FINTECH LANDSCAPE

IN THE MIDDLE EAST

• Abhijeet B
• Anjali Iyer
• Akash Khandelwal
• Aswin George Chacko
• Umendra Avasthi
 The APAC and Americas command the highest market share
GLOBAL FINTECH MARKET
of the global Fintech market, with APAC being projected to be
the fastest growing region
The global fintech market The Fintech market in the APAC region is projected to be the
$194.1 B attained a value of more than
fastest growing.
USD 194.1 billion in 2022.
The digital payments market +80% of global Fintech revenues.
Market is growing at a CAGR of
+16%
16.8%.

Global fintech market going to

+$698 B
reach +$698b by 2030

Digital Payments with a total

transaction value of
$9471 B
US$9,471.00bn in 2023.
 Middle East North Africa Region (MENA)

• 6% of world’s population
• About 67% of the adult population is either underbanked or unbanked.
• More than 60% of the population is under the age of 30.
• More than 80% of the adult population have internet connectivity

Source: World Bank, EMW Advisory Research

 FINTECH EVOLUTION HOW?
● Started in early 2000
● M-wallet service in 2007
● Rise of smartphones and mobile internet 2010
● All GCC countries now have over 90% internet
penetration rates
● The number of fintech hubs in the GCC has risen
from just one in 2018 to four in 2022
● Now home to 800 fintech startups worth $ 15.5B

Source: 2022 Fintech Venture Investment Report, MAGNiTT

 FINTECH IN MENA - A Rising Ecosystem
● CAGR Growth of 30%
● 73% of transaction volume is expected to comprise non-cash
payments in the UAE by 2023 (39% in 2018)
Payments Open Banking
● GCC countries - Drivers of Fintech
● Young, technologically savvy, and informed consumers drive
the trend for fintech products and services
● The private sector works alongside a proactive government to
Regtech Smart
ensure that the fintech sector is sustainable and competitive.
& Lending
Compliance

Blockchain
Insur-Tech &
Cybersecurity
Fintech Trends in MENA Region

Source: Global New Payments Index, EEMEA Mastercard, May 2022

 Fintech Businesses and startups DISTRIBUTION OF FINTECH START-UPS ACTIVE
ACROSS THE ARAB WORLD
• Fintech startups in MENA recorded a 183%
growth in funding in 2021, the highest rate
over the past five years.
• Most of the fintech funding deals (32%) and
funding capital (49%) across MENA in 2021
was focused on the UAE.
• The Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
region is expected to have 45 fintech
unicorns by 2030
• The top 5 fintech hot spots in the MENA
Region are Israel, United Arab Emirates,
Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Morocco
MENA FINTECH LANDSCAPE 2022
There are currently a few fintech unicorns in the Middle East
Notable fintech unicorns include PayFort, Careem, Tabby, Souqalmal, Bayzat

PayTabs (Saudi Arabia) Postpay (UAE) –

– ~US$35 million US$63.5 million

Paymob (Egypt) – Tabby (UAE) – US$130

US$18.5 million million

Beehive (UAE) – Rasan (Saudi Arabia) –

US$17.5 million US$24 million
 Regulatory Sandboxes

• In the Middle East region, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) – home to Abu Dhabi and Dubai –
and Bahrain have been leading the front. For instance, Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM)
announced in November 2016 the first regulatory sandbox in the Middle East and North Africa
(MENA) region, ADGM RegLab
• 2017, both Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA), located in Dubai International
Financial Centre (DIFC) and the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) created their own regulatory
sandboxes.
• 2018, the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) launched its regulatory sandbox framework.
• 2019 - Saudi Arabia announced the design of their regulatory sandbox.
• Interestingly, the Startup Nation Israel does not have a regulatory sandbox
Source: Fintech news, 2021
Fintech take-off in the Middle East
There are currently over 470 fintech unicorns globally, with 40 of them
Instant Payments to Drive
added just in Q1 2022. That equates to over one new fintech unicorn Further Fintech Growth and
Consolidation
every 3 days, and several hundred others are being created every day.

In-focus: BNPL Solutions

Financial Inclusion is Driving

Fintech Investments in the
Region

Fintech Significant Government

Initiatives and Support
MENA
Strong Investment Growth
THANK YOU