Bahrain’s government has made vital steps to encourage entrepreneurship to stimulate its economy. In doing so, it has created a startup-friendly environment, with easy access to funding, long-term visas and a regulatory environment that is responsive to startup needs.

One area where it seems to be excelling is in financial technology (fintech) with the establishment of the Bahrain Fintech Bay in 2018. The government-backed incubator, accelerator and sandbox has been issuing pioneering licences for fintech, making it one of the most attractive hubs for fintech startup in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena).

In this podcast we speak with Khalid Dannish, the chief executive officer of Bahrain Fintech Bay and AJ Nelson, co-founder of Rain, the first cryptocurrency exchange to receive a licence in Mena, on how the GCC state has managed to become a fintech hub.