News
MENA Online Electronics Sales Grew By 7% In 2023
Despite inflation and rising prices, the Admitad affiliate network says growth aligns perfectly with the global rate.
According to newly released data from the Admitad affiliate network, MENA shoppers made 7% more orders in 2023 and spent 5% more while doing so. The reported rates perfectly align with the pace of global growth, according to Admitad’s analytics.
As part of the study, the company examined over 9 million online orders across 360+ brands. 600,000 MENA online orders were included in those figures, along with 144 local brands and local branches of global companies such as Canon, Dyson, Huawei, Alibaba, and more.
When it comes to online electronic purchases, the MENA cities with the highest share of orders in 2023 were Dubai, Tel Aviv, Riyadh, Abu Dhabi, Jeddah, Ramat Gan, Petaẖ Tiqwa, Istanbul, Sharjah and Kuwait City.
According to Admitad’s data, the main channels through which MENA brands and marketplaces attracted sales were: (by their share in the total number of sales)
- Affiliate Stores: 23%
- Content Platforms & Online Media: 21%
- Groups & Blogs In Social Media: 4%
- Contextual & Targeted Ads: 5%
- Cashback Services: 2%
- Coupon Sites: 4%
- External Mobile Apps: 2%
- Other: 3%
Sales through third-party mobile apps grew significantly in 2023, with purchases of electronics through those mediums doubling. Sales through affiliate stores jumped 62%, while MENA buyers also paid more attention to recommendations from content platforms and media this year, with sales through those channels rising by 12%.
Also Read: Tribit FlyBuds C1 Earbuds Review: The Ultimate Bang For Your Buck
Admitad experts remain optimistic about their forecast for the growth of online sales of electronics in 2023 and believe that the MENA market will continue to expand. Of key importance for the industry is the upcoming holiday sale season, with brands hoping to maximize profits during White Friday and Cyber Monday.
News
Visa’s Return To Syria Starts With A Test And A Bank In Lebanon
Foreign visitors will be the first users to benefit, but whether Syria’s own banks and cardholders follow is still an open question.
Visa is returning to Syria. Its first live international card transaction in the country was a test rather than a launch, and the milestone event ran through a Lebanese bank.
The acquirer (the bank on the merchant’s side of a card payment) was Fransabank Lebanon, with Paymera as the other named partner. Nadim Moujaes, who heads a Fransabank Group subsidiary, describes the test as both the culmination of “longstanding efforts to link Syria back to international payment networks” and “the first step in a larger path”.
Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa makes the first electronic payment in Syria using a @Visa card at a store in Damascus, following the lifting of US sanctions on Syria. pic.twitter.com/lpAN7nQ6Fc
— Tech Magazine (@TechMGZN) August 27, 2026
“We are excited to have successfully tested live transactions today as we plan to enable international visitors to use their Visa cards while in Syria,” says Leila Serhan, Visa’s senior vice president and group country manager for the North Africa, Levant and Pakistan region. Although a significant first step, that plan doesn’t come with a hard date for when a visitor’s card will work normally.
Mohammed Safwat Raslan, governor of the Central Bank of Syria, says the test paves the way for international card acceptance in Syria and that maintaining strong compliance, risk management and operational controls will remain essential. Serhan likewise stresses that Visa has worked within applicable legal, regulatory and compliance requirements. For a test transaction, it seems there was a great deal of attention paid to the rules, with the entire operation being carefully managed.
Also Read: Lebanon’s 5G Era Begins With 150 Stations And A $1M Budget
The test is the latest step in a sequence that began in December 2025, when Visa announced a strategic roadmap to support Syria’s integration into the global digital economy. In February 2026 it hosted its first industry gathering of banks, ecosystem partners and policymakers in Damascus and, the same month, signed an agreement with Syria’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in San Francisco.
Michel Kattouah, Paymera’s CEO, called the test “the return of international card acceptance,” but while that’s positive news, there’s no word yet on when a Syrian bank will issue a Visa card to a Syrian customer.
Visa’s Return To Syria Starts With A Test And A Bank In Lebanon
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