MENA SPEAKERS: GET TO KNOW THE REGION

29 Jul MENA SPEAKERS: GET TO KNOW THE REGION

Posted at 18:02h in Uncategorized by

MENA speakers are in high demand these days, largely because they offer a fascinating and engaging perspective on the wealth of future trends and innovations taking shape throughout this area of the world. In fact, you’ll often find futurist keynote presenters packed into live meetings and conferences, or occupying marquee slots in online and virtual event programs. Part of it has to do with all the change coming to businesses in every industry, and part of it has to do with a growing appetite for foresight and insight amongst different fields. Needless to say, most MENA speakers are playing with a full calendar lately, and increasingly being tapped to weigh in on the future of finance, banking, insurance, retail, energy, sustainability and more.

At the same time, for those new to the business, they may not be as familiar with the region and the types of host, MC and presenter opportunities available. Following this line of thought, it stands to reason that many folks could also do with a brief travel guide and tour. How about we get to just that?

To put things simply for the neophyte: MENA is an acronym that stands for the Middle East and North Africa region. The countries that are generally considered part of the MENA region are:

  • Middle East: Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestinian territories, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates, Yemen
  • North Africa: Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia, Western Sahara

So in total, the MENA countries are:

Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestinian territories, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Western Sahara

However, depending on which MENA speakers you ask, the greater region sometimes also includes the following neighboring countries:

  • Turkey
  • Cyprus
  • Mauritania
  • Djibouti
  • Comoros
  • Somalia
  • Eritrea
  • Afghanistan
  • Pakistan

 

But the core MENA countries are located in the Middle East and North Africa, spanning from Morocco in the west to Iran in the east. The region covers a vast geographic area but the countries share some common attributes like Arabic language and culture, Islam as the major religion, and an overlap in history and politics.

And there you have it – an aspiring MENA speaker’s guide to one of the most dynamic and engaging areas of the world!