Dubai-based e-commerce retailer Souq.com has received $27m in funding from the International Finance Corporation – a member of the World Bank Group – and the IFC Asset Management Company.
The investment will help Souq expand and diversify its offering and boost its logistics and payment infrastructure, a statement said.
The expansion is expected to generate over 1,700 direct high-skilled jobs in logistics, information technology services and marketing over the next five years.
Souq’s chief executive officer Ronaldo Mouchawar said: “This investment will help take Souq to the next level. Our aim is to continue to drive innovation across the region, expand into new markets and improve our supply chain so we can offer better and more affordable quality products to our customers.”
One of the fastest growing e-commerce site in the Middle East and North Africa region, Souq now has over 30 million visits per month.
It received investments worth $75m from Naspers Global in March last year.
“Souq is a prime example of the massive potential the region holds for tech companies and e-commerce,” said IFC’s director for the Middle East and North Africa Mouayed Makhlouf. “We hope that with this investment, we continue to demonstrate the viability of this growing area in the region.”
The investment is part of IFC's broader strategy to promote entrepreneurship and innovation in MENA, with an emphasis on the IT sector. In February, IFC invested $10m in a venture fund created by Wamda Capital to provide funding to tech entrepreneurs in MENA.
The MENA region is seeing a boom in e-commerce and tech companies thanks to its growing young population and increasing internet and smart phone penetration.
The consumer internet market, which has a population of 404 million, currently has a gross domestic product of $3 trillion and 110 million internet users, IFC said.
