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Riham ElGizy, CEO of Saudi carbon credit company RVCMC

Saudi carbon credit firm to invest in Middle East and Africa

Saudi Arabia’s Regional Voluntary Carbon Market Co plans to invest in carbon abatement projects in the Middle East, Africa and Southeast Asia, the CEO of the government-backed startup has told AGBI. Saudi’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Saudi Tadawul Group, owner of the kingdom’s stock market, last October launched RVCMC. PIF holds an 80 percent […]

Saudi's STC Group purchased 9.9% of Spain's Telefonica for $2.25bn but 5% is in derivatives

Risk-averse Gulf telecom companies look to Europe

Following myriad lacklustre investments in Asia and Africa, some former telecom monopolies in the Gulf are now buying minority stakes in long-established operators in Europe to provide lower-risk, dividend-based returns. STC Group, previously known as Saudi Telecom Co and majority-owned by the kingdom’s Public Investment Fund, this week revealed it had spent 2.1 billion euros […]

Saudi telecom STC became the largest shareholder in Spain's Telefonica in September

STC buys 9.9% of Spain’s Telefonica for $2.25bn

Saudi telecoms conglomerate STC Group has acquired a 9.9 percent stake in Spain’s Telefonica for SAR8.5 billion ($2.25 billion) as part of its global expansion drive. The investment makes the Saudi listed company the top shareholder in the Spanish telecom major after Spanish bank BBVA’s 4.9 percent holding. The holding comprises 4.9 percent of Telefonica’s […]

Ahli United Bank is converting to Islamic finance

Islamic finance tops $3.3trn but growth challenges remain

Saudi Arabia is the world’s biggest player in Islamic finance and the appetite for it in the kingdom is only growing. It has $830 billion of assets out of a global market estimated to be worth $3.3 trillion, according to Ayman al Sayari, the governor of the Saudi Central Bank. Just last week, when Saudi […]

Mohammed Alqasir and Abdullah Aljadhai, co-founders of Rewaa

Aramco’s VC unit leads tech startup’s $27m funding round

Technology startup Rewaa has raised SAR100 million ($26.6 million) in a Series A funding round led by Wa’ed Ventures, Saudi Aramco’s venture capital fund. Saudi Telecom Company’s Corporate Innovation Fund (CIF), launched in February to invest in early-stage tech companies across various digital sectors, also participated in the round. Other investors included Silicon Valley’s Graphene Ventures, […]

TASC Towers will continue to operate independently with a board of non-Zain majority members

Saudi Telecom raises $1.34bn to buy European towers  

Tawal, a subsidiary of Saudi Telecom Company (STC), has completed the acquisition of three tower companies of United Group in Bulgaria, Croatia and Slovenia for €1.22 billion ($1.34 billion). The company agreed to buy tower infrastructure in April as part of its first foray into Europe’s telecoms market. Tawal raised a Shariah-compliant loan worth $1.42 […]

PIF Saudi public investment fun

PIF says assets hit $594bn despite $16bn loss in 2022

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) said gross assets under management (AUM) exceeded SAR2.23 trillion ($594.43 billion) in 2022, rising 12.62 percent from the previous year. International investments made up 23 percent of its AUM, worth SAR512 billion, while 68 percent were local investments (SAR1.72 trillion), PIF said in its annual report for 2022. The […]

Saudi businesses are looking for high-level experience in their board appointees

Saudi firms turn to experience for board hires

When Saudi food major Halwani Bros Company was looking for a new board member, it turned to Jameel Abdullah al-Molhem, who counts CEO of Saudi Telecom Company among a number of his former leadership positions in the kingdom. The appointment of al-Molhem as a non-executive member of the board last week is an example of […]

Saudi Telecom’s H1 revenue hits record high at $9.7bn

Revenues of Saudi Telecom Company (STC), the largest mobile operator in Saudi Arabia, hit a record-high of SAR36.5 billion ($9.73 billion) in the first half of 2023, up 8 percent year on year. Net profit for the period grew by 4.2 percent year on year to SAR6.12 billion, the company said in a filing to […]

Shadow economy hawala money market

Shining a light on the GCC’s $890bn shadow economy

The Dubai Financial Services Authority this week imposed a penalty of $25,200 on a company for dealing in precious metals and stones from its base in the Dubai International Financial Centre. The DFSA said the company had not been registered to carry out such activity. While the authority did not allege that the company was […]