News

Anghami Partners With Wajeez To Add Audible Books

Thousands of audiobook summaries look set to be added to the portfolio of Anghami after a partnership is announced with leading platform Wajeez.

Published

3 years ago

August 5, 2022

Nour Nasir

Anghami

Anghami, the pioneers of music streaming and digital distribution in the MENA region, has just announced a collaboration with Wajeez, another MENA-based platform that enables users to read or listen to 15-minute curated summaries of books, novels, and podcasts in Arabic.

The partnership will help Anghami add thousands of audiobook summaries to its platform, greatly expanding the company’s portfolio and strengthening its commitment to enriching user experience with world-class Arabic content.

Anghami’s 72 million+ users will soon have access to over 3,500 regional and international non-fiction book titles in an audio summary format as an add-on within the main Anghami platform.

wajeez integration with anghami

“The art of storytelling is a historic, cultural cornerstone in the Arab world. Our partnership with fast-growing startups like Wajeez marks a defining chapter for us as we collectively aim to leverage the full potential of audio content,” says Elie Habib, Co-Founder & Chief Technology Officer at Anghami.

Anghami hopes that the new catalog, which includes both audiobook and podcasts formats, will freshen their current offering and help to give creators an expanded platform and outlet for their work. Meanwhile, for Wajeez, the collaboration will see its content reaching a much wider audience.

Also Read: Saudi Arabia Reveals Plans To Build The City Of The Future

“Our partnership with Anghami, the region’s leading streaming platform, reinforces our vision to spread culture and knowledge on the widest possible scale in the Arab world, because we believe that the knowledge gained from reading constitutes awareness, which is a fundamental pillar for the renaissance, advancement, and civilization of people,” says Rami Abu Jbara, Chief Content Officer & Co-founder of Wajeez

Anghami’s announcement comes at a time when the company is actively bolstering its commitment to providing the best possible Arabic content. The platform has already announced the addition of live events, offline and virtual entertainment to its services, in a move that hopes to showcase top talent and help to put the region’s vibrant culture in front of a global audience.

News

Saudi Digital Payments Reach 80% As Cash Use Shrinks

Visa data shows cards and mobile wallets dominate spending, with smartphones now driving a growing share of daily transactions.

Published

1 day ago

January 23, 2026

Nour Nasir

saudi digital payments reach 80% as cash use shrinks

Digital payments now account for 80% of all transactions in Saudi Arabia, according to Visa’s latest Where Cash Hides report, another marker of how quickly the Kingdom is moving away from cash.

The share is up four percentage points from a year ago. Around 67% of consumers are now largely non-cash users, paying mainly with cards or mobile wallets. Smartphones are taking a bigger role, with mobile payments making up 16% of transactions.

visa where cash hides saudi arabia 2026

Cash is retreating in routine spending. Eating out dropped 9%. Bill payments fell 8%, as shoppers opt for faster checkouts and app-based payments.

“The data shows a steady move toward digital payments in Saudi Arabia. Such progress is possible only because banks, fintechs, merchants, and technology partners are moving together in the same direction, in line with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030,” said Ali Bailoun, Visa’s Senior Vice President and Group Country Manager for Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Oman.

Also Read: UAE Users Sleep Less, But More Efficiently, ŌURA Data Reveals

Despite the recent findings, it’s important to note that cash hasn’t yet disappeared. It still shows up for tips (39%), peer-to-peer transfers (28%) and rent (14%).

Visa points to security features such as tokenization, along with rewards and cashback, as factors nudging more spending onto cards and phones — a shift that tracks with Saudi Arabia’s wider Vision 2030 push to digitize commerce.