Anghami co-founder on building Spotify’s rival in the Arab world

Anghami, Spotify’s rival in the Arab world, will be the first regional technology start-up to list in New York by merging with a blank-cheque company in the second quarter of 2021. Anghami co-founder and chief technology officer Elie Habib tells The National's Mustafa Alrawi and Kelsey Warner how the streaming service is changing the music scene in the Middle East. He also talks about Anghami's plans to use its SPAC listing to propel its next phase of growth and that moving to Abu Dhabi is a natural part of its technology-led evolution. In this episode: What are SPACs? (1m) Start of interview (4m 23s) Where did Anghami come from? (5m 26s) Why Anghami went the SPAC route (10m 56s) How was Anghami valued? (14m 44s) Where is the future of growth for Anghami? (17m 24s) How to you compete with piracy? (23m 26s) Rising competition (28m 57s) Innovation and tech in Anghami's future (31m 35s) Read more Middle East music streaming service Anghami set to list on Nasdaq QuickTake: Why the rising popularity of SPACs bodes well for venture-backed businesses Masayoshi Son's fortunes on the rise amid SoftBank share rally and SPACs boom