IRAQI YOUTH ENTREPRENEURSHIP BAROMETER REPORT | 2023
The Youth Entrepreneurship Barometer study analyzes the obstacles faced by Iraqi youth entrepreneurs, specifically in agriculture. Most of Iraq’s youth perceive strong positive attitudes towards entrepreneurship. Accessing finance is one of the biggest challenges, where over 50% resort to informal sources such as money from family and friends.
Transportation and Logistics | 2023
The latest edition of Kapita’s Business Landscape investigates the impact of the country’s infrastructure on its entrepreneurial ecosystem and specifically on the rise of e-commerce. Leading industry players, reflect on the state of the transportation sector.
Digital 2023 - Iraq | 2023
Meltwater published the 2023 edition of its annual report. They dive into the digital statistics of Iraq’s userbase and the demographics of each platform.
FinTech Challenges | 2022
What are the financial infrastructure, banking challenges, in Iraq and the hindrance to developing fintech and e-commerce? The major obstacles include a lag in the epayment infrastructure, cash as the primary method of payment, distrust in the banking sector, and religious grievances with dealing with commercial banks while Islamic banking remains underdeveloped.
Entrepreneurship in MENA | 2022
Bayt.com, a MENA-focused online job search platform, just published its report “Entrepreneurship in the MENA 2022.” Conducted across 15 markets in the Arab World, including Iraq, the study delves into the motivators and barriers to launching a business, perceptions of entrepreneurship, and ease of setting up a company.
Developing Iraq’s Data-Driven Economy | 2022
Business LANDSCAPE Magazine by Kapita highlights: Kapita launching its initiative iData, in an effort to create a data-driven community. New developments in Iraq’s ecosystem, corporate-backed venture investments. Interviews with active ecosystem players.
Iraq’s Digital Adoption | 2022
Iraq Digital Report: The number of social media users totals 28 million (equivalent to approximately 68% of the total population) indicating an increase of 3.4 million (13.4%) between 2021 and 2022. In January of 2022, the Iraqi internet penetration rate was approximately 50% of the total population.
Iraqi Corporate Venture Capital | 2022
Iraqi corporates are adopting the corporate venture notion, where corporate venture capital is creating efficiencies and increasing agility by outsourcing innovation. This is evident by deals such as Al Sharqiya Media’s investment (five-figure deal) in Orisdi, Korek’s investment ($5M) into TipTop, and Earthlink’s investment (five-figure deal) into IoT KIDS.
Iraq’s GDP Growth | 2022
The MENA region’s GDP per capita is forecast to grow by 5.2% in 2022 - the fastest growth since 2016. Meanwhile, Iraq’s GDP per capita growth is expected to be 6.3% and its GDP growth to be 8.9%, the highest growth rate among all Arab countries for 2022.
The Entrepreneurial Journey | 2022
KAPITA Business Hub published the updated Iraqi Entrepreneurs’ Journey report. The study, collating data from 53 startup founders, highlighted interesting findings, including the following: 60% of startups interviewed were established by solo founders; 50% of survey participants are STEM graduates.
Iraq’s Women Landscape | 2022
Iraqi women’s entrepreneurial contributions and the challenges they face in breaking into the boys’ club. The stats highlighting gender disparities in education and employment show that the female labor force participation rate is at 12% while male participation is at 77%.
Iraqi Labor Market Assessment | 2019
IOM conducted a series of Labor Market Assessments (LMAs) across 15 governorates to uncover the economic and social realities of local markets, preferences of employers, skills needed, and needs and goals of jobseekers. Report finds that 70% of job seekers prefer to launch their own business rather than be employed.
Arab Youth Survey | 2022
Arab survey covering 17 Arab countries including Iraq, where 200 nationals aged 18-24 from Baghdad, Erbil, and Basrah were interviewed, shows that when it comes to quality of life and their livelihoods, Arab youth find the rising cost of living (35%) and unemployment (32%) as the biggest impediments.
Investment Gender Gap | 2022
An analysis of the startup investment gender gap in MENA shows that out of 482 startups that received investment in the first nine months of 2022, only 38 were female-founded. These 38 startups only raised two percent of the total value of investments ($2.4B).
Access to Finance in Iraq | 2022
Abdal Ghani Al-Hassani, Country manager of Grofin, analyzes banking, credit market, and access to finance programs in Iraq. The study shows a need for more coverage regarding access to finance for individuals and businesses. It outlines the initiatives and programs working to close the gap where financing is needed.
MENA Venture Law Guide | 2022
Taylor Wessing, a global law firm offering sector-specific expertise, published the first edition of its ‘MENA Venture Law Guide.’ The guide provides information and data on MENA's developments and trends in venture capital investment.
Five One Review | 2022
Five One Labs released the fifth edition of its Five One Review magazine. It delved into the digitization efforts of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI), showcased Five One Lab’s global entrepreneurship efforts, and deep-dived into Iraq's investment ecosystem and the steps needed to drive it forward.
Iraq’s Employment Outlook | 2022
MSelect recruitment agency published its 2022 Iraqi Employment Outlook. The report focuses on the increased employment demand, where 78% of all companies are expected to recruit in six months. The telco industry has the most demand (85%), whereas healthcare and education have the lowest recruitment outlook (15% and 20%, respectively).
Greentech Space Challenges | 2022
IRIS interviewed Basima Abdulrahman, founder of the greentech startup KESK and Cartier Women’s Initiative Award winner, about the challenges facing Basima and the greentech space, and her proposed solutions. In 2021, Basima raised a six-figure round from Euphrates Ventures.
KRI Policy Paper | 2022
Five One Labs published a Policy Recommendation Paper in collaboration with Rwanga Foundation and with the support of the Netherlands Consulate General in Erbil. The paper, focusing on the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and advocating for startup policy reforms to ease the entrepreneurial ecosystem's challenges.
International Expansion Research | 2022
Five One Review bi-annual publication looks into the ecosystem developments and trends while also analyzing the entrepreneurial investment scene in Iraq. When it comes to institutional investing, the magazine revealed the entrance of corporate investors into the playing field.
Frontier Market | 2021
In this investigative research piece, Swen Lorenz (founder of Undervalued Shares) makes a bullish case for investment in the Iraqi public market. He provides a detailed analysis of the current risk profile of Iraq versus its possible upside, and encourages the reader to take a deeper look for herself.
KRI Investment Guide | 2021
The Kurdistan Regional Government Board of Investment recently published an Investment Guide of Kurdistan Region. The report explores the investment landscape in Kurdistan detailing areas of opportunity.
Doing Business Guide Iraq | 2021
Deloitte just published its newest edition of the "Doing Business Guide Iraq” document. This tax guide is an essential read for investors to familiarize themselves with Iraq’s operating conditions and investment environment. The report provides businesses with insights on the legal and regulatory framework, the immigration and labor landscape, and taxation in Iraq.
eRegulations Baghdad | 2021
eRegulations is a step-by-step guide on administrative procedures in Baghdad. It provides businesses, startups, and investors with the information needed to register a business, taxation procedures, directory of institutions and laws, and a directory of forms and requirements.
Covid’s Impact on the Ecosystem | 2021
Kapita recently published an ecosystem monitor report identifying the impact of Covid on Iraqi startups by benchmarking the results against its 2020 study entitled “Iraqi Startups Ecosystem Evaluation.” Thirty experts in the Iraq entrepreneurial landscape were chosen to evaluate the ecosystem across 14 categories such as market openness, entrepreneurial opportunities, and access to infrastructure.
Iraq Economic Review | 2020 to 2023
IRIS partnered with NED to investigate macroeconomic trends in Iraq publishing “Iraq Economic Review” - a series of studies focused on promoting sound economic policies, knowledge, and transparency in Iraq while empowering civil society and shifting the national policy conversation.
Banking on the Unbanked | 2019
Iraq is a heavily cash-based society. With a population of 40M, only 20% of the population is banked, making the market ripe for digital financial inclusion and fintech adoption. The Central Bank of Iraq is taking steps towards modernizing and digitizing payment systems.
App Uninstall Report | 2023
AppsFlyer has published its report measuring user trends within the app space. The report tracks the rates of uninstalling apps world wide including the MENA region. Iraq ranked the highest at 51.5%. The report found that developing countries are more likely to uninstall apps (28%) than developed countries.
Arab Opinion Index | 2022
The 8th edition of the ‘Arab Opinion Index 2022’ covered general opinions about living conditions, government effectiveness, and civic and political participation. The study was conducted across 14 Arab countries (Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Tunisia) with 33K+ respondents.
Iraq Employment Outlook | 2023
The Iraqi Employment Outlook report highlights that 41% of employers plan to hire, mainly the hiring boom is concentrated in Federal Iraq (52%), whereas the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) expects workforce levels to remain steady (45%). The top two industries on a hiring spree include FMCG (85%) and healthcare (85%).
Invest Kurdistan Guide | 2023
Inn June 2023, the KRG launched an initiative dubbed Invest Kurdistan, promoting the area as an attractive and safe foreign investment market. A guide was published highlighting foreign investment opportunities, regulatory incentives, and diversity of sectors.
Youth Employment In MENA | 2023
BCG and Forward MENA launched a study examining the potential for remote work to enhance youth employment across six MENA countries (Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia). According to the research, Iraq is equipped to supply talent for basic offshore jobs in areas like CRM and IT consulting and support.
Mobile Network Report | 2023
OpenSignal published its Iraq: Mobile Network Experience Report examining the performance of the different mobile operators in Iraq. The report revealed that Asiacell won Iraq's fastest user experience and the best video streaming. Meanwhile, both Korek and Zain won the best Core Consistent Quality award.
Digital Transformation in Iraq | 2023
KAPITA’s latest report, “Digital Transformation in Iraq: Mobile and Web Applications Solutions and Timelines,” recounts the impact of digital transformation on various industries, such as education, retail, transportation, healthcare, and financial services. The publication tracks local and regional mobile and web startups that have disrupted traditional models of business.