Once upon a time, two footwear manufacturers took the same flight to Africa with the aim of starting a new business on that continent. To their surprise, they found that almost all of the people there did not wear shoes. The first manufacturer thought to himself: “There’s no chance! People here do not wear shoes.” However, the second manufacturer thought the opposite: “Great! People here all have no shoes!”
The “Africa footwear” fable is a great illustration of the power of untapped potential in emerging markets including the Middle East and North Africa region (or “MENA”), taken advantage only by those global-minded, aggressive (yet prudent), visionary entrepreneurs who are willing to put forth the effort to understand and venture in this ripe part of the world, full of promising opportunities, and move strategically and methodically around whatever business, economical, and cultural challenges to unlock enormous success.
- One of the world’s fastest growing emerging markets;
- With 300 million total population and 3% to 5% recent annual growth rate;
- One of the highest regional consumption rates in worldwide driven by appetite for luxury and leisure goods;
- 400,000+ high net-worth individuals, each with liquid assets of $5MM to invest (13% of the population are wealthy with available funds of $2 trillion);
- 65% of the population under 30 years old;
- Some of the fines luxury amenities available anywhere combined with its centralized global location, allows it be an attractive business hub and tourism destination;
- MENA is implementing much stricter intellectual property legislations relative to other emerging markets; and
- MENA is currently undergoing leaps and bounds infrastructural development.
