World Bank: Economic Digitalization in Middle East Can Generate $1.6 Trillion in Gains

World Bank: Economic Digitalization in Middle East Can Generate $1.6 Trillion in Gains

The World Bank said the full digitization of the economy in the Middle East and North Africa could raise GDP per capita by at least 46 percent over 30 years, or long-term gains of $1.6 trillion.

In a new report entitled, “The Upside of Digital for the Middle East and North Africa, How Digital Technology Adoption Can Accelerate Growth and Create Jobs,” the World Bank said that during the first year of digitization, the region’s GDP per capita could reach $300 billion.

According to the report, this increase will be more pronounced in lower-income countries in the region, which will witness a minimum of 71 percent increase as the gains are driven by closing the gap in access to digital technologies.

The World Bank added that the adoption of digital technologies in MENA countries would achieve enormous social and economic benefits amounting to hundreds of billions of dollars annually, emphasizing that extensive use of digital services, such as mobile services and digital payments, would boost economic growth.

Ferid Belhaj, World Bank Vice President for the Middle East and North Africa, said: “The gains from increasing the transformation to a digital economy are enormous, and governments should do everything they can to remove the obstacles