UAE-based buy now, pay later platform Tabby will suspend operations in Egypt, just six months after entering the market.
“In a short period of time, we have seen very strong adoption of our products and services with some great merchant partners,” Tabby chief executive and co-founder Hosam Arab told The National.
“However, as with any business, we must prioritise projects that align with our long-term goals in core markets, and as a result, we have decided to pause our commercial operations in the Egyptian market.”
Tabby, founded in 2019, offers consumers interest-free, flexible payment options for online and in-store shopping. It operates in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain and expanded to Egypt in September.
In a leaked e-mail to merchants explaining the “difficult decision”, the Tabby team said, “recent macroeconomic developments have made our operating model challenging while maintaining our principles of interest-free payments”.
As of March 23, customers will no longer be able to make new purchases using Tabby in Egypt.
Sellers were told to remove all Tabby branding from their shops, websites and apps by that date.
No date or timeline was given for a possible resumption of Tabby’s Egypt operation.
“Our confidence in Egypt’s potential in the region remains unchanged and we hope to one day revisit this decision,” the e-mail said.
There will be no lay-offs and Tabby will continue to invest in growing its team on the ground, who will refocus on supporting its core markets, Mr Arab said.
Egypt is suffering from the economic fallout from the Russia-Ukraine war, including a higher import bill and record inflation. It has devalued its currency three times, with the pound now at 30 to the US dollar, compared with 16 a year ago.
The country’s annual inflation rose to more than 25 per cent in January, the highest in more than five years.
High inflation has driven the popularity of BNPL globally, with consumers taking advantage of short-term financing to spread their payments and better manage their money.
Global BNPL transaction values are projected to grow to $576 billion by 2026, up from $120 billion in 2021, according to data analytics company GlobalData.
The effects of global macroeconomic challenges on Egyptian start-ups have been mixed, with some seeing an opportunity and others experiencing lay-offs and a funding crunch.
For example, Nasdaq-listed Swvl let go a third of its workforce last May and its market capitalisation has plummeted from $1.5 billion to about $11 million.
Tabby is one of the most well-funded start-ups in the Mena region, raising $58 million in its latest series C round in January at a valuation of $660 million.
Investors included PayPal Ventures, Sequoia Capital India, Saudi Arabia’s STV, Mubadala Investment Capital, Arbor Ventures and Endeavor Catalyst.
It secured $150 million in debt financing last August from US-based Atalaya Capital Management and Partners For Growth.
The company also raised $54 million in its series B last March and $23 million in its series A in December 2020.
Egyptian start-ups raised $517 million last year, compared with $501 million in 2021, according to data platform Magnitt. Egypt led the Mena region with 160 deals, a 3 per cent decline from 2021.
“We remain optimistic about the future of the Egyptian market and will continue to assess opportunities to re-engage in the future,” Mr Arab said.
SNAPSHOT
While Huawei did launch the first smartphone with a 50MP image sensor in its P40 series in 2020, Oppo in 2014 introduced the Find 7, which was capable of taking 50MP images: this was done using a combination of a 13MP sensor and software that resulted in shots seemingly taken from a 50MP camera.
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
The specs
Price: From Dh180,000 (estimate)
Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged and supercharged in-line four-cylinder
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 320hp @ 5,700rpm
Torque: 400Nm @ 2,200rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 9.7L / 100km
White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogen
Chromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxide
Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content
Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
IPL 2018 FINAL
Sunrisers Hyderabad 178-6 (20 ovs)
Chennai Super Kings 181-2 (18.3 ovs)
Chennai win by eight wickets
Company%20profile
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Champions parade (UAE timings)
7pm Gates open
8pm Deansgate stage showing starts
9pm Parade starts at Manchester Cathedral
9.45pm Parade ends at Peter Street
10pm City players on stage
11pm event ends
The Details
Kabir Singh
Produced by: Cinestaan Studios, T-Series
Directed by: Sandeep Reddy Vanga
Starring: Shahid Kapoor, Kiara Advani, Suresh Oberoi, Soham Majumdar, Arjun Pahwa
Rating: 2.5/5
Awar Qalb
Director: Jamal Salem
Starring: Abdulla Zaid, Joma Ali, Neven Madi and Khadija Sleiman
Two stars
More on animal trafficking
Jebel Ali Dragons 26 Bahrain 23
Dragons
Tries: Hayes, Richards, Cooper
Cons: Love
Pens: Love 3
Bahrain
Tries: Kenny, Crombie, Tantoh
Cons: Phillips
Pens: Phillips 2
$1,000 award for 1,000 days on madrasa portal
Daily cash awards of $1,000 dollars will sweeten the Madrasa e-learning project by tempting more pupils to an education portal to deepen their understanding of math and sciences.
School children are required to watch an educational video each day and answer a question related to it. They then enter into a raffle draw for the $1,000 prize.
“We are targeting everyone who wants to learn. This will be $1,000 for 1,000 days so there will be a winner every day for 1,000 days,” said Sara Al Nuaimi, project manager of the Madrasa e-learning platform that was launched on Tuesday by the Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, to reach Arab pupils from kindergarten to grade 12 with educational videos.
“The objective of the Madrasa is to become the number one reference for all Arab students in the world. The 5,000 videos we have online is just the beginning, we have big ambitions. Today in the Arab world there are 50 million students. We want to reach everyone who is willing to learn.”
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Uefa Nations League: How it works
The Uefa Nations League, introduced last year, has reached its final stage, to be played over five days in northern Portugal. The format of its closing tournament is compact, spread over two semi-finals, with the first, Portugal versus Switzerland in Porto on Wednesday evening, and the second, England against the Netherlands, in Guimaraes, on Thursday.
The winners of each semi will then meet at Porto’s Dragao stadium on Sunday, with the losing semi-finalists contesting a third-place play-off in Guimaraes earlier that day.
Qualifying for the final stage was via League A of the inaugural Nations League, in which the top 12 European countries according to Uefa's co-efficient seeding system were divided into four groups, the teams playing each other twice between September and November. Portugal, who finished above Italy and Poland, successfully bid to host the finals.
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Wicked: For Good
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater
Rating: 4/5
Result:
1. Cecilie Hatteland (NOR) atop Alex - 31.46 seconds
2. Anna Gorbacheva (RUS) atop Curt 13 - 31.82 seconds
3. Georgia Tame (GBR) atop Cash Up - 32.81 seconds
4. Sheikha Latifa bint Ahmed Al Maktoum (UAE) atop Peanuts de Beaufour - 35.85 seconds
5. Miriam Schneider (GER) atop Benur du Romet - 37.53 seconds
6. Annika Sande (NOR) atop For Cash 2 - 31.42 seconds (4 penalties)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
