Middle East and African economies don't need more unicorns – they need camels

'Camels' are start-ups that are better poised to survive in the long term. Getty Images / Nick Donaldson

For too long, the global start-up narrative has been dominated by chasing unicorns – companies valued at over a billion dollars. They make headlines, attract global investors and feed national pride. But beneath the shine, this unicorn model has misfired in Middle East and African markets.

Built for Silicon Valley, the idea of unicorns depends on conditions these regions, for the most part, simply do not yet have in full: deep pools of patient venture capital, robust secondary markets, predictable local exits and a pipeline of acquirers able to justify billion-dollar takeovers.

Over the past 10 years, Africa produced a handful of unicorns, including Flutterwave, OPay, Wave, Chipper Cash, Andela, Jumia and Moniepoint. The Middle East minted a similar number, from Careem and Kitopi to SWVL and fintech stars such as Tabby, Tamara and Yalla.

But how many still hold unicorn status? Not all, and many actually offer cautionary tales. Jumia peaked at around $3 billion post-IPO in 2019. By late 2020 it was trading at around $250 million – a 90 per cent collapse in value. SWVL listed via a special-purpose acquisition company (Spac) at $1.5 billion in 2022. Within months its market cap fell 96 per cent to under $60 million. Flutterwave reached a $3 billion valuation but faced regulatory scrutiny and profitability struggles. More importantly, these firms soaked up large venture liquidity that smaller, more resilient companies badly needed.

The fundraising data tells a story that compounds this challenge. Africa raised a record $5.2 billion in venture capital in 2021, but just 16 “super-sized” deals consumed $2.6 billion – half of all the capital raised – out of 604 transactions. The Mena region followed the same pattern: mega-rounds for a handful of platforms, while thousands of SMEs struggled for basic working capital.

Now if we use the real value-creation lens, as defined by economic activity, and inclusive growth, we find that the imbalance is stark. Across Africa and the Middle East, more than 90 per cent of businesses are SMEs. They account for 60 to 80 per cent of employment. In Nigeria, SMEs represent 96 per cent of registered companies and 84 per cent of jobs. In the UAE, SMEs contribute more than 50 per cent of GDP. Yet, they receive less than 10 per cent of venture funding.

Unicorns will not take the Middle East and Africa from zero to a hundred, as most of them are regional replicas of global models. Nor will they create the millions of jobs needed in a region where youth unemployment in most countries hits double digits.

Unicorns will not take the Middle East and Africa from zero to a hundred, as most of them are regional replicas of global models

The alternative is not speculative – it is visible in our real economies every day: resilient, revenue-first “camel” companies. Camels are not glamorous, but they are durable. They don’t burn cash chasing valuations; they build steady revenues, create jobs, endure shocks and prioritise profitability.

In this context, a camel company is one that reliably generates $5 million to $10 million in annual revenues, in a sector that meets real and recurring demand. Think of an education provider rolling out affordable online courses across Africa; a mid-sized healthcare network expanding clinics across the GCC; or a food-processing firm supplying both local and export markets. These firms are not chasing headlines. They are building payrolls, re-investing profits and compounding value year after year.

It is time we rethink how we mobilise and incentivise SME funding and venture capital. Hype must move out; fundamentals must move in. This need is compounded when we note that venture funding has already contracted in Africa from $6.4 billion in 2022 to around $2.2 billion in 2024. And in the Middle East, major Gulf investors have shifted focus toward infrastructure and sovereign priorities.

With this shrinking funding pool, founders are being asked to do more with less. For camel companies, this is not a constraint – it is their competitive edge. They have always optimised scarce resources, leaned on revenue before valuation and treated endurance as strategy. Unicorns can, and will, still emerge – but they should be progressions of success, not the model we design ecosystems around.

This shift also means leaning towards sectors that matter for people’s lives – agrifood, education and health care. These are the engines of employment, productivity and prosperity.

In this new context, capital itself needs rethinking too. It is not enough to have big pools of venture money chasing the next “hot” app. What we lack is capital plumbing: predictable, reliable mechanisms that give founders and employees liquidity without waiting a decade for an IPO that may never come. Local-currency credit lines, revenue-based financing, sovereign-backed blended funds and regulated secondary markets are the pipes that will keep capital flowing rather than just trickling into mega-rounds that serve a handful of firms. Governments should tilt incentives toward companies that create jobs and embed resilience.

The Middle East and Africa do not need to mimic Silicon Valley. They need to embrace their own metaphor: the camel. Durable, disciplined, adapted to scarcity. In that lies not just survival, but sovereignty. Scattered signals are not enough. The future requires structure – dedicated, sovereign-backed camel funds that can take a long-horizon view and back the kinds of companies that will still be standing in 10 or 20 years.

The camel model is not Plan B. It is the only plan that makes sense for our region.