The financial services and banking sector is predicted to become the highest spender on artificial intelligence technology in the Middle East and North Africa, according to Google.
The sector will have a share of almost 25 per cent of all AI investments in the region, with the use of the technology in banking alone expected to contribute up to 13.6 per cent to the region’s gross domestic product by 2030, the Alphabet-owned company said in the Future of AI in the Mena report.
“This would take shape through a range of applications, such as deep learning for algorithmic trading, fraud analysis and investing, as well as smart portfolio management and customer profiling,” the report said.
The overall potential effect of AI on the region’s economic growth is significant, with the Mena region estimated to accrue $320 billion by 2030 from the value added by the technology.
This is mostly from costs saved through automating processes, as well as improving products and services across the region’s industries, the report said.
Governments across the Mena region are also introducing several project to use AI to enhance the “speed, accessibility and effectiveness” of public services, said the report commissioned by Google and released by Economist Impact.
“The report shows that the responsible development of AI creates massive opportunities to improve the lives of people in the Mena region and to turbo-charge key sectors of the economy,” said Martin Roeske, head of government affairs and public policy in Mena for Google.
“To ensure we reap the benefits of this wave of technological transformation requires a joint effort between the private sector, governments and civil society, including investments in infrastructure, people, technology and policy development."
Countries in the Mena region have developed national AI strategies to create a conducive business environment but they need more digital policies, for example, in the field of data governance, as well as trust and safety, the report said.
Establishing policies is essential to enhance the AI systems in the government and private sectors, said Saqr bin Ghalib, executive director of the Artificial Intelligence Office of the UAE government.
Increased usage of AI as the main factor in systems and businesses ensures the acceleration of digital transformation in the region, he said.
The travel and tourism industry, which contributes almost 9 per cent of Mena’s GDP, foresees various uses for AI but data transparency in the region remains a significant challenge, Google's report said.
Increase in online retail and commerce during the Covid-19 pandemic generated deeper pools of customer data that can be used for optimising AI algorithms and improving the customer experience, it said.
AI is also expected to support the growth of the transport and energy sectors and boost their contribution to the region's economy by 2030.
To ensure we reap the benefits of this wave of technological transformation requires a joint effort between the private sector, governments and civil society, including investments in infrastructure, people, technology and policy development
Martin Roeske,
head of government affairs and public policy in Mena for Google
The effect of AI systems on the energy sector is expected to contribute more than 6 per cent to the region’s GDP by 2030.
AI and machine learning are being introduced to refit electricity grids and reduce system losses and carbon emissions. In the transition towards renewables, AI is expected to play a major role in supporting countries in the region, the report said.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE — the largest economies in the Arab world — are focusing heavily on AI adoption.
The UAE is projected to benefit the most in the Middle East from AI adoption. The technology is expected to contribute up to 14 per cent to the country’s GDP — equivalent to $97.9bn — by 2030, an earlier report by consultancy firm PwC indicated.
In 2017, the Emirates appointed Omar Al Olama as its first Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence and later adopted the National Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2031 to promote the growth of the technology.
The Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence in Abu Dhabi was established in 2019 to develop the skills of top talent from across the world to lead workplaces of the future.
The Emirates also plans to boost the number of specialised AI laboratories in the country and accelerate AI research projects, the UAE Council for Artificial Intelligence and Digital Transactions said in February.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia aims to attract foreign and local investment worth more than 75bn Saudi riyals ($20bn) in the fields of data and AI by 2030 and is looking to develop customised applications that could propel the use of Arabic language in AI algorithms and software.
AI is expected to contribute up to 12.4 per cent to the kingdom's GDP – equivalent to 506.5bn riyals – by 2030, PwC said.
Company info
Company name: Entrupy
Co-founders: Vidyuth Srinivasan, co-founder/chief executive, Ashlesh Sharma, co-founder/chief technology officer, Lakshmi Subramanian, co-founder/chief scientist
Based: New York, New York
Sector/About: Entrupy is a hardware-enabled SaaS company whose mission is to protect businesses, borders and consumers from transactions involving counterfeit goods.
Initial investment/Investors: Entrupy secured a $2.6m Series A funding round in 2017. The round was led by Tokyo-based Digital Garage and Daiwa Securities Group's jointly established venture arm, DG Lab Fund I Investment Limited Partnership, along with Zach Coelius.
Total customers: Entrupy’s customers include hundreds of secondary resellers, marketplaces and other retail organisations around the world. They are also testing with shipping companies as well as customs agencies to stop fake items from reaching the market in the first place.
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Chromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxide
Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content
Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
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Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
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- Option 1: 70% in year 1, 50% in year 2, 30% in year 3
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Brief scores:
Toss: Pakhtunkhwa Zalmi, chose to field
Environment Agency: 193-3 (20 ov)
Ikhlaq 76 not out, Khaliya 58, Ahsan 55
Pakhtunkhwa Zalmi: 194-2 (18.3 ov)
Afridi 95 not out, Sajid 55, Rizwan 36 not out
Result: Pakhtunkhwa won by 8 wickets
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Martin Puchner
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Business Insights
- As per the document, there are six filing options, including choosing to report on a realisation basis and transitional rules for pre-tax period gains or losses.
- SMEs with revenue below Dh3 million per annum can opt for transitional relief until 2026, treating them as having no taxable income.
- Larger entities have specific provisions for asset and liability movements, business restructuring, and handling foreign permanent establishments.
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
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Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
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Company Profile:
Name: The Protein Bakeshop
Date of start: 2013
Founders: Rashi Chowdhary and Saad Umerani
Based: Dubai
Size, number of employees: 12
Funding/investors: $400,000 (2018)
