The Mobile Economy Report – Middle East and North Africa 2023

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is home to some of the global leaders in terms of 5G adoption. 5G networks now cover 75% or more of the population in the GCC states, with operators in those markets increasingly shifting focus to improving 5G coverage in less densely populated areas while also ramping up investment to support the growing momentum behind use cases enabled by 5G standalone (SA) and 5G-Advanced.

While the GCC states are among the global leaders in 5G rollout, commercial 5G deployments across the rest of the region are varied. Despite growing momentum behind 5G in North Africa, commercial 5G remains absent in the region, reflecting the challenging situation with spectrum which has not yet been assigned in any North African country.

Together with the rollout of 5G, key trends shaping the mobile ecosystem in the region include the monetisation of tower assets, GCC telcos targeting stakes in European counterparts, the shift to circularity, and fintech growth.