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Dubai International Financial Centre Records Highest Number Of Annual Registrations
Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), the leading international financial hub in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia (MEASA) region has reported the best performance in its 16-year history.
Reaffirming Dubai’s growing reputation across the global finance industry, the number of new firms operating in DIFC grew 20 percent, taking the total to 2,919. A total of 915 financial companies are now active in DIFC, up 24 percent from 735 in 2019. The number of businesses in the FinTech and Innovation ecosystem more than doubled with 189 joining in 2020, taking the total to 303. Business sectors across DIFC achieved exponential growth, including banking, capital markets, wealth and asset management, FinTech and professional services.
Notable financial services firms opening headquarters and regional offices in DIFC in 2020 included TATA Asset Management, Samba Financial Group, Caixabank and AfricaRe. FinTechs included global and regional names such as Ebury, Ripple, Adyen, KoFax Me and Tabby.
DIFC introduced initiatives during 2020, which have supported exponential growth and will contribute towards the Centre’s vision to drive the future of finance. The number of FinTech and Innovation firms in DIFC almost doubled in 2020 and has tripled in the last two years. The Centre is now home to 303 businesses in this sector which is more than 50 percent of those operating in the GCC.
In 2020, DIFC became a major part of the Dubai Future District, which was announced by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. A major initiative in 2020 was the DIFC Innovation Hub, the region’s only comprehensive technology ecosystem, providing education, training and both incubator and accelerator programmes. Six businesses received funding from the DIFC FinTech Fund including Rain, Beehive, FlexxPay, Go Rise, NOW Money and Sarwa.
Start-ups aspiring to be just as successful as those who received funding joined the fourth cohort of DIFC FinTech Hive’s accelerator programme. FinTech firms based in DIFC FinTech Hive have now raised more than AED 1.1billion (USD 298.8 million) to accelerate regional growth.
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