Resilient Qatar – a case of a fast-growing entrepreneurial ecosystem

Qatar may have been significantly more resilient to the shock of the Covid-19 pandemic than other countries, thanks to its experience of economic blockade and a fast-growing digital entrepreneurship ecosystem that is actively transforming the country’s economy.

This is the principal finding of a compelling new study led by Dr. Allan Villegas-Mateos, Research Associate at HEC Paris in Qatar.

Between 2020 and 2021, Dr. Villegas-Mateos conducted a series of in-depth interviews with a broad sample of Qatari entrepreneurs working predominantly in digital technologies. Most of the respondents reported that their businesses had grown both during the Qatar Blockade of 2017 to 2021 and during the pandemic itself, with the majority of firms now ready to internationalize their operations and markets going into the post-Covid economic context.

"This resilience to shock was measured across five key dimensions, from internal market forces, national culture, government support, operating costs and access to funding," says Dr. Villegas-Mateos. "And most likely it is the direct product of the country’s lived experience of – and response to – crisis immediately prior to and during the pandemic."

Evidence points to technology and internet penetration facilitating increased startup activity and the emergence of entrepreneurial ecosystems that are more robust to exogenous shocks such as Covid-19 and economic sanctions, he explains, because entrepreneurs typically have “the agility, the resources and the innovation mindset to pivot and respond quickly when events or circumstances suddenly change.”

"While many of the GCC countries are attracting international attention because of their development of new technologies in these critical areas, Qatar remains unique precisely because of its resilience to shock," says Dr. Villegas-Mateos.

 “Qatar is the only country that continued to thrive before and during Covid while simultaneously experiencing the effects of the trade blockade and that should make it a very interesting proposition for international investors. Access to capital remains a challenge for Qatari entrepreneurs in spite of the growth and increasing openness within the ecosystem environment. So, the conditions are ripe for synergies in external funding and new opportunities.”