Startups in the Middle East and North Africa region raised a total of $95 million in funding across 31 deals in July 2023, marking a slight decrease of no more than 10% compared to the same period last year. This also represents an increase of over 167% compared to the funding volume recorded in June 2023. In contrast, the number of deals decreased by approximately 31% during the same period.
Distribution of Startup Funding by Country
Emirati startups took the lead with a total funding exceeding $64 million. This dominance was largely due to the significant deal secured by "Wan Moto," a company that received around $40 million, accounting for about two-thirds of the funding obtained by Emirati startups. This deal also comprised over 40% of the total startup funding in the region for July 2023.
Saudi Arabian startups claimed the second position with a total funding of approximately $19 million. Egyptian startups followed in third place with a total funding of around $7.6 million, continuing the trend of declining funding volumes for Egyptian startups in recent months. Lastly, Moroccan startups obtained a total funding of nearly $2 million.
In addition to this, startups in Jordan, Bahrain, Tunisia, Lebanon, and Syria collectively received funding totaling less than $1.2 million.
In terms of the distribution of funding deals, the UAE also led with 10 funding deals. Saudi Arabia and Jordan followed with 5 funding deals each, while Egypt secured 4 funding deals. The remaining deals were distributed among other countries, with 2 deals each for Bahrain, Lebanon, and Morocco, and 1 deal each for Tunisia and Syria.
Distribution of Startup Funding by Sectors
The transportation sector took the lead with approximately $42 million distributed across 3 deals. The dominance of the transportation sector in terms of funding size was primarily due to the significant deal of "Wan Moto". This company specializes in last-mile delivery operations and vehicles designed for corporate and business use. Its focus is on smart solutions and the use of electric vehicles. The second place was occupied by the food technology sector with around $14 million, thanks to the deal involving "Kasu," a food technology company headquartered in Riyadh. The company managed to raise about $10.5 million in a seed funding round.
The healthcare technology sector secured the third position by raising around $10 million across three deals, followed by the electronic sector with approximately $8.3 million distributed over two deals. On the other hand, the financial technology sector moved to the fourth place with a total funding of about $7.6 million distributed across 4 deals. The insurance technology sector followed with $4 million distributed over 4 deals. With this, the top five sectors accounted for up to 90% of the total startup funding in the Middle East and North Africa region in July 2023.
North African countries have made big strides in their plans to expand reliance on renewable energy and most of them are set to join the league of countries with an installed solar power of at least 1 GW.
Egypt is the only North African country to have crossed this mark but Algeria and Morocco are on their way to join the club which currently groups 37 nations, according to the African Solar Industry Association (AFSIA).
In its 2021 report released this week, AFSIA, based in Kigali, Rwanda, said that to date around 700 gigawatts (GW) of photovoltaic power have been installed worldwide.
Overall, 37 countries across the world have already installed more than 1 GW of solar but only two African states - South Africa and Egypt - are among those countries.
“This is very little, but it may soon change as different African countries have developed a growing appetite for solar recently,” the report said.
It said that Algeria, with a 4 GW pipeline, is a major contender for the gigawatt club.
With new institutions and officials in place, it is reasonable to expect that this plan or part of it will finally be moving forward and will see the gas-rich country move very quickly with massive projects, the report said.
Neighboring Morocco, which has put in place a more transparent and efficient tender and development process over the years, has plans to add almost 2 GW of new projects in the coming years and has just entered a crucial stage of the Noor PV II – Phase 1 400 MW tender, the report added.
Highlighting briefly renewable energy developments in other African nations, the report noted that Libya has launched a National Plan for Developing Solar Energy with the aim of achieving 10 percent renewable contribution to the electricity mix by 2025.
In Mauritania, there is a government target to expand solar energy to 20 percent of the total energy sources by 2020 and 35 percent by 2030 while Tunisia aims to reach a production of 3.6 GW by 2030 under an ambitious solar strategy.
The report said another ambitious plan in Morocco aims to boost renewable energy to 50 percent of the energy mix by 2030 and 100 percent by 2050.
source: zawya
