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Global Online Marketing Profile: Middle
East/North Africa
Market Opportunity
For a business looking
to expand its operations internationally, the
language barrier can be a difficult obstacle to
overcome. Europe, for example, while a large
market overall, is fractured into much smaller
market segments by different languages. The
countries of the Arabian Peninsula (including
Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE and
Yemen) and Egypt (in North Africa), being united
by a common language – Arabic – do not face this
problem. This fast-growing and very wealthy
region is an excellent market for US-based
organizations looking to take their business
global.
With a population of
approximately 157 million in 2007 that is slated
to nearly double within the next forty years,
the Middle East/North Africa (MENA) region is
one of the fastest-growing single-language
regions in the world. The people of this region
have some of the highest per-capita incomes
worldwide, with Qatar being the third-highest in
the world at $84,833 and UAE (home to world
business hub Dubai) not far behind at $38,108,
according to the US Department of State. And
with the MENA countries being home to a
significant proportion of the world’s oil and
natural gas reserves, the region is slated to
become even wealthier in the near future.
Best Vertical Markets
In general, the best
vertical markets for export from the United
States are in the technology and services
sectors. In Yemen, the UAE, and Qatar, for
example, Medical equipment and services, along
with healthcare technology, were among the top
markets.
The currencies of the MENA countries have
stayed fairly stable versus the US dollar over
the past few years and the general trend seems
to be for no major fluctuations, since many of
the currencies are pegged to the US Dollar. The
Egyptian Pound, which is not pegged to the US
Dollar, has been gaining steadily on the Dollar
for the past two years. Apart from this currency
stability, many Gulf countries have set 2010 as
a target date for a single Gulf currency. These
facts suggest a region where trade is simple,
predictable, and profitable.
Regulatory and Tariff
Landscape
The MENA region is one
where trade is by-and-large free. Tariffs are
generally low across the board, with duties on
most items at 5%. However, with Islam being the
prominent (and official) religion of many of the
MENA countries, pork and pork products are
banned, and alcohol and tobacco products
generally have high (50-100%) tariffs on them.
Other than these restrictions, however, there
are few trade barriers, and exporting to the
region is generally simple and inexpensive.
Online Marketing
Opportunities
The MENA countries,
according to Internet World Stats, have a
collective online population of approximately
18.3 million, which represents an average of 22%
penetration into the market and a 1,044% growth
over the past seven years. Within this online
population, Egypt and Saudi Arabia command 80%
of the internet users, although the majority of
the money is with the countries that make up the
rest of the 20%. However, Egypt and Saudi Arabia
are high-potential countries, and should propel
the online growth of the region in the near
future. This dichotomy creates within the MENA
countries both an established and wealthy
section as well as a large growth-oriented
sector, which is optimum for conducting
e-commerce or e-marketing campaigns in the
region. 
Online Language
Preferences
The unifying link
between these otherwise diverse countries is a
shared common language – Arabic. According to
Internet World Stats, Arabic is the seventh
largest internet language, boasting almost 60
million users and representing approximately
4.2% of the entire internet population. However,
Arabic content online represents only about 0.5%
of global online content, which leads to a
significant gap between supply and demand. To
meet this demand for global online content and
to reach the Arabic-speaking end-user, it is
recommended that the global online marketer
optimize at least some content in Arabic, and
have an Arabic language landing-page.
Search Engine Profile
Search engines in the
MENA region can be profiled as a “Big 3” –
Google, Yahoo, and MSN Live. Across the board,
these are the top three search engines in the
region, although individual rankings differ from
country to country. According to Alexa.com,
while Google occupies the top spot in the UAE
(home to trade powerhouse Dubai), Qatari
internet users prefer Yahoo as their search
engine. Thus, an organizing wishing to optimize
its pages would need to submit their websites to
all three search engines for maximum results.
Summary
The MENA region is a
high growth, fairly wealthy region creating a
synergistic effect for the countries that
comprise it. United by the common language of
Arabic, the Middle East and North Africa can
become a vital and profitable cog in any
organization’s global expansion. While showing
significant potential, MENA is still in its
early growth stages. Therefore, Global eMarketer
ranks the MENA region as a Tier II market for
global online expansion. Still, organizations
seeking to be ‘early entrants’ in the market
would do well to give the Arabic-speaking MENA
region strong consideration for their online
marketing campaigns.
- With contributions
from Amal Kumar
Amal Kumar is a Global
Markets Research Analyst at the Global eMarketer
(GeM). GeM is an international business
development and marketing consulting firm that
helps business expand globally from preparation
to implementation, through global online
campaign management. For more information
contact information[at]globalemarketer[dot]com,
or visit our website at
http://www.globalemarketer.com.
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