59% of Saudi family businesses have no succession plan: CEO of NCFB

Ayth Al Mubarak CEO of NCFB

Ayth Al Mubarak, CEO of the National Center for Family Business (NCFB), said that failure to make generation transition poses risks for family businesses and could lead to significant damage to the national economy, as 59% of family businesses do not adopt succession planning.

The regions of Qassim and Riyadh lead in the presence of family businesses in Saudi Arabia, constituting 95% of the active commercial establishments and employ 57% of the private sector's workforce, accounting for 48% of the total workforce in Saudi Arabia, Al-Eqtisadiah newspaper reported.

Moreover, 69% of family businesses are concentrated in Riyadh, Makkah, and the Eastern Province, which is a natural reflection of the economic activity in Saudi Arabia.

Al Mubarak added that the reasons for the failure of family businesses include the lack of succession plans, with 75% of family businesses lacking family charters. This percentage remains high at 69% for large-scale businesses, and 78% of family businesses still operate as sole proprietorships.