The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) media industry is undergoing a fascinating transformation. Cultural shifts among the region’s young people have spawned a tremendous creative energy. Untapped demand for local, Arabic content will spur regional media to grow by leaps and bounds. Accelerated adoption of mobile technology has created opportunity across media platforms. Moreover, evolutions in paid and digital media have created new rationales for investment.

These changes provide regional media players with an opportunity to reset their business models and explore investments in high-quality local content, and offer global players in particular a reason to reevaluate their presence in the region. To succeed in this evolving landscape, it is important to understand how these changes are playing out in the industry today, and in particular in three growth areas: gaming, audiovisual content, and e-commerce.

However, simply understanding the changes isn’t enough. Regional and global players must bring their attention and expertise to four areas for the media sector to reach its full potential:

• Education, including preparation for digital careers in a variety of learning environments
• Talent, incorporating on-the-job training in areas such as gaming development, animation, and movie production
• Infrastructure and work environment, including both the high-quality facilities available in media cities and the corporate cultures that will attract the digital generation
• Financing, to bridge gaps in existing regional funding models

The regional industry challenges of limited revenue opportunity and high costs, which had previously made it difficult for global players to justify a business case for investment, are rapidly evolving. With improved sector economics and an emerging talent base, the MENA region merits a fresh look.

The Abu Dhabi Media Summit publication will provide useful insights both outside-in and inside-out perspectives of the growth opportunities and challenges underlying the media market.

Click here to download the "ADMS14 and strategy&" industry research publication (PDF)