Clear insight

Blogs 12 November, 2018

Sub Saharan Africa | What are the fastest growing e-commerce start-ups?

COMPANY COUNTRY SECTOR MeQasa Ghana Online real estate iRoko TV Nigeria Media services provider BitPesa Kenya Blockchain technology Giraffe South Africa Mobile Recruitment Platform Dusu Pay Uganda Digital...

Blogs 25 October, 2018

Sub Saharan Africa: Most Valuable Brands 2017

Since launching our capabilities across Africa, the team have begun receiving enquiries and fielding lots of questions....

Blogs 17 October, 2018

“The sun rush” – Off-grid solar power companies in East and West Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa is one of the sunniest places in the world but despite this abundance of natural resource, it ranks amongst the most reliant upon fossil fuels for the production of electricity. Moreover, access to electricity...

Blogs 13 October, 2018

Out of currency devaluation comes….transparency?

Whilst the Iranian rial (IRR) has been hammered over recent weeks following the US withdrawal from the nuclear deal, the Iranian government has tried to reassure the public that it has no shortage of foreign currency. In response...

Blogs 8 October, 2018

Nigerian-Lebanese: West Africa’s Most Successful Diaspora

Over the years, Lebanon’s strongest export has been its citizens, who remit billions of dollars annually back to their country. Much of this capital flow has originated from Nigeria, where Lebanese immigrants settled as early as...

Blogs 27 June, 2018

To be a (business) woman in Saudi Arabia

In the week that Saudi Arabia became the last country in the world to permit women to drive, you may be forgiven for thinking that the Gulf is only just waking up to ideas such as women’s rights and equal opportunities. However,...

Blogs 5 June, 2018

A tough road ahead for European companies in Iran

With European companies scrambling to adjust to America’s unilateral withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, some major businesses have already declared that they areready to exit Iranif they do not secure sanctions waivers from...

Blogs 29 May, 2018

The case for consolidation within the UAE

Scale. Efficiencies. Strategic fit…some of the reasons often given for a merger, JV or other form of strategic partnership between companies. The spate of high-profile mergers in the UAE in recent months, particularly amongst...

27 March, 2018

Diligencia 10 years on – Part 2

As I look back over the last ten years I am struck by the fact that the MENA region has seen seismic changes. Quite apart from the political upheavals, notably the so-called Arab Spring, which at times led to a revolving door of...

Blogs 25 March, 2018

Diligencia 10 years on – Part 1

10 years ago this month, I founded Diligencia. I had no particular grand strategy at that stage, and certainly no formal business plan that I could have presented to potential investors, even if there were any. All I had was a...

Blogs 7 March, 2018

Blockchain and compliance

Everybody’s talking about blockchain. Or to use its less catchy alternative name, distributed ledger technology (DLT). It’s the latest thing, and everyone wants a part of it – so much so that a company only needs to mention...

Blogs 18 January, 2018

The Saudi corruption purge in 5 charts and tables

Mohammed bin Salman’s crackdown on corruption briefly reappeared on the radar of international media outlets this week with the news that Prince Muteb bin Abdullah, previously head of the Saudi national guard, had been released...

Blogs, Sport 16 November, 2017

Sporting passions in MENA – Motorsport

In 1977 Frank Williams, then owner of a fledgling Formula 1 racing team, took the unusual step at that time of travelling to Saudi Arabia in search of sponsorship....

Blogs 27 August, 2017

The Independent’s Saudi investor

More details about Sultan Mohamed Abuljadayel have gradually been emerging since the announcement on 28 July that he had acquired 30 per cent of Independent Digital News and Media, owner of the Independent digital newspaper....

Blogs 27 March, 2017

COMPANIES IN THE NEWS: Mohammed Al Abbar, Noon.com and Adeptio

Amazon’s announcement this week that it has agreed to acquire Souq.com for an estimated USD650m sets the scene for a battle between the global online retail giant and a soon-to-launch regional competitor in the shape of Noon.com....

Blogs 24 January, 2017

COMPANIES IN THE NEWS: UAE Exchange Center

One of the most prolific outbound UAE investors,UAE Exchange Centeris now part of the same network as Travelex, following the latter’s acquisition by well-known UAE entrepreneur BR Shetty at the end of 2016....

Blogs 19 January, 2017

Who will stand to benefit from the lifting of sanctions on Sudan?

This week the US government announced that it was lifting its longstanding sanctions on trade with Sudan. In one of Obama’s final acts in office, the US will adopt a new approach to Sudan – allowing more freedom of trade with...

Blogs 3 January, 2017

COMPANIES IN THE NEWS: SPA Sovac Algerie

Volkswagen and Sovac have announced a joint venture in Algeria....

Blogs 19 December, 2016

Iran – sealing the deal

On Saturday the first concrete steps were taken to rehabilitate Iran in the global economy, when it was announced that many of the international sanctions gradually imposed on the country over the last 15 years or more had been...

Blogs 26 November, 2016

Tangier, Morocco and Diligencia – a growth story

Last week I made one of my regular trips back to Tangier, the town where I was born and a city where Diligencia now has a team of over 20 researchers helping us provide reliable and accurate company information for the MENA...