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Rabat – The Moroccan city of Casablanca has ranked as the seventh best city for the opening of new startups in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, according to Belgium-based internet marketing service Sortlist.
Sortlist published on September 27 a small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) guide titled “The Best Places in the UK and MENA to Start a Small Business.”
The Moroccan economic capital has an average broadband speed (Mbps) of 27.2, a happiness score of 4.92/10, and a literacy rate of 72%, the lowest in comparison to the cities featured in the ranking’s top 13, the report indicated.
In addition, Casablanca’s average monthly office rental price stands at £184.31 (MAD 14,426) per square foot, while electricity cost stands at £9.60 (MAD 117) per kilowatt hour (p/kWh), the highest in comparison to the top-13 list. The Moroccan city recorded an SME startup score of 4.58/10.
The Moroccan city enjoys its position as a leading financial and economic hub in Africa and the MENA region. Casablanca recently ranked as the fourth best city to do business in Africa.
According to Startup Genome’s 2022 Global Startup Ecosystem Report, Casablanca ranked as the third top regional challenger for the MENA region’s biggest startup hubs.
Read also: Report: Casablanca Is An Emerging Startup Hub in MENA
The MENA region has become a “popular choice” for new startups this year, indicated Sortlist’s report, explaining that startups in the region have raised $323.7 million (MAD 3.5 billion) across 66 deals in June 2022 alone.
The Saudi city of Riyadh leads the ranking as the best city for startups in the region, with an SME startup score of 7.82/10. Meanwhile, the cities of Dubai and Kuwait follow in second and third place with an SME startup score of 7.78/10 and 6.95/10 respectively.
In addition, the ranking featured Jordan’s Amman, Turkey’s Istanbul, and Bahrain’s Manama in the fourth, fifth, and sixth spots respectively. The list also included Egypt’s Cairo (8th), Iraq’s Baghdad (9th), Lebanon’s Beirut (10th), Tunisia’s Tunis (11th), Algeria’s Algiers (12th), and Libya’s Tripoli (13th).
