With the number of start ups growing in MENA, the ecosystem for entrepreneurs in MENA is improving. Today, more than 64% of working-age respondents in MENA region want to start their own business than be employed whereas 70% of respondents took their first steps to establish their own business in last 5 years. Check out our infographic "The MENA Startup Ecosystem" for latest statistics and trends.
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Rankings of MENA countries in Global Entrepreneurship Index 2016
| Country | Rankings |
| UAE | 19 |
| Qatar | 24 |
| Saudi Arabia | 36 |
| Lebanon | 50 |
| Morocco | 78 |
| Egypt | 89 |
Top reasons to start business
| Reasons | %age |
| More Income | 34% |
| Greater independence | 31% |
| Better work-life balance | 28% |
| Control my career path | 26% |
| Got the right opportunity | 25% |
| To do what I love | 25% |
| Could not find a job | 19% |
| Choose when to work | 9% |
Major concerns of starting own business
| Concerns | %age |
| Procuring finances to start | 65% |
| Hiring the wrong people | 37% |
| Uncertainty of profit/income | 37% |
| Making a loss | 36% |
| Need to establish the right contacts | 35% |
| Need to put lot of time and energy | 31% |
| Business idea not being accepted | 26% |
| Finding the correct insurance cover | 17% |
| Failure to comply with legislation | 14% |
| Others | 2% |
Countries by ease of setting up own business
| Country | Extremely Easy | Easy | Neither Easy nor Difficult | Somewhat difficult | Extremely Difficult |
| Algeria | 5% | 6% | 29% | 36% | 23% |
| Bahrain | 3% | 8% | 30% | 38% | 20% |
| Egypt | 3% | 7% | 27% | 46% | 16% |
| Jordan | 2% | 8% | 29% | 43% | 17% |
| Kuwait | 9% | 8% | 29% | 35% | 19% |
| Lebanon | 1% | 5% | 22% | 44% | 27% |
| Morocco | 5% | 7% | 38% | 34% | 17% |
| Oman | 11% | 12% | 32% | 38% | 7% |
| Qatar | 5% | 8% | 29% | 42% | 17% |
| Saudi Arabia | 6% | 11% | 32% | 35% | 16% |
| UAE | 6% | 11% | 34% | 34% | 14% |
MENA countries where Entrepreneurs Want to Scale
| Country | Want to Scale |
| KSA | 32% |
| UAE | 28% |
| Qatar | 16% |
| Egypt | 10% |
| Lebanon | 9% |
| Kuwait | 8% |
| Jordan | 5% |
| Bahrain | 4% |
| Oman | 4% |
| Iraq | 4% |
