Hope for local startups as Saudi Arabia unveils $6.4b tech push
Kenyan investors and government can tap the growing appetite for technology prowess in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region to help steer similar growth in the nascent sector and take it to the next level.
The move comes after Saudi Arabia took a bold step to battle Israel, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Iran, Qatar, Egypt,and Jordan by investing over $6.4 billion (Sh726.72 billion) in the quest to build the region’s ultimate tech hub.
Speaking at the inaugural Leap22 tech summit in Riyadh yesterday, Saudi Minister of Communications and Information Technology Abdullah Alswaha said the gulf country has decided to leap forward and chart a path towards a tech-powered economy.
He said the huge injection by the country into its technology ecosystem will be utilised in research, support for startups, and the development of global tech products. The amount is the equivalent to the money that can be used to launch two SGR projects in Kenya.
Digital economy
“These investments and initiatives are a manifestation of the Kingdom’s push towards the growth of the digital economy for the greater good of people, the planet, and the prosperity of the MENA region,” Alswaha said.
The country’s technology sector is said to be worth more than Sh4 trillion which is more than Kenya’s annual budget illustrating the magnitude of the investment for potential investors and techie startups.
The minister revealed that over 318,000 jobs in the technology sector have been created, with a rate of participation of women in the ICT workforce hitting 28 per cent in recent years from 7 per cent in the last three years.
The country boasts new tech investments which include the just launched Aramco Venture’s Prosperity7 Fund, a new diversified growth venturing programme worth Sh110 billion, and a similar amount from NEOM Tech & Digital Company.
Prosperity7, according to Amin Nasser, CEO of Saudi Aramco, will connect the dots through big ideas, top talents, and disruptive technologies from around the world as the company looks beyond the energy value chain.
He said the company seeks to venture into areas like healthcare, education, and blockchain, for viable solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges,” said
Kenyan startups which have been at the forefront of the global digital revolution can leverage this opening to front ideas that can be in line with the new development.
The Gulf nation has set up “The Garage: Start-up District”, which is a combination of physical location, start-up incubator, accelerator to provide start-ups with grants, investment, marketing, and training support, full-service workspaces.
Digital Cooperation Organisation (DCO), a multinational organisation established to enable digital prosperity for all announced the launch of the DCO Start-up Passport to make it quicker, easier, and less expensive for start-ups to do business across borders, opening up potentially lucrative markets with a combined population of more than half a billion people.
“The Start-up Passport reduces administrative and financial burdens and accelerates corporate registration and other processes for entrepreneurs. Through this passport, they will be able to enter the markets of other DCO member states,” Deema Al-Yahya, Secretary General of the DCO said.
In addition to access to deep-tech labs, talent, and research networks, amongst other incentives to empower local and international start-ups, The Garage aims to launch start-ups with local and international potential.
Technology giants
Munir Eldesouki, President of King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology said the Garage is inspired by the humble beginnings of some of the biggest companies in technology today and aims to provide everything that start-ups need to grow their ideas, to become the next global technology giants.
“It is conveniently located in close proximity to state-of-the-art facilities and to large numbers of talent which creates an ideal startup district,” he said.
Telecommunication company Stc announced a MENA Hub, another Sh110 billion investment in regional connectivity and infrastructure, which will support Saudi Arabia’s digital and cloud sector.
The company said it will manage data centres and continue to invest in new data centres across the Kingdom and the region, along with other digital infrastructure to attract foreign direct investment.
It will also localise content and develop cloud services to realize Saudi Arabia’s digitisation plans.
