The Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan (MENAP) is a truly unique region. While every market has its distinctive elements, those differences, fragmentations and complexities exist at a whole other level in MENAP. Payment methods, currencies, culture, regulation, infrastructure all of these factors vary from country to country.
So while digital payments offer a passport to more integrated economies, there’s still a hurdle to jump just to get those digital payments working from country to country. Overcoming this will be crucial to unlocking the prosperity gains that can follow.
Evolving consumer behaviour
A key observation for the region is that MENAP’s payments landscape is exceptionally dynamic and constantly changing. A trend that is only accelerated by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. This region has a young population, and when new payment methods come along, people are hungry for change and quick to adapt and adopt.