Introduction
The MENA region consists of parts of North Africa and the Middle East. The region has great resources in the form of petroleum reserves and natural gas. Its economic stability is, therefore, mainly based on these resources. The region has about 45% of the world’s natural gas and up to 60% of all the petroleum resources in the world. This paper proposes to look at the development of economies in the MENA regions. The region consists of countries like Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, Libya, and Tunisia in Africa. In a broader definition, Somalia, and Djibouti in Eastern Africa, are also included. In the Middle East, countries that make up the MENA region include Bahrain, Israel, Jordan, Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, Lebanon, Qatar, Oman, Palestine, and Yemen among others. This paper proposes to look at the development of economies in the MENA region, which is made up of all these countries.
Research Questions
- What is the extent of development in the MENA region, concerning the possible factors and available resources since 1945?
- What factors influence the development of economies in the MENA region, from World War II end to the year 2012?
Research Objectives
- To show the extent of development in the MENA region as the function of the available resources and influencing factors from 1945 to 2012.
- To identify the factors that negatively or positively influence economic developments in the MENA region from 1945 to 2012.
Literature Review
The development of economies in the MENA region has some of its roots in the western economies (Bauer 2010). The concepts of any development efforts have their base from western modernity and patterns of success, especially in development corporations in the region. The development corporations in the MENA region have been associated, related and engineered, towards productive processes related to labor. Some of the efforts in development as aided by the German Technical Corporation include cultural development, through the construction of realities in the regional cultures and practices, assessment of the development efforts, as well as a development project’s initiation (Bauer 2010).
According to a report by Al Masah Capital Management Limited (2012), the MENA region continues to have a strong belief in development. The report states that the region has had a growth of its collective GDP by 4.2% in the year 2012. At the same time, the GCC member countries in the same MENA region are expected to register a higher growth, in terms of GDP going up to 5.3%. The members of the GCC include Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Morocco, and Jordan. Kuwait has been identified as having a good credit demand, while Qatar has greatly boosted its government spending by 27% by the beginning of the year 2012 (Al Masah Capital Management Limited 2012).
The countries in the MENA region have varying degrees in development as seen in former research by Okeahalam (2005) on market analysis. For instance, Saudi Arabia has had past progress that keeps it ahead of the rest by the end of the year 2002. This has been true with other countries dragging behind due to factors like wars and political instability such as Iraq, Lebanon (Okeahalam 2005; Pack and White 2011).
Research Methodology
The research methodology would be based on the system of methods, to be used in the research. This includes both data collection and analysis. The main source of data for the research project would be secondary data, such as statistical data on the internet, as well as various journals on the MENA region. This would include statistical tables, charts, and graphs.
The methodology would make use of the data collected for analysis. In the analysis, data would be analyzed, interpreted, and a conclusion generated. Data would be on development indicators, such as financial markets and government development indices since 1945. This would also consist of the various factors, that have been behind any changes in the development of economies in the MENA region, from the year 1945 to the year 2012.
The analysis would include the generation of a relationship, among the various variable that affects the economic development in the regions. For instance, economic development against political factors variables would appear as follows:
The variables would also generate analysis on the reasons, why development differs in the MENA region, from one country to another. The development would be taken to be the dependent variable, while all other factors that affect the development of economies in the region, would be taken as the independent variables. The extent to which the variables relate, affect economic development, as well as any future projections, would be established. For instance, the factors that make Libya be in a better position than Egypt, in its development of the economy (Pack and White 2011). According to Pack and White (2011), this is initiated by the availability of petroleum wealth, small population, as well as the increased attraction of foreign investments. Each variable has to be analyzed individually, as well as how all variables interrelate through regression analysis. The extent to which the variables affect development would be analyzed through a hypothesis test. An establishment of both a null hypothesis and alternative hypothesis would be done, with the help of a t-test or Z-test, to show the significance of each variable to the model established.
Conceptual outline
The conceptual outline for the research outlines the major aspects of the research. This includes development indicators in each of the countries making up the region. Their financial markets would be analyzed, based on factors such as market capitalization, liquidity assets, political stability, accountability, regulatory quality issues, existing laws, as well as control of corruption or dishonesty in governments (Okeahalam 2005).
In terms of market capitalization, Saudi Arabia has the lead, with $67.2 million by the year 2002, while Lebanon has the least (Okeahalam 2005). Saudi Arabia seems to be the most developed in the MENA region. At the same time, Lebanon seems to be the least developed, economically (Okeahalam 2005).
Timetable for the major phases of the research
The research shall be conducted within about four weeks.
Expected results
The research results are expected to be too different from what has been realized in the recent past. This is based on the fact that the world has been too dynamic in various aspects, including economic changes and improvements, in the developments per human development index. Some countries are expected to show a less development index than it is today, due to the existence of economic shock, and political instabilities, such as the case of Libya and Egypt (Okeahalam 2005).
Conclusion
The development of economies in the MENA region has been affected by various factors. These factors include region, politics, economic dynamics, culture, dishonesty in the place of work and the government, as well as the existing regulations and rules. These factors either aid development growth, stagnate it or lead to underdevelopment in various sectors of individual nations and the entire region. The main research needs to analyze the extent to which these factors, affect the development of economies in the region, as well as the way negativities, could be adjusted, for future advancements in the regional economies.
References
Al Masah Capital Management Limited, 2012, Investment Guide, Web.
Bauer, S 2010, International Development Cooperation in the MENA Region: Transformation as Western Construction of Modernity, Web.
Okeahalam, C 2005, ‘Institutions and financial market development in the MENA region’, Progress in Development Studies, vol.5 no. 4, pp. 310–328.
Pack, J, and White, F 2011, Economic future for Libya brighter than in Tunisia, Egypt, Web.