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Researching companies and industries in the Middle East and North Africa

Whilst we do not have any specialist resources for this region, many of our databases do have content on the some of the individual countries in this region.

Company research

Researching a company in this region? Take a look at our guide to company research

Databases for economic data and analysis

Bloomberg
A good source of Economic data for countries in this region. Data can usually be exported or downloaded using the Excel add-in.
Try ECON for Insights and Analysis on recent economic headlines. If you have registered for your own Bloomberg login, you can sign up for their Daily Economics newsletter BRIE to select which newsletters you are interested in signing up to.
Availability: On campus Finance Suite (SO.W2.01/02 and B101)
Datastream
Contains huge range of economic time series data. Use the Excel add-in for easier downloading.
Availability: On campus via Eikon terminals in Finance Suite SO.W2.02 and B101.
Global Financial Data
Commodity prices for several countries, also macroeconomic data.
Availability: global
International Financial Statistics
Database from the International Monetary Fund contains approximately 61,000 time-series covering 194 countries and areas. First time users will need to register by going to My Data > Sign In or Register > Register User Name once on the site.
Availability: global
ThomsonOne
Economic reports can be found in the research area under Screening & Analysis. News and quick analysis / insight articles can be found under the market views heading. It also contains some economic data
Availability: global
Business Source Premier
Includes country reports from a number of different providers including: CountryWatch, IHS (see also the Global Insight database for this content), Marketline and Political Risk Yearbook. To locate this content. Search for a country and then limit the results to just show Source Type - country reports.
Availability: global
ProQuest Business Premium Collection
Includes country reports for this region from Oxford Economics and the EIU.

Researching industries in the MENA region.

Business Monitor Online	Look for sector reports by country / region. Covers number of MENA countries, but not all sectors available for all countries. *Good for forecasts.*
Marketline Advantage	This services contains Datamonitor industry and company profiles and deals. It covers various sectors for a number of countries in this region. Most reports are for individual countries, but some reports relate to broader geographic regions, others reports are global. There is a large Country Statistics database covering a variety of socio-economic indicators for all countries in this region, as well as a Market Data Analytics database for FMCG products, however this only covers Saudi Arabia and UAE in the MENA region and Nigeria and South Africa for Africa. Also has Country Profiles for a number of countries in this region which include PESTLE analysis Availability: global
IBISWorld	Provides detailed market research reports but primarily for UK, US, China. Has a more limited range of global reports, which sometimes mention the MENA region/ countries.
ThomsonOne	Wide ranging company and financial research database it also includes company and industry analyst’s reports previously accessible through the Investext service. Go to Screening & Analysis>Research>research search. The longer reports often contain useful market information. Availability: global
Statista	Offers statistics on a wide range of topics for this region such as Health, Automotive, Telecomms and Start ups
Technavio	Covers a huge range of industry sectors. Most reports are global and include 4 year forecasts. They include data on the Middle East and Africa.
Bloomberg Finance Zone only	Go to > Function <BI> and selection sectors and sub-sectors. Not all sectors are broken down by region. Or use the function <RES>.

**Web sources**
African Development Bank Group This organisation is made up of 3 constituent groups: African Development bank African Development Fund Nigeria Trust Fund The website offers reports and data on all African nations including those covered by the term MENA.	Middle East and North Africa Monitor Oct 2018 report from the World Bank
Arabian Business It provides business and Finance news and opinion articles as well as a directory of companies located in Middle East.	Zawya Zawya offers news and research for the MENA region. Some news stories can be accessed without signing up. However can sign up free of charge to get slightly more content or pay a subscription to access the full range of content.
Index of Economic Freedom 2019 ranking of 180 countries covers 10 freedoms including: property rights, freedom from corruption, fiscal freedom and labor freedom.	Middle East and Central Asia Regional Economic Outlook 2018 report from the IMF.
PWC Produce a number of Insight reports on the Middle East region.	World Economic Forum 2019 briefing paper on risks in the MENA region.

News and keeping up to date

Science Direct	Covers business and sci/tech. Large number of economics and finance journals some with regional focus.
Factiva	Our global news database with news wires, newspapers, websites and trade and professional titles. For a more targeted search try limiting the sources to a particular industry or region
FT.Com	Prior registration required. Click here to register. (It is included when searching Factiva)
Economist	No need to register - just search.
Project Syndicate	Project Syndicate.org provides original, high-quality commentaries to a global audience, covering economics, politics, health, technology, and culture.