We’ve got MENA on our mind
In August, we announced the expansion of our payments platform to the Middle East and North Africa region (otherwise known as MENA) where rapid internet penetration and projected e-commerce growth is attracting the attention of digital media and SaaS merchants.
CAs always, our goal is to bridge the gap between the needs of global merchants and the payment and infrastructure-related realities on the ground. This has been our approach for LATAM, China, India and Turkey, and this is how we’re approaching Middle East and Africa. Egypt and Morocco are the first countries in the MENA region where our platform is simplifying acceptance of local payments and handling mass payouts. But we’re not stopping there.
To localize your checkout flows and realize a practically-immediate ROI, we recommend that you implement the following payment methods: Visa, Mastercard and CMI, cash methods like Proximo and Fawry, and digital wallets like Amanpay. To learn more about market conditions and payment requirements in these countries, download our Morocco and Egypt country guides.
Why we expanded into Egypt and Morocco and why it should be on your expansion list, too.
Before we decided to expand into Middle East and North Africa, we conducted an in-depth market research that showed several positive growth trends in the region. Chief among them was a confluence of regulatory reforms and technology advancements signaling the development of new, prosperous e-commerce markets.
Morocco:
- 2017 has generated $244 M in total e-commerce spend with 2021 expected to hit $939 M forecasted for 2021. That’s almost x4 growth in 4 years.
- 68% of sales took place on a mobile device and 32% on a desktop.
- Retail e-commerce is a whopping 96% with 74% of all e-commerce payments made using cash.
- More than 50% of the population in Morocco, including most of the urban population, has bank accounts.
- Morocco is a top-5 banking market in Africa.
Overall, our research showed that consumers are embracing new ways to buy goods online as they move away from customary traditions such as paying with cash and wanting to see and touch goods before buying them. You can download the complete Morocco country research here..
Egypt:
- A population of mostly young shoppers – 50% under age 30 – is driving the transition to online shopping and payments.
- $1.5 billion e-commerce spend in 2017 with 29% projected CAGR through 2021.
- Mobile and desktop sales are nearly even – 45% and 55%, respectively.
- 14% of online sales were with cross-border merchants and 86% of online sales with local merchants, so the cross-border market is not saturated.
- Cash accounts for 64% of e-commerce purchases, and credit and debit cards make up 20%.
- Digital wallets are downloaded at the rate of 250K a month and account for ~9% of e-commerce purchases.
- The use of pre-paid cash cards is forecasted to account for 10% in 2018 (up from 4% in 2017).
To learn more about Egypt, download our latest market research here.
If India, Turkey, Brazil or any of the other LATAM countries are on your mind, take a look at our comprehensive insights section for research on e-commerce and payment trends, webinars and case studies. Interested in scheduling a demo - contact us here..
