
Egypt's fintech sector surged fivefold in five years, Entlaq report reveals
Egypt's fintech sector has expanded 5.5 times in the past five years, driven by digital payments, lending, and B2B marketplaces, according to Entlaq's latest report, which was launched in collaboration with the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) and the Embassy of the Netherlands in Egypt.
Government initiatives and the Fintech & Innovation Strategy are fostering financial inclusion and digital transformation.
According to the report, regulatory complexities, digital literacy gaps, and cybersecurity risks remain key obstacles to sustainable growth.
Press release:
Entlaq, in collaboration with the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) and the Embassy of the Netherlands in Egypt, is proud to announce the launch of an insightful and data-driven Fintech Report that highlights Egypt's rapidly evolving financial technology landscape. The report provides a strategic overview of the sector, analysing its growth potential, key market trends, challenges, and opportunities for both local and international stakeholders.
The event was hosted at the embassy and featured notable speakers, including H.E. Mr. Hossam Heiba, President of GAFI; H.E. Dr. Mohamed Farid, Chairman of the Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA). Followed by an expert roundtable discussion titled "Scaling Fintech in Egypt: From Startups to Global Impact', this insightful session brought together Ahmed Yehia, CEO of FinTech and Digital Lifestyle, e& Egypt; Ahmed Wady, CEO of Money Fellows; Mohamed Mounir, Deputy CEO of valU; Mohamed Ehab, CEO of Entlaq ; and Ahmed Khalifa, Executive Director, Regulatory Sandbox & Chief Data Officer. The discussion was moderated by Karima El Hakim, Country Director of Plug & Play Egypt.
'Fintech is more than just technology; it's about empowering people and businesses with the financial tools they need to succeed in a digital world. As the landscape report reveals, the rapid growth of Egypt's fintech sector presents a great opportunity to drive financial inclusion, economic resilience, and digital innovation. This report highlights both its huge potential and the challenges ahead. Fintech also opens new doors for women, enabling greater access to financial services, entrepreneurship, and economic independence. We, as the Netherlands, are proud to support this journey by fostering collaboration, sharing expertise, and strengthening partnerships. Together, we can drive financial inclusion, innovation, and sustainable economic growth for all."- Peter Mollema , Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Egypt.
With over 177 fintech startups and payment service providers shaping Egypt's financial ecosystem, the country has emerged as a regional leader in digital financial services. The Fintech Report comprehensively examines the factors driving this transformation, including regulatory frameworks, public and private sector initiatives, and the increasing demand for digital financial solutions among Egypt's youthful and tech-savvy population.
Speaking on the launch, Omar Rezk, Co-founder and Managing Director of Entlaq, stated, 'The economic impact of fintech in Egypt has been substantial. Egypt's fintech sector is at a pivotal moment of transformation. With a 5.5-fold increase in fintech companies over the past five years, driven by lending, digital payments, and B2B marketplaces, Egypt has solidified its position as a leading fintech hub in the MENA region. This report not only highlights the immense potential of the industry but also identifies key challenges such as regulatory complexities, digital literacy gaps, and cybersecurity concerns that must be addressed to ensure sustainable growth. We believe this research provides invaluable insights for policymakers, entrepreneurs, and investors looking to navigate and thrive in Egypt's dynamic financial technology landscape.'
The report also provides a deep dive into the policy and regulatory landscape, detailing the Fintech & Innovation Strategy and government initiatives that are fostering financial inclusion and digital transformation. These policies aim to create a more conducive environment for startups and investors in the fintech space.
Despite these advancements, the sector faces challenges such as regulatory complexities, digital literacy gaps, and cybersecurity concerns. Addressing these issues is critical to sustaining growth and ensuring that fintech solutions reach underserved communities across the country. On a more positive note, opportunities for further fintech expansion, investment, and innovation abound. With increased access to funding, support from international development agencies, and rising consumer adoption of digital financial services, Egypt's fintech ecosystem is well-positioned for continued success.
Additionally, the report offers strategic recommendations for governments, international organisations, investors, and startups. These insights are designed to help stakeholders collaborate effectively in accelerating fintech growth and sustainability in Egypt.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Wamda
16 hours ago
- Wamda
The future of MENA SMEs depends on smarter CFO tools
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.


Wamda
28-05-2025
- Wamda
Stitch raises $10 million seed to extend services to emerging markets
Saudi Arabia-based fintech infrastructure platform Stitch has raised a $10 million seed round from investors including Arbor Ventures, COTU Ventures, Raed Ventures, and Saudi Venture Capital (SVC), with participation from regional family offices and other angel investors. Founded in 2022 by Mohamed Oueida, Stitch offers a unified, API-driven platform for banks, fintechs, and enterprises to deploy modern financial solutions up to 80% faster than legacy systems. The funding will support Stitch's expansion across MENA and East Africa, as it aims to simplify and accelerate how financial products are built and launched. Press release: Stitch, the unified platform for launching and scaling financial products, today announced the successful closing of a $10 million seed round. The Saudi Arabia headquartered company attracted investments from leading investors, including Arbor Ventures, COTU Ventures, Raed Ventures, and SVC. The round has also had participation from various family offices and industry veterans, including Marqeta's founder Jason Gardner and Abdulmalik AlSheikh, who previously led the establishment of critical payment networks such as mada and Sadad in the KSA. The funding will accelerate Stitch's growth to transform financial infrastructure in the region. The demand for integrated technology infrastructure for financial and non-financial institutions is accelerating both globally and across the Middle East. The global Banking & Financial Services Industry (BFSI) is projected to reach USD 221.39 billion by 2033, up from $91.42 billion in 2024, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.3% during the forecast period. This surge is driven by the increasing demand for digital transformation across banking, financial services, and insurance sectors. In Saudi Arabia alone, banking sector assets have grown to $1.12 trillion (SAR 4.22 trillion), while digital payments grew by 75% between 2019 and 2021, and point-of-sale transactions reached $177.69 billion (SAR 667 billion) in FY 2024. Businesses in the Middle East, from banks and lenders to consumer brands and large enterprises, still face significant barriers to building modern financial products. Stitch is addressing this gap with a unified infrastructure platform built in the Middle East and designed to compete globally. Launched initially for clients in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, Stitch is already attracting interest beyond the region and has secured clients in the Eastern African region, starting with Kenya. "At Stitch, our vision is to reinvent how financial and non-financial institutions bring banking and payment products to market," said Mohamed Oueida, Founder & CEO of Stitch. "Today, the process of building financial products is broken. Businesses are forced to navigate outdated legacy systems and complex regulatory frameworks, making things slow, expensive, and mostly painful. It doesn't have to be this way. Stitch exists to change this. Institutions should be able to focus on what matters and have a platform that can mould around their creativity. We are generally looking to make this process a lot more enjoyable for our partners." The first-of-its-kind business in the Middle East, Stitch's technology offers the simplest way for enterprises to build financial products, delivering an API-driven solution that eliminates the inefficiencies and complexities of legacy systems. Designed to meet the evolving needs of modern financial services, Stitch serves as the unified platform to launch and scale banking and payment products up to 80% faster. The $10 million raised will be used to expand Stitch's team and enhance its platform capabilities, further establishing the company as a trusted infrastructure partner for banks, fintech firms, and non-financial enterprises integrating financial services. Major clients such as Lulu Exchange, Alamoudi Exchange, Foodics, Dar Al Tamleek, Raya Financing and Tanmeya Capital are already leveraging Stitch's technology to launch tailored financial solutions across diverse sectors and regions. Nora Alsarhan, Deputy CEO and Chief Investment Officer at SVC, commented, 'Our investment in Stitch is driven by our commitment to supporting the growth of innovative Saudi-based startups, enabling them to compete both regionally and globally. We believe Stitch has the potential to play a significant role in developing a more capable and resilient financial ecosystem in the Middle East and around the world.' Khaled Lababidi, Partner, Arbor Ventures, commented, 'As emerging markets digitalise their financial services, we believe the next generation of technology infrastructure will come from places like Saudi Arabia and be led by founders who understand these regions. Stitch is a clear example of this shift, combining local expertise with global standards to support institutions across emerging markets. Their platform addresses long-standing infrastructure gaps by offering a simplified but compliant solution that's built for scale, speed and security.' Wael Nafee, General Partner, Raed Ventures, commented: 'For the first time, financial institutions in the region have a local infrastructure partner that was built from the ground up with their realities in mind, with the ability to compete anywhere in the world. Stitch isn't just creating an alternative to legacy systems; they're setting a new standard for how financial products should be built. Their focus on technical depth with global ambitions has set them apart from day one. This is not just the kind of company we want to back but is also indicative of the impact that Middle Eastern startups can have on the global tech ecosystem.' Founded in 2022, Stitch has attracted industry-leading talent from global organisations including FIS, Geidea, Rain Financial, NPCI India, Al Rajhi Bank and many others, with a commitment to driving long-term innovation in the banking and payments industry.


Wamda
28-05-2025
- Wamda
Qashio closes $19.8 million round to accelerate expansion into Saudi Arabia
UAE-based fintech Qashio has raised $19.8 million in a mix of equity and non-equity funding, led by existing investor Rocketship VC, with participation from MoreThan Capital, regional banks, and family offices. Founded in 2021 by Armin Moradi, Qashio offers a spend management platform that enables businesses to gain full visibility and control of their expenses. It claims to be the first fintech startup in the UAE to issue corporate employee cards. The company will use the capital to expand into Saudi Arabia and deepen its market-leading B2B loyalty programme across MENA. In 2022, Qashio closed a $10 million seed round. Press release: Qashio, the Dubai-headquartered B2B spend management platform with operations and clients in 22 countries, including the UAE, Europe, the UK, and soon Saudi Arabia, has raised $19.8 million in its latest funding round. The capital will support further geographic expansion and scale what is already the largest B2B fintech loyalty programme in the MENA region. Despite achieving profitability with over $1.2M in Q1 2025, the additional funds will enhance regulatory compliance ahead of the company's entry into Saudi Arabia and further extend its differentiated loyalty offering. Unlike typical cashback programmes, Qashio's impressive Tier 1 partner network includes Emirates, Air France, KLM, Avios (British Airways, Iberia, Finnair), US Airways, and top hotel groups such as Jumeirah One, Accor, and IHG Intercontinental Hotel Group—benefits often unavailable to businesses through other expense management platforms. Category-Defining Momentum with a Superior and Scalable Product Suite The fundraising round, which consists of both equity and non-equity financing, was led by existing investor Rocketship, a Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm. 'We invested in Qashio because of their bold vision to modernise spend management in the Middle East, a region ripe for financial innovation. Their rapidly growing customer base positions them as a category-defining company in the GCC's digital transformation journey. We're proud to back a team that's not just solving a pain point but transforming how companies across the region operate and grow,' said Sailesh Ramakrishnan, Managing Partner at Rocketship. With over 800% YoY revenue growth for the third consecutive year, Qashio has proven its ability to scale with discipline. Several existing investors have reaffirmed their confidence by following on their previous commitments, such as ABN Ventures, MITAA, and Oneway VC. The round also welcomed new strategic investors, such as Luxembourg-based European fund MoreThan Capital, major regional banks in MENA, and regional family offices from each market. 'MoreThan Capital chose to invest in Qashio due to its exceptional growth trajectory since launching from beta in 2022, its seasoned founding team, and its superior product suite—which is both broader and more advanced than regional competitors. Qashio's relentless innovation aligns with our vision, and we see tremendous potential in their MENA expansion strategy as well as their international ambitions. Their unique value proposition positions them strongly for success in the MENA as well as the European market, and we're excited to support their journey with 'more than' capital," says Caroline Kracht, Managing Partner at MoreThan Capital. Supporting Finance Teams and SMEs with Industry-Focused Solutions Qashio has invested heavily in developing purpose-built products that support the financial health of its clients, from SMEs with five employees to global enterprises with strict compliance and security requirements; Qashio caters to them all. Its solutions are tailored to each industry, with custom offerings that reflect local and vertical-specific requirements. For firms with highly sensitive operations such as law practices, consulting firms, and government entities, as well as specialised sectors like travel, hospitality, retail, and high-volume e-commerce companies, Qashio offers customised corporate cards and embedded financial microservices to support operational efficiency. 'At Qashio we have learnt that change often comes with resistance. We are committed to helping the companies that place their trust in us move away from the manual finance processes that slow them down. That's why we built and continue to evolve our loyalty programme—to reward the right behaviour with incentives such as air miles and hotel points that are otherwise difficult to obtain. We also offer the lowest cross-border fees and the highest cashbacks delivered transparently without lockdown periods and clawbacks because every business drives behaviour in their own way,' says Armin Moradi, CEO and co-founder of Qashio.