King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, created the Centennial Fund to assist small businesses and help impoverished families with few or no means of earning an income set themselves up for a brighter future and contribute productively to society. The idea for the Centennial Fund was originally mooted by King Fahd following a visit to the Kingdom by Great Britain's Prince Charles in 2001. A similar fund has existed in the United Kingdom for 25 years. The fund has now been up and running for five years, and has contributed to changing the lives of families and enabling them to take the first steps on the road to prosperity. Abdul Hadi Al-Harbi started up a business to supply meals of “Arab-style” grilled lamb. “I worked as a cook from the time I was a college student,” Abdul Hadi says, “and it was the path I chose to pursue later on. So when I graduated I put in my proposal to the Centennial Fund who studied it in detail and eventually granted me a loan of SR200,000 to set up the business.” The fund offers between SR50 and 200,000 to approved projects in which repayment does not start until after the first six months, as well as interest-free loans. Priority is given to persons with special needs and former prison inmates and their families. All remaining payments are foregone in the case of death. No guarantor is required for loans or funding. “The business has only been going for three years now, but now I have a stable and secure business and income,” Abdul Hadi says. “I heard about the Centennial Fund through relatives when I was working in a photography shop in Najran,” says photography buff Amaar Bin Yahya Al-Makrami. “I checked out the details of the fund on its website and realized that I might be eligible, so I sent a detailed proposal to the fund. The board agreed to give me financial backing, and now I have been working for three months as a professional photographer using a wide range of printing techniques. I also have my own production of photograph frames.” The Centennial Fund also provided Amaar with business advice from every stage of his project's inception, and he is now his own boss of a profitable venture that is looking to expand even further. “I now have plans to open branches of the business in other regions. The demand for photography is ever-increasing in this day and age,” Amaar says. Essential advice Ghada Bint Ahmed Baaqeil is a university graduate from Madina, currently studying for her Master's degree in autism. “The Centennial Fund saved my life,” Ghada says. “It helped me create a center for autistic children in Madina which tries to give them behavioral care and help from an early age. Before I set up the center I worked in a lot of different jobs in different places, but after my husband's job was transferred to Jeddah I worked in an autism center in the city and discovered what I wanted to do with my life. I worked as a teacher in the center, gaining experience in the field. Then I heard about the Centennial Fund from a friend who had received funding, so I decided to try my luck as well. I got in touch with them through their site on the Internet and presented the ideas that I'd had for a long time, and in only three months they gave me not only their approval and funding, but also essential advice and guidance on how to proceed. I was able to leave my former job and dedicate myself fully to my passion.” Hala Ahmed Al-Fadhl is a university graduate from Riyadh who has set up a weddings and social occasions service in the city. “We arrange and organize weddings and other occasions of various types. It was my husband who told me about the fund who found out about it from the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Riyadh.” The fund swiftly responded to Hala's proposals and provided funding as well as free advice on how to set up her business. “They helped me in every aspect,” she says, “in terms of management and finances and many other practical areas. Most of the people with projects like mine are young and don't have the necessary experience to start and maintain a successful business.” Advice and consultation is also provided over the first three years, along with training courses and assistance in publicity and marketing. 3125 volunteer guides and consultants have been involved in the fund's activities, 23 percent of whom have been females. Hala now enjoys a respectable income and all forecasts suggest that her business will expand. “I'm looking to open up another branch as we expect to have more business, especially in the summer and holiday periods,” she says. From job-seekers to job-providers “The fund was created in 2004 to reduce unemployment and develop the local economy by helping young Saudis realize their ideas for small businesses and form a supporting base for the national economy,” says the head of the Centennial Fund's Human Relations Department. “We want to help transform them from job-seekers to job-providers by giving them training and advice as well as the funding, which is offered in the form of an easy loan repayable over a long period of time.” “One of the cornerstones of the scheme has been Prince Abdul Aziz Bin Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz,” he continues, “who has provided his continual support to the country's youth and worked to provide them with everything they need and strengthen the economy.”
