PayPal Makes $100 Million Bet on Middle East/Africa Digital Commerce

PayPal is investing $100 million to support digital commerce in the Middle East and Africa.

The investment is to be deployed via minority investments, acquisitions, PayPal Ventures funding and people/technology deployments. The goal is to help local businesses scale, open new opportunities for innovators, and “bring millions more consumers and communities into the digital economy,” according to a Wednesday (Sept.23) news release.

“The Middle East and Africa are home to some of the most dynamic and rapidly evolving businesses in the world,” PayPal CEO Alex Chriss said in the release.

“By dedicating a $100 million investment to this region over the coming years, we’re investing in the technologies, partnerships, and solutions that will help entrepreneurs scale faster, expand their reach beyond borders, and unlock new opportunities for growth in the digital economy.”

The announcement follows the introduction of PayPal’s first regional hub in Dubai, designed to help businesses via improved payments and security as well as wider access to international markets. PayPal Ventures has also invested in several startups in the region, including Tabby, Paymob and Stitch, the release added.

Research by PYMNTS Intelligence has charted the rise of digital commerce in the Middle East. For example, 89% of retail shoppers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) use digital tools while browsing in physical stores, with 45% of UAE grocery shoppers doing the same.

“And, when surveyed about the quality of their digital shopping features, respondents shared what turned out to be the second highest level of customer satisfaction among the six countries we studied,” PYMNTS wrote. “This likely explains why 71% of UAE consumers used digital features to enhance their most recent shopping experience.”

Meanwhile, PYMNTS CEO Karen Webster wrote Wednesday about the recent multi-year partnership between PayPal and Google amid a growing embrace of agentic commerce. With this collaboration, PayPal’s infrastructure will be integrated deeper into Google’s products. Google Cloud will become PayPal’s AI “backbone,” she wrote.

“It will be one of several experiments taking place with agentic commerce,” the report added. “In truth, it is very early days. Perplexity partnered with PayPal for commerce in AI search. OpenAI is working with Shopify to connect prompts to merchant catalogs. firmly connects Perplexity to millions of merchants for app checkout.”

PayPal’s approach is centered around bringing wallets and accounts to AI models, the thinking being that consumers interact with agents via payment platforms, making wallets “the bridge between intent and transaction.”

“The distinction matters because it shows how the wallet-centric worldview is already being challenged by infrastructure that doesn’t need wallets at all,” Webster added. “And how those with a vested interest in them are already doubling down.”