Tabby, a Dubai-based buy now, pay later (BNPL) platform, has opened in Egypt in an effort to capitalise on the region’s most populated nation.
Backed by leading regional and global investors with $275 million in its war chest, the Dubai startup aims to ride the wave of e-commerce in Egypt that hit $5.2 billion in revenue last year.
“We are delighted to be a growth partner for our retail partners by helping them tap into millions of active shoppers,” Ahmed Khalil, Tabby’s general manager in Egypt, said in a release.
Tabby allows customers to purchase goods and pay for them in installments interest-free – and also without the usual requirement of a credit card.
The platform has gained a significant user base since its launch in early 2020. Its active customers grew eight-fold in the first of 2022, compared to the same period last year.
As of writing, Tabby claims to have over 2 million active users across Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Kuwait.
A report by Grand View Research said the global BNPL market is expected to reach a size of around $39.31 billion by 2030.
In the Middle East and North Africa region particularly, BNPL penetration stood at 24 percent in 2021, a percentage higher than in the UK and Europe in the same period.
In addition to Tabby, a number of additional BNPL products have debuted in the past three years, including Tamara, based in Saudi Arabia and supported by Checkout.com.
