"The Middle East and North Africa are among the last large regional ecosystems to rise up, and emerging markets tend to leapfrog adoption of innovations and technology at higher and higher frequencies," Hasan Haider, a venture partner at 500 Startups predicted[1] in 2017.
"Being a latecomer does not mean staying behind, and the Arabic-speaking world is 500 million strong – young, resourceful, wealthy and a yearning to thrive."
SEE: Guide to Becoming a Digital Transformation Champion[2] (TechRepublic Premium)
Jump forward to 2020 and, despite COVID-19, the capital invested in the region's startups [3]already[4] matches that for the full year of 2019[5], offering credence to Haider's prediction. Investment is up from $657m in 2017 to $803m in 2020, according to data shared[6] by MAGNiTT.
Governments, funders and big tech companies have long sought to help unlock the latent potential of the Middle East's startup ecosystem.
Here are nine ways in which these efforts are starting to be realized.
1. Legislation
In 2018, Tunisia passed a Startup Act[7] outlining government policies – including exemption from corporate taxes and support in filing patents – all designed to support the startup sector. The move, then prime minister Youssef Chahed tweeted[8], was just "one more step to anchor our economy in the digital age".
As WeeTracker[9], a Pan-African, research and media company explains[10], entrepreneurs, startups, and investors in Tunisia are encouraged to apply for "startup" status. If approved, this unlocks a range of benefits.
"Regular employees who have interests in entrepreneurship can take a year off their job," WeeTracker says, "and still get paid by the government while pursuing a startup venture. And