How good is your English? Fluency can increase your earning potential by three times in the MENA region

This may seem slightly self-evident, but a good grasp of the English language means you earn substantially more working in banking and finance in the MENA region.

While most employers stress the need for Arabic language skills, particularly for customer-facing and relationship management roles, research by Euromonitor International (admittedly commissioned by the British Council) suggests that English speakers can earn up to three times as much as those without a good grasp of the language.

English is one of the primary business languages across the GCC, but the research focused on how valuable fluency in the language can be across the likes of Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordon, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia and Yemen.

The research also wasn’t restricted to the financial sector, but banking and finance was highlighted as an area where fluency in English was particularly needed.