MENA’s ecommerce market was valued at $37 billion, with the report predicting that it will exceed $57 billion by 2026
Information technology spending in the MENA region is predicted to reach $178.1 billion in 2023, with Egypt leading as one of the region’s technology hotspots, revealed a new report by Doha-based strategic communications agency BLJ Worldwide.
The “MENA Tech 2023: Mapping the Technology Landscape” report delves into a variety of topics within the regional tech scene, from fintech to gaming, to take an overarching, “state-of-the-region” look at the MENA technology sector.
Egypt was among the region’s top tech hotspots and was named one of the top 5 in terms of startups. The countries were chosen for various reasons, including their high level of investment into future technologies, thriving start-up ecosystems, world-leading internet connectivity, and more, the report explained.
The UAE is the region’s tech startup capital, with local companies raising $1.85bn in 2022. This is followed by KSA ($907 million) and Egypt ($736 million).
FinTech was the region’s most funded startup sector in 2022, raising $1.1 billion, followed by CleanTech with funding worth $409 million, and logistics at $362 million.
KSA, the UAE, Egypt, Qatar, and Bahrain were listed as the region’s top locations for research and development. Each of these countries substantially invests in developing their technology sector and possesses world-leading research facilities, the report wrote.
Egypt, the UAE, KSA, Oman, and Morocco were named as having the highest proportion of the region’s most influential women in tech.
MENA’s ecommerce market was valued at $37 billion, with the report predicting that it will exceed $57 billion by 2026.
BLJ Worldwide CEO, Justin Kerr-Stevens stated that “MENA’s tech industry has come a long way in the last decade driven by significant investment and global moments like the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and Expo 2020. With visits from the founder of Chat GPT, and sovereign wealth fund investments in Twitter and other tech unicorns, our report paints a picture of a diverse and rapidly evolving region. Once a relatively disparate collection of markets that largely followed the lead of economies such as the US and China, today MENA is a region that is recognized not only for its potential investment in tech but as a market that has its own distinct technological identity”.
The report also highlighted the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) use within the region, the prominence of women in Arabic esports, and the region’s vast investment into future technologies.
