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Embedded Finance 2024: MENA Market Map

A hot topic over the last few years - Embedded Finance is building momentum globally. Mingzulu are actively working with a number of organisations making waves in this exciting space and we've been watching the market closely during 2022-24.


To support our community we recently teamed up with our Pioneers & research partner Findexable to dig deeper into whats "really" happening on the ground across the Middle East & North Africa region. We are all about sharing in Mingzulu to support the Future of Financial Services adoption - so read on for more insight on where we see the industry moving!


First things first - What is Embedded Finance?


"Embedded finance is the term for integrating banking and other financial services into non-financial apps and services. Companies are merging banking, lending, insurance, and investment services with their customer offerings through application programming interfaces (APIs) linked to financial partners" Source: Investopedia


Key Takeaways:

  • Embedded finance is seamlessly offered to customers by firms not usually considered financial companies through their own platforms and ecosystems.

  • It includes services like banking, payments, lending, and insurance.

  • Technological advances like application programming interfaces (APIs), companies looking to open new profit lines, and changing consumer behaviour are driving its growth.

  • Embedded finance marks a shift from traditional banking and fintech models, potentially expanding the scope and reach of financial services. This could help reduce the number of those unbanked or otherwise underserved by the financial sector.


Headlines From Our Analysis:


1. Talk of the town: Embedded finance is big, critical for scaling digital ecosystems, and growing fast. The regional market for embedded finance is already valued at $10 billion. What's more it's expected to grow by 45% to 2030 (at  rate that's more than 2x faster than the rest of the world). 


2. Look further for inspiration! The easy wins of fintech's first wave across MENA are behind us. That's not to say there aren't big opportunities out there, just that the next generation of MENA scale players will forensically understand how finance and data solve real world problems. For inspiration look to Africa's booming cohort of digitally-native firms where finance is simply a feature, not the sole function. 


3. Embedded finance ain't binary (but it does have a formula): In the early stages successful scaling players understand intuitively how to combine real-world physical relationships (to forge partnerships, build traction) with excellence in tech execution + robust, reliable data governance. In growth markets where data is patchy and has to be assembled 'in-house' the challenge is even greater - as are the rewards for the firms that 'get it'. Building the right team that understands this is essential.



Source: AI Engine - Wix


The Full report can be downloaded via the link below. Our team is available via info@mingzulu.com to discuss in more detail.




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