Marhaba, fintech friends!

This week’s fintech news reads like a wiring diagram for a more globally-connected financial industry in MENA.

The world’s biggest payment networks are embedding themselves deeper into MENA’s financial infrastructure:

🚀 PayPal is committing $100 million across the region while building new partnerships with DP World and Ooredoo Fintech.

🚀 Visa is piloting stablecoin settlements in Egypt.

🚀 Nium and Thunes are enabling real-time payouts through Emirates NBD and Banque Saudi Fransi.

🚀 Even Airwallex and Verto are expanding into the UAE to stitch together new currency corridors.

We're witnessing real attempts at integration: MENA’s once-fragmented rails are becoming programmable infrastructure for the global movement of money.

And now, in other news...

💸 Fundraises and Exits

🇦🇪 Optasia, a Dubai-based AI fintech, shares plans to list on South Africa's Johannesburg Stock Exchange, raising $375 million

🇪🇬 Egypt's Sabika, a gold and silver investment platform, raises a 6-figure strategic investment led by M Empire Angels

🇸🇦 Saudi's Tadawulcom, a real estate fintech, raises $400k in seed investment from angel investors

🇦🇪 UAE-based UPFRONT closes a $10 million pre-seed round led by Palm Ventures and SABAH.fund

🇦🇪 Tokinvest, a UAE-based real-world asset tokenization platform and recipient of the first full multi-asset issuance license from VARA, raises $3.2 million in pre-seed funding

🇦🇪 Network International and Magnati complete the merger process, now operating as Network International LLC across 56 markets in MEA.

💰 Funds

🇺🇸🌍 Paypal plans to invest $100 million across the Middle East and Africa, through a combination of minority investments, acquisitions, PayPal Ventures activities, staffing and technology deployment

🇦🇪 BECO Capital closes $370 million across 2 funds: $120 million for its early-stage focused Fund IV and $250 million for its Growth Fund targeting Series B to pre-IPO investments - both funds focus on the UAE and Saudi, across fintech, proptech, consumer tech and AI

🇦🇪 Illiad Partners, a UAE-based VC firm, raises funding for the second closing of its $50 million fund to invest in pre-Series A and Series A ventures across fintech, proptech and logistics across Saudi and the UAE

🇸🇦 Sukna Capital joins Partners for Growth to offer $50 million in specialty loans to high-growth tech firms across MENA.

🚀 Partnerships & Product Launches

Egypt's MNT-Halan introduces a secured lending solution through which customers can get instant credit on their Halan Card while still earning returns on their investments

Global payments firm Nium partners with Emirates NBD to widen access to real-time payouts across the UAE and Saudi

MENA's first Amazon-branded credit card launches through a partnership between Emirates Islamic, Amazon UAE and Mastercard

Dubai's Ignyte partners with Binance to create a blockchain innovation platform

London's Tribe Payments opens the doors to its new Dubai office

DP World, a Dubai-based global logistics and port operator, partners with PayPal to build a digital payments layer to streamline cross-border trade

Thunes partners with Banque Saudi Fransi to allow the bank's account holders to send funds to accounts and wallets globally

Huru, a Dubai-based financial management platform to the unbanked, officially launches in the UAE

Airwallex fast-tracks its expansion in the Middle East through licensing, growing its physical presence and partnering with regional players

London's Verto enters the UAE market to strengthen cross-border payment capabilities between the Emirates and emerging market currency corridors

Goldman Sachs opens an office in Kuwait

Visa plans to launch a stablecoin prefunding pilot through Visa Direct in Egypt

Qatar's Ooredoo Fintech joins PayPal World, giving its wallet users access to millions of global merchants, and transact across borders

Taly partners with Banque du Caire to manage the bank's credit card processing and operations.

🏛 Licensing & Regulations

QNB Group receives SAMA and CBE approval to establish a digital-first banking entity, ezbank

BitGo MENA gets licensed to provide regulated digital asset trading and intermediation services to institutional clients across the region

Dubai's Fasset is approved by Malaysia's Labuan Financial Services Authority to explore the development of a stablecoin-based Islamic banking model

Dubai's VARA penalizes 19 companies for conducting unlicensed virtual asset activities and breaching its Marketing Regulations

SAMA approves the use of Visitor ID to open bank accounts in KSA

The UAE's Ministry of Finance mandates e-invoicing for all B2B and B2G transactions, with incremental roll-out starting in July 2026

Dubai's DFSA grants Singapore's Finmo a financial services license

Egypt's FRA grants GRANITE Financial Holding a license to launch its multi-currency fixed-income fund.

Thank you for tuning in!

If you have feedback on this edition of This Week in Fintech MENA, please reach out on LinkedIn.

Until next week,

Salam ✌🏼