Skip to content Skip to Search
Skip navigation

Iain Akerman

Iain Akerman
Man on laptop

DeFi could go mainstream, with a little help from Gulf regulators

For those who imagine a world without banks, decentralised finance – better known as DeFi – is an empowering development in the crypto universe. So, how does it put users in charge of their own finances?  DeFi is the provision of financial products and services without the need for intermediaries such as banks, exchanges or […]

world cup advertising

World Cup is an advertiser’s dream worth millions

With a projected worldwide audience of five billion people, the 2022 FIFA World Cup is an advertiser’s dream.  Although some brands have toyed with the idea of boycotting the event, and may eventually do so due to the controversies that have dogged Qatar’s hosting of the tournament, ignoring one of the world’s biggest sporting spectacles […]

Qatar is hoping to appeal to fans from all generations

Qatar 2022: A smart investment or a $200bn folly?

Doha is banking on long-term economic gains from the World Cup to offset the negative attention it has received since it won the hosting rights  When Qatar won the right to stage the 2022 FIFA World Cup in 2010 it shocked much of the footballing world.  By beating Australia, South Korea, Japan and the US, the […]

The project's scope has expanded from its inception, adding a further $30 billion to the originally estimated $20 billion cost

Diriyah Gate: The kingdom’s cultural heart

Roughly 20 minutes’ drive north-west of Riyadh’s city centre lies the historic town of Diriyah. The original home of the House of Saud and the capital of the First Saudi State, it is here that the country’s new cultural capital is beginning to take shape. Overseeing its transformation is the Diriyah Gate Development Authority (DGDA), […]

The Red Sea Project will will host 50 resorts providing up to 8,000 hotel rooms and beach villas

The Red Sea Project: Showcasing natural abundance

One of the most ambitious and environmentally responsible tourism developments in the world is beginning to take shape on the north-west coast of Saudi Arabia. Spread across 28,000 square kilometres and including an archipelago of more than 90 islands, The Red Sea Project will be powered by 100 per cent renewable energy and is committed to […]

Inside NEOM: Saudi’s $500bn smart megacity

Arguably the most ambitious project taking shape in the kingdom is NEOM, a vast region in the northwest of the country that is slowly being transformed into a vision of the future. At the heart of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s drive to diversify the country’s economy, it is being built at an estimated cost […]

Artist's impression of the planned cliff-top football stadium in Qiddiya, Saudi Arabia's entertainment and sports complex south-west of Riyadh

Qiddiya: A sports and arts revolution

Marketed as the kingdom’s capital of entertainment, sports and the arts, Qiddiya is beginning to take shape 45 minutes’ drive south-west of Riyadh. First announced in 2017 as part of Vision 2030, Qiddiya has a dual economic and social purpose – to contribute to the advancement of Saudi Arabia’s economic diversification and to open up […]

Qiddiya is an entertainment megaproject to be established in Riyadh

Saudi Arabia: A kingdom in transformation

Four giga-projects symbolise Saudi’s transformation and economic diversification from oil to technology and tourism – but global problems could delay progress In December last year the neighbourhood of Al-Balad in Jeddah played host to the first edition of the Red Sea International Film Festival. Held only three years after Saudi Arabia allowed cinemas to reopen […]