The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is entering a transformative era where digital and AI-driven skills are redefining the future of work. With major economies such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Tunisia, and the UAE accelerating digital transformation, the opportunity to access global jobs—such as remote engineering roles in Silicon Valley—has become increasingly attainable for the region’s youth, provided they develop the right capabilities.
A recent World Bank report highlights that MENA’s exposure to AI disruption is among the highest in the world, driven by its young, tech-savvy population and bold national digital strategies. Countries have invested heavily in digital public infrastructure—from Saudi Arabia’s Absher platform delivering 300+ services to 24 million users, to Egypt’s AI-powered YES employment program supporting young jobseekers.
However, the demand for digital talent far exceeds supply. Between 2022 and 2023, nearly one-third of all online job postings in the region required at least one digital skill, and 23% specifically sought AI-related expertise. In Saudi Arabia, AI-related hiring already accounts for nearly 29% of total recruitment, fuelled by more than $40 billion in investments from global AI and cloud hyperscalers such as Google, AWS, Microsoft, Oracle, Huawei, and NVIDIA.
Yet education and training systems across the region have been slow to adapt. Surveys show almost 70% of regional CEOs consider digital skill shortages a major business risk. Young people understand the urgency—97% of Egyptian youth say digital literacy is as important as traditional literacy—yet many feel access to advanced training is limited.
Countries are beginning to respond. Morocco’s digital strategy aims to grow its pool of digitally skilled professionals to 50,000 per year by 2026 and 100,000 by 2030, including support for an upcoming regional AI Center of Excellence.
The World Bank outlines a roadmap for closing the digital skills gap:
• Make digital skills foundational — introduce them early in school curricula.
• Build a national skills ecosystem — through public-private partnerships and industry-led alliances.
• Offer rapid, modular learning — via bootcamps, e-learning, and stackable credentials.
• Map supply and demand — to align what students learn with what employers need, using real-time labour market analytics.
As MENA economies diversify away from hydrocarbons, digital and AI skills are becoming the new currency of opportunity—critical for job creation, innovation, and inclusive growth. The region has a unique chance to lead in human-augmenting AI rather than human-replacing automation, making digital skills the defining enabler of the future workforce.
