ABSTRACT
The Middle East and North Africa have been at the cross-roads of world trade, finance, and culture for centuries. It is an area that has traditionally displayed a strong entrepreneurial spirit, with business tightly interwoven into its social fabric. The discovery of oil and the instant wealth it represented became a golden crutch that boosted the limping economies of the area. Supporting the entrepreneurship of poor people is central to promoting sustainable development and promoting broad-based urban economic growth in the region. The micro finance organizations that realize the largest returns on the loans they extend, and that consequently display the brightest prospects for long-term sustainability, are the ones that have adopted a private sector management style. Transforming historic cities from relics of the past into powerhouses of economic and social development is one of the most daunting challenges facing Arab cities today.
