CAIRO: Property technology venture capital investments in Saudi Arabia saw an annual increase of 35 percent in 2023 to reach $9 million, according to MAGNiTT’s latest report.  

The venture data platform emphasized that the Kingdom outpaced Africa, the Middle East, Pakistan, Turkiye, and Southeast Asia regions with six proptech deals last year. 

In funding amount, Saudi Arabia ranked fifth across all markets, with Indonesia leading with $54 million, followed by the UAE with $35 million, and South Africa and Singapore with $13 million and $11 million, respectively. 

In terms of deal count, the UAE followed the Kingdom with five deals, while Indonesia, South Africa, and Turkiye each had three. 

Total funding across all markets in 2023 amounted to $157 million, marking an 81 percent decrease compared to the previous year. 

Deal count also experienced a significant annual decline, reaching 34 transactions, reflecting a 40 percent fall compared to 2022. 

MAGNiTT’s Emerging Venture Markets Real Estate report focused on analyzing the property marketplace, co-working, tenancy management, and facility management subsectors. 

The property marketplace was the leading sub-industry, attracting $120 million in funding, though this represented an 83 percent decline compared to the previous year. 

Africa was the best-performing region, with a 10 percent annual increase in funding, reaching $22 million. 

Property management was the most funded subsector on the continent, receiving $18 million in 2023, reflecting a 6 percent annual growth. 

In terms of deal count, Africa experienced a 53 percent drop, totaling seven transactions for the year. 

In the MEPT region, $59 million in funding was deployed in 2023, marking a 78 percent year-on-year decrease.  

This was spread across 19 deals, with the property marketplace being the most funded subsector at $38 million and the most transacted with 11 investments. 

Notably, seven out of the 10 most active investors by capital deployed in the region are headquartered in the US. 

Founded in 2014, MAGNiTT is the largest venture capital data platform in the Middle East, Africa, Pakistan, Turkiye, and Southeast Asia, with a database of over 32,000 startups and 11,000 investment firms. 

Lebanon’s economic reforms are insufficient to help lift the country out of its economic crisis, the International Monetary Fund said on Thursday. 

Ernesto Ramirez Rigo, the head of the IMF mission visiting Lebanon, said in a statement that Lebanon’s ongoing refugee crisis, fighting with Israel at its Southern border and the spillover from the war in Gaza are exacerbating an already dire economic situation. 

Israeli forces and Lebanon’s Hezbollah have traded fire across Lebanon’s southern border since the war in Gaza broke out in October last year. 

Israel launched its assault on Gaza following a Hamas-led attack on southern Israeli communities on Oct. 7 in which fighters killed 1,200 people and captured more than 250 hostages. 

Since then, Israel’s assault has killed more than 35,000 people, with thousands more feared buried under the rubble, according to Gaza health authorities. 

The conflict “has internally displaced a significant number of people and caused damage to infrastructure, agriculture, and trade in southern Lebanon. Together with a decline in tourism, the high risks associated with the conflict create significant uncertainty to the economic outlook,” Rigo said. 

Fiscal and monetary reforms carried out by Lebanon’s finance ministry and the central bank, including steps to unify multiple exchange rates for the Lebanese pound and contain a currency slump, have helped reduce inflationary pressure, according to Rigo. 

However, he said more needs to be done if Lebanon is to alleviate its financial crisis. 

“These policy measures fall short of what is needed to enable a recovery from the crisis. Bank deposits remain frozen, and the banking sector is unable to provide credit to the economy, as the government and parliament have been unable to find a solution to the banking crisis,” he added. 

“Addressing the banks’ losses while protecting depositors to the maximum extent possible and limiting recourse to scarce public resources in a credible and financially viable manner is indispensable to lay the foundation for economic recovery.” 

Since Lebanon’s economy began to unravel in 2019, its currency has lost around 95 percent of its value, banks have locked most depositors out of their savings and more than 80 percent of the population has sunk below the poverty line. 

The crisis erupted after decades of profligate spending and corruption among the ruling elite, some of whom led banks that lent heavily to the state. 

The government estimates losses in the financial system total more than $70 billion, the majority of which were accrued at the central bank.