Who are the top strategy consultants in the Middle East? Compiled by Consultancy.org, meet the region’s 25 leading strategy consulting firms.
The consulting industry of the Middle East is valued at around $3.6 billion, with around one fifth of the market involving high-impact and strategic engagements. Competition for these top of the bill projects is fierce, as every consultant relishes the opportunity to work with executives and senior managers on their most strategic and notorious projects.
From advising Saudi Arabia on the key pillars of its Vision 2030 or helping the United Arab Emirates with advancing its travel and tourism hotspot strategy, to supporting the Lebanese government with its mammoth task of saving its economy from the brink of collapse, strategy consultants are in high need across the Middle East and Arabic part of North Africa (MENA).
The region is buzzing with change, and strategy consultants are working on some of the most pressing and high impact challenges and transformations in the private and public sector. Strategic consultants for instance help companies with market entry into the Middle East, or with international expansion strategies, as well as the development of a new corporate strategy or the launch of a new business model.
Consultants from strategy consulting firms also support their clients with business unit strategy, business planning, commercial due diligence, business case planning, organisation strategy and business model innovation, among others. In the public sector, strategy consulting work mainly revolves around public policy development, business case / planning work and strategic support to large federal programs.
Consultancy.org is the globe’s leading consulting platform, and closely follows the developments of strategy consulting firms (their work, people and offerings), how clients perceive them (client projects, rankings, recognitions) and how consultants gauge their reputation (rankings, peer recognitions). Having analysed hundreds of data points for the Middle East, here are the region’s 25 top strategy consulting firms:
McKinsey & Company
Founded: 1926
McKinsey launched in the Middle East in 1957
Offices in MENA: Abu Dhabi, Cairo, Doha, Dubai, Karachi, Kuwait, Manama, Riyadh
Middle East Managing Partner: Gassan Al-Kibsi
Global Managing Partner: Kevin Sneader
MENA company profile: McKinsey & Company
Boston Consulting Group
Founded: 1963
BCG launched in the Middle East in 2007
Offices in MENA: Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, Doha, Beirut
Middle East Managing Partner: Joerg Hildebrandt
Global Managing Partner: Rich Lesser
MENA company profile: Boston Consulting Group
Bain & Company
Founded: 1973
Bain & Company launched in the Middle East in 2003
Offices in MENA: Doha, Dubai, Riyadh
Middle East Managing Partner: Tom De Waele
Global Managing Partner: Manny Maceda
MENA company profile: Bain & Company
Oliver Wyman
Founded: 1984
Oliver Wyman launched in the Middle East in 2005
Offices in MENA: Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, Kuwait
Middle East Managing Partner: Pedro Oliveira
Global Managing Partner: Scott McDonald
MENA company profile: Oliver Wyman (not active)
Strategy&
Founded: 1914 (Booz Allen, Booz & Company from 2008 onwards)
Rebranded as Strategy& after Booz & Company was acquired by PwC in 2013
Launched in the Middle East in 1993
Offices in MENA: Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Beirut, Riyadh, Cairo, Doha
Middle East Managing Partner: George Sarraf
Global Managing Partner: Joachim Rotering
MENA company profile: Strategy&
Kearney
Founded: 1926 (formerly A.T. Kearney)
Kearney launched in the Middle East in 2006
Offices in MENA: Abu Dhabi, Doha, Dubai, Riyadh
Middle East Managing Partner: Bob Willen
Global Managing Partner: Alex Liu
MENA company profile: Kearney (not active)
Monitor Deloitte
Founded: 2013
Established after Deloitte acquired The Monitor Group in 2013
Offices in MENA: Dubai
Middle East Managing Partner: Bart Cornelissen
Global Managing Partner: Jonathan Goodman
MENA company profile: Monitor Deloitte (not active)
EY-Parthenon
Founded: 2014
Became part of EY after the firm acquired The Parthenon Group in 2014
Offices in MENA: Dubai, Riyadh, Istanbul, Tel Aviv
Middle East Managing Partner: Jeremy Panacheril
Global Managing Partner: Bill Achtmeyer
MENA company profile: EY-Parthenon (not active)
KPMG Strategy
Founded: 2014
KPMG’s Global Strategy Group was formed in 2014
Offices in MENA: Dubai
Middle East Managing Partner: Farhan Syed
Global Managing Partner: Alex Miller
MENA company profile: KPMG Strategy (not active)
Roland Berger
Founded: 1967
Offices in MENA: Manama, Beirut, Doha, Riyadh, Dubai
Middle East Managing Partner: Rene Seyger
Global Managing Partner: Stefan Schaible
MENA company profile: Roland Berger (not active)
Arthur D. Little
Founded: 1886
Arthur D. Little launched in the Middle East in 2009
Offices in MENA: Dubai, Beirut, Riyadh, Abu Dhabi
Middle East Managing Partner: Thomas Kuruvilla
Global Managing Partner: Ignacio Garcia Alves
MENA company profile: Arthur D. Little (not active)
OC&C Strategy Consultants
Founded: 1987
Offices in MENA: Istanbul
Global Managing Partner: James George
MENA company profile: OC&C Strategy Consultants
Corporate Value Associates
Founded: 1987
Corporate Value Associates launched in the Middle East in April 2019
Offices in MENA: Dubai, Casablanca
Middle East Managing Partner: Oliver Staub
Global Managing Partner: Paul-André Rabate
MENA company profile: Corporate Value Associates (not active)
Simon Kucher & Partners
Founded: 1985
Simon Kucher & Partners launched in the Middle East in 2012
Offices in MENA: Cairo, Dubai
Middle East Managing Partner: Lovrenc Kessler
Global Managing Partners: Mark Billige and Andreas von der Gathen
MENA company profile: Simon Kucher & Partners (not active)
Elixir
Founded: 2005
Acquired by McKinsey & Company in 2017
Offices in MENA: Jeddah, Riyadh
Middle East Managing Partner: Imraan Munshi
Global Managing Partner: Imraan Munshi
MENA company profile: Elixir (not active)
YCP Solidiance
Founded: 2006
YCP Solidiance launched in the Middle East in 2014
Offices in MENA: Abu Dhabi, Beirut
Middle East Managing Partner: Erika Masako Welch
Global Managing Partner: Damien Duhamel
MENA company profile: YCP Solidiance (not active)
Emerton
Founded: 2011
Offices in MENA: Dubai
Middle East Managing Partner: Denis Martin
Global Managing Partners: Sebastien Plessis and Pascal Simon
MENA company profile: Emerton
Accenture Strategy
Founded: 2013
Accenture Strategy launched in the Middle East in 2013
Offices in MENA: Al Khobar, Riyadh, Kfar Saba, Tel Aviv, Abu Dhabi, Dubai
Middle East Managing Partner: Visar Sala
Global Managing Partner: Mark Knickrehm
MENA company profile: Accenture Strategy (not active)
Delta Partners
Founded: 2006
Delta Partners launched in the Middle East in 2006
Offices in MENA: Dubai
Middle East Managing Partner: Javier Alvarez, Josep Que, Alberto Pamias
Global Managing Partner: Victor Font
MENA company profile: Delta Partners (not active)
RedSeer Consulting
Founded: 2009
Offices in MENA: Dubai
Middle East Managing Partner: Sandeep Ganediwalla
Global Managing Partner: Anil Kumar
MENA company profile: RedSeer Consulting (not active)
Booz Allen Hamilton
Founded: 1914
Booz Allen Hamilton launched in the Middle East 60+ years ago
Offices in MENA: Abu Dhabi. Beirut, Cairo, Doha, Dubai
Middle East Managing Partner: Souheil Moukaddem
Global Managing Partner: Horacio Rozanski
MENA company profile: Booz Allen Hamilton (not active)
Alvarez & Marsal
Founded: 1983
Alvarez & Marsal launched in the Middle East in 2008
Offices in MENA: Dubai, Riyadh
Middle East Managing Partner: Saeeda Jaffar
Global Managing Partner: Tony Alvarez
MENA company profile: Alvarez & Marsal
Analysys Mason
Founded: 1985
Analysys Mason launched in the Middle East in 2007
Offices in MENA: Dubai
Middle East Managing Partner: Rohan Dhamija
Global Managing Partner: Bram Moerman
MENA company profile: Analysys Mason
FTI Consulting
Founded: 1982
FTI Consulting launched in the Middle East in 2005
Offices in MENA: Tel Aviv, Doha, Dubai, Abu Dhabi
Middle East Managing Partner: Yaser Dajani
Global Managing Partner: Steven Gunby
MENA company profile: FTI Consulting (not active)
L.E.K. Consulting
Founded: 1983
Offices in MENA: Mumbai (serves the MENA market)
Middle East Managing Partner: Ashwin Assomull
Global Managing Partner: Stuart Jackson
MENA company profile: L.E.K. Consulting (not active)
Other strategy consulting firms
A number of leading inteernational strategy consulting firms such as Mars & Co (seven offices globally), Cylad Consulting (six offices globally), Marakon (five offices globally), Estin & Co (five offices globally) and Innosight (part of Huron, three offices globally) have not been profiled as – while they deliver engagements through fly-in teams, they do not have an office in the Middle East.