Marketing in the Middle East and North Africa

The Middle East and North Africa is often viewed as a monolithic, homogeneous mass market. Of course this is not a true picture of the region and its people. At one extreme is Saudi Arabia with few people but tremendous oil wealth, and a small, although growing base for an industrial society. At the other extreme is Egypt which has 42 million people but no oil wealth; yet a trained workforce, the Suez Canal and basic economic potential. Between these two extremes are numerous variations; for instance Kuwait, a relatively free market, requires different selling techniques from nationalistic Iraq with its government/political purchasing policy.