Developing Digital Payment Services in the Middle East and North Africa : A Strategic Approach

This report discusses strengthening the provision of payment services in the countries of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region as an essential step to integrate their economies into the world of 'digital finance and digital economy' and to support economic development. The report elaborates a strategic approach to the development of sound and dynamic ecosystems for the provision of digital payment services (DPS) as foundations for effective financial digitalization and development of digital economy in MENA countries. The report is not about intervening in the MENA region through a coordinated regional strategic plan; rather, it describes what MENA countries should do to modernize their DPS ecosystems, starting from their own initial conditions. To this purpose, it identifies steps that are tailored to those initial conditions and delineates a strategic approach that national authorities may consider when designing their own strategy for modernizing DPS