Leading information technology research and advisory company, Gartner is predicting that Africa and the Middle East will have spent US$182 million on IT in 2007, and that this expenditure will increase to $259 billion in three years time.
The region is actively investing in all areas of IT as it closes the gap on IT spending with Latin America. According to Gartner, the region shows a forecast compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2006 through 2011 of 77%, which is the strongest of all the emerging regions.
Gartner also predicted that IT would be come more of a catalyst for gross domestic product (GDP) increases in future due to more efficient organisations and more competition between countries.
"Current GDP growth is impacting IT spending because it offers larger financial resources promoting, in many cases, more-balanced development within nations with significant consumer middle-class growth, stronger business base expansion and larger demand for IT products and services beyond Tier 1 cities," said Luis Anavitarte, research vice president at Gartner. "This growing ecosystem of economics and IT also provides credibility for countries to international lenders, boosting financial resources and investments that are so critical for IT expansion."