The Middle East – North Africa (MENA) market is the most heterogeneous market in the world. Where at one end countries like Turkey, Jordon, Israel & Egypt are approaching the standards of a developed nation, at the other end of the spectrum countries like Lebanon, Tunisia, and Morocco are still viewed as developing or under-developed nations. Economic development in countries of other geographic regions have fairly similar experiences, however, there is no consistent pattern in the countries of the Middle-East that could describe the development pattern.

Growth of capital markets in the MENA region has been fairly slow, primarily due to the lack of institutional development in the region during most of the twentieth century. The majority of nations in this region are dependent on their oil reserves and have significant state presence with limited foreign involvement, with many of these countries still under the dominant influence of the ruling families.

Capital markets in MENA are almost completely dominated by the banking sector, which in turn is governed by the state. Foreign players have a very restricted entry into the region, in turn restricting competition and growth of the financial market.

Reports indicate the MENA capital markets made significant progress during the 1960s – 1980s. However growth has been considerably slow thereafter. Today, the capital markets of MENA region are more developed in comparison to Eastern Europe and Latin America, but lag behind Asian markets. Many regional capital markets are undertaking broad changes as they strive to increase efficiency, adopt international best practices, and upgrade regulatory standards and training.