MWC26 Doha opens: GSMA sees MENA's mobile economy reaching $470 billion by 2030
At the opening of MWC26 Doha on November 8, the GSMA released its Mobile Economy MENA 2026 report: mobile technologies generated $380 billion of economic value in 2025, about 5.8% of regional GDP, forecast to hit $470 billion by 2030. 5G is expected to go from 9% to 40% of connections, with operators investing $88.9 billion, while 49% of people live within coverage yet stay offline. My take: the hard part isn't building towers, it's getting people to actually use them. If you sell across borders, spend less time on 5G specs and more on what local customers really need.