Why it matters
With Syria’s physical system still fragmented, digital connectivity, remote work, and fintech are crucial to economic opportunity and reconstruction.
Despite challenges of Syria’s physical reconstruction, Syria’s tech diaspora believes digital recovery can start immediately. As sanctions ease and global platforms return, Syrians are actively reconnecting the country to the digital economy.
Years of war left Syria disconnected not only from global markets but also from many of the digital tools that power modern economies. Now, members of the country’s tech diaspora are working to reconnect Syrians to the global digital economy.
The country’s transitional government, led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa, has been in power since January 2025. Following sanctions relief from the US and EU, companies including GitHub, Google, and Nokia have expanded services in Syria, creating new opportunities for developers and digital businesses previously isolated from international platforms.
Growing recovery
While the sanctions haven’t been fully lifted yet, the Syrian diaspora is contributing to training, lecturing, and opening businesses. Yahya Elnashef, a data scientist and co-founder of SYNC – the first major international tech conference held in Syria in roughly 50 years – said the event was a direct result of diaspora coordination.
“We brought international speakers, investors, and technical expertise back into the country in a meaningful way,” Elnashef told Atlas Broadcasting. SYNC aims to create 25,000 technology jobs by 2030, with Syrian startups growing by 150% in 2025 compared to 2024.
“What the diaspora provides isn’t just funding – it’s credibility, networks, and access to [hidden] opportunity pipelines,” Elnashef added. “Remote work and digital services can generate real income and real skills even when physical infrastructure remains unreliable.”
The World Bank cleared Syria’s $15.5 million in outstanding debt, making the country eligible for millions of dollars in reconstruction and budget support grants. It has since resumed support for Syria, funding projects in electricity, water, and public financial management to support the country’s economic and digital recovery.
More than 80% of daily transactions in Syria are still conducted in cash, highlighting the huge potential for fintech and digital payments. “The transfer is happening, but the bottlenecks are real. Payment and remittance of funds remain nearly impossible for most Syrians; a developer can acquire world-class skills and still have no viable way to get paid by an international client,” Elnashef said.
Years of isolation
Decades of sanctions had left Syria with outdated digital infrastructure, old data centres, servers and networking equipment, creating obstacles for entrepreneurs and developers amid the country’s recovery.
“Most Syrian students have poor internet connections, so they have to use VPNs to access tools, making it harder for them to access knowledge,” Sara Kataf, Co-founder of Planalyze and a Syrian tech entrepreneur, told Atlas Broadcasting. She added that many experienced professionals focus on industry work rather than teaching.
“The infrastructure for a digital Syria exists in the diaspora’s collective expertise – the work now is to build the bridges to transfer the knowledge,” Elnashef said.
Geo-blocks
Diaspora-built platforms like Unblock Syria are also tracking digital services that remain blocked for people inside Syria. Of the 875 services they’re tracking, 434 are fully blocked, and 236 are limited or degraded.
“The biggest daily barrier for Syrian developers or students today is not the local network or censorship. Hundreds of international companies still geo-block Syria,” Omar Albeik, the platform’s founder, told Atlas Broadcasting. “That’s roughly three out of four [services].”
The blocks had mainly increased during the sanctions. Albeik explained that many blocks were introduced as an easier compliance measure during the sanctions era and have not been updated despite the easing of restrictions.
Technical obstacles
Limited bandwidth, connection refusals, and restricted access to cloud platforms continue to frustrate coding students in Damascus and Aleppo, including rejections from payment processors and security updates.
“GitHub is a good example; cloning and downloads work again, but accounts flagged as Syrian still cannot use private repositories or paid features,” Albeik said. “People route around the gaps with VPNs, but you cannot build a startup, accept a payment, or sit an online exam on a workaround.”
Unblock Syria has contacted companies behind more than 450 services. More than 25 services have fully restored access, including parts of Google’s developer ecosystem and tools such as Linux, Spotify, and Microsoft Teams.
“In most of these cases, no law required these blocks to stay. Someone just had to ask with the right compliance arguments,” Albeik said. “The fastest and cheapest gains for Syria’s digital economy come from international companies updating their geo-restrictions to match the post-sanctions reality.”
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