Huda Janahi | 
Global Cargo
The name 'Huda Janahi" not only conjures up the image of a successful businesswoman, it also tells a tale of an Arab housewife who dared to challenge the male dominated business sector and managed to surpass many and become an icon of success for millions of aspiring women world wide. Huda Janahi, was a housewife. She graduated from the Investment Promotion & Enterprise Development Program in the year 2001 conducted by UNIDO-ITPO Bahrain, better known as the Bahrain Model of Investment Promotion & Enterprise Creation, through it's Arab Regional Center for Entrepreneurship and Investment Training (ARCEIT). She selected a business idea, "Transport and Cargo Services", which is normally a male dominated business worldwide. At the very first instance, the business registration authorities rejected the idea by claiming , "This business is not for women". Despite various odds against her business proposition, with the continuous interventions and counselling support provided by UNIDO-ITPO / ARCEIT office in Bahrain, she managed not only to establish her business, but furthermore, after a period of 5 years, the name 'Huda Janahi' became synonymous of a successful business woman. Starting her business "Global Cargo" with a small office, a staff of two persons and an initial investment of $4000, today she is managing business assets worth around $3 million, leading one of the biggest cargo and travel services in Bahrain with 28 professional field staff, in addition to promoting and managing eight new companies in the region. Her business includes cargo clearing and heavy transportation, freight forwarding (Air-Sea-Land), custom clearance & delivery services, transportation & inter-airport trucking, GCS refrigerated transport, bonded warehouse, agent representation, packing & remov als, bulk posting & promotional distribution, travel arrangements, worldwide health and spa arrangement, cruise booking, car rental arrangement, exhibition and conference arrangement, chartered flights etc. One of her most recent and important companies is the Regional Trading & Advertisement (RTE). RTE trading is an official Grand Prix merchandise and import company engaged in marketing campaign related to a full range of Formula 1 merchandise, trading in import, export and sale of jewellery and pearls as well as public relations & media in Bahrain and throughout the G.C.C. During her journey towards success, she received numerous recognitions and awards from various institutions, business forums and magazines, namely "The Covert Mohammed Bin Rashid Award for the Young Business Leaders, in the Best Start-up Business for the year 2005", and recently the prestigious "Investor of the Year Award 2005" in the category of Young Innovative Entrepreneur, organized on February 13th 2006 in Jordan presented by the Organization for Economic Co-operation & Development (OECD). She was also ranked 46 by Forbes Magazine in their list of the 50 most powerful Arab businesswomen.
Huda Janahi receiving an award from H.E. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Makhtoum Yahya Al Ansari, Najla Nedham, Hessa Hussain |
Youth National Hands (YNH) Systems
Yahya Al-Ansari, Najla Nedham, and Hessa Hussain, the founders of the company are science majors that developed a universal controller for triggering school bells, which was well-received by local schools because of its user-friendliness, affordability, and achieving customer satisfaction. They know that the market is ready for their products. Lacking the business requirements, the group attended the 20th batch of EDIP which helped them “turn an idea into an existing business geared towards sustainable growth.” After successfully completing the programme, they setup their workplace in the Bahrain Business Incubator Center, where they can be found today. One of the core values of YNH is the “Made in Bahrain” model; this helped in their selling point that people will be more willing to buy something made locally. Today, YNH employs a total of 14 people, all Bahrainis, and have a capital of USD100,000. Their products also expanded and differentiated, with business lines covering manufacturing electronic products and systems, trading and providing electronic solutions, developing software solutions, and technical consultations. In the past year, YNH has signed an MOU with a leading British company to setup a manufacturing plan in Bahrain to produce LED lights. The capacity of this plant is enough to produce for the whole GCC and Europe. Now, YNH are seeking distributor in other GCC countries for their products, growing their once small idea into a regional company. Mohammed Janahi |
Mr. Janahi began his career when he started at the Bahrain Defense Force where he got an opportunity to train abroad on Laser and Biomedical technology improving his capacities and developing his skill further. Mr. Janahi then worked for Bahrain Maintenance & Diving Services Company (BMDS), a local diving contractor company, where he gained experience throughout the region. Working for BMDS Mr. Janahi saw there is a market for the services he can provide and with the skills he had developed there was tremendous opportunity waiting to be utilized. So Mr. Janahi saw that pursing diving would help his career. Mr. Janahi decided to take a large risk. He sold his car and belongings to take a highly professional diving course in South Africa. In South Africa, he trained and now is a qualified Class 3 Surface Supplied Air Diver. After the completion of the diving courses, he went back to BMDS but found that working there was a limit to his potential and he would not be able to expand and grow further. Consequently, Mr. Janahi left the company and pursued the help of the Bahrain Development Bank and UNIDO. With the continuous interventions and counseling support provided by Bahrain Development Bank and UNIDO-ITPO/ ARCEIT office in Bahrain Mr. Janahi was able to set up a company at the Bahrain Business Incubator Center where he was able to utilize his skills, experiences and contacts which he has acquired throughout the years. With an initial investment of BD 40,000 Mr. Janahi bought the equipment he needed and with three employees launched Hull Diving Services. Hull Diving Services provides an array of hull services as well as diving services. The Hull services include hull cleaning, propeller polishing and hull surveying, in addition to diving services which include consultancy, servicing & maintenance and CP and UT surveys. Hull Diving Services largely provides to International Shipping Companies and the Marine Industry. Finally, after working hard within the technical field and establishing a company which provides highly specialized services conducted by professionals Mr. Janahi's efforts have born fruit, Hull Diving Services' turnover today exceeds $ 1 Million. Mohammed Shaban |
Mohammed Shaban started his career as a mathematics teacher in a public school in Bahrain after graduating from Bahrain University in 1990. To enhance his qualifications, he completed his masters degree in Computer Based information system from Sunderland University, U.K. in 2001. In 2002 he joined the Investment Promotion & Enterprise Creation Program organized by UNIDO/ARCEIT. During the training program he realized that his abilities and interests are more suitable for pursuing his own career as an entrepreneur, rather than a government employee. To achieve his ambition, he continuously attended a number of counseling sessions at ARCEIT to decide and finalize the line of business he should take up. Initially he prepared a bio-medical project to conduct a feasibility study on, but during this period he was also provided an opportunity by UNIDO/ITPO Bahrain to interact with a Malaysian business trade delegation and explored the business opportunity for a joint venture with Teknologam of Malaysia to produce oil gaskets, which are in high demand in the Middle East with an estimated investment of 230,000 USD. He was supported by ITPO Bahrain to prepare a business plan with his Malaysian partner and to avail financial support from Bahrain Development Bank in the value of 140,000 USD. Furthermore and to provide additional support his business was accommodated at the Bahrain Business Incubator Center to provide all the necessary strategic and operational support. After establishing Bahrain Teknologam he expanded the business by entering into another joint venture with an Americ an Partner to start a new business which specializes in various Industrial servi ces related to industrial cleaning (Gulf Strategic Partners WLL) with an estimated investment of 1.2 million USD. ITPO Bahrain, through the working arrangement for the setting -up of a venture capital fund with the Kuwait Finance House-a major financial institution in the region-provided a finance convertible loan in the amount of 530,000 USD to his new business. In September 2004 he resigned from his government job in order to dedicate his time to manage the expanding and prosperous businesses. Since then he has setup Shaban Building Materials a general trading and construction company. He has also led Gulf Strategic Partners to a rapid expansion throughout the GCC and now boasts most major regional refineries amongst his clients and has his eyes set on India. The company signed an agreement with the Kuwait Finance House a few months back agreeing to a $1.2 million credit facility. Mr.Shaban aims to be a pioneer in specialist industrial cleaning, with the possibility of taking the company public one day.
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