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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...
Sub Saharan Africa: Most Valuable Brands 2017
Since launching our capabilities across Africa, the team have begun receiving enquiries and fielding lots of questions....
“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...
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...
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...
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,...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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....
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....
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....
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....
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...
COMPANIES IN THE NEWS: SPA Sovac Algerie
Volkswagen and Sovac have announced a joint venture in Algeria....
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...
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...