Monsha'at

Monsha'at, the Small and Medium Enterprises General Authority, is a Saudi government authority established in 2016 by Council of Ministers Resolution No. (301) dated 11/07/1437 AH. It is responsible for organising, supporting, developing and nurturing the small and medium enterprises sector in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and it is organisationally affiliated with the Ministry of Commerce.[1]

The authority enjoys a public legal personality and financial and administrative independence, and it works to enable enterprises to grow and expand and to increase their contribution to the national economy, in pursuit of the goals of Saudi Vision 2030.[1][11]

The Small and Medium Enterprises General Authority was established by Council of Ministers Resolution No. (301) dated 11/07/1437 AH, corresponding to 2016, and was granted a public legal personality and financial and administrative independence, with an organisational affiliation to the Ministry of Commerce.[1]

The authority's board of directors held its first meeting under the chairmanship of the Minister of Commerce and Investment and Chairman of the board, Dr Majid bin Abdullah Al-Qasabi, at which it approved the definition of micro, small and medium enterprises on 14 Rabi' al-Awwal 1438 AH, corresponding to 13 December 2016.[2]

On 23 October 2022, the Minister of Commerce and Chairman of the board issued a decision appointing Sami bin Ibrahim Al-Husseini as Governor of the Small and Medium Enterprises General Authority.[7]

The authority's board of directors approved, in its first meeting, the definition of micro, small and medium enterprises as a basis for the support and financing programmes directed at the sector.[2]

Micro enterprises are those employing one to five workers, or with sales not exceeding 3 million riyals. Small enterprises are those employing six to 49 workers, or with sales above 3 million riyals and below 50 million.[2]

Medium enterprises are those employing 50 to 249 workers, or with sales starting from 50 million riyals and below 200 million riyals.[2]

Support for the small and medium enterprises sector aims to raise its contribution to gross domestic product from 20% to 35% by 2030.[3]

The authority worked on the National Strategy for Small and Medium Enterprises, which comprised 16 main initiatives and 9 pivotal initiatives, one of which was the establishment of the Enterprises Bank.[4]

On 15 September 2026, the Council of Ministers approved the National Strategy for Entrepreneurship and Small and Medium Enterprises, which aims to develop the entrepreneurship ecosystem, enable enterprises to grow and expand, and increase their contribution to the national economy.[10]

The strategy's targets include raising the contribution of small and medium enterprises to gross domestic product to 35%, creating more than 500,000 direct and indirect jobs, and reaching the first global rank in the entrepreneurial skills and knowledge index in 2030.[11]

On 30 September 2018, Monsha'at and the Local Content and Private Sector Development Unit (Nama) launched the indirect lending initiative for small and medium enterprises and entrepreneurs, with capital of up to 1.6 billion riyals.[3]

In the same context, the Saudi Venture Capital Company was established in 2018 by Monsha'at within the Financial Sector Development Program, and it works to develop the venture capital ecosystem through an investment of 2.8 billion riyals.[5]

The company's total investments across all its programmes reached one billion and 226 million riyals, while its investments including partners were estimated at about 6.5 billion riyals, through 23 funds that invested in 83 Saudi start-ups over 147 deals.[5]

Monsha'at also launched, on 16 February 2021, the Small and Medium Enterprises Bank as one of the development funds and banks affiliated with the National Development Fund, to increase financing provided to the sector, bridge the financing gap and strengthen innovative financing solutions.[4]

As for financing guarantees, the total value of guarantees through the Small and Medium Enterprises Loan Guarantee Program (Kafalah) from 2018 to the end of 2020 reached about 32.2 billion riyals.[4]

The Small and Medium Enterprises Bank announced on 12 March 2023 the allocation of 10.5 billion riyals for the sector's financing programmes and products over three years, including direct and indirect lending, loan guarantees and investment.[8]

The authority expanded its training programmes directed at entrepreneurs, as the number of male and female beneficiaries of the Monsha'at Academy e-learning platform reached 50,000, distributed across 17 specialised training courses in fields supporting male and female entrepreneurs, announced on 15 June 2020.[6]

The number of small and medium enterprises in the Kingdom reached 1.23 million enterprises, an increase of 2.6% compared with the first quarter of the same year, reflecting the sector's growing presence in the national economy.[9]

Q: When was the Small and Medium Enterprises General Authority established and by which decision? A: It was established in 2016 by Council of Ministers Resolution No. (301) dated 11/07/1437 AH, and it enjoys a public legal personality and financial and administrative independence and is organisationally affiliated with the Ministry of Commerce.[1]

Q: How are small and medium enterprises classified? A: Micro enterprises employ one to five workers or have sales not exceeding 3 million riyals; small enterprises employ six to 49 workers or have sales above 3 million and below 50 million; and medium enterprises employ 50 to 249 workers or have sales starting from 50 million and below 200 million riyals.[2]

Q: What is the sector's target contribution to gross domestic product? A: Raising the contribution from 20% to 35% by 2030, along with creating more than 500,000 direct and indirect jobs and reaching the first global rank in the entrepreneurial skills and knowledge index.[3][11]

Q: What are the most prominent financing programmes that supported the sector? A: The indirect lending initiative with capital of 1.6 billion riyals, the Saudi Venture Capital Company with an investment of 2.8 billion riyals, the Small and Medium Enterprises Bank, and the Loan Guarantee Program (Kafalah).[3][4][5]

Q: What is the authority's role in building the capacities of entrepreneurs? A: The number of male and female beneficiaries of the Monsha'at Academy e-learning platform reached 50,000, distributed across 17 specialised training courses.[6]

The Small and Medium Enterprises General Authority was established in 2016 to organise, support and develop the enterprises sector, and its journey has been accompanied by the launch of financing and development programmes, most notably the Small and Medium Enterprises Bank and the indirect lending initiative, alongside the National Strategy for Entrepreneurship and Small and Medium Enterprises.[1][4][10]

Related topics on the platform include Saudi Vision 2030, the National Development Fund, the Social Development Bank and the Saudi Industrial Development Fund.