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This chapter offers a survey of education development in the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA), and how the different crises have changed the global dynamics in education. This chapter first gives an overview of the regional context and the history of education in the region, followed by a discussion of the education developments in the region as shaped by the economic growth of high-income countries and the political upheavals in low-income countries. MENA states have made huge investments in their educational systems through implementing major changes in the education policies and introducing initiatives to improve the quality of education in their countries. However, the educational system in the region has not reaped the benefits of these reforms as it has not met the desired goals. The quality of students’ learning is very low as reflected in the poor rating by international assessments such as PISA, TIMSS and PIRLS. Structural educational reforms to foster citizenship and civic responsibility are urgently needed. Good governance of the education systems of the MENA countries, a critical thinking skills-based curriculum and strong market-oriented skills and vocational training programs are necessary for MENA to become economically competitive and reliably democratic.

The current research investigates the regional differences in benefiting from innovation toward growth ambitions in a sample of female entrepreneurs in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and Nordic region. A sample of 4,048 early-stage female entrepreneurs from these two regions who were participated in annual surveys of Global Entrepreneurship Monitor was selected for further analysis. The results of data analysis using hierarchical linear modeling (mixed models) revealed that innovation benefits growth ambitions of early-stage female entrepreneurs. Further, the regional differences affect the benefit of innovation in shaping growth ambitions, so that, in Nordic region, the early-stage female entrepreneurs expect more growth out of their innovation as compared with their counterparts in MENA region. These results have been discussed regarding to existing literature, and future research directions have been suggested based on the results.

Purpose: Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries demonstrate outstanding potential for innovative entrepreneurship due to the undiversified economy it has. The chapter unravels knowledge management’s scope to convert the MENA into a knowledge economy while ensuring sustainable development. Knowledge management through digitalization, big data analytics, and other technology-enabled practices could be embraced through various knowledge clusters and innovation networks.

Design/methodology/approach: The chapter proposes a conceptual model based on the quadruple helix model of innovation and associated knowledge and innovation networks operating together through a technology-enabled knowledge management process. MENA’s current status and expected performance are analyzed based on the given model.

Findings: An emergent need to digitalize the institutional operations, and knowledge flow from the four helices of innovation is realized. To ensure economic sustainability, MENA countries need to work on political stability, transparency, and accountability to ensure the flow of reliable knowledge in the knowledge management process. Building human competencies and skills is still a challenge for many MENA countries. Hence, education institutes need to introduce academic programs that are compatible with the labor requirement of the area. Since the region has a youth population in large proportion, human capital formation can bypass the over-population and unemployment challenge and instead become a competitive advantage.

Originality/value: The given chapter explores the knowledge management process, capabilities, benefits, competencies from the perspective of sustainable growth in MENA countries. It also recommends extensive data operations and analytics to enhance the knowledge-based economy.

This chapter studies the properties and characteristics of the Middle East and North African (MENA) stock markets, and the prospects and implications of enhanced financial liberalization in the region. It also explores whether these markets can offer international investors unique risk and returns characteristics to diversify international and regional portfolios. Johansen co-integration tests reveal that the Gulf Cooperation Council equity markets still offer international investors the portfolio diversification potentials mainly through mutual funds, while other emerging MENA stock markets like those of Turkey, Egypt, Morocco, and to a lesser extent Jordan have matured, and are now integrated with the world financial markets.

Purpose: Culture is not only shared, and it is often interpreted and expressed over time. Also, culture may lead to the promotion of creativity and innovation within a specific region and motivate individuals or groups to cultivate an entrepreneurial spirit. This chapter explores how companies can apply cultural influences differently and how governments/higher offices encourage cultural influences in innovation.

Design/methodology/approach: The chapter mainly aims at the technology trends in infrastructure and innovation in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The chapter aims to demonstrate how culture is shaped by innovation in education, patterns, and how the education system has developed, benefiting upcoming entrepreneurs in regions like Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain.

Findings: This chapter examines the cultural history of various cultures, improving and promoting economic innovation and competitiveness. Thus, innovation involves new product creation, whereas innovation involves using the existing application with a creative approach to address the problems. Innovation and entrepreneurship are interlinked and dependent on each other, which considers aspects like practices, tasks, and responsibilities.

Originality/value: This chapter of the book focuses on culture and innovation mainly, which affects technological trends and entrepreneurship. Also, the chapter would be beneficial for the educational department that progresses in development and encourages students toward creativity.