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

Start-up nation Israel: Where women are the future

More and more women are starting high-tech businesses in Israel, site of the second-largest technology hub in the world.

Jordanian trail-blazer empowers women through kickboxing

Lina Khalifeh began learning martial arts for fun, but helping a friend showed her it can do much more.

A computer engineer checks equipment at an internet service provider in Tehran February 15, 2011. Websites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and countless others were banned shortly after the re-election of Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the huge street protests that followed. Seen by the government as part of a "soft war" waged by the enemies of the Islamic Republic, social networking and picture sharing sites were a vital communication tool for the anti-Ahmadinejad opposition -- more than a year b

Why Iran’s service startups scream for workers despite jobs crisis

Despite a national jobs crisis, Iran’s online service providers are finding it hard to hire staff on account of a combination of old mentalities toward employment and the novelties of new working conditions.

Lebanese youth open zero-waste market

Active during the 2015 trash crisis, Lebanon’s younger generation are pushing for environmentally friendly products, seen in the opening of Recycle Lebanon’s EcoSouk.

Gaza students develop app to reduce travelers' health risks

A new app, which won first place at the 2019 Arab Innovation Academy, helps travelers to identify diseases and health concerns around the world, and vaccines available.

Cairo, EGYPT: TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY CLAIRE ROSEMBERG Egyptian workers make furniture at al-Manasrah area in Cairo 31 January 2007. Furniture industry in Egypt is the fourth biggest industry in the country and it's seeking to come out of the woodwork to carve out a place on the global scene, with the help of the world's top designers. The industry employs a million people in some 200,000 companies, big and small. Egypt's furniture-makers are setting their sights on expanding exports, in the last two years

Ancient Egyptian designs mingle with Scandinavian minimalism

A hands-on program brings Danish design students to workshops in Damietta and the Nile Valley.

Cairo food carts get street of their own

Street carts selling food, books and handmade products come together on Cairo's Street 306, a new, hip space that could become the Arab world's largest food venue.

Mosul's new literary cafe brings together readers, budding writers

With its walls lined with books in Arabic, English, French, Spanish and Russian, Book Forum cafe provides a place for Mosul's youth to read, debate and smoke the hookah.

Beirut vendor's growing business bears fruit

The popular store Fadi Fruits, a family business in Beirut, has expanded rapidly over the years with a combination of local and exotic produce.

Damascene confectioners gain pounds in Beirut

The sweet delights of Damascus, from cookies to pistachio-covered ice cream, are now available on Beirut's Hamra street, but not all of Lebanon is nuts about the Syrian offerings.

Entrepreneur brings blueberries to Lebanon

Talal Nassereddine's Tout Berry Farms aims to make berry cultivation a big business in Lebanon and the broader Middle East.

Tunisian entrepreneurs roll up sleeves after encouraging startup law

Less bureaucracy and more subsidies get Tunisia’s young businessmen to reach out to unorthodox fields such as exporting edible flowers or mushrooms for pharmaceutical use.