Blockchain Spending to Grow Exponentially in the Middle East and Africa

As blockchain continues to receive widespread adoption, nations in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) are anticipated to drastically boost spendings relating to technology in the coming years.

A US-based market research enterprise, International Data Corporation (IDC), in a recent statement forecasts that administrations across MEA will witness a 400% boost in their collective investments in blockchain-related solutions by 2024.

The statement was released on the 12th of February and it summarizes that blockchain innovations are progressively developing its shares in digital initiatives in the MEA regions.

Precisely, MEA nations are expected to grow in its blockchain spending from $20 million in 2019 to about $104 million by 2023, coupled with an annual growth rate of about 50%.

The statement by the IDC also cites that the administration in the MEA regions is keenly working on blockchain solutions as a tool for combating fraud, fostering security, and enhancing public administration.

The Vice President of the IDC’s branch in the Middle East, Turkey, and Africa Jyoti Lalchandani highlighted that administrations in the MEA are grappling with the challenge of learning a novel technology such as blockchain.

Lalchandani also talked on how several governmental infrastructures were not predisposed to incorporate digital transformation.

The Overall Spending Picture is Quite Little
Regardless of the increasing exploration of blockchain in MEA nations, blockchain spending only accounts for a tiny part of the total digital transformation initiatives. The IDC notes that MEA nations collectively spent about $12.7billion in 2019 on digital transformation and is believed to surpass $15 billion by 2023.

The IDC has been consistent with revising blockchain spending predictions as the sector progresses. The enterprise correctly foresaw that global blockchain spending would sum up to $3 billion in 2019, representing an 88% increase from 2018. The IDC has also indicated that this figure will rise to about $16 billion in 2023.