Meet The Woman Behind The “E-How” Of The Middle East

Want to make a face mask with carrots? A pillow out of a t-shirt? Or homemade Bechamel sauce?

In a cyberworld where Arabic content timidly holds 1% of the spectrum, Jordanian entrepreneur Sima Najjar is valiantly sowing the seeds for a video revolution with her Arab version of “E-How”.

Launched in December 2011 with the boost of the Amman-based accelerator Oasis 500, EKeif.com is the Middle East’s first platform to provide high-quality tutorials in Arabic. Tips on hair styling, cooking recipes and gardening tricks are at the top of the clicks, as 82,000 subscribers tune into the DIY trend everyday.

“Our how-to videos went viral as soon as we started, with zero marketing budget!” Sima says. “We reached over 1.6 million views per month, which shows how Arabic content is highly needed in the region”, she adds.The most popular tutorial, “How to braid your hair”, has garnered nearly 1.4 million views.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrgqCcNnPS8] With over 40 videos released each month, the start-up’s founder aims to up the ante to 1,000, potentially leading the market for Arabic-language content online. “We follow what’s most searched for on the net, and we also have a section where viewers submit their own questions”, explains Sima.

For more info – www.ekeif.com/ar