22 | FORBES ASIA MAY 2017
FORBES ASIA
IMMIGRANT’S TALE
With Islamic State terrorism and masses of Syrian refugees ar-
riving on European shores, xenophobic attitudes are taking root
through out the continent and across the Atlantic in the U.S.
Altrad sees President Donald Trump’s rhetoric and his execu-
tive order ban ning travelers from six Muslim-majority coun-
tries as troubling developments. “It’s emanating from the most
powerful man in the world, so it’s horrifying,” says Altrad. “It’s
something new.”
Against this backdrop, Altrad is diverting some of his atten-
tion from his scaffolding business. In 2015, President François
Hollande asked Altrad to lead the newly formed Agence France
Entrepreneur, a government organiza tion promoting entre-
preneurship in the coun try’s most impoverished communities
that typi cally rim the outskirts of cities. Altrad admits he was
surprised. “I didn’t know anything about it [the agency],” he
says. Nevertheless, he accepted.
The agency began operations in April 2016. It focuses on
12.8 million French citi zens living in 1,500 low-income com-
munities. Altrad estimates 90% of this population are first-,
second- or third-generation immigrants of Arab origin—
beurs, in French slang. The gov ernment already sets aside
nearly $3 billion annually to help with economic development
and financial assistance, but a recent audit by the agency
revealed that only 4% of allocated funds reached target com-
munities. “It’s far from being paradise to be an immigrant in
France,” Altrad says.
He ticks off statistics: These families are three times poorer than
France’s national average, and the unemployment rate is nearly
three times as high at 26%. However, these communities also
produce new businesses at a rate three times as high as the national
av erage. “The problem is these companies die three times quicker,”
he says.
Whether Agence France Entrepreneur can make a dent
remains to be seen. A page on its website, for ex ample, helps an
applicant get in touch with one of three banks for a loan and
upload a business plan. Questions include “Have you done market
research?” and “What is the legal status of your enterprise?” Else-
where a slew of administrative papers are available for download
to register and run a business. Besides a handful of French banks,
the only major corporate partner so far is Microsoft.
“Obviously, alone we can’t tackle the whole prob lem,” Altrad
says. He doesn’t know if a right-wing gov ernment will affect the
agency. He devotes two days a week to the initiative, oversee ing a
team of 35. They host meetings and offer courses on entrepreneur-
ship to students, business owners and budding entrepreneurs.
Altrad is doing his part to give back to the country he calls
home. Over the years, his links to Syria have faded. He hasn’t vis-
ited in decades. “What I did in France, I couldn’t do it in my own
country,” he says—and that’s before the bloody conflict ripping
Syria apart began six years ago.
These days he gets all his information about his na tive country
through the news. Last year, after seeing a report on tens of thou-
sands of Syrian refugees trapped at the border with Jordan, Altrad
made a donation to the French humanitarian aid organization
Doctors Without Borders, which provides help in refugee camps.
He gave on the condition that his money go directly to those stuck
at the border.
If the fighting in Syria abates, he’s not sure yet how he will take
part in reconstruction. He estimates it will take at least 25 years
for the country to rebuild and cost hundreds of billions of dollars.
“Who is going to finance it? Yes, I can contribute,” he says.
Until then, as refugees continue to flee, he’s unsure what future
will greet them in Europe. Asked wheth er he could succeed today
as a Syrian immigrant in France, he pauses. “Difficult to answer.
Yes, in absolute terms—yes, you can succeed,” he says. “There are
always opportunities.”
It didn’t always appear that way for Altrad.
He was born in 1948, he thinks, after his father, a tribal leader in
rural Syria, raped his mother, then a teenager. Altrad’s only brother
died from abuse at the hands of their father, while his mother died
from illness when he was a toddler. His father disowned him.
His grandmother then cared for Altrad, but she for bade him
from going to school. He had to tend to goats, sheep and camels. It
was a nomadic existence as the tribe moved with the seasons.
Eventually, a distant relative, a man with no chil dren of hisAltrad, who knew nothing about rugby when he bought the struggling
Hérault Rugby team in 2011, is now a huge fan of the sport.
MOHED ALTRAD