MENA fintechs raised $644 million in 2024 despite a global slump, with deal counts rising to 124. By mid-2025, they'd already surpassed the previous year's total. At Fintech Tuesdays Unplugged at DIFC Innovation Hub, Ali Samir Oosman framed what comes next.

"The GCC is living two truths at once: a genuine fintech boom - and stubborn gaps in talent and growth capital," said Oosman, VP of External Investments, Strategy and Partnerships at Disrupt.com. "If we close those gaps, we don't just catch up; we leapfrog."

Infrastructure Advantage

The foundation is impressive. The UAE's Aani instant payments enrolled 1.5 million users and connected 57 banks with 80,000 merchants, growing 27% monthly. Saudi Arabia integrated Google Pay and will accept Alipay+ by 2026. Bahrain mandated open banking last September.

"The rails are ready. The demand is real," Oosman noted. GCC fintech is projected to grow at a 16% CAGR through the 2030s, with H1 2025 showing a surge in $20 million-plus growth rounds.

The Twin Unlock

Yet infrastructure alone doesn't guarantee success. Oosman identified two critical gaps - and their solutions.

Talent: GCC economies are scaling faster than talent supply, with acute shortages in payments risk, AML, credit data science, and compliance engineering. "You can't just 'hire.' You need in-house academies, productizing compliance know-how, and AI copilots to compress onboarding and support."

His playbook: regional academies paired with senior leadership rotations from mature markets; embedded residencies where compliance teams co-develop with regulators; product design that builds financial literacy through localization; and talent exchanges with multinational capability centers.

Capital: Funding shows strength at seed and Series A but thins at Series B-C. Venture debt barely exists. Oosman's solution: purpose-built growth funds run by operators; venture debt platforms via bank-DFI-SWF partnerships; SME credit using real-time cashflow data; and secondary markets to recycle capital.

The MSME finance gap across emerging markets stands at $5.7 trillion. The GCC's improving data infrastructure positions it to capture a meaningful share - if risk capital follows.

Comparative Edge

The region's strengths are distinct: visionary regulators, sovereign capital, modern payment rails, strategic trade position, and sophisticated family offices. What's missing is equally specific: senior operators with scale experience, chief risk talent, specialty underwriters, growth investors with fintech playbooks, venture debt depth, and secondary market infrastructure.

"These aren't abstract gaps," Oosman said. "They're the exact ingredients needed to convert momentum into compounding returns."

Four Immediate Plays

Oosman identified opportunities available now: B2B payments for mid-market exporters across GCC-Africa-India corridors; SME embedded lending powered by real-time cashflow data; Sharia-aligned wealth infrastructure incorporating Web3 and tokenization; and AI-powered compliance tools built as exportable IP.

Execution Speed

The GCC fintech narrative has shifted from potential to proof of concept. "If we deliberately wire talent and growth capital into this system," Oosman concluded, "GCC fintech doesn't just scale - it compounds."

The playbooks exist. The infrastructure is operational. The region that moves fastest on talent and capital architecture will define the next phase of emerging market fintech innovation.

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Ali Samir Oosman is VP of External Investments, Strategy and Partnerships at Disrupt.com. He spoke at Fintech Tuesdays Unplugged at DIFC Innovation Hub in Dubai.