The Middle East and North Africa region was able to attract more than $3 billion in financing in 2022, an increase of 8.3% year-on-year, driven by its recovery in the last quarter of the year after declines in the region during the second and third quarters.

Area Agreements

Startups in the Middle East, Africa, Pakistan, and Turkey regions raised nearly $7.2 billion in funding through 1,473 agreements last year, according to a Magnet report.

Funds rebounded during the last quarter of 2022 after a setback at the beginning of the year, recording an increase of 15% compared to the third quarter of the same year.

Turkey and the UAE acquired the largest shares of financing in the region during 2022, with total funds amounting to $1.6 billion and $1.2 billion, respectively, while Egypt and the UAE topped the region in terms of the number of agreements, recording 160 agreements and 153 agreements, respectively.

The number of mega agreements in the Middle East and North Africa region jumped from 3 in 2021 to 7 in 2022, constituting about 32% of the total financing in the region.

Despite the decline in the volume of financing on an annual basis in most countries in the region, Saudi Arabia witnessed an annual increase of 72%, to record nearly one billion dollars in 2021, exceeding the total financing it attracted during the past four years. Egypt also witnessed an increase of 3% on an annual basis, recording financing of about $517 million.

Last year, the Middle East and North Africa region attracted investor appetite, as US investors contributed nearly a third of the financing in the region over the past year.

The financial technology sector topped the companies attracting financing, as the total financing attracted by the sector amounted to $2.36 billion through 351 agreements in 2022, and the sector witnessed 4 huge agreements out of 13 agreements witnessed in the Middle East, Africa, Pakistan and Turkey during 2022.

The sector companies that entered into huge agreements included the Nigerian company, Flutter wave, with a funding round of $250 million, Bahrain’s Rain with a financing round of $110 million, and Saudi Arabia’s Tamarat, with a financing round of $100 million.

Exit Operations

Despite this data, the region witnessed a decrease in the volume of financing by 2.3% from the record recorded during 2021, and exits recorded an increase of 36% from 2021, to record 144 exits in 2022.

The Middle East and North Africa region witnessed a 71% increase year-on-year in exits over the past year, as mergers and acquisitions doubled in both the UAE and Saudi Arabia, recording 70 exits, compared to 2021.

As for Africa, the volume of financing during 2022 was about $82 million less than the levels of 2021, while the situation in Pakistan and Turkey was a clear reflection of the region's performance during 2022. After their strong start at the beginning of the year, the significant decline in financing came after the quarter. the first of the year.

From Erem Business