Deeper credit markets can help Gulf consumer brands reach global scale
24 October 2025
Booming Gulf economies are powering a new generation of consumer brands. But turning those promising start-ups into global businesses requires more than ambition — it requires financing models fit for the task.
Household spending growth in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region is expected to outperform international peers in the coming years, supported by young demographics, a growing labour market, and governments eager to shift away from hydrocarbons.[1]
Yet, the region still punches below its weight on the world stage.
The Brand Finance Global 500 includes just nine Middle Eastern brands, with a combined value of US$127.4 billion — a modest presence compared to China’s 69 brands and the United States’ 193.[2],[3] Encouragingly, those nine names grew their value by 23% year-on-year in 2025, more than double that of non-Middle Eastern brands at 11%.[4]
The potential is there; the question is whether Gulf founders can access the capital to match it.
In developed markets, consumer entrepreneurs already tap a wide array of private credit tools, from equity-backed loans to specialist lenders who understand the needs of fast-moving brands.
These options allow founders to reinvest in expansion, marketing, and inventory without selling down ownership too early. In the Gulf, by contrast, entrepreneurs still rely overwhelmingly on banks — which sometimes charge double-digit rates to lend to start-ups and SMEs.
The recent US Federal Reserve rate cut has offered some relief to businesses globally, but the impact in the GCC will be limited. With currencies pegged to the dollar, Gulf central banks have little room to chart their own course, despite subdued inflation expectations.[5] Sticky inflation in the US is expected to keep borrowing costs higher than regional conditions justify — annual inflation in the Gulf region is expected to be closer to 2% this year, compared with nearly 3% in the US last month.[6],[7]
For many entrepreneurs, the choice is stark: stay small or accept expensive credit.
Of course, venture capital is expanding, and successful IPOs in Riyadh and Dubai have shown investors are more open to consumer names such as Talabat.[8] However, a US$250 billion funding gap for regional SMEs won’t be fulfilled by venture capitalists alone.[9]
Private credit is one solution. A recent PwC report notes that the GCC and Egypt are now among the fastest-growing markets globally for non-bank lending, driven in large part by start-ups and SMEs shut out of traditional finance.[10]
For Gulf founders, this shift could be transformative.
A year to remember for GCC brands
The move from hydrocarbons to non-oil growth is no longer just rhetoric. In 2024, non-oil activities accounted for 77.9% of GCC GDP, with growth across member states hovering around 4%.[11],[12] Exports of non-oil goods and services, worth about US$202 billion in 2022, are projected to rise toward US$1 trillion by 2030 as reforms and diversification continue.[13]
This dramatic economic transformation is beginning to have a global impact.
Dubai chocolate — pistachio-filled, artisanal chocolate bars — trended globally earlier this year, with brands such as Al Nassma, known for camel milk chocolates, positioning themselves as purveyors of unique local tastes.[14] In Gulf beauty (valued at US$60 billion in 2025[15]), Dubai-based Huda Kattan has built Huda Beauty into a global phenomenon; it was ranked the world’s most popular beauty brand in Cosmetify’s Q1 2025 index.[16] Meanwhile, Bateel has expanded from gourmet dates to a premium gifting empire, with more than 170 outlets in 26 countries and a flagship boutique in Singapore.[17]
These stories prove that Gulf entrepreneurs have the vision, cultural cachet and domestic markets to compete internationally. What is missing is the financing to support them.
It’s worth remembering how Howard Schultz famously raised US$400,000 from early investors in the US in the mid-1980s to launch a café concept that later merged with Starbucks, after being rejected by banks.[18] That funding proved the turning point that helped Starbucks scale from a handful of shops into a global giant.
Across industries, unconventional financing — from family loans to equity-backed credit — has repeatedly been the difference between staying small and going global.
One underused advantage for the Gulf region is the wealth currently held in equities. In Saudi Arabia alone, the retail investor base has now reached 6.9 million individuals.[19]
If even a fraction of these sizeable portfolios across households and families were monetised through equity-backed financing, founders could unlock liquidity without diluting ownership over the long-term, recycling personal wealth into entrepreneurial growth.
The message is simple: the Gulf’s entrepreneur economy can benefit from access to alternative sources of capital and a more diverse group of lenders.
As the alternative credit market expands and founders embrace these tools, there is no reason why tomorrow’s consumer brands from Riyadh or Dubai cannot make their mark in London or New York.
[1] https://www.oxfordeconomics.com/resource/why-gcc-consumers-are-set-to-continue-to-outperform/
[2] https://brandfinance.com/press-releases/middle-eastern-brands-outpace-global-brand-value-growth-rate
[3] https://static.brandirectory.com/reports/brand-finance-global-500-2025-preview.pdf
[4] https://www.arabnews.com/node/2587245/media
[5] https://gulfbusiness.com/us-fed-rate-cut-gcc-central-banks-impact-economy-finances
[6] https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/inflation-cpi
[7] https://economymiddleeast.com/news/gcc-economic-growth-rise-4-percent-2025-despite-trade-headwinds-icaew/
[8] https://www.pwc.com/m1/en/media-centre/2025/11-gcc-ipos-raise-us-16bn-driven-by-strong-momentum-in-saudi-arabia.html
[9] https://www.middle-east.kearney.com/industry/financial-services/article/small-but-mighty-why-banks-need-to-rethink-how-they-serve-smes
[10] https://www.pwc.com/m1/en/publications/2025/docs/pwc-difc-private-credit-report-seizing-the-moment.pdf
[11] https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2024/12/01/non-oil-sectors-drive-robust-growth-in-gcc-countries
[12] https://www.zawya.com/en/economy/gcc/gcc-stat-gcc-countries-record-5878bln-in-nominal-gdp-by-end-of-q4-2024-jpgxcn85
[13] https://www.strategyand.pwc.com/m1/en/strategic-foresight/sector-strategies/public-sector-management/export-non-oil-goods.html
[14] https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/23/dining/dubai-chocolate-cant-get-knafeh-it.html
[15] https://www.voguebusiness.com/beauty/beauty-has-a-new-definition-in-the-gulf
[16] https://www.arabnews.com/node/2602599/lifestyle
[17] https://en.incarabia.com/bateel%E2%80%99s-nurta%C3%A7-afridi-on-global-growth-and-gourmet-dates-741474.html
[18] https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/8505866/Forty-years-young-A-history-of-Starbucks.html
[19] https://www.argaam.com/en/article/articledetail/id/1838389
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