The Middle East and North Africa Region (MENA) generated over $191 Billion in funds from mobile technologies and services in 2018. This amount was revealed by GSMA intelligence reports at the just concluded GSMA Mobile 360 Conference in Dubai.
The reports dubbed ‘The Mobile Economy: the Middle East and North Africa 2019’ and ‘Realising the potential of IoT in MENA’, pinpoint the growth and contributions of mobile tech including IOT to MENA’s economy.
GSMA Mobile 360 is an annual conference that promotes regional engagements on mobile technology, through topics that impact the industry. It offers unique opportunities for stakeholders in the sector to learn and discuss the success and challenges of the sector.
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It noted that the mobile economy has contributed $191 billion to the economy. This is about 4.5% of the region’s GDP in 2018. The contribution is estimated to reach $220 billion by 2023. The growth will be powered by 5G technologies and IoT networks.
Meanwhile, IoT connection in the MENA region is growing at a fast pace. The growth is propelled by governments’ effort to address the scarcity of resources and improve the lifestyle of its citizens.
This also propelled the growth of IoT in 2018. The technology is expected to reach over 470 million IoT connections by the end of 2019 and 1.1 billion increase by 2025.
This figure will also put an additional $18 billion increase in the region’s GDP.
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