by arabianbusiness.com — At a time when the economy appears to be falling apart around them, innovative family start-ups are thriving in Lebanon. Despite the ongoing economic crisis, one of the worst in the country’s history, Lebanon is the only country in the Middle East and Africa where more than 50 percent of entrepreneurs with family involvement have produced innovative services or products. According to The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor’s 2019-2020 Family Entrepreneurship Report, 57.6 percent of family entrepreneurs and 41 percent of family-established businesses in Lebanon offer innovative products or services, relative to a global average of 41.6 percent and 30.6 percent respectively.

It defined innovative products and services as those that are new to customers in the market. The report showed that 77.8 percent of activity in total early-stage entrepreneurial activity (TEA) in Lebanon involves family members as co-managers and/or as co-owners. That is the 18th highest among 48 economies worldwide, and the third highest among 11 countries in the Middle East & African region, after Madagascar (95.4 percent) and Israel (80.8 percent). The TEA takes into account entrepreneurs who are actively engaged in starting a business or who are running a new business. The findings of the survey are based on the responses of 150,000 adults between the age of 18 and 64 years across 48 countries. The results showed that the most common form of family involvement in Lebanese start-ups was in co-management, in line with global trends. The report added that family involvement in co-managing and/or co-owning companies in Lebanon declines marginally as the business matures, but that it still exists in 69.7 percent of established firms. The figures also revealed that 74.8 percent of owners of established businesses and 55 percent of entrepreneurs in Lebanon said that the majority of their employees are family members.