267% growth in the number of emerging market deals in the...

Dubai: «The Gulf»
The first edition of the “Emerging Markets Markets” report from “Magnet” revealed the tendency of enterprising investors to invest in emerging projects markets to achieve high levels of growth and reap economic gains. The new Magnet report covers emerging market markets in the Middle East, Africa, Pakistan and Turkey regions.
The report reveals an unprecedented participation of local and international investors in various markets, and indicates the registration of new investments worth more than $6 billion in emerging projects markets. The report also points to FinTech and its leading role amid exceptional growth in the transport, logistics and e-commerce sectors.
Philip Bahoshy, founder and CEO of Magnet, said: “The year 2021 was a record-breaking year for enterprising investors and was a defining moment for the sector. The year 2021 witnessed a clear activity for enterprising investors, despite the significant challenges posed by the Corona pandemic on governments, the private sector and start-up environments.”5 directions
During 2021, the markets recorded about 1,329 investment deals with an exceptional financing volume amounting to $6.8 billion, with a growth rate of 228% in the volume of financing and 267% in the number of deals compared to 2020. 2021 was an exceptional year in terms of the number of huge investment deals, as 12 deals were recorded that increase the value of Each at $100 million, exceeding the value of all mega deals recorded between 2016 and 2020.
These deals accounted for 42% of the total capital raised by emerging markets in 2021. Turkey and the UAE accounted for 44% of the total venture capital investments. Investments in Turkey were prompted by huge deals held by Jettier and Dream Games, worth $1.1 billion; Meanwhile, the Middle East and North Africa region recorded one mega deal held by an Emirati, Egyptian and Saudi startup.
Fintech topped all emerging project markets and was the preferred choice for enterprising investors, indicating the growing importance of innovation and digital transformation in the financial services sector, as it accounted for 21% of all deals and 31% of total project financing. The top five mega deals recorded in Africa, for example, were in Fintech, which was the only sector to record more than 100 investment deals in the MENA region. Business exits from start-ups doubled between 2020 and 2021, indicating an increase in financing activity in the region; Where 87 startups announced their exit from the market in 2021 compared to 41 startups in 2020.
For his part, Basil Moftah, General Partner at Global Ventures, said: “The venture investment sector in the region recorded an exceptional performance in 2021, and the business environment in the Middle East and North Africa witnessed a great deal of activity between raising financing and making investment deals. Signs of the sector’s maturity in the region are evident in the unprecedented amounts of funding and the tendency of investors to fund companies in the later stages of their careers, in addition to the increasing completion of various types of deals (from mergers and acquisitions to venture loans) or the increasing number of large financing rounds. These quantitative metrics are based on a growing group of respected entrepreneurs who provide world-class technology solutions and continually prove the importance of emerging markets in offering a wide range of rewarding opportunities in the future.”
Bahoshy added: “The real potential of startups lies within the startup markets in several geographies, and this is becoming clearer than ever before. This expansion resulted in the emergence of regional companies either through business expansion or through acquisitions of companies operating in other fields or regions. Several success stories shed light on this, including the Nigerian health technology company Helium Health’s acquisition of the Qatari company Medi, the acquisition of the UAE-based company, Trucker, in Troccher in Pakistan, or the UAE’s Phoenix acquisition of its Turkish counterpart, Palm. .
Bahoshy concluded by saying: “Expansion is the most prominent trend in the sector, and we expect that an increasing number of companies will expand their activities across geographical borders in 2022. In light of this, what we are most pleased with at Magnit is to ensure the transparency of information necessary to motivate companies to view the reality of the markets new ones and start new businesses.