BrazilEY celebrates 100 years in MENA with record results
EY has hit two major milestones in the Middle East and Africa region – celebrating 100 years in business and realising its best performance ever.
Originally incepted in 1849 in the United Kingdom, EY (in full: Ernst & Young) is one of the four largest professional services firms in the world. The firm advises clients on topics including consulting, strategy (delivered by EY-Parthenon), transactions, technology, audit, risk, tax, and legal.
Since its early MENA beginnings in 1923, when EY setup its first regional office in Cairo, the firm has grown into a powerhouse. Today, EY has over 8,000 people across 26 offices and 15 countries.
Hot on the heels of EY’s announcement of its record global results (revenue jumped by 14% in local currency terms [9% given exchange rate differences] to almost $50 billion), the firm’s MENA division has now followed suit with a similar record-breaking performance.
While the MENA organisation does not disclose its revenues for the region, known is that the revenue of the EMEIA region (which includes MENA alongside Europe, India, and Africa) rose by $1.2 billion to $18.3 billion, or 37% of the group’s total fee income.
In MENA, both headcount and revenue hit its “highest point in history” according to a spokesperson of the firm, with a record of 106 new partners welcomed across the business during the 2023 fiscal year.
Commenting on the performance, Abdulaziz Al-Sowailim, EY MENA Chairman and CEO, said, “I am very proud of everything our people have achieved over the past 100 years in MENA, and most especially this year. We have always harnessed the power of our people and network to create sustainable, inclusive growth for clients as they move from ambition to action.”
Meanwhile, EY has also upped its ESG commitments in the region. The number of lives positively impacted by its EY Ripples program has grown to six million. Launched in 2019 in the MENA region, EY Ripples focuses on three distinct areas: supporting the next generation workforce, working with impact entrepreneurs, and accelerating environmental sustainability.
Looking ahead, Al-Sowailim said, “EY people will continue to work together both within the MENA region and with colleagues across the globe to create more sustainable, inclusive growth through collaboration across the organization as well as with alliance partners and local governments.”
In doing so, “we will continue to uphold our purpose of building a better working world not only for the MENA organizations we collaborate with, but the larger communities where we live and work – creating a legacy that is both transformative and timeless in an ever-changing global landscape.”
EY’s offices in MENA are based in: the UAE (Dubai and Abu Dhabi), Saudi Arabia (Riyadh, Jeddah, Al Khobar), Qatar (Doha), Kuwait (Kuwait City), Bahrain (Manama), Oman (Muscat), Egypt (Cairo, Alexandria), Lebanon (Beirut), Jordan (Amman), Iraq (Baghdad, Erbil), Morocco (Casablanca), Tunisia (Tunis), Algeria (Algiers), and Libya (Tripoli).
Last week, EY announced a major multi-year $1.4 billion investment in artificial intelligence, which includes the launch of its own proprietary platform EY.ai.
