Wamda, in partnership with the Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship at MIT, has launched a whitepaper on the e-commerce sector of the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region.

The paper, which discusses the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on e-commerce also offers policy recommendations to help boost the sector’s contribution to the regional economy.

The Middle East’s e-commerce sector was already on the rise before the pandemic and the subsequent lockdowns resulted in a boom that has had a wider impact across other industries. Prior to the pandemic, online shopping accounted for just 2 per cent of the retail market in Mena, but it was gaining momentum and by 2017 had reached a value of $8.3 billion, up from $4.2 billion 2015.

By the end of 2020, the e-commerce sector had reached a value of $22 billion, with the bulk of this growth being driven by the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, which together account for 80 per cent of the region’s overall e-commerce market.

We will be discussing the findings of the report today, to register for the panel discussion please follow this link: https://www.wamda.com/2021/03/covid-19-unlocked-adoption-e-commerce-mena-region-event

To access the report, please follow this link: https://www.wamda.com/research