The Banking Executive Magazine - April 2023 Issue

ISSUE 172 APRIL 2023 the BANKING EXECUTIVE 49 FinTech and AI Chornicle 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 compa- nies, each. E-payment platform Fawry for Bank- ing Technology and Electronic Pay- ments, 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 cus- tomers in 2022. It is worth noting that Fawry’s consol- idated net profits after tax surged an- nually to EGP 327.05 million in 2022, including minority sharehold- ers' rights. Raya Holding for Financial Invest- ments’ subsidiary Aman Holding in addition to Paymob were also among the Egyptian fintechs on the list. Aman Holding earlier unveiled im- mense 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 mil- lion active users and transactions to- talling $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 be- come the latest unicorn from the re- gion. 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 com- panies 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 re- gional players.” It noted: “The global banking and fi- nance 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.” EGYPTIAN FINTECHS DOMINATE FORBES MIDDLE EAST’S 2023 LIST; FAWRY LEADS