Regional entrepreneurs say Middle East well-suited for fintech growth
An Atlantic Council event highlighted how fintech can help traditional financial networks and professions in Egypt, Tunisia, and the Gulf.
Several entrepreneurs spoke today about fintech’s potential to grow in the Middle East and North Africa.
The DC-based Atlantic Council held a virtual event titled “Inclusive finance in the MENA: How fintech opens doors for the masses.” The speakers discussed how financial technology, aka fintech, has the potential to be used by more people in the Middle East and North Africa. Bloomberg reporter Aisha Gani moderated the discussion.
Hassan Fayed is the founder of the Cairo-based startup Aydi, which aims to provide work opportunities to seasonal workers in Egypt — including farmers, whose income is “undocumented,” and whose industry operates “informally” with cash. They have difficulty accessing financial services via traditional banks as a result, according to Fayed.
“We’re capturing the data about these workers in terms of their productivity, their reliability, their earnings to be able to build meaningful profiles for them that allows us to offer them financial services,” he said.
