GWADAR, Pakistan: Remote and impoverished, Pakistan’s Gwadar port at first glance seems an unlikely crown jewel in a multi-billion-dollar development project with China aimed at constructing a 21st century Silk Road.
Situated on a barren peninsula in the Arabian Sea, Gwadar, or the “gate of the wind,” owes its fortuitous selection as Pakistan’s next economic hub to its strategic location near the Strait of Hormuz.
The city is set to become the bridgehead for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a $54 billion (SR202.50 billion) project launched in 2013 linking western China to the Indian Ocean via Pakistan.
The corridor is one of the largest projects in Beijing’s “One Belt One Road” initiative, comprising a network of roads and sea routes involving 65 countries.
The Chinese-financed initiative aims to connect the country with Africa, Asia and Europe through a vast network of ports, railways, roads and industrial parks.
But for Pakistan, participating in the project presents an enormous challenge in a country plagued by weak institutions, endemic corruption and a range of insurgencies in areas slated to host the corridor.
“This port is going to help Pakistan make linkages with neighboring countries. The entire nation will be getting benefits out of Gwadar,” Dostain Khan Jamaldini, chairman of the Gwadar Port Authority, told reporters.
But “the first beneficiaries of this port will be the people of Gwadar.”
The subject of economic dividends is extremely sensitive in resource-rich Balochistan — one of Pakistan’s poorest and most violent provinces, where separatist insurgencies have been waged for decades.
Since the beginning of the project militants have repeatedly attacked construction sites and targeted Chinese workers.
The project includes the country’s first deep-water port, a free-trade zone and 50 kilometers of dock space.
“Gwadar port is not Chinese, our strong partner is Chinese and we appreciate their boldness,” said Jamaldini.
“They came to Gwadar when nobody was accepting the idea to come and visit.”
China has eyed Gwadar for years.
Beijing financed an earlier scheme to develop the port prior to 2007, which was later overseen by a Singaporean group. But following bouts of insecurity, the Singaporeans handed it back to the Chinese in 2013.
The ambitious corridor is also far from popular in the region. India makes no mystery of its reservations over an infrastructure project that crosses through disputed Kashmiri territory.
This month US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis raised concerns about the issue, sparking a fierce backlash in Pakistan and claims Washington was trying to “contain China” in favor of arch-rival India.
Beyond diplomatic concerns, security remains a key issue in Gwadar, according to Brig. Kamal Azfar, who heads “Brigade 440” — a security outfit created to protect CPEC projects and personnel.
Hostile forces are trying to “scuttle or stall CPEC,” he said in reference to accusations India has backed insurgents hostile to the project.
The area also lacks water and electricity, which developers hope will be remedied by dams and desalination plants outlined in the scheme.
Officials also worry the peninsula will fall victim to real estate speculation. Property prices near the port doubled between 2014 and 2016, said Sajjad Baloch, the director of the Gwadar Development Authority, before falling 20 percent.
And despite promises of future prosperity, skilled labor is lacking, says Mohamed Siddique, who runs a local hospital. Even with modern facilities it operates at a limited capacity because of a dearth of specialists.
In Gwadar city, economic activity spurred by CPEC remains limited. A lone freighter was anchored in the port during AFP’s recent visit. Only three to four arrive every month, according to port authorities.
The expressway leading to the site is unfinished.
About 300 Chinese people working on various projects live in prefabricated houses on the port — coined Chinatown — but only venture out with a security escort.
The city itself, with a population of about 100,000 that is projected by one estimate to jump tenfold by 2050, has relied on fishing and the artisanal construction of boats for generations.
Up to 50,000 people, mostly fishermen, could be “gradually” resettled to make way for the project, Baloch said, adding the potential move could see them relocated to a “state-of-the-art jetty.”
The first priority for the jobs will go to Gwadaris, “then to the Balochis, then to the people of any part of Pakistan,” Baloch said.
However few Gwadaris have been hired at the port, according to locals building boats on a nearby beach.
“We are hoping to get a job there,” said Juneid.
For others, it’s a chance to right the wrongs of past subjugation.
“Balochistan province should get the maximum benefits instead of outsiders,” said Abdullah Usman, 47, a social worker.
“It will be unfortunate if the local Baloch do not benefit... that would cause an increase in the several decades long sense of deprivation.”
At a forgotten Pakistan port, China paves a new Silk Road
At a forgotten Pakistan port, China paves a new Silk Road
What MENA’s wild 2025 funding cycle really revealed
RIYADH: The Middle East and North Africa startup funding story in 2025 was less a smooth arc than a sequence of sharp gears: debt-led surges, equity-led recoveries, and periodic quiet spells that revealed what investors were really underwriting.
By November, the region had logged repeated bursts of activity — culminating in September’s $3.5 billion spike across 74 deals — yet the year’s defining feature was not just the size of the peaks, but the way capital repeatedly clustered around a handful of markets, instruments, and business models.
Across the year’s first eleven months, funding totals swung dramatically: January opened at $863 million across 63 rounds but was overwhelmingly debt-driven; June fell to just $52 million across 37 deals; and September reset expectations entirely with a record month powered by Saudi fintech mega facilities.
The net result was a market that looked expansive in headline value while behaving conservatively in underlying risk posture — often choosing structured financing, revenue-linked models, and geographic familiarity over broad-based, late-stage equity appetite.
Debt becomes the ecosystem’s shock absorber
If 2024 was about proving demand, 2025 was about choosing capital structure. Debt financing repeatedly dictated monthly outcomes and, in practice, became the mechanism that let large platforms keep scaling while equity investors stayed selective.
January’s apparent boom was the clearest example: $863 million raised, but $768 million came through debt financing, making the equity picture almost similar to January 2024.
The same pattern returned at larger scale in September, when $3.5 billion was recorded, but $2.6 billion of that total was debt financing — dominated by Tamara’s $2.4 billion debt facility alongside Lendo’s $50 million debt and Erad’s $33 million debt financing.
October then reinforced the playbook: four debt deals accounted for 72 percent of the month’s $784.9 million, led by Property Finder’s $525 million debt round.
By November, more than half the month’s $227.8 million total again hinged on a single debt-backed transaction from Erad.
This isn’t simply ‘debt replacing equity.’ It is debt acting as a stabilizer in a valuation-reset environment: late-stage businesses with predictable cash flows or asset-heavy models can keep expanding without reopening price discovery through equity rounds.
A two-speed geography consolidates around the Gulf
The regional map of venture capital in 2025 narrowed, widened, then narrowed again — but the center of gravity stayed stubbornly Gulf-led.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE alternated at the top depending on where mega deals landed, while Egypt’s position fluctuated between brief rebounds and extended softness.
In the first half alone, total investment reached $2.1 billion across 334 deals, with Saudi Arabia accounting for roughly 64 percent of capital deployed.
Saudi Arabia’s rise was described as ‘policy-driven,’ supported by sovereign wealth fund-backed VC activity and government incentives, with domestic firms such as STV, Wa’ed Ventures, and Raed Ventures repeatedly cited as drivers.
The UAE still posted steady growth in the first half — $541 million across 114 startups, up 18 percent year-on-year — but it increasingly competed in a market where the largest single cheques were landing elsewhere unless the Emirates hosted the region’s next debt mega round.
The concentration became stark in late-year snapshots. In November, funding was ‘tightly concentrated in just five countries,’ with Saudi Arabia taking $176.3 million across 14 deals and the UAE $49 million across 14 deals, while Egypt and Morocco each sat near $1 million and Oman had one undisclosed deal.
Even in September’s record month, the top two markets — Saudi with $2.7 billion across 25 startups and the UAE with $704.3 million across 26 startups — absorbed the overwhelming majority of capital.
A smaller but notable subplot was the emergence of ‘surprise’ markets when a single deal was large enough to change rank order.
Iraq briefly climbed to third place in July on InstaBank’s $15 million deal, while Tunisia entered the top three in June entirely via Kumulus’ $3.5 million seed round.
These moments mattered less for the totals than for what they suggested: capital can travel, but it still needs an anchor deal to justify attention.
Events, narrative cycles, and the ‘conference effect’
2025 also showed how regional deal flow can bunch around events that create permission structures for announcements.
February’s surge — $494 million across 58 deals — was explicitly linked to LEAP 2025, where ‘many startups announced their closed deals,’ helping push Saudi Arabia to $250.3 million across 25 deals.
September’s leap similarly leaned on Money20/20, where 15 deals were announced and Saudi fintechs dominated the headlines.
This ‘conference effect’ does not mean deals are created at conferences, but it does change the timing and visibility of closes.
Sector leadership rotates, but utility wins
Fintech retained structural dominance even when it temporarily lost the top spot by value.
It led January on the back of Saudi debt deals; dominated February with $274 million across 15 deals; remained first in March with $82.5 million across 10 deals; topped the second quarter by capital raised; and reclaimed leadership in November with $142.9 million across nine deals — again driven by a debt-heavy transaction.
Even when fintech fell to ninth place by value in October with $12.5 million across seven rounds, it still remained ‘the most active sector by deal count,’ a sign of persistent baseline demand.
Proptech was the year’s other headline sector, but its peaks were deal-specific. Nawy’s $75 million round in May helped propel Egypt to the top that month and pushed proptech up the rankings.
Property Finder’s debt round in October made proptech the month’s top-funded sector at $526 million. In August, proptech led with $96 million across four deals, suggesting sustained investor appetite for real-estate innovation even beyond the megadeal.
Outside fintech and proptech, the year offered signals rather than dominance. July saw deeptech top the sector charts with $250.3 million across four deals, reflecting a moment of investor appetite for IP-heavy ventures.
AI repeatedly appeared as a strategic narrative — especially after a high-profile visit by US President Donald Trump alongside Silicon Valley investors and subsequent GCC AI initiatives — yet funding didn’t fully match the rhetoric in May, when AI secured just $25 million across two deals.
By late year, however, expectations were already shifting toward mega rounds in AI and the industries built around it, positioning 2025 as a runway-building year rather than a breakout year for AI funding in the region.
Stage discipline returns as valuations reset
In 2025, MENA’s funding landscape tried to balance two priorities: sustaining early-stage momentum while selectively backing proven scale. Early-stage rounds dominated deal flow. October saw 32 early-stage deals worth $95.2 million, with just one series B at $50 million. November recorded no later-stage rounds at all, while even September’s record month relied on 55 early-stage startups raising $129.4 million.
When investors did commit to later stages, the cheques were decisive. February featured Tabby’s $160 million series E alongside two $28 million series B rounds, while August leaned toward scale with $112 million across three series B deals. Late-stage equity was not absent — it was episodic, appearing only when scale economics were defensible.
B2B models remained the default. In the first half, B2B startups raised $1.5 billion, or 70 percent of total funding, driven by clearer monetisation and revenue visibility.
The gender gap remained structural. Despite isolated spikes, capital allocation continued to overwhelmingly favour male-led startups.
What 2025 actually said about 2026
Taken together, 2025 looked like a year of capital market pragmatism. The region demonstrated capacity for outsized rounds, but much of that capacity ran through debt, a handful of megadeals, and a narrow set of markets — primarily Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Early-stage deal flow stayed active enough to keep the pipeline moving, even as growth-stage equity became intermittent and increasingly selective.
By year-end, the slowdown seen in November read less like a breakdown than a deliberate pause: a market in consolidation mode preserving firepower, waiting for clearer valuation anchors and the next wave of platform-scale opportunities.
If 2025 was about proving the region can absorb large cheques, 2026 is shaping up to test where those cheques will go — especially as expectations build around AI-led mega rounds and the industries that will form around them.
