymakers, academic and entrepreneurial ecosystem to deeply explore the entrepreneurial phenomenon through shared experiences in entrepreneurship studies with other countries. It will also help to identify problems, offer solutions and draw success factors from those member countries that have experienced similar transitions.
In the following Q and A article, team leader Dr. Abdullah Al Shukaili highlights some of the key findings from the report.
Can you tell us about the typical Omani entrepreneurs?
The typical Omani early stage entrepreneur is a 32.8 years old man with a secondary degree. Their annual income is between OMR 1,921 and OMR 2,400 per year.
What are the motivations of Omani entrepreneurs?
According to our study, we learned that:
- 56.21 of early state entrepreneurs are motivated to earn a living because jobs are scarce.
- 52.97% reported building wealth as a one of the reasons to start a business.
- 26.62% were driven to continue a family tradition.
- 49.87% want to make a difference in the world.
How would you describe the mindset of these entrepreneurs?
The four basic components of entrepreneurial mindset - opportunism, proactivity, creativity and vision - were used to identify entrepreneurial intention and predict entrepreneurial success in the population. Of these four components, vision appears as the most predominant (71.5%), followed by creativity (56.7%), opportunism (38.5%), and proactivity (33.6%). The result suggests that most people in Oman have been inspired to generate innovative business ideas or new products through novel experiences and originality.
How do you envision these entrepreneurs fostering job creation throughout the country?
Overall, most of the early stage entrepreneurs expect the creation of jobs in five years. 20.7% of those surveyed expect between 6 and 19 jobs; 23.9% anticipate more than 20. Just over half (51.3%) estimate that they can create between 1 or 5 jobs .
How does Oman entrepreneurial ecosystem compare to other countries?
A whole host of factors determine how easy (or difficult) it is to start up a business. Our National Expert Survey (NES) looks at the national context in which individuals start businesses. GEM’s National Entrepreneurship Context Index (NECI) measures the ease of starting and developing a business. The NECI ranks all participating countries on their national context for entrepreneurship. Currently, the Sultanate holds the 29th position on the NECI index (out of 54 countries), which is slightly below the GEM score. Oman is in 19th position for the relevance and measure of support through government policies. The Omani context also stands out on entrepreneurship education at the school stage (17th position) and internal market dynamics (19th position). The framework conditions that require attention are entrepreneurial education, especially at the post-school stage, research and development (R&D) transfer, market regulations and burdens and commercial infrastructure.
How do you anticipate COVID-19 impacting some of the above trends related to entrepreneurship in Oman?
In Oman, there have been many negative impacts on entrepreneurs as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. These include increased business closures, supply and logistical shortages, inability to pay operational costs, and, for some, a lack of ability to shift to e-commerce platforms. There have been some positive impacts on entrepreneurs, however. For example, educational institutions have shifted their learning modules online, which has increased demand for digital educational services. Some public services have moved online as well. Omani entrepreneurs have taken advantage of the lockdown situation by offering online products and services, while a group of Omani innovators has produced protective equipment used by frontline workers in the fight against COVID-19. Some of the positive effects can be seen in the total number of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) registered with the Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises Development (Riyada). At the end of April 2020, 44,139 new businesses had been registered during the year to date, comprising a 12.6% increase compared to the same period in 2019, according to data released by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI).
You can learn more about the report at this link and watch the launch event recording here.