Entering a new market or navigating an existing one in MENA requires ground-level intelligence about how decisions are actually made, who the real power brokers are, where the formal rules diverge from informal practice, and what your competitors are doing that isn't visible from the outside.
GIG's strategic consulting practice translates intelligence into action.
We work with firms at the point where analysis meets decision, providing the structured, primary-source insight that enables confident strategic choices in markets where information asymmetry is the defining competitive factor.
What we cover
Market Entry
End-to-end market entry advisory for firms seeking to establish or expand operations in a new MENA jurisdiction.
We cover the regulatory and licensing environment, local content requirements, the competitive landscape, partner identification and vetting, and the political and institutional dynamics most likely to affect your market entry timeline and cost.
We do not produce generic market entry reports. Every engagement is scoped to your specific sector, target geography, and strategic objectives.
Expert & Source Enquiry
Field interviews with senior officials, industry insiders, regulators, and subject-matter experts who can validate market assumptions and surface ground-level intelligence that no database or desk research can provide.
Expert source enquiry is the core of GIG's methodology — we identify and engage the right interlocutors, design the question framework, conduct the interviews discreetly, and synthesise the findings into structured intelligence that directly addresses your decision.
Available as a standalone service or integrated into broader research engagements.
Stakeholder Mapping
Structured identification and assessment of the decision-makers, influencers, and power networks that shape outcomes in a specific market, sector, or institution.
We map both formal authority structures and the informal relationships and patronage networks that operate alongside them — providing clients with a clear framework for engagement that reflects how decisions are actually made, not how they are formally supposed to be made.
Access & Facilitation
For clients who need to establish relationships with specific institutions, officials, or stakeholders in our core markets, we provide structured access support — identifying the right entry points, preparing the client for engagement, facilitating introductions where appropriate, and advising on the cultural and political sensitivities that determine whether an approach succeeds or fails.
Competitive Intelligence
Assessment of the competitive landscape in a specific market or sector — covering the strategies, capabilities, relationships, and positioning of your competitors and potential partners.
We gather intelligence through primary source enquiries rather than relying on public information alone, providing clients with a more accurate picture of the competitive environment than standard market research can deliver.
Investment Climate Assessments
Structured analysis of the investment environment in a specific market — covering the regulatory framework, the political economy of investment decisions, the track record of foreign investors, the key risk factors for capital deployment, and the outlook for the conditions most relevant to your investment thesis.
Produced for private equity, development finance, and corporate strategy teams evaluating new market exposure.
Commercial Opportunity Assessments
Identification and evaluation of specific commercial opportunities in a target market — covering the demand environment, the competitive landscape, the regulatory pathway, the procurement dynamics, and the realistic timeline and cost of capture. Calibrated to your sector and capability set.
Partner & Supplier Identification
Identification, profiling, and initial assessment of potential local partners, agents, distributors, or suppliers in a target market.
We combine market knowledge, source network enquiries, and structured due diligence to produce a shortlist of credible candidates with clear profiles of their capabilities, relationships, and risk profile — saving clients the time and reputational exposure of identifying partners through unstructured market entry.
Regulatory Advisory
Analysis of the regulatory environment governing your sector or activity in a specific jurisdiction — covering the formal regulatory framework, the informal dynamics that shape regulatory decisions in practice, the key institutional relationships, and the compliance pathway for market entry or ongoing operations.
Strategic Communications Advisory
For clients operating in politically sensitive environments or managing stakeholder relationships with government bodies, civil society, or media in MENA markets, we provide strategic communications advisory grounded in GIG's political and social intelligence — helping clients frame their positions, manage relationships, and navigate the communications landscape with cultural and political awareness.
Who we work with
Our strategic consulting clients include multinationals and mid-sized firms entering MENA markets for the first time, energy and infrastructure companies managing complex stakeholder environments, private equity and investment managers evaluating new market exposure, development finance institutions designing commercial programmes, and legal and advisory practices requiring market-specific intelligence for client mandates.
We work directly with clients and as a discreet research and intelligence partner to larger consulting and advisory firms who need in-country capability that their teams cannot replicate from London, Paris, or New York.
Our approach
Every strategic consulting engagement starts with a precise definition of the decision the client is trying to make. We do not produce generic country reports.
We produce intelligence that is directly relevant to the specific choice, timeline, and risk tolerance of the client in front of us.
Engagements are delivered by analysts with deep, sustained knowledge of the markets they cover — not generalists rotated through regions.
Our MENA analysts have operated in their markets for years. That accumulated institutional knowledge is the foundation that makes our primary source research credible and our analysis reliable.
Jurisdictions
Full strategic consulting services are available in Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco.
An extended range of consulting services is available in Iraq and Egypt.
Select services — including market entry, expert source enquiry, regulatory advisory, and commercial opportunity assessments — are available across a wider range of markets including Oman, GCC states, Iran, Jordan, and select Sub-Saharan African and South Asian markets.
Contact us to discuss your specific market and requirements.