MENA A super-chat application built for the Middle East and North Africa region.

MENA is a next-generation super-chat platform designed specifically for the culture and needs of the Middle East and North Africa. The app enables seamless text and (voice-messaging) communication, along with the ability to send gifts using a blockchain-based digital currency called Silver. In addition to messaging, MENA empowers small businesses by providing a dedicated space to showcase their products directly to users across the region, with in-app purchasing fully supported. The platform also includes a comprehensive faith section, allowing users to read and share the Qur’an. To complement the social experience, MENA offers a trends hub where users can watch and share short-form videos, creating a dynamic and culturally relevant digital community.

Mobile App Repository

https://github.com/TheChance101/MENA-mobile)

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Setup your backend server

Open application.properties file you can find at app\src\main\resources\application.properties, and add these configurations:

Environment

Set active profile to dev in application.properties

spring.profiles.active=dev 

JWT

Add your jwt secret key to application.properties

jwt.secret-key=${JWT_SECRET}

Database

1. Install Postgress database on your machine
2. Add your database configuration parameters to application.properties

spring.datasource.url=${DATABASE_URL}
spring.datasource.username=${DATABASE_USER_NAME}
spring.datasource.password=${DATABASE_PASSWORD}

Storage

We used Digital Ocean as a remote file storage server

1. Create Digital Ocean account
2. Create a space bucket
   Please follow the guide here (How to Create a Spaces Bucket), We create a bucket for each feature
3. Configure Application Properties
   Add the following bucket configuration settings to your application.properties file.

storage.mena.key=${STORAGE_MENA_KEY}
storage.mena.secret=${STORAGE_MENA_SECRET}
storage.mena.bucket=${STORAGE_MENA_BUCKET}
storage.mena.endpoint=${STORAGE_MENA_ENDPOINT}
storage.mena.cdn-endpoint=${STORAGE_MENA_CDN_ENDPOINT}

storage.dukan.key=${STORAGE_DUKAN_KEY}
storage.dukan.secret=${STORAGE_DUKAN_SECRET}
storage.dukan.bucket=${STORAGE_DUKAN_BUCKET}
storage.dukan.endpoint=${STORAGE_DUKAN_ENDPOINT}
storage.dukan.cdn-endpoint=${STORAGE_DUKAN_CDN_ENDPOINT}

storage.trends.key=${STORAGE_TRENDS_KEY}
storage.trends.secret=${STORAGE_TRENDS_SECRET}
storage.trends.bucket=${STORAGE_TRENDS_BUCKET}
storage.trends.endpoint=${STORAGE_TRENDS_ENDPOINT}
storage.trends.cdn-endpoint=${STORAGE_TRENDS_CDN_ENDPOINT}

storage.wallet.key=${STORAGE_WALLET_KEY}
storage.wallet.secret=${STORAGE_WALLET_SECRET}
storage.wallet.bucket=${STORAGE_WALLET_BUCKET}
storage.wallet.endpoint=${STORAGE_WALLET_ENDPOINT}
storage.wallet.cdn-endpoint=${STORAGE_WALLET_CDN_ENDPOINT}

identity.resources.profile-image-directory=images

Alternatively, you can use LocalStack for local simulation on your machine.

1. Install Docker
2. Install AWS CLI
3. Install LocalStack
4. Follow the guide on the local stack website to create a key, secret, endpoint, CDN endpoint (region) for MENA, Duckan, Trends, and Wallet
5. Assign profile-image-directory to the value images

Elastic Search

1. Sign up or log in at Elasticsearch website
2. Configure Application Properties
   Add the following Elasticsearch configuration settings to your application.properties file.

spring.elasticsearch.uris=${ELASTIC_SEARCH_URIS}
spring.elasticsearch.password=${ELASTIC_SEARCH_PASSWORD}
spring.elasticsearch.username=${ELASTIC_SEARCH_USERNAME}

• ELASTIC_SEARCH_URIS → Address of your Elasticsearch server (example: http://localhost:9200 or your cloud URL)
• ELASTIC_SEARCH_USERNAME → Username for Elasticsearch
• ELASTIC_SEARCH_PASSWORD → Password for Elasticsearch

Alternatively, if you need to test it as a local simulation, you can use Docker.

1. You need to install Docker and elastic search docker image
2. Open the terminal and run this command with your desired ports, for example, port1 8088 and port2 8089:

docker run `
  --name elastic_search `
  -p [port1]:9200 `
  -p [port2]:9300 `
  --env xpack.security.enabled=false `
  --env xpack.security.http.ssl.enabled=false `
  --env discovery.type=single-node `
  -d elasticsearch:9.2.1

3. Configure Application Properties

spring.elasticsearch.uris=${ELASTIC_SEARCH_URIS}
spring.elasticsearch.password=${ELASTIC_SEARCH_PASSWORD}
spring.elasticsearch.username=${ELASTIC_SEARCH_USERNAME}

• ELASTIC_SEARCH_URIS → http://localhost:[port1], http://localhost:[port2]
• ELASTIC_SEARCH_USERNAME → empty string
• ELASTIC_SEARCH_PASSWORD → empty string

Architecture

.
├── app        # Application entry point, core configuration, global exception handlers
├── identity   # Authentication, authorization, user profiles, and security configuration
├── chat       # Chat and messaging features
├── dukan      # Dukan-related domain logic and services
├── faith      # Faith-related domain logic and services
├── trends     # Trends-related domain logic and analytics
├── wallet     # Wallet, payments, and financial transactions
└── events     # Event bus and cross-feature integrations

Technologies Used

• Language: Kotlin
• Framework: Spring Boot
• Architecture: MVC (Model-View-Controller) / REST API
• Database: PostgreSQL
• Testing: JUnit 5, MockK, Spring Boot Test
• Code Coverage: Kover
• Dependency Injection: Spring Framework IoC Container

Contributors

License:

Copyright 2025 The Chance

Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
You may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
You may obtain a copy of the License at

   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0

Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
limitations under the License.