There are many business magazines that cover the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, but not all of them have online versions or rankings. Here are some of the possible candidates for the top 10 business magazines in the MENA region:
• Gulf Business:
The region’s first and leading business magazine, covering topics such as finance, trade, technology, aviation, real estate, and more.
• MEA-Biz:
An augmented reality enabled business news analysis magazine, focusing on banking, finance, aviation, technology, and logistics.
• Forbes Middle East:
The regional edition of the global business magazine, featuring exclusive rankings, lists, and interviews with influential leaders and entrepreneurs.
• Arabian Business:
A weekly business magazine that provides in-depth analysis and commentary on the region’s most important sectors and markets.
• Entrepreneur Middle East:
A monthly magazine that showcases the stories and insights of successful entrepreneurs and startups in the region.
• MEED:
A premium intelligence service that provides news, data, analysis, and insights on the region’s projects, markets, and economies.
• Business Islamica:
A monthly magazine that covers Islamic banking and finance, halal industry, Islamic economy, and social responsibility.
• The Business Year:
A global media group that produces annual reports on the economic performance and opportunities of various countries in the region.
• CEO Middle East: A monthly magazine that profiles the region’s most influential CEOs and business leaders, as well as offering advice and insights on leadership, strategy, and innovation.
• Harvard Business Review Arabia:
The Arabic edition of the prestigious management magazine, featuring articles by renowned experts and practitioners on topics such as leadership, strategy, innovation, and organizational culture.
Print Newspapers in the MENA Region
Newspapers play an important role in the business development in the MENA region, by providing information, analysis, insights and opinions on various topics that affect the economic and social landscape of the region. Newspapers can also influence the public opinion, policy making, consumer behavior and investment decisions in the region, by highlighting the challenges and opportunities that businesses face in different sectors and markets.
Outlook of newspapers in the MENA region
The current and future outlook of newspapers in the MENA region is influenced by several factors, such as the shift to digital media, the changing consumer preferences, the regulatory environment, and the political and economic developments in the region.
According to PWC, COVID-19 has had an extraordinary impact on entertainment and media revenues and patterns of consumption in the MENA region, causing a decline of 8.3% in 2020. The source expects a gradual recovery from 2021 onwards, with an overall growth of 3% between 2019 and 2024. However, the recovery will be uneven, with digital entertainment such as OTT video, gaming and digital music growing faster than physical media such as cinema, events and print newspapers and magazines. The source also suggests that media companies in the region need to consider new digital business models such as subscriptions, direct relationships with consumers and content monetization, as well as invest in digital infrastructure such as high-speed broadband, cloud services and data centers.
New York Times provides an example of a leading English-language newspaper in the MENA region, The New York Times Middle East edition. The source highlights the newspaper’s coverage of local and regional news, politics, culture and opinion, as well as its online presence and global reach. The source also showcases some of the challenges and opportunities that the newspaper faces in reporting on complex and sensitive issues in the region.
East View offers a historical perspective on newspapers in the MENA region, by providing access to five in-copyright newspapers from across the region that span the period of 1956-2021. The source claims that these newspapers offer viewpoints on key events of the 20th century and beyond, such as the Arab-Israeli conflict, the Iranian revolution, the Gulf wars, the Arab Spring and more. The source also notes that these newspapers reflect the diversity and dynamism of the region’s media landscape.
Middle East Institute presents a forward-looking analysis of the trends and drivers that shaped the Middle East in 2022. The source covers various topics such as security, diplomacy, governance, economy, society and culture. The source also discusses how these trends and drivers will affect different countries and sub-regions in the MENA region. The source argues that understanding these trends and drivers is essential for policymakers, analysts and journalists who seek to engage with the region.
