By 2030, Saudi Arabia will have more renewable energy capacity than any other country in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

This finding comes from a recent report published by the Wamda Research Lab, in partnership with General Electric, that assesses the scaling challenges cleantech startups in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) face as they grow their companies.

The report found that limited cleantech awareness, small pool of investment sources, talent acquisition challenges, and minimal R&D resources are critical barriers entrepreneurs must overcome if they want to scale their companies in the region.

In parallel, the report also found that cleantech startups are on the rise, and more cleantech companies were launched in MENA during the last two years than in the six years prior.

A country-breakdown of startup activity shows that several countries are driving growth in the regional market, and are becoming startup hubs for cleantech.

Egypt takes the regional lead and is home to 33 percent of MENA’s cleantech startups. Jordan falls slightly behind at 17 percent, followed by Saudi Arabia at 8 percent - a country identified in the report as having the most cleantech potential.

The report suggests that cleantech startup activity in a particular country depends on a combination of R&D resources, investment sources, talent availability, and the number and size of cleantech projects.