North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia

TSME is focused on Business-as-Mission (BAM) companies in North Africa, the Middle East and Asia. There are several reasons for this:

• The Christian presence in this region is typically very small (<2%), and, frequently, Christians are exposed to prejudice and persecution.
• Generally these economies are poor, with frequently distorted markets, pronounced environmental degradation, and geo-political and/or socio-religious instability.
• On average, these countries score poorly on the UN HDI (Human Development Index) and/or marginalized communities within the country are particularly disadvantaged with respect to basic human flourishing.
• Labour is abundant, but often untrained and without dignified opportunity due to gender, ethnicity, religion or other factors.
• The ethical environment, ease of doing business, and performance against other widely recognized metrics conducive to a healthy economy, present serious obstacles.
• Access to capital is limited whether due to liquidity, cost, prejudice, risk aversion, policy controls, or other factors.
• Christians in business are even more rare, either due to limited opportunity, or, sadly, to a conceptual misunderstanding of the role of business. Christians often have a worldview shaped by an unbiblical dualism.
• The majority populations of this region represent people groups which by any fair and reasonable measure have less access to the message of Christ.