Professional Affiliation

CEO & Founder, The Fifth

Expert Bio

Mothanna Gharaibeh is the CEO of Fifth advisory services, which provides advice to several institutions in Jordan, Iraq, Saudi and Singapore. He is an executive board member of the Innovative SMEs and Startups Fund (ISSF) of Jordan, which is a US$100 million early-stage SME fund financed by the Central Bank of Jordan and the World Bank. Mr. Gharaibeh served as the Minister of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship in Jordan between 2018 and 2020. He was the youngest working minister in the cabinet at that time. During his service, Gharaibeh succeeded in doubling the Business Process Outsourcing business in two years in Jordan and attracted new companies to serve their global customers from Jordan. Furthermore, he grew the number of digital governmental transactions by 580% YoY, and opened the National Broad Band Network for Public Private Partnership. Gharaibeh enhanced the legal infrastructure for digitization, creating many needed laws and regulations, including the Cyber Security Law, Personal Data Privacy Draft Law, the Open APIs Policy, and many others. He also created a program of 200 MUSD value to support the growth of the Digital Economy in Jordan, including programs focused on skills, digital infrastructure, and grants for the private sector to grow, including matching business development budgets and salary subsidies. During the first year of the COVID-19 crisis, with partnership and support from with the vital ICT and startup scene in Jordan, Gharaibeh has managed to create solutions to provide the needed services by the public, including online education platforms, prompt telemedicine hotlines, blockchain-based permits systems for movement permits during the lockdown, food delivery, and cultural recreational platforms. Gharaibeh led Ericsson Business, the Swedish Telecom and Technology leader, operations in Jordan. He has extensive technical and business experience around the Middle East, where he worked with Ericsson in Oman, Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, and other countries in different roles and functions. Gharaibeh holds a Bachelor’s degree in Communications Engineering in Jordan and has attended some executive courses in Harvard, Aspen Institute and business leadership courses with Ericsson. Prior to joining the Government in June 2018 Gharaibeh was a political and social activist, where he acted as a community leader amongst youth movements. He served on the board of the ICT Association, Justice Center for Legal Aid, Taqaddam, an initiative for an open, democratic, green, sustainable Jordan, and initiatives for other community, educational, and political initiatives.