Words by Emmanuel Adu-Awuku, Senior Consultant - Mehul Shah, Senior Consultant - Youri Bejjani, Senior Consultant
Contributors: Adam Forgacs, Vice President & Head of Local Content Center of Excellence - Moufid Said, Principal Localization and Value Chain Development - Simona Timis, Senior Manager Localization and Value Chain Development
Global supply chains are under pressure – from geopolitical shocks through climate events to tightening trade controls and rising logistics complexity. For GCC economies, this volatility has exposed the risks of import dependency across critical sectors. At the same time, national agendas like Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 and the UAE’s ‘We the UAE 2031’ are accelerating the push toward industrial self-sufficiency and economic diversification.
Localization is now a strategic imperative – not just to protect against disruption, but to create long-term industrial capability and economic value. This white paper explores how GCC governments and industries can localize with precision by moving from local production focus to targeted, intelligence enabled, value chain–led execution.
Drawing on Efficio’s experience supporting national development and industrialization across the GCC, this paper outlines key success factors that enable governments to drive industrial development and deliver meaningful localization impact – value chain positioning, value creation potential, strategic criticality, and local viability. It shows how public and private stakeholders can classify opportunities into investment or enablement categories, and how AI-driven intelligence ecosystem can accelerate execution through better data, faster analysis, and coordinated action.
Three global case studies – from aerospace in the UAE to automotive in South Africa – illustrate how value chain focus, supplier enablement, and industrial clustering can unlock resilience and competitiveness. The report closes with three practical recommendations for decision-makers, initiate end-to-end value chain approach, support supplier capability development, and digitize the entire localization lifecycle to accelerate localization.
We are the leading strategic procurement, local content and supply chain consulting firm in the Middle East and Africa. While we operate globally, our large in-region MENA team brings unparalleled expertise delivered within the context of the region and its culture.