Next month, Turkey will play host to the second annual Global Entrepreneurship Summit—an event which brings together corporate and civic leaders from around the globe. The summit will also serve as a launch ceremony for the Arabia 500—a new index of the Arab World’s top fast-growing companies, developed by Harvard Business School’s Michael E. Porter and regional colleagues.

Souktel is honored to be named as a finalist in the Arabia 500, and to be featured as a panel speaker at the Summit alongside distinguished presenters like US Vice-President Joseph Biden and staff of the Harvard Business Review, equity group Abraaj Capital and the Kauffman Foundation for entrepreneurship.

“This summit is a tremendous opportunity for us to learn from key business leaders in the region,” explains Outreach Team Leader Kristen Roggemann, who will represent Souktel at the event. “As a social enterprise that links job-seekers with work, we’re looking forward to deepening our relationships with Arabia 500 employers across the Arab World’s markets”.

Souktel JobMatch Celebrates Three Years of Linking Youth in East Africa with Work

Initially launched in 2006 as a solution to unemployment in Palestine, Souktel’s popular JobMatch service quickly expanded to East Africa in late 2008, where it’s now carried on major mobile networks in all three Somali regions (Puntland, South Central Somalia and Somaliland), in partnership with US-based non-profit Education Development Center. Three years after the first job was listed via SMS, there are now more than 8,000 people using this service–from recent college graduates to employers like construction firms and hotels.

When it started in the region, Souktel’s JobMatch was the first mobile phone job information service ever provided in the Horn of Africa, and it came at the perfect time: The region’s labor market was growing, but there was no easy way for employers and job-seekers to connect. Text-messaging offered a cheap, fast and efficient solution—as did touch-tone audio menus, which were introduced earlier this year to reach the large number of local job-seekers who can’t read.

“Today, in light of the recent food crisis, it’s extremely important to make sure that young people are able to find work opportunities,” says Souktel president Jacob Korenblum. “Contrary to what some may think, jobs are available across East Africa. But when there’s famine or widespread violence, it becomes difficult to move around and find this work. Through simple mobile technology, we overcome these barriers, connecting job-seekers with employers even when they can’t initially meet face to face”.

Learn more about JobMatch here.

Learn more about implementing partner Education Development Center here.

What is Souktel? The Mobile Phone JobMatch Advantage

Souktel is the first service in the Middle East that matches job-seekers with employers through audio and SMS alerts on mobile phones. Learn how Souktel’s technology helps businesses and employees save time, save money, and connect with more people than ever: Visit www.souktel.org.