Egypt’s Fintechs’ Next Growth Market

Egypt’s fintech sector is shifting from payments and lending into asset management and fractional ownership, driven by recent regulatory approvals and growing retail demand for dollar and property hedges. Over the past months the Financial Regulatory Authority approved licences covering microfinance, mortgages, fund distribution and private-markets investing, enabling licensed platforms to distribute interests in real estate and investment funds digitally. Market activity includes MNT-Halan’s partnership with Azimut to launch a retail real estate fund and a EGP 1bn ($20mn) mortgage-backed fund closed by proptech Nawy with Synergy Capital.

“The aim is to lower the barrier to real estate investment,” said Mounir Nakhla, chief executive of MNT-Halan, speaking about the company’s new fund product.

Regulatory changes opening retail access

Regulatory reform has been central to the shift. Key measures cited by market participants include:

• FRA Decision №194 of 2025, which allowed digital subscription platforms for private equity and venture capital funds and opened such products to retail and semi-institutional investors.
• Decision №3060 of 2023 and Resolution №125 of 2025, which established rules for real estate investment funds, including capital and governance requirements for fractional ownership.

These rules did not target any single company, but they created a legal framework through which fintech platforms can distribute fractional interests in property and funds using digital interfaces. The changes come after three years of steep currency losses that have pushed Egyptians to explore alternatives to holding savings in the pound, turning instead to property and dollar-denominated assets.

How fintechs are deploying new licences

MNT-Halan, Egypt’s first unicorn, is among the earliest to capitalise on the new licensing regime. In partnership with European asset manager Azimut, it launched the Halan-Azimut Real Estate Investment Fund, which allows retail investors to buy units in a diversified portfolio of residential and commercial properties through the MNT-Halan app. The fund’s governance includes Ahmed Abu El Saad from Azimut Egypt and developer Hassan Allam on the board, bringing institutional asset-management and development expertise into the structure. Investors in the fund can earn from rental income and any appreciation in property values.

Other licensed entrants include Thndr, the Y Combinator-backed investment platform, which has obtained a similar licence to operate in fund distribution. Proptech Nawy has taken a distinct approach by originating mortgages for homebuyers and packaging those loans for investors: in partnership with Synergy Capital it recently closed a EGP 1bn ($20mn) mortgage-backed fund that buys portfolios of mortgages originated by Nawy, allowing the company to recycle capital and scale mortgage originations.

Outlook — product expansion and retail inclusion

The combination of regulatory clarity and platform-led product design is widening retail access to asset classes that were previously illiquid or hard to reach for individual investors. By fractionalising property and securitising mortgage pools, fintechs are aiming to provide more liquid, smaller-denomination exposure to real estate and fixed-income-like instruments. For consumers, the immediate promise is easier access to dollar-linked and property-backed instruments; for incumbents and new entrants, the next phase will test distribution economics, governance standards and the robustness of secondary markets for these digitalised assets.