Start-ups and entrepreneurship

Analysis

Gulf investors emerge as key players in US social media giants TikTok, Snap, X

With UAE tech investor MGX set to take a stake in TikTok's US operations, investors from the Middle East could cement their role in America's social media landscape.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

PayPal headquarters pictured in San Jose, California, on Oct. 15, 2015.

PayPal bets $100M as Middle East’s Gulf fintech giants amplify competition

The move from the US payments giant comes amid a flurry of activity that has further cemented the Gulf’s fintech sector on the map for global investors — including Saudi Arabia's Tamara, which recently secured a $2.4 billion financing deal.

United Arab Emirates

MURAT KOCABAS/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

KFC’s Turkey relaunch tests Western brands’ resilience in Gaza boycott era

From KFC to Carrefour, the Middle East's consumer brand landscape is undergoing significant shifts as the two-year anniversary of boycotts linked to the Gaza war approaches.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

An image of Karim Attiyeh.

Meet Karim Attiyeh, youngest Arab American billionaire of Lebanese origin

Karim Attiyeh, a Lebanese-born technologist, has been named by Forbes Middle East as the youngest billionaire of Arab origin in the United States, joining the list of the 125 richest immigrant billionaires in the US.

Latest News

Analysis

Syria’s internet reboot takes shape amid outreach to Gulf telecoms

Men walk past shops selling mobile phones in the Damascus Tower market, which specializes in the smart phone business, in the Syrian capital on January 12, 2025.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Analysis

US stock plunge poses dilemmas for Gulf investors while exposing PIF, Mubadala risks

NYSE

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Analysis

China’s DeepSeek triumph sparks billion-dollar AI dilemmas for Gulf investors

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Analysis

Oman’s sleepy tech sector showing signs of promise

Preparations for 44.01's first project in UAE are well underway. This DAC + mineralisation pilot with ADNOCGroup , Masdar and FNRC will be the first carbon negative project by an energy company in the Middle East.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

A print house worker rolls up a Likud party election campaign poster that shows former Israeli Prime Minister and Likud Party leader Benjamin Netanyahu on October 19, 2022 in Rosh HaAyin, Israel. Legislative elections will be held in Israel on 1 November 2022 to elect the members of the twenty-fifth Knesset. (Photo by Amir Levy/Getty Images)

Israeli protests shake Netanyahu’s social media empire

With so many top high-tech Israeli figures leading the anti-judicial overhaul movement, social media wizard Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reason to worry.

Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres attend the Sharm El-Sheikh Climate Implementation Summit (SCIS) of the UNFCCC COP27 climate conference on November 07, 2022 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

UAE, Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain sign 12 industrial agreements worth $2 billion

The third Higher Committee Meeting of the Industrial Partnership for Sustainable Economic Development wrapped up in Amman with 12 new agreements on industrial projects.

High-tech company workers block a road and hold signs as they strike for an hour to protest the Israeli government's controversial plans to overhaul the judicial system, Tel Aviv, Israel, Jan. 24, 2023.

Israeli tech sector has big problem with Netanyahu’s judicial reform

It is not only political activists who are demonstrating against the judicial overhaul pushed by the Netanyahu government — high-tech companies and people have also joined the protest movement.

JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Protests across Israel against judicial reform rattle Netanyahu

Facing American warnings and mass demonstrations across Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may find it impossible to continue with his judicial overhaul.

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

THOMAS KIENZLE/AFP via Getty Images

Israel approves $33 million for quantum computing consortium

Building on its technological knowhow and entrepreneurship, Israel hopes to become a major player in quantum computing.

A view shows the solar tower of Israel's Ashalim power station surrounded by panels, in the Negev desert near the kibbutz of Ashalim on Aug. 20, 2022.

Israel earmarks residential rooftops for electricity production

The new strategy of the Ministry of Energy includes encouraging residential buildings to install solar panels that would then be connected to the national electricity grid.

The United Arab Emirates' (UAE) minister of industry and advanced technology, Sultan al-Jaber (L), looks on as John Kerry, the US president's climate envoy, tours the Global Manufacturing and Industrialisation (GMIS) Summit in Dubai on November 22, 2021. (Photo by AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

PRO: Middle East climate tech startups to be hot investment in 2023

A handful of regional firms have received significant investments recently.

Al-Monitor Staff

By Al-Monitor Staff

Autonomous bus

Israel launches $17m self-driving public bus project

The Transportation Ministry decided on the companies that would be authorized to launch a two-year pilot program of autonomous public transportation.

Employees work at the call centre of the Algerian delivery company Yassir, at the company's headquarters , in the capital Algiers on February 23, 2022. - It's the Algerian start-up that made good: despite the country's notoriously complex business climate, taxi and home-delivery firm Yassir has millions of users and is expanding across Africa.

The Business & Tech Briefing: Maghreb startup funding takes off

In this weekly newsletter, Al-Monitor CEO Greg Cohen rounds up the biggest business stories from the region.

Completed customer orders are seen in their boxes, awaiting delivery, at the Amazon Fulfillment Center.

Amazon to open online grocery store in UAE

The US retail giant has also been in the news regarding Saudi Arabia and Egypt recently.

United Arab Emirates

Jordan's Queen Rania opens the Paris Peace Forum

Israel skips Paris Peace Forum

Hosting young entrepreneurs and civil groups from across the globe, the Paris Peace Forum could have been an opportunity for Israelis to meet with counterparts from Algeria, Qatar and other countries that lack diplomatic relations with Jerusalem.

Data center

Residents in Israel warn against wave of server farm construction

With Google and Amazon winning the tender for a Cloud region in Israel, more data centers will be coming, but some residents have concerns about the environment and quality of life.