Unleashing the Power of AI in the MENA region: fintech, energy and tourism

17.02.2025

Unleashing the power of ai in the mena region: fintech, energy and tourism

Key takeaways:
AI contribution to the fintech, energy and tourism sectors will exceed $170 billion by 2034. Individual countries within the MENA region have already started to derive the benefits.
The main AI application areas include data analytics, decision-making processes, fraud detection and customer service.
With the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Oman and Kuwait at the helm, governments are to tackle skill gaps, enhance cybersecurity and cultivate a thriving AI ecosystem.

MENA countries’ promoting investment in AI generates positive externalities for various industries. For more on this topic, see our article on AI Transforming Retail, Public Sector and Transportation. To provide an even more comprehensive view, transformative opportunities in such vital areas as fintech, energy and tourism should be taken into account as well.

Fintech

The global AI in fintech market is expected to expand from $13.5 billion in 2024 to $58.7 billion by 2034, reflecting a robust CAGR of 15.9%. The MENA fintech market size is estimated to increase from $1.5 billion in 2024 to $2.4 billion by 2029, growing at a CAGR of 9.7% during the forecast period.

Source: Verified Market Research, Global Information

With AI utilized for algorithmic trading, fraud detection, customer service and credit scoring, financial services, along with professional and administrative ones, will account for 13.6% of AI contribution to the Middle East GDP by 2030.

Aiming to enhance decision-making, streamline processes and improve client experience, a number of initiatives is launched:

In September, 2024, UAE, Sumsub and the MENA Fintech Association tackled the evolving role of AI in fraud prevention, calling private institutions, regulators and government agencies to adapt compliance and regulatory frameworks to these changes.
With presence in seven countries, Singaporean AI-powered startup Dyna.Ai is moving its focus to the Saudi fintech market, determined to cement its local presence with a domestic office.
KSA has also succeeded in building its online platform Fintech Saudi with 216 members, 68 partners and more than 100 beneficiaries supporting the initiatives proposed to transform Saudi Arabia into an innovative fintech hub by implementing the latest technologies.
The Digital Academy project by FinTech Egypt, a unified platform to foster and connect startups, financial institutions, service providers and investors, equips participants with the knowledge and skills to successfully leverage AI.

energy

The global AI in energy market size was $13.18 billion in 2023, is calculated at $15.45 billion in 2024 and is projected to be worth around $75.53 billion by 2034.

Global AI in Energy market size, 2024-2034 ($ billion)

Source: Precedence Research

The economies of the MENA countries, which were built on energy sectors dominated by the extraction of oil and gas, tend to prioritize renewable sources in their AI strategies. By 2030, the region is expected to attract over $1 trillion in renewable energy investments, paving the way for new industries, job creation and increased collaboration.

For instance, as part of the Saudi Vision 2030 in the energy sector, KSA aims to generate 50% of its energy from renewable sources, intending to install 130 gigawatts (GW) by 2030, 58.7 GW of which is expected to come from solar and 40 GW from wind. With solar and wind energy playing pivotal roles, the goal is to be achieved through applying AI to predict equipment failures, reduce downtime and maintenance costs, and improve grid management. NEOM and the Red Sea project, expected to be powered entirely by renewable energy, are the major ambitions.

Achievements in non-renewable energy are outstanding as well.

In November, 2024 Abu Dhabi’s National Oil Co. (ADNOC) and AIQ in collaboration with Microsoft Corp. and G42 agreed on a deal to use agentic AI with a view to identify operational improvements in the energy industry.
Saudi-based oil company Aramco owns 4 facilities recognized as “Manufacturing Lighthouses” for their large-scale use of 4IR solutions.

Source: Aramco

With geothermal energy being the only resource virtually unaffected by available land, weather and seasons by 2050, Oman’s Ministry of Energy and Minerals is collaborating with SLB, a global technology company, implementing a proprietary AI solution to reveal the country’s geothermal potential.
In 2023 SLB contributed significantly to the Kuwait Oil Company’s digital enabler program called Kuwait Integrated Digital Fields, driving performance in one of the gas assets through embracing AI-enabled capabilities. Later, in 2024 new contracts in GCC were awarded to the ADNOC Drilling Company (UAE), KOC (Kuwait) and Shell Development Oman LLC (Oman).

Tourism

The global AI in tourism market size is predicted to soar from $4.82 billion in 2024 to $35.62 billion by 2032.

Global AI in Tourism market size, 2024-2032 ($ billion)

Source: Verified Market Research

The MENA hospitality market size, including travel and tourism components, was valued at $286 billion in 2024 and is expected to grow from $310.04 billion in 2025 to $487.36 billion by 2032 at a CAGR of 6.7%.

The UAE and KSA industriesremain at the forefront, with the travel & tourism market size surpassing $61.3 and $53.2 billion respectively. Their proposals address the most pressing needs such as to personalize travel recommendations, optimize itineraries, provide client support and correlate customer preferences with the market supply.

During its participation at GITEX Global 2024 Ajman Tourism Development Department (ATDD) unveiled an AI-enabled ‘Plan Your Trip’ service. Through leveraging the latest advancements in data analytics, the Department seeks to offer a more interactive experience in a bid to bolster the tourism sector in the UAE.
Saudi Arabia is using AI-powered augmented reality at AlUla and Diriyah, UNESCO World Heritage sites, which lets tech-savvy tourists to take guided tours of ancient towns, interact with virtual reconstructions of historical monuments and get real-time information.
In October, 2024 King Salman Energy Park (SPARK) launched a new AI-Driven Tourism Initiative with Google.Org serving to connect stakeholders within the ecosystem. Designed to equip 25 000 individuals across the MENA region with advanced digital tools and AI skills, this network-building will create a more collaborative and supportive environment for businesses.
In February, 2025 KSA presented «Sara», AI-powered tour guide for an immersive travel experience. By integrating technologies with culture it assists tourists with rich information and smart recommendations, further promoting the industry.

Deeper analysis reveals that each of the sectors described has its own weaknesses, therefore governments, eager to facilitate safe and responsible AI deployment, will necessarily have to overcome a number of constraints.

Taking action: problem and solution

AI technology is likely to revolutionize societies in the MENA region. However, there is work to be done, from cultivating the talent to establish and optimize AI infrastructure to developing robust regulatory frameworks to promote responsible technology use and development.

1

Talent and training

Massive skill gaps, attributed primarily to rapid economic diversification and imbalance between the MENA countries’ educational systems and the labour market needs, are sure to hinder business growth and innovation, undermine competitiveness of the governments’ digital transformation strategies and impede economic expansion. To avoid this, finance, public sector, energy and tourism, considered to be the most rapidly developing industries, are highly recommended to carry out educational reforms (the overhaul of the national curriculum or the internalization of education in the UAE), encouraging students to pursue science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields (STEM High school in Egypt) and fostering them to continuously undergo requalification (Training Programs in Kuwait). Another promising area is public-private partnerships (PPP in Saudi Arabia).
2

Data protection

End-user spending on security and risk management (SRM) in the MENA region was estimated at $3.3 billion in 2024, marking a 12.1% increase from the previous year. Due to the alarming frequency of cyberattacks, data protection laws by the GCC were implemented, hence compelling SRM leaders to boost their spending on data privacy and cloud cybersecurity. The evolving regulatory environment forces countries to pay close attention to multiple perils of Generative AI and put effort into minimising incidents associated with employee behaviour through introducing Security Behaviour and Culture Programs (SBCPs).
3

Government support

Harnessing AI is a complex, lengthy and costly process, entailing significant private sector investment alongside increased government spending. Meanwhile, the economic benefits that technologies bring to public services may seem intangible while generating benefits in the long run.

Still, ensuring the countries’ progress will take sufficient financial injections in nurturing talent (the UAE partnership with Microsoft to equip 1 million people), supporting start-ups (Saudi Arabia’s $100 billion AI initiative to lead in global tech), advancing data centres with the aim to raise adoption of AI and cloud services, expand data storage and processing capacity (Khazna’s first AI-optimized data center in UAE).

On top of that, it is of crucial importance that the MENA countries keep the spotlight on exploring and offering end-to-end governance solutions to build strong frameworks and keep ethics at the centre of everything. Only such a comprehensive, integrated policy approach will make it possible to create a robust AI infrastructure.

Shaping the future through joint efforts

Despite the shared priority of AI across the MENA governments, examples of cooperation in the field are scarce. The fragmented policy environment can be explained by varying levels of the technology development in the countries concerned.

Breaking the barrier requires a proactive approach, enabling discussions on how policy priorities should be aligned for the benefit of the region while maintaining individual national interests.

The MENA countries share language and cultural traits, and bringing policies closer together could help to create a large localised data pool and regional AI developments. But will geographical proximity and historical ground be enough to collaborate amid political tensions and growing economic competition?

References:

Alena Rezchikova