Bahrain Leads Islamic Fintech Startup Ecosystem in MENA
Bahrain’s standards for crowdfunding and open banking helped the island rank first in the MENA region and second globally in terms of Islamic finance regulation, according to the Global Islamic Finance Report.
The Central Bank of Bahrain’s regulatory sandbox, the Al Waha Fund of Funds and Waqfe’s digital banking platform have been attributed as the primary strengths of the kingdom’s startup ecosystem in US-based research firm Startup Genome’s Global Startup Ecosystem Report (GSER) 2020.
Another attractive aspect for startups is that Bahrain offers 0% corporate and personal tax, making it the most liberal tax regime in the Gulf.
Presently, there are over 90 active and diverse Fintech companies in Bahrain, which marks a 35% increase since 2018.
