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7. Middle East & Africa

7.1 Regional Overview

• Middle East: B2C ecommerce revenue is expected to exceed $202B by 2029 (Research and Markets); Middle East retail ecommerce grew about 19.8% in 2025; MENA ecommerce GMV grew about 30% in 2024 (UAE and Saudi Arabia in the lead).
• Source: https://www.globenewswire.com/de/news-release/2026/01/12/3217066/28124/en/Middle-East-B2C-Ecommerce-Market-Opportunities-to-2029-Revenues-to-Exceed-202-Billion.html ; https://adgully.me/post/9604/mena-e-commerce-sees-30-growth-uae-saudi-lead-in-gmv
• MEA overall: expected to exceed $338B by 2031, 2026–2031 CAGR 13.85% (Research and Markets).
• Source: https://www.globenewswire.com/de/news-release/2026/03/18/3257960/28124/en/Middle-East-and-Africa-E-commerce-Market-to-Surpass-USD-338-Billion-by-2031-Growing-at-13-85-CAGR-During-2026-2031.html
• Very low penetration but world-leading growth: MEA ecommerce penetration is under 5%; Turkey + Saudi Arabia account for about 45% of MEA ecommerce; Egypt has the highest growth rate.
• Source: https://www.sgpjbg.com.cn/hyshuju/821cdf3262c35facf9712acdc1bdc95c.html ; https://www.sgpjbg.com.cn/hyshuju/a586f9ca0cce75eb8586ca4e91cd7a94.html

7.2 Key Middle East Markets

7.3 Africa

• Market size: Africa ecommerce about $40.49B in 2025, with potential to double to about $113B within 5 years (market-report definition cited by China’s Ministry of Commerce); about $75B by 2030.
• Source: https://amzdh.com/others/8748.html ; https://cm.mofcom.gov.cn/sqfb/art/2024/art_db6333cc46f24483b746d99474d78bb2.html
• Mobile-first + mobile-payments driven: Africa had more than 1 billion mobile-wallet accounts in 2024, with $1 trillion in transaction value (GSMA); mobile payments contribute about $190 billion to African GDP. This is the feature that most distinguishes African ecommerce from other regions.
• Source: https://allafrica.com/stories/202504160452.html ; https://capitalethiopia.com/2025/04/21/africa-leads-global-mobile-payments-contributing-190-billion-to-gdp/
• Core markets:
• Nigeria: B2C ecommerce over $20B by 2029 (another definition $16.7B by 2030); Jumia and Konga dominate. Source: https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2026/01/29/3228308/28124/en/Nigeria-B2C-Ecommerce-Report-2025-A-20-Billion-Market-by-2029-Size-Forecast-by-Value-and-Volume-Across-80-KPIs.html
• South Africa: 2025 online retail over R130B (about $7B+), ecommerce about 10% of retail; Takealot leads, with Amazon (South Africa site launched 2024), SHEIN, and Temu disrupting the market. Source: https://www.businessday.co.za/bd/economy/2025-09-11-sas-online-retail-sales-to-exceed-r130bn-in-2025-says-study/ ; https://techcabal.com/2025/09/11/south-africas-online-retail-boom-exceeds-7bn/
• Kenya: 2024 $2.6B (+12.9%); M-Pesa is the payment backbone; Jumia, Kilimall, etc. Source: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/kenya-ecommerce-market-databook-2024-074100422.html

7.4 Platforms

• Gulf: Amazon (.ae/.sa) and Noon as a duopoly; SHEIN and Temu expanding fast (DHL and EMX partnerships strengthening fulfillment).
• Source: https://www.logisticsmiddleeast.com/news/dhl-and-temu-expand-partnership-to-boost-e-commerce-growth ; https://www.logisticsmiddleeast.com/news/temu-expands-sea-shipping-and-pudo-services-in-uae-with-emx
• Pan-Africa: Jumia (NYSE: JMIA) FY2025 revenue about $190M (+13%), exited Algeria to focus on core markets; local platforms Takealot (South Africa), Kilimall (East Africa), and Konga (Nigeria) each hold their ground.
• Source: https://www.ecomcrew.com/jumias-fiscal-year-25-revenue-was-us190-million-a-year-on-year-increase-of-13/
• What to watch: low penetration (<5%) + high growth + a young population make MEA the region with the most room to imagine; constraints are last-mile logistics and payment inclusion (being filled rapidly by mobile payments).

10. Middle East & Africa

Ranking basis: Gulf (Noon, Amazon) is a qualitative ranking (neither discloses GMV); Jumia and Takealot by disclosed revenue; Trendyol by second-hand estimate. MEA data is incomplete; gaps are marked [GAP].

10.1 Middle East

⚠️ Definition and gap notes: Noon and Amazon never disclose country GMV (ranking is a qualitative judgment); Trendyol $14B/40% is a second-hand estimate; Jumia FY25 GMV was not captured in this retrieval (revenue has been verified). The Gulf is a Noon vs Amazon duopoly (Saudi social-commerce reports likewise put these two first).

Sources: Noon financing/listing — https://www.wamda.com/2025/12/noon-raises-500-million-pif-backed-investors-ahead-potential-ipo ; Jumia FY25 — https://www.nasdaq.com/press-release/jumia-reports-fourth-quarter-and-full-year-2025-results-2026-02-10 ; Takealot first profit — https://cnbc.africa/2026/south-africas-takealot-swings-to-first-full-year-profit-as-revenue-tops-1-billion ; Trendyol — https://abc.az/en/news/201868 ; Saudi social-commerce report (R&M) — https://investor.wedbush.com/wedbush/article/bizwire-2025-11-12-saudi-arabia-social-commerce-business-intelligence-report-2025-market-led-by-amazon-noon-haraj-aliexpress-and-shein-