Riyada: Business, Tech, and Innovation in MENA

Host Alex Farley sits down with Middle East Program Director Merissa Khurma on her reflections from hosting the first year of the Riyada Podcast. Year one featured over 40 interviews with various entrepreneurs, analysts, and officials.  In this episode, Khurma discusses her main observations on challenges facing entrepreneurs, including difficulty accessing capital, finding skillsets, and facing the fear of failure. She also discusses the significant barriers to women to become entrepreneurs, and highlights the need for companies to hire more women and advance them into leadership roles.

In this 50th episode of the Riyada podcast, host Merissa Khurma records from the U.S. Embassy in Amman, Jordan with Deputy Chief of Mission Rohit Nepal and MEP Chair Ambassador Jim Jeffrey. They discuss the importance of supporting entrepreneurship in Jordan and the MENA region, in addition to how the U.S. government can work with the Jordanian government and region officials to propel the startup scene through funding, economic exchanges, trade, and sharing the American experience.

This month, the Riyada podcast featured the talented men and women advancing MENA’s film scene to better understand how creators in the region fare against the global media industry. To conclude, co-hosts Merissa Khurma and Imad Shawa spoke with film director, writer, and poet Hind Shoufani. Hind’s life experiences in Damascus, Amman, Beirut, Dubai, and NYC have shaped her values, stories, and career trajectory, while celebrating her Palestinian identity.

Co-hosts Merissa Khurma and Imad Shawa spoke with Sherry Carlin, who serves as Mission Director of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) in Jordan. MD Carlin discussed USAID’s extensive programs targeting youth economic empowerment, breaking down barriers to women’s employment, and addressing issues related to climate change and water scarcity, among other efforts.

Ali Jaafar, head of the film division at MBC Studios, produced numerous films, including The Swimmers (2022), King of Thieves (2018), and The Idol (2015). Ali discussed his transition from journalism to production and desire to elevate diverse narratives from the Arab world to regional and global audiences.