Taher, Enterprise Challenge

Taher has developed a water loss alert system for households in water-stressed Jordan, providing early warning of leaks.

‘Water is scarce in my country, and water leakages are not uncommon,’ Taher explains. ‘Often, water leakages can go undetected for weeks, or even months, wasting the scarce resource and adding to the household’s bills.’

Jordan’s water availability per person is already well below the UN threshold for ‘absolute water scarcity’, and the situation is getting worse. Reducing water loss and leakage is one of the key steps for tackling the problem.

As part of the Enterprise Business Challenge programme in Jordan, delivered through our partner INJAZ, Taher, 15, and his team came up with a business idea for an ingenious device that monitors household water tanks to provide early warning of leaks.

Prize-winning innovation

‘Most residents live in multi-story apartments, and checking the water tank to detect any issues such as water leakages can be difficult and tiresome,’ Taher says, highlighting how the device, positioned inside the water tank, would monitor water flow and level, connecting to an app in the owner’s phone and providing early warning of any issues.

‘It aims to give homeowners and businesses a chance to quickly repair the issue, before it exacerbates, sparing them from a great deal of trouble and expense in the future,’ he explains.

 

The Enterprise Business Challenge programme gives school students across Jordan the chance to develop entrepreneurship skills through coaching, mentoring and an online business simulation game. Teams of teenagers then develop and pitch their own business ideas in a national competition, focusing on enterprises with a positive environmental and social impact, as well as profit-making potential.

Taher’s team’s impressive business concept saw them finish second in the Enterprise Business Challenge national finals in March 2023. As runners-up, the team received 500 Jordanian Dinar (around £570) in prize money to explore their idea in real life.

Skills for business, skills for life

The programme’s hands-on approach particularly appealed to Taher. ‘I really enjoyed the learning by doing principle,’ he recalls, highlighting how the online simulation game allowed him and his team to ‘live the experience of being a business owner’.

Taher explains how the simulation exposed his team to many different elements of business management, including finance, storage, sales and profits. Dealing with real-life scenarios and resolving problems required him and his team to hone their teamwork, critical thinking, communication and management skills – all capabilities that will stand them in good stead whatever path they take.

‘It has enhanced many of my skills that are crucial for everyday life, as well as those required for running a successful business,’ he explains.