The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is considered the most water-scarce region in the world. Renewable energy in this region has tremendous potential to provide energy security and reduce greenhouses gas emissions. Renewable energies for use in desalination processes include wind, solar thermal, photovoltaic and geothermal. The objective of this research is to review and select the best choice of a desalination technology combination with renewable solar energy in the MENA region from among different alternative systems, using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). These alternative systems are Solar still, Solar Humidification (Solar–MHE), Concentrating Solar Plant – Multi Effect Desalination (CSP-MED), Photovoltaic Reverse Osmosis (PV-RO) and Photovoltaic Electrodialysis Reverse (PV-EDR). The criteria that have been taken into consideration in the process of analysis are the energy demand, the capacity of the desalination plant (m³/day), the cost of produced water (US $/m³), the volume of saline water per cubic metre of fresh water, the volume of brine effluents per cubic metre of fresh water and the cost of brine disposal (US $/m³). A specific weight has been given to each criterion according to its relative impact on the process of decision-making. The results from the presented methodology determine the relative suitability of renewable energy desalination systems in the MENA.