Internet advertising is the second largest method of advertising in the world, but MENA is yet to catch up.

Global digital ad spending was just over $123 billion a year in 2013, and in MENA last year it hit $560 million.

But the small scale also means opportunity: marketing site CMO Council Middle East cites statistics claiming mobile advertising alone is expected to grow by a whopping 534 percent until 2017 - albeit from a very small base of 3 percent of the total regional ad market.

The challenges for entrepreneurs come from the international incumbents intent on making the region their own, but with stats like these, there’s plenty of room for growth.