Middle East/Africa

"The buzz that there is in the Middle East, the Gulf and Africa is the same we saw in China seven or eight years ago in the early part of the market cycle…"
- Jorma Ollila, Nokia Chief Executive

"Cisco Systems is seeing business grow by 30-40 percent a year in the Middle East and Africa and expects similar growth rates for some years to come."
- Mark De Simone, Cisco MEA Vice President

"The six countries of the Gulf Co-operation Council will spend up to $375bn on the expansion of telecommunications and related infrastructure over the next decade. About 25% of the multi-billion dollar GCC infrastructure development budgets will be spent on expanding telecommunications."
- Gulf News

• The MENA market is one of the fastest growing information technology market in the world along with China and India
• One of the most vibrant and fast-growing mobile markets around
• Telecom sector liberalization and competition fuelling telecom growth
• The region is now the fastest growing region of the world for broadband lines
• Most solutions vendors are accelerating their business development activities in the region
• Emergence of global service providers that are headquartered in the region such as Orascom, Zain, STC, and Etisalat.