The future of MENA SMEs depends on smarter CFO tools

Wamda

2 days ago

An article by Adnan Murudi, Associate, and Simon Sharp, Partner at Global Ventures
CFOs sit at the centre of strategic decision-making , connecting liquidity, performance, and future planning to business execution. However, in the MENA region, where digital transformation is accelerating and economic complexity is rising, the finance stack has not always kept pace. Many finance teams still rely on spreadsheets, manual workflows, and disconnected systems.
Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) account for up to 90% of private sector businesses and employ over 50% of the formal workforce in key markets such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Yet these businesses remain critically underserved by financial services. SMEs receive only 8% of total lending across the region, with the figure dropping as low as 2% in some GCC countries. Over 80% of SMEs in the MENA region still rely on manual or semi-manual processes, which severely limit accuracy, efficiency, and scalability.
Today, this is starting to change. Across the region, a new wave of fintechs is reimagining how finance teams operate, and CFOs are leading that shift.
Below, we outline the key operational challenges faced by MENA CFOs, why fintech tools are becoming essential, and which emerging players are reshaping the landscape. CFO tech is fast becoming one of the most impactful and overlooked verticals in MENA's fintech evolution.
What's driving the shift?
We have identified five recurring challenges faced by finance teams in the region, each representing an opportunity for modern fintech tooling to create an outsized impact.
Highly manual workflows: Finance teams still spend disproportionate time on error-prone tasks like invoice matching, expense claims, and reconciliation. This slows down decision-making and limits time for strategic planning.
Overly complicated tech stacks: ERP, HRIS, sales, and bank systems often don't integrate. CFOs end up patching gaps between tools instead of leveraging a unified source of truth.
Lack of collaboration: Budgeting and forecasting rely on multiple teams, yet collaboration still happens through scattered emails and Google Sheets. Version control is chaotic, and real-time context is missing.
Data fragmentation at scale: As companies expand across markets, tracking performance across units becomes complex. Without live dashboards and unified analytics, finance teams lack a 360-degree view.
Limited planning and forecasting tools: Excel remains the dominant tool for Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A) across the region. Scenario-based planning tools remain rare, exposing teams to sudden shocks like cost inflation or currency fluctuations.
As these constraints accumulate, the case for modern, integrated solutions becomes not just compelling but necessary.
Why SMEs in MENA are an untapped fintech market
SMEs are a major contributor to MENA's economy, yet they remain significantly underserved by traditional financial institutions. This presents a clear opportunity for fintechs to tailor solutions that fill the infrastructure gap, offering lean, accessible tools that help SMEs grow within a supportive financial ecosystem.
Mapping the CFO tech landscape in MENA
Regional fintech startups are building modern finance infrastructure from the ground up. What's exciting in MENA is not just that CFO tools are being built, but how they are being built, with deep awareness of local regulations, operational complexity, and fragmented banking systems.
Fintech founders are creating end-to-end platforms that go beyond point solutions, bundling payments, accounting, and reporting into integrated stacks.
CFO tools landscape:
The modern CFO toolkit is evolving into a fully integrated stack spanning the full spectrum of financial operations: from payment automation and expenses to accounts payables/receivables and accounting software.
Payment automation solutions streamline fund disbursements— from payroll to supplier payments - by reducing manual intervention, minimizing errors, and ensuring on-time execution. Expense management tools give real-time visibility into operational spending. Expenses can be tracked, controlled, and optimised via reporting, approval workflows, and policy enforcement.
Cashflow and equity management platforms open access to alternative funding streams such as revenue-based financing, SME lending, and invoice factoring, while also supporting equity management.
Accounts payable and receivable solutions automate matching of payments with invoices, significantly improving efficiency and reducing errors. Finally, cloud-native accounting software delivers end-to-end financial management - from general ledger and payroll to reporting - integrating with other systems to give CFOs a unified view of operations.
The CFO Tech Landscape below highlights selected fintech solutions emerging across MENA's CFO technology landscape, each addressing a specific function within the broader financial operations ecosystem.
What's next for CFO tech in MENA?
Looking ahead, four trends will define the next phase of CFO technology in the MENA region: localised compliance, end-to-end platforms, sector-specific solutions rather than generic ones, and financial planning and cashflow tools.
Localised compliance features, such as Arabic-first interfaces, native e-invoicing, and tailored tax handling, are becoming increasingly essential. Fintech tools are also evolving from single-function products into comprehensive, end-to-end platforms that integrate multiple workflows, beginning with core functions like cards or accounting and expanding into broader operational capabilities.
Sector-specific solutions within verticals such as retail, logistics, and e-commerce are expected to gain traction, bringing further efficiencies compared to generic solutions. Finally, financial planning and cashflow tools allow dynamic, scenario-based decision-making – shifting away from static dashboards to real-time, predictive models.
As digital transformation accelerates across MENA, CFOs are becoming key enablers of operational scale and strategic clarity. Tailored fintech tools are enabling SME finance to scale with greater efficiency and insight.