In an exciting development for the tech industry, end-user spending on public cloud services in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is set to grow by 19.8% in 2024, reaching a total of $7.3 billion, up from $6.1 billion in 2023. According to Gartner research, this figure is anticipated to rise further, by 24.4%, to an impressive $9.09 billion in 2025.

The Digital Transformation Wave

“Public cloud spending is expected to surge as companies in the MENA region move towards becoming fully digitalized corporations. Additionally, Middle Eastern countries are pursuing a common economic goal of becoming technology and data-centric,” explained Shailendra Upadhyay, Senior Principal Analyst at Gartner. Organizations are increasingly leveraging the cloud as a foundation for advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and business analytics to enhance their operational capabilities.

Global Trends and Drivers

On a global scale, end-user spending on public cloud services is projected to grow by 20.4%, reaching a total of $675.4 billion in 2024, up from $561 billion in 2023, as per Gartner’s latest forecast. This global growth is significantly driven by advancements in generative AI (GenAI) and the modernization of applications.

Sid Nag, Vice President Analyst at Gartner, highlighted the impact of GenAI on this trend. “The continued growth we expect to see in public cloud spending can be largely attributed to GenAI, due to the ongoing creation of general-purpose foundation models and the scaling up of GenAI-enabled applications. Because of this continued growth, we expect public cloud end-user spending to eclipse the one trillion dollar mark before the end of this decade,” Nag stated.

The Future of Cloud in MENA

As the MENA region continues to embrace digital transformation, the adoption of public cloud services is expected to play a pivotal role in driving economic and technological advancements. Companies in the region are not only seeking to enhance their current capabilities but are also looking to position themselves as leaders in the digital economy.