MENASA Region Has $10tn Untapped Business Potential

The Middle East, North Africa and South Asia (MENASA) region has an untapped $10 trillion cross-industry opportunity, according to a white paper by Frost and Sullivan.

Sustained long-term growth and an anticipated revival of the global economy is expected to boost the combined GDP of MENASA to $12.8 trillion by 2022-2023, said the report. MENASA’s GDP is expected to reach $12.3 trillion in the next two to three years after achieving a growth rate of 3.5 per cent in 2012.

Middle East leads the market with 62 per cent of the investment opportunities in the region while North Africa has just 13 per cent. South Asia was the second highest with a 25 per cent share in investment opportunities.

The investment drivers across the region are infrastructure development, power and water, real estate, oil and gas, manufacturing and healthcare industries.

Infrastructure offered the highest share of investment potential in the Middle East and North Africa with 28 and 58 per cent respectively.

However the knowledge of tapping into such investment opportunities is vital.

“The combination of numerous countries and lack of availability of relevant information can leave companies with a daunting task of how to approach their expansion plans,” said Samita Khawar, head of growth implementation solutions, Frost & Sullivan, MENASA.

“While ‘how’ is the biggest question that is generally asked, a better starting point is ‘where’. The specificities of regions, countries, and even markets within countries mean that the entry strategy generally needs to be customized to the strategic needs of the client.”

The white paper recommends a five-stage prioritization model for geographic expansion of business in the region that will help utilise business potential.

According to Frost and Sullivan experts, the model prioritizes markets based on the opportunity size with minimal risk balanced against management capacity, resources, and a rigorous risk mitigation strategy thus ensuring maximum returns on efforts and investments.