PayPal's $100 million investment commitment to boost digital growth across the Middle East and Africa shows the company is in the region for the long term, chief executive Alex Chriss told The National.
The digital commerce leader said on Wednesday its commitment will spur innovation and support entrepreneurs, while accelerating economic growth in a region that is embracing digital commerce.
“What we really want to signal with this investment is our long-term commitment to the region,” Mr Chriss said.
PayPal said its investment will be used for a mixture of minority investments, acquisitions, the company's global corporate venture arm, people and technology. It expects the investment to help introduce millions of people to the digital economy and boost businesses.
PayPal CEO
The investment comes amid a new push by PayPal in the Middle East. The company, which has its headquarters in San Jose, California, this year launched a regional centre in Dubai, its first location in the Middle East, which will serve more than 80 countries.
Mr Chriss said the region was at the forefront of agentic commerce and development in artificial intelligence.
"These are all places where we see the future of commerce going and it gets us excited about this area," he said.
The $100 million commitment complements investments made by PayPal Ventures, the company's investment arm, in regional start-ups including Tabby, Paymob and Stitch. Mr Chriss said it demonstrates a more structured commitment to the region, "not just in a short burst, but over the long term".
'Tremendous growth opportunity'
PayPal has hailed Dubai as a gateway that could provide greater access to international markets and support large and small businesses with frictionless payments.
It is the latest company to boost its presence in Dubai and the wider UAE, whose infrastructure and location have helped to boost opportunities for cross-border trade. As part of its economic diversification ambitions, the UAE aims to be 75 per cent cashless by 2026 and fully cashless by 2030.
Those targets reflect a broader trend in the region that is embracing digital commerce. Similar diversification in Saudi Arabia and Egypt are prioritising digital transformation as drivers of future economic growth.
"[The Middle East and Africa] is growing quickly, very tech savvy, and one that we want to make sure we're invested in," Mr Chriss said.
"We're always looking for growth opportunities, and we see the Middle East as a tremendous growth opportunity in the future."
The UAE has been positioning itself as a global centre for artificial intelligence and future-driven sectors, helped by an agreement to establish the US-UAE AI Acceleration Partnership, designed to strengthen co-operation on critical technology.
“It's a big deal for us," Mr Chriss said.
PayPal last week announced a multi-year strategic partnership with Google on agentic commerce, under which the payment company's infrastructure will be spread across Google's platforms as the two companies work together on commerce standards driven by AI.
“We're leaning in heavily into agentic commerce and the Middle East is absolutely at the forefront right now of investing and trying to [accelerate] AI development, and that's another reason that we want to be a strong partner there," Mr Chriss said.
While he envisions a future in which AI helps to support interconnected global commerce ecosystems, Mr Chriss said roadblocks remain, such as currency conversion and money movement challenges. He said there are still merchants on its platform that cannot sell to certain regions.
He said PayPal has to be available in all parts of the world to help deliver a platform that enables its merchants and consumers to interact in a frictionless and cost-effective manner.
"And that's why, with this announcement, we're really excited to be moving even more strongly into the Middle East and Africa, and making sure that our PayPal ecosystem can connect anyone in the world," he said.
