According to a recent report by Payfort, the MENA region experienced a boom in startup investments during the past two years. While in 2015 there were seven transactions worth USD 15 million, in 2016 there were ten deals valued at USD 20 million.
By the end of 2017, the expected capital injections would go over USD 50 million. The data also revealed that the number of fintech startup companies in the region would exceed 250 by 2020.
Payfort also estimated that 34% of the Egyptian fintech startups offer their services abroad as well, putting the country in the third place after the UAE and Jordan, respectively 44% and 39% of the startups operated across the border. In addition to that, more than 20 startups from the USA and Europe expand their services to the MENA region. Talking about competition, 44% of the respondents claimed it was difficult to them to compete with international companies.
Another study by the World Bank showed that 63% of the small and medium sized enterprises in MENA find it difficult to access funding. The gap in financing reached USD 240 billion. Only 10% of the startup were actually emerging, said the economists. In 2016, 43% of the investments (USD 61 million) in emerging businesses went to fintech companies. 16% of the startup companies in Egypt are focused on fintech, estimated the report. In the UAE they amounted for 20%, while in Jordan they were 14%.