Fintech in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region is seeing various innovations, particularly in the payments space.
According to a recent report by The Fintech Times called Fintech: The Middle East and Africa 2021, one of the many highlights was a growing trend in not only more native-born solutions but also that payments play a key part in the region’s fintech ecosystem. Today’s Spotlight MEA looks at one of the estimated 2,800 fintechs and solutions across the region.
One of those fintechs is Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) headquartered Mamo Pay, a peer-to-peer payments app that enables users to make and transfer payments to family, friends and anyone in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with a few taps and zero fees. Their vision is to not only increase the speed but also remove all of the hassle associated with banking in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region while also providing financial access to those that have been excluded from traditional financial means and systems.
The company was founded in 2019 by three former Google employees; Mohammad El Saadi, Asim Janjua, and Imad Gharazeddine. Their mission is to empower people to effortlessly access their money through a platform that demonstrates simplicity, empathy, and utility.
Watch an interview with Mohammed El Saadi here:
Mohammad El Saadi is the co-founder and CEO of Mamo Pay. Prior to that, he led Google Play‘s efforts in the MENA and Turkey region. Mohammad started off his career in management consulting with Booz & Company and went on to become CCO of Telly after their acquisition of his initial startup Sha-Sha TV. He has an MBA from Stanford GSB and undergraduate and graduate degrees in Engineering from the American University of Beirut and Georgia Tech. Mohammad is also a former member of the Investment Committee at Dubai Angel Investors.
Apart from the interview, The Fintech Times last year as part of its newly-launched Middle East and Africa section wrote a piece called The Fintech Ecosystem of Dubai 2020 that highlighted Mamo Pay raising $1.5 million in a seed funding round led by Global Founders Capital (a global VC with 15 offices across the world) with the participation of Global Ventures, VentureSouq, MSA Capital, Dubai Angel Investors, 500 Startups, and other angel investors. It was one of many successes Dubai had last year in fintech and wider economic development despite the global pandemic of COVID-19.
