In the computer industry, a name can conjure images of entrepreneurial success, but above all, some names are filled with intrigue. For those of us less adept to technology, names like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Mark Zukerberg are names that interest us for the achievements they represent, probably as a result of the very real impact they have had on the way we live our daily lives. For who can say that a Mac product, Internet explorer, or Facebook have not been present in their daily routine in some way or another?
Yet, there is one more name on the list of great names in the computer industry that is synonymous with the appeal of accomplishment. That name is Samih Toukan.
In 1999 Samih Toukan and his business partner Hussam Khoury, came up with the idea of a company that would revolutionize the use of the Internet in the Arab world, truly marking the end of one millennium and the beginning of the next. This company, Maktoob, was the first Arabic web-based e-mail solution on the Internet. Maktoob, which means “letter” or “written” in Arabic, was developed at a time when the Internet was sill in its infancy in most of the Arab world, and its users tended to have a good command of the English language. There was, as a result, little demand for Arabic language services. Toukan, however, realized that if the Internet was going to be used more extensively in the Middle East, then an Arabic language e-mail solution would surely be necessary.
This insight, which may appear obvious now that the entire world is connected to the Internet, was less obvious in the late 90s. But entrepreneurial instinct and faith in what the Internet could become motivated the creation of Maktoob; the very first product of its kind. As the company grew to become a full fledged portal, its over 16 million unique monthly visitors, spoke to the impact that this one company had on the use of the Internet in the Arab world. So impressive was it’s achievements and potential that in August 2009 Maktoob was sold to Yahoo for over 100 million dollars.
The story of Toukan’s impact on the use of Internet technology does not begin or end with the acquisition of Maktoob by Yahoo. Instead it begins with Samih Toukan’s trajectory to becoming the CEO of Jabbar Internet Group, the company that comprises his remaining online businesses including souq.com (an auction and marketplace site), cashU.com (an online payment site), ikoo.com (online advertising), tahidi.com (online game site) and Araby.com (an Arabic search engine). The range of products that Jabbar is comprised of speak to the foresight that the CEO of Jabbar, Mr. Toukan, has with regards to the potential impact of the Internet for the Middle East.
In a short interview with Mr. Toukan his optimism about the future of the Internet in the Arab world seemed to motivate much of the work he now does with the Jabbar Internet Group. “Internet penetration is growing at healthy rates and is now reaching more than 50 million people in the Arab World. It is also having huge social implications as more and more people use the Internet”. Mr. Toukan also noted that in increasing access to information and communication a tangible positive impact on the social and economic potential of the Middle East could be harnessed.
Having grown up in a family of lawyers and economists, it is difficult to say what might have pushed a young Samih Toukan in the direction of electrical engineering when he attended university. He would probably argue that it was an innate interest, recalling that even as a child, electronics and computing had enchanted him in a way other things could not. “One of my main hobbies when I was young was computer programming, and I remember Arabizing the Sinclair personal computer”.
Not many children consider computer programming a hobby, nor can one imagine that many of Toukan’s peers tried, let alone succeeded, to Aarbize one of the first commercial PCs at a young age. It appears that there is something inherent in Samih Toukan that would destine him to not only be a part of the technology that intrigued him so, but to be part of a movement that would make this technology more accessible in the Arab world.
Having graduated from university with a degree in electrical engineering, Mr. Toukan first completed an MBA, and complemented these studies with extensive experience in consulting and system integration. The combination of his instinct, undeniable interest in all things technological, and significant experience appear to have written the pages of the story that he is now best known for: revolutionizing Internet technology in the Middle East by creating companies like Maktoob and Jabbar.
Now, as the CEO of the Jabbar Internet Group, he claims his role will be different than as CEO of Maktoob. Jabbar, with businesses that range from auctions, to online payment, online advertising, online games, and search engines, functions as an investment company as well as a “incubator”. Where as in Maktoob, Toukan was managing business from every angle, in Jabbar his position is meant to “build groundbreaking new companies and support their CEOs and entrepreneurs to achieve astonishing work”.
With an eye for business, and an instinct for technology that Mr. Toukan has already made apparent, it is easy to imagine that he will be able to achieve these goals and perhaps much more. Even he recognizes that the future of Internet technology in the Middle East is just beginning. “The Maktoob-Yahoo deal was a turning point. It is energising entrepreneurs to create new products and services and to be more innovative. It is energizing investors to invest more in the field.” A humble analysis of his personal impact on this new movement in the entrepreneurial and technological fields in the Middle East, Mr. Toukan does not say what is on every one’s mind: that his initiative and foresight are largely responsible for the positive changes that are much more accessible now than they were before companies like Maktoob and Jabbar came to the Arab World.
