Mubasher: Egypt has been the most represented country in Forbes Middle East’s list for 2023, which features 30 regional Fintech businesses in the region.
Eight Egyptian fintechs were on the list, followed by Saudi Arabia with six entries. Meanwhile, the UAE and Kuwait participated with five companies, each.
E-payment platform Fawry for Banking Technology and Electronic Payments, which is listed on the Egyptian Exchange (EGX), topped the list of the 30 fintechs. The company processed transactions worth $6.8 billion and served 49.40 million customers in 2022.
It is worth noting that Fawry’s consolidated net profits after tax surged annually to EGP 327.05 million in 2022, including minority shareholders' rights.
Raya Holding for Financial Investments’ subsidiary Aman Holding in addition to Paymob were also among the Egyptian fintechs on the list.
Aman Holding earlier unveiled immense investments of EGP 90 million in 2022, besides launching a money market fund to support unbanked customers.
Last month, Paymob announced its partnership with MBC Group’s Shahid to endorse video-on-demand services in the Egyptian market.
From Jordan, MadfooatCom was the second on Forbes Middle East’s 30 fintehcs list, with more than 3.6 million active users and transactions totalling $14.7 billion in 2022.
Several businesses secured funding, including Egypt’s MNT-Halan, which raised $200 million from Chimera Abu Dhabi in February 2023 to become the latest unicorn from the region.
Tabby, which has headquarters in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, secured an investment worth $58 million in a Series C funding round in January 2023; a transaction that brought its valuation to $660 million.
In March 2023, Saudi Arabia’s Tamara announced a debt facility amounting to $150 million from Goldman Sachs, bringing its total funding in equity and debt to $366 million.
Forbes Middle East stated: “The companies on our 2023 list of the Middle East’s top Fintechs confirmed having zero or limited exposure to Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and are expecting it to have a minimal impact on regional players.”
It noted: “The global banking and finance system is still reeling from the bank’s collapse and the potential longer term effects are still playing out. SVB was also a lender, banking partner, and payments technology provider. SVB’s clients accounted for 71% of all Fintech IPOs between 2020 and 2022.”
