Ripe with opportunity
With our strategic location, a highly connected young population, and educated & bilingual workforce, Bahrain has a unique advantage to tap into the MENA region’s fast growing digital media market.
The region is also witnessing gaming interest in virtual reality technologies. Bahrain offers a full operations & fulfillment solution to e-commerce companies looking to expand either into or within the region.
With revenue set to top US$ 3.9 billion by 2023, MENA has the world’s highest gaming and e-sports growth rate. Bahrain is fast emerging as the gateway to this still largely untapped market and proving itself as an ideal test bed for developers creating Arabic-first content and other digital entertainment.
$4bn
MENA’s digital media market is forecasted to triple in size to $4 billion by 2022.
(Forbes)
>60%
Of MENA consumers are willing to pay to consume digital content.
(Forbes)
$8.3bn
In 2017, the MENA e-commerce market reached $8.3 billion. With an average annual growth rate of 25%, e-commerce in the region has been growing slightly ahead of the global average.
(Bain)
Connected population
1st
Globally for percentage of internet users.
(WEF 2018)
~119
Mobile cell subscriptions per 100 inhabitants.
(Hootsuite)
30%
Of the GCC population are gamers.
(NewZoo Global Market Report)
98%
Internet penetration, the highest in the world (WEF 2018).
Digital community
The region is witnessing an explosion in gaming and virtual reality technologies and the creative talent behind it. A strong gaming community allows Bahrain to host a year-long calendar of events and activities where international companies showcase their games for thousands of attendees. In recent years, Bahrain has been proud to host:
IGN convention
Bahrain gaming Experience
Animania Bahrain
Blast Pro Series Final
Human capital
With a dialect easily understood across the region and a young & bilingual ICT workforce, Bahrain provides companies with the tools to tap into the localized gaming market, reaching 400mn+ Arabic speakers in the MENA region.
Bahrain offers a creative environment for companies within the digital content field with a newly launched Arts Incubator to further foster this sector.
E-commerce market
Rapid economic growth, industrialization, and domestic consumption are fueling the Middle East’s growth in e-commerce. The MENA region is currently home to 4 million online shoppers, and with millions more people shopping online regularly, businesses have the opportunity to develop products and e-commerce business ideas to capture this rapidly expanding, yet underserved market.
The MENA e-commerce sector is projected to grow from USD 20bn in 2017 to USD 200bn in 2020. With unrivalled connectivity and logistics access to key regional e-commerce markets including Saudi and Kuwait, Bahrain is at the epicentre of the regional e-commerce business opportunity.
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