The non-oil sector will continue to grow, rising from 1.3% last year to 1.6% in 2019 and 3.0% the year after.

The UAE's real GDP growth is projected to grow faster next year at 2.5 per cent on the back of stronger growth of the non-oil sector, according to International Monetary Fund's (IMF) latest report.

The IMF had earlier revised down growth forecast for 2019 to 1.6 per cent from its previous forecast of 2.8 per cent.

Jihad Azour, director for Middle East and Central Asia Department at IMF, said the UAE's nominal GDP is expected to slip from $414.2 billion in 2018 to $405.8 billion this year.

But it will recover again next year to $414 billion in 2020 on the back of non-oil sector growth.

Importantly, the non-oil sector will continue to grow, rising from 1.3 per cent last year to 1.6 per cent in 2019 and 3.0 per cent the year after.

But the oil GDP growth is forecast to slow down from 2.8 per cent in 2018 to 1.5 per cent this year. And it will further decline to 1.4 per cent next year when Expo-led non-oil sector will give fillip to the non-oil sectors such as tourism, aviation, hospitality among other sectors.

IMF predicts that the UAE's oil output will continue to increase from 3.02 million barrels per day last year to 3.10m bpd in 2019 and 3.17m bpd the year after.

He called on the regional governments to diversify their revenues through tax and non-tax sources.

For GCC, the GDP grew 2.0 per cent in 2018 but it slowed down to 0.7 per cent in 2019. It is a cut 1.4 per cent from its April 2019 forecast. For 2020, GCC is projected to grow 2.5 per cent, a cut of 0.3 per cent from its April 2019 forecast.

source: khaleejtime

The country’s annual real GDP growth rate stood at 2.2 percent in 2018 and growth in non-oil sectors reached 3 percent

Bahrain is ranked among the top-10 most improved economies in the world according to a World Bank report that assessed 190 countries.

The Doing Business 2020 report showed that Bahrain advanced 19 places to the 43^rd place since last year.

The Arab kingdom has implemented a comprehensive economic reform programme as part of its Economic Vision 2030, increasing its foreign direct investment (FDI) to $1515 million in 2018, from $65 million in 2015, data from the UNCTAD World Investment Report 2019 showed.

The country’s annual real GDP growth rate stood at 2.2 percent in 2018 and growth in non-oil sectors reached 3 percent.

Four Arab countries were among the top 10 most improved economies: Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Bahrain and Kuwait.

Saudi Arabia was the top improver climbing to the 62^nd place from 92^nd last year. The UAE ranked 16^th globally in the ease of doing business, topping the MENA region again.

World Bank identified Bahrain as having made the following reforms:

Enforcing contracts

The creation of a new specialised commercial court enforces contracts easier and establishes time standards for key court events, and allows electronic service of the summons.

Getting credit

Access to credit was strengthened by giving secured creditors absolute priority during insolvency proceedings.

Protecting minority investors

Protection of minority investors was strengthened by clarifying ownership and control structures.

Resolving insolvency

Introducing a reorganisation procedure made resolving insolvency easier and allowed debtors to initiate the reorganisation procedure.

Trading across borders

Bahrain made exporting across borders faster by deploying new scanners powered by artificial intelligence. The new scanners have the capacity to seamlessly screen 120 export trucks per hour.

Dealing with construction permits

The country has made obtaining construction permits easier by further streamlining the application process through the new building permit portal ‘Benayat’, which delegates the application review processes to licensed engineering firms. This has reduced the time to obtain a construction permit drastically from 174 days to 71 days.

Getting electricity

Bahrain made the process of getting electricity easier by investing in digitization and transparency of information and by improving its inspection and installation process.

These reforms have reduced the number of days it takes to connect to the national electricity grid from 85 to 69 days.

Registering property

The Arab Kingdom has made property registration easier by streamlining administrative procedures and improving the quality of the land administrative system, reducing the number of days required to register a property from 31 to two days.

Paying taxes

Bahrain has made paying taxes easier by implementing electronic payment of social insurance contributions.

source: zawya

Egypt is the fastest growing startup ecosystem in the Middle East and North Africa region, according to a report published in 2018 by Magnitt, bagging 22 percent of all deals last year, second only to the United Arab Emirates. The country has also seen a significant spike in the number of venture capital companies, international funds, incubators, and accelerators over the last couple of years, which, along with government initiatives, have made Egypt an attractive hub for startups in the region.

“Egypt is seeing a second wave of entrepreneurs and investors that are more mature and experienced. The population is also starting to embrace technology for everyday activities and we see that large but young tech firms are a great source of talent and inspiration,” Ziad Mokhtar, managing partner at Algebra Ventures was quoted by the Magnitt report as saying.

Following are 5 things to know about this up-and-coming young entrant in the global startup space:

Almost Unicorns

Egypt is still a relatively new startup hub, and while it does not have any unicorns to its name yet, several promising companies are on their way to the $1 billion club.

Swvl, an app that allows customers to book rides on buses and vans in their network, tops the list with a total of $80.5 million raised over four funding rounds so far, according to data aggregator Crunchbase.

Vezeeta, a healthtech platform which allows patients to book doctors on the app, with $23.5 million raised over five funding rounds so far, according to Crunchbase, is next in line. The company closed it latest funding from a series C round in December 2018.

Instabug, Yaoota, Basharsoft, and Halan are some others on the list.

Incubators on the Rise

Flat6Labs is the most prominent accelerator in Egypt, and was the only one in the country up until a few years ago. EdVentures, the corporate VC arm of Nahdet Misr, one of the leading publishing groups of Egypt, is one of the main players in the education startup sector. Sawari, Algebra and Endure Capital are other private VCs.

Falak is a government run accelerator that invests in early-stage startups, and was established to give the startup industry in the country a much needed shot in the arm.

Government Efforts to Scale the Industry

The Egyptian Ministry of Investment and International Cooperation has a number of different startup programs and networks that helps founders develop their entrepreneurial skills, and companies navigate regulations. The initiative by the ministry, called ‘Fekratek Sherkate’ administers these programs, including Falak.

Bedaya, founded by Egypt’s General Authority for Investment and Free Zones, is an incubator that offers funding as well as office space, networking opportunities and manufacturing zones to startups. The incubator’s ‘Bedaya Fund’ provides financing opportunities for startups in the food, agricultural, manufacturing, services, and information technology sectors.

TIEC, or Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center is another government incubator that funds startups in the information and communication technology sector, as part of the government plan to develop the country’s communication infrastructure.

Tech Leads the Way

Technology is the hottest startup sector in Egypt, with the country poised to lead the way for tech innovation in the Middle East and Africa, a Business Insider report earlier this year said. However, issues with the country’s economy, which has been struggling in the wake of the Arab Spring crises, and the ouster of leader Hosni Mubarak, a generally weaker currency versus the U.S. dollar, and complex bureaucracy make it hard for startups to operate efficiently. Several companies have been forced to relocate to Germany, Dubai, China or the Cayman Islands inorder to take some of the pressure off.

Bootcamps and Events Make Connecting Easier

Events give startups an important opportunity to network, connect and learn from experts and investors around the world.

Egypt has several annual events that help put regional startups on the global map - RiseUp Summit - biggest in the country, Vested, and the Techne Summit, held in Alexandria, are some of the must-attend gatherings.

Techne Summit, in fact, returns for its fifth edition in Alexandria, Egypt, at the end of the week, with topics of discussion ranging from healthtech, e-commerce, and fintech, to retail, marketing and media technology, among others.

The event, slated for September 28 to September 30, will feature the launch of a network comprising angel investors from across the Mediterranean region, called ‘Mediterranean Business Angel Investment Network’, or Med Angels. Investors from France, Greece, Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt, Lebanon, Slovenia, Croatia, among others, are already a part of the network, which aims to “facilitate cross border investing among participating member networks,” as per its press release.

The Med Angels platform claims it will help connect more than 100 networks with nearly 10,000 angel investors, across 24 countries.

Featuring also for the first time will be a global startup competition, called ‘Startup World Cup’ - a competition for seed-stage startups, the winner of which will get a chance to win $1 million, and an entry into the final round in Silicon Valley.

Speakers at the event include Egypt’s Minister of  Communications and Information Technology Amr Talaat, AUC Venture Lab’s director Ayman Ismail, Hadeer Shalaby, regional director of Careem Bus, and representatives from Citibank, Mastercard, AXA, Unilever, IBM, Praxis, Microsoft, and Central Bank of Egypt, among others.

On The Agenda

The 2019 event features several satellite events, or side events, such as air yoga, educational sessions on social media management, Cloud services management etc, at various locations in Alexandria

The main event is replete with workshops on product design, company incorporation procedures, legal issues relating to startup investing, fireside chats on technology and building hospitals of the future, pitching competitions for startups, and 1-to-1 meetings.

Event-goers will also be able to take part in several competitions based on specific themes, or sectors, such as healthcare, women in tech, and fintech companies tackling financial inclusion, payments and SME lending, to name a few.

Techne Summit kickstarted in Egypt in 2015, and, as of 2018, had hosted over 6,000 participants, 130 speakers, 230 startups, and 80 investors from more than 25 countries.

source: Entrepreneur

(English)

يقدم التقرير الصادر عن MAGNIT وشركة 500 Startups صورة عامة عن بيئة الاعمال للشركات الناشئة في الشرق الأوسط وشمال افريقيا عبر مجموعة من المحاور التي تتضمن دراسات إحصائية تهدف لمعرفة التحديات والفرص لرواد الاعمال في المنطقة، وقد تم جمع البيانات عبر استطلاع للرأي شمل أكثر من 100 مؤسس لشركات تتخذ من الشرق الأوسط وشمال افريقيا مقرا لها وهي شركات ممولة من الصندوق الإقليمي التابع لشركة 500 Startups. فيما يلي نقدم موجزا عن هذا التقرير عبر استعراض محاوره الرئيسية.

أولاً: البيانات الديموغرافية

تظهر البيانات الديمغرافية ان 54% من الشركات الناشئة التي شملها الاستطلاع تأسست خلال السنوات الثلاثة الماضية وان 9% فقط تم تأسيسها قبل عام 2014 الامر الذي يظهر النمو المتزايد للشركات الناشئة في منطقة الشرق الأوسط وشمال افريقيا خلال السنوات القليلة الماضية. كما اظهر التقرير ان نسبة الشركات التي تم تأسيها من قبل شخصان بلغت 51% مقابل 20% للشركات التي تم تأسيسها من قبل شخص واحد. من جهة أخرى غالبية الشركات الناشئة توظف ما بين 1-10 موظفين دائمين، فيما بلغت نسبة الشركات التي توظف 50 موظف وأكثر 7% فقط، ويعود السبب في الانخفاض النسبي لأعداد الموظفين، في ان معظم الشركات الناشئة ترتكز على الأنشطة الخدمية وتستخدم أدوات تقنية عالية تنتفي معها الحاجة لعدد كبير من الموظفين.

ثانياً: جمع الأموال

يعرض هذا المحور مجموعة من الأسئلة التي طرحت على المؤسسين حول الجولات التمويلية الأخيرة التي قاموا بها وذلك من حيث المدة التي استغرقتها وعدد الشركات التي قدمت لهم عروضاً في جولاتهم الأخيرة، وتفيد نتيجة الاستطلاع بان أكثر من 60% من الشركات الناشئة لم تستمر جولاتهم لأكثر من 6 أشهر تلقت خلالها 29% من الشركات ما بين 6 الى 10 عروض تمويلية.           

كما يطرح معدو التقرير في هذا المحور أسئلة هامة حول المعايير المرتبطة بالبحث عن المستثمر المناسب والصعوبات التي يواجهونها خلال عملية البحث عن الأموال، فعلى سبيل المثال أجاب أصحاب الشركات عن اهم المعايير التي يجب اخذها بعين الاعتبار عند البحث عن المستثمر الرئيسي لشركاتهم الناشئة، وهو سؤال يهم جميع الباحثين عن التمويل لشركاتهم الناشئة، وقد وقعت اختياراتهم لاهم المعايير وفقا للترتيب التالي: 1-شبكة العلاقات 2- شروط الصفقة 3- التمويل طويل الأمد.

ثالثاً: ديناميات الاستثمار

   يقدم هذا المحور من التقرير إجابات وافية عن رؤية رواد الاعمال المؤسسين للشركات الناشئة حول مستقبل أعمالهم وتوقعاتهم بتحققيهم مكاسب مرتفعة في المستقبل، إذ كانت إجابة 59% بأنهم واثقون بان قيمة شركاتهم ستصل الى 100 مليون دولار في المستقبل، كما توقع 46% انهم قادرين على الخروج من شركاتهم خلال فترة تتراوح ما بين 3 الى 5 سنوات، وهي توقعات إيجابية بطبيعة الأحوال، وتعطي مؤشراً عن قيمة الأرباح التقديرية التي يمكن ان يحصل عليها الأشخاص المقبلين على تأسيس شركاتهم الخاصة والمستثمرين في قطاع الشركات الناشئة.

رابعاً: تعيين الكفاءات

   يجيب هذا المحور من التقرير عن الأسئلة المتعلقة بالصعوبات التي يتعرض لها رواد الاعمال خلال عملية البحث عن الكفاءات اللازمة لتوظيفها في شركاتهم الناشئة، حيث كانت الإجابة عن السؤال المتعلق بأصعب تحد يواجههم من حيث تعيين موظفين في الوقت الحالي، بأن قلة الكفاءات تعد من ابرز التحديات بالإضافة الى القيود المالية (الرواتب) فيما لم تشكل العوائق المتعلقة باللغة والقيود المتعلقة باللوائح والأنظمة عقبة كبيرة اما رواد الاعمال، وبالرغم من الصعوبات التي يواجهونها في إيجاد الكفاءات والمواهب المطلوبة فانهم يتطلعون، بالمتوسط، الى تعيين 16 موظف جديد في العام القادم.

خامساً: العمليات

في هذا المحور يتطرق التقرير الى الخطط التشغيلية التي ينوي المؤسسين تنفيذها في المستقبل، وفي هذا الشأن أكد 81% من المشاركين في الاستطلاع انهم مهتمون بالنمو أكثر من تحقيق الأرباح، وبالرغم من ذلك يعتقد أكثر من نصفهم بأنهم سوف يبدؤون بتحقيق الأرباح خلال ال 3 سنوات القادمة، فيما أشار 13% منهم الى انهم قد بدؤه بتحقيق الأرباح فعلاً.

سادساً: من هي الشركات الناشئة التابعة لصندوق ال 500 Startups

   يقدم التقرير في محوره الاخير مجموعة من المعلومات المتعلقة بطبيعة قطاعات الاعمال التي تركز عليه الشركات الناشئة ومقارها الرئيسية وحجم الأموال التي تم جمعها وغيرها من المعلومات الهامة، اما عن السؤال حول المقر الرئيسي فحلت كل من دبي والقاهرة في المرتبتين الأولى والثانية بنسبة 27% و23% على توالي فيما جاءت الرياض بالمرتبة الثالثة بنسبة 11%، وعن اهم القطاعات التي تركز عليه الشركات الناشئة فهي بمجملها تنتمي الى قطاع الخدمات يتصدرها التجارة الالكترونية والخدمات الاستهلاكية والحلول التكنولوجية المالية.