For decades, the MENA region’s pivotal role in the global economy has been rooted primarily in oil and gas exports. The region’s GDP grew from $1 trillion USD in 2000 to nearly $4.5 trillion in 2022, and more than 60% of that combined GDP is in its oil-exporting countries.
Fast-forward a decade and it will be a different picture. Look farther out and the picture could be unrecognizable compared to today. New sources of MENA’s consequence in the global economy will emerge. It’s already happening, and it will accelerate with a flywheel effect as countries lean into not just diversifying, but fundamentally transforming, their economies. The nexus is where a leap in the region’s digital/tech sector meets the emergence of new “green economy” industry sectors. And because success at that nexus will be tied not to oil or other natural resource wealth, but rather to talent development and attraction of investment, influence in the future global economy will be more broadly shared among more MENA countries than ever before.
Continue reading in Capital Insights (pp.47-48)
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