According to a report by the Milken Institute Centre for Financial Markets, the Middle East's FinTech companies will raise more than USD$2 billion in venture capital by 2022. The FinTech sector in the region is growing at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 30% and will boost the funding from USD$80 million raised by 30 firms in 2017; the acceleration in financing to over USD$2 billion will come from 465 FinTech firms in the Middle East.

The report states that the MENA region represents only 1% of global FinTech investments, and that the demographics of the region and the region's geographic position as a 'gateway' linking East with West are favourable for FinTech growth and development. Platforms focused on the payments space, in particular, are big winners in the region.

Governments in the gulf region are maximising their efforts to diversify economies away from the oil industry, and are establishing a welcoming legal and regulatory environment for FinTech start-ups.