Tagged: mena

March 29, 2021 @ 11:14 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), which is a member of the World Bank Group, and the Egyptian Fintech Association recently teamed up in order to support entrepreneurship in the financial technology sector. Both organizations intend to offer support to the MENA region naton’s private sector… Read More

March 29, 2021 @ 11:12 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Fitch Ratings reports that the Islamic banking ecosystem in Oman is expected to continue growing during 2021-2022 after rather strong momentum last year. This, despite the COVID-19 outbreak and historically low oil prices, Fitch Ratings noted. Islamic financing in the MENA region country expanded by… Read More

March 26, 2021 @ 10:55 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Qatar’s Islamic or Sharia-compliant Fintech sector is on track to record significant growth in the next 5 years, according to local sources. As digital transformations accelerate Islamic finance ecosystems worldwide, we are happy to share with you the Global Islamic Fintech Report 2021 produced by… Read More

March 24, 2021 @ 11:20 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Dr. Saeeda Jaffar, Board Member, Managing Director and Head of Middle East at Alvarez & Marsal, notes that research performed by Checkout.com at the end of last year suggested that digital commerce and the digital payment sectors in the Middle East region were “set for… Read More

March 23, 2021 @ 12:27 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Islamic or Sharia-compliant Fintech services are being increasingly adopted in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and internationally as well, according to a report from Arabian Business. As reported by the news outlet, the largest transaction volumes have come from Saudi Arabia, the UAE,… Read More

March 20, 2021 @ 7:03 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Qatar Development Bank (QDB) and M7, a creative start-up hub that’s operated under Qatar Museums, are introducing Scale7, which is a business incubator for MENA region entrepreneurs. Scale 7 aims to support a creative and artistic ecosystem. The initiative will help Qatari entrepreneurs, local… Read More

March 14, 2021 @ 2:10 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The third edition of Startupbootcamp Fintech Dubai’s accelerator program has now concluded. During the Demo Day, there were 11 startups that pitched their ideas to potential investors, corporate partners, industry experts, mentors, and the general public. Startupbootcamp Fintech Dubai was introduced in 2018 through a… Read More

March 11, 2021 @ 10:22 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

South Africa based Fintech group Adumo has secured R225 million (appr. $14.9 million) in capital from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), which is a member of the World Bank Group. The IFC Financial Institutions Growth Fund also contributed investments in order to expand access to… Read More

March 11, 2021 @ 9:24 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Egyptian Fintech firm Dayra has reportedly joined Y Combinator and has also acquired $3M in pre-seed funding. Dayra is a Cairo-headquartered Fintech company offering modern financial services to the nation’s unbanked gig economy workers and micro-businesses. Darya has reportedly joined Y Combinator’s Winter 21 batch,… Read More

March 8, 2021 @ 11:58 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

United Arab Emirates’ first “independent” virtual banking platform has just launched with more than 25,000 applicants that had pre-registered during the past few months in order to use the bank’s Fintech app. UAE-headquartered digital bank YAP will be allowing locals to open a bank account… Read More

March 8, 2021 @ 10:59 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Fintech industry experts from Qatar and Bangladesh recently talked about potential opportunities in the financial services sector during a webinar.  Bangladesh Forum Qatar (BFQ) had organized the webinar on “An Exploration of the Qatar – Bangladesh Startup and Fintech Opportunities” along with assistance from the… Read More

March 8, 2021 @ 10:12 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Egypt’s Fintech firm NowPay, which offers financial wellness solutions, has entered into an MoU with the Export Development Bank of Egypt (EBE). Established in 2019, NowPay has been launched to help reduce workers’ financial stress by improving the key pillars of financial wellness for employees:… Read More

March 4, 2021 @ 7:55 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The United Kingdom might reportedly consider making several key changes to London’s current listing rules post-Brexit. The country aims to remove a barrier that has prevented special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) from choosing the European nation. The updates are meant to attract technology-focused public offerings…. Read More

February 25, 2021 @ 11:12 am By JD Alois  |  

  According to multiple reports, Khurram Shroff, chairman of the IBC Group in Dubai, has pledged 100,000 Bitcoin for the Miami 2.0 Blockchain Strategy Foundation. At its current price point, 100,000 BTC is worth a whopping $5 billion. And if some prognosticators get it right,… Read More

February 22, 2021 @ 9:57 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The reserve bank in Saudi Arabia has introduced an instant payments solution, called the “Sarie” system, in order to carry out low-value transactions within the country. The Saudi reserve bank (SAMA) noted that the new initiative will allow banking customers in the Kingdom to accept… Read More

February 7, 2021 @ 7:36 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Saudi Arabia’s venture capital funds are increasingly looking to tap into Fintech, digital commerce, and healthcare segments this year. VC activity has increased considerably in the MENA region including Saudi Arabia during the past few years, with local startups recording a 55% year-over-year growth in… Read More

February 3, 2021 @ 11:49 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Abu Dhabi based NymCard, a card issuing and processing platform, has secured $7.6 million in  capital through a Series A funding round. The banking-as-a-service (BaaS) provider confirmed that the investment round was led by Shorooq Partners along with the contributions from OTF Jasoor Ventures and… Read More

January 27, 2021 @ 6:51 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The LuLu Exchange in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has confirmed that they’re teaming up with American Fintech Ripple (which is the subject of a major enforcement action from the US SEC) and Federal Bank in order to enhance real-time payments capabilities from the UAE… Read More

January 24, 2021 @ 10:28 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Mastercard has partnered with UAE-headquartered PSP Network International in order to introduce a digital platform with the goal of promoting the adoption of virtual payments across the MENA region. With this new digital platform going live this month, Network International plans to help its customers… Read More

January 12, 2021 @ 10:22 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

A recently published whitepaper from Massachusetts-based International Data Corporation (IDC) and Huawei examines how banking institutions across the globe have been dealing with the COVID-19 outbreak. The paper identifies or recommends the way forward in a post COVID world which is now considered the “new… Read More