Finance 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 […] August 28, 2023
Banking and Finance 3D printer Immensa looks to fund global expansion Immensa, a company focused on 3D printing and digital warehousing, is preparing to close a second funding round. Founder and CEO Fahmi Al Shawwa said the funding will be used to fuel international expansion of the company, which uses data and technology to streamline warehouse operations. The company is based in Dubai, but opened a […] August 25, 2023
Banking and Finance UAE consumers save less, borrow more in second quarter UAE consumers saved less and borrowed more in the second quarter of the year, data from the country’s top 10 banks revealed. The overall loan-to-deposit ratio (LDR) rose from 74.9 percent in Q1 2023 to 76.3 percent in Q2, recording the first increase after four successive quarterly declines, according to the latest quarterly UAE Banking […] August 25, 2023
Finance Development bank backs Egyptian entrepreneurs The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has provided EGP200 million ($6.47 million) to Reefy Micro-Finance Enterprise Services (Reefy), the first Egyptian licensed microfinance institution, to support young entrepreneurs. The loan is provided under the EBRD’s Youth in Business (YiB) programme. It will be used to help privately owned micro-enterprises led or owned by […] August 25, 2023
Finance Jadwa acquires stake in Gissah Perfumes Jadwa Investment, a Riyadh-based investment management and advisory firm, has acquired a 35 percent equity stake in Kuwait’s Gissah Perfumes Company, with plans for a listing on the Saudi Arabian bourse. The stake was purchased through Jadwa Retail Opportunities Fund, the companies said in a joint statement. Founded in 2018, Gissah has 80 stores in […] August 24, 2023
Manufacturing Foreign investors seek 15% of Egypt’s tobacco company Egypt has received several offers from foreign investors to buy up to 15.3 percent of the shares of state-controlled Eastern Co, the country’s main tobacco products maker, the company said in a disclosure to the stock exchange on Tuesday. If it goes through, the sale would give impetus to Egypt’s floundering privatisation programme and reduce […] August 23, 2023
Finance Abu Dhabi fund buys share of hotel group in Spain Coral Reef, a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, and Melia Hotels International have received approval to acquire a portfolio of 17 hotels from Equity Inmuebles in Spain and the Canary Islands. Financial details around the acquisition were not revealed. The deal was given the green light by the European Commission under EU merger regulations. […] August 22, 2023
Finance Saudi investor leads $350m funding for US space company An investment firm from Saudi Arabia has led a $350 million funding round for Axiom Space, three months after the US company took the kingdom’s first astronauts to the International Space Station. Axiom Space said the Series-C funding round was led by Saudi Arabia’s Aljazira Capital and South Korean healthcare firm Boryung, taking its total […] August 22, 2023
Renewable Energy Six UAE banks allocate $52bn for renewable projects A total of AED190 billion ($51 billion) was allocated by six UAE banks for the financing of renewable energy, waste-to-energy and green technology projects in the years leading up to 2022. The banks are First Abu Dhabi Bank, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Emirates NBD, Dubai Islamic Bank, Mashreq and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, the UAE […] August 22, 2023
Finance India’s banks asked to settle trades in rupee and dirham India’s central bank is nudging local banks to ask their clients to settle trade between the UAE and India using the dirham or Indian rupee to reduce US-dollar-based transactions. The move is part of the Reserve Bank of India’s broader aim of promoting settlement in local currencies with countries with which India has a trade […] August 22, 2023
Finance Turkey’s central bank likely to hike policy rate to 20% Turkey’s central bank is expected to raise its policy rate to 20 percent this week, a Reuters poll showed on Monday, though some economists expect a smaller increase after hikes in previous months remained below expectations. The central bank embarked on a tightening cycle in June, after President Tayyip Erdoğan appointed former Wall Street banker […] August 22, 2023
Finance First Group parent signs standstill deal on sukuk Aurum, parent company of Dubai developer The First Group, has signed an interim standstill agreement with an “ad-hoc” group of creditors while discussions continue on restructuring its Islamic bonds, or sukuk, that are due to mature next year. Aurum is listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE). It received the approval of holders of its […] August 21, 2023
Banking and Finance Turkey begins rolling back costly FX-protected deposits Turkey’s central bank has begun rolling back a costly scheme that protects lira deposits from FX depreciation, marking another move toward more orthodox policies following a shift toward interest rate hikes. The central bank said on Sunday that it lifted targets applied to banks for certain levels of conversions of foreign exchange deposits to the […] August 21, 2023
Banking and Finance Turkey gets $100m US loan for quake zone development Turkey’s Sekerbank has signed a $100 million loan agreement with the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) to develop the country’s earthquake-hit region. The bank will also allocate $33 million from its own resources to increase the total amount to $133 million. The seven-year loan will also finance women’s businesses and small and medium-sized enterprises […] August 20, 2023
Finance Al Mukhaizeem to head Kuwait fund’s London office The Kuwait Investment Authority has appointed Abdulmohsin Al Mukhaizeem as president and chief executive officer of its London branch. A subsidiary of the KIA’s headquarters in Kuwait, the Kuwait Investment Office (KIO) in the UK capital manages part of the Future Generations Fund (the savings portion of the sovereign wealth fund). This includes a portfolio […] August 18, 2023
Banking and Finance Saudi tribunal fines investors over stock market violations A stock market tribunal has issued a final ruling and fined three investors in construction firm Al Kathiri Holding. The trio were penalised for withholding the size of their share ownership over a four-month period before the company listed on the main stock exchange in 2019. An appeal committee of the Resolution of Securities Disputes […] August 18, 2023
Banking and Finance Saudi insurance market braces for more mergers Saudi insurance companies expect an increase in mergers and acquisitions once a new independent insurance authority is fully operational by early next year, a spokesman said this week. On August 16 the Saudi cabinet gave its authorisation for the body’s creation, which central bank (Sama) governor Ayman Al-Sayari said would help improve efficiency in the […] August 18, 2023
Finance Islamic assets in Saudi Arabia exceed $827bn says Sama Saudi Arabia’s total Islamic assets exceed SAR3.1 trillion ($826.58 billion), said Ayman Al Sayari, governor of the Saudi Central Bank (Sama). “Saudi Arabia has a deep-rooted and historical relationship with Islamic finance. The Islamic banking sector alone accounts for 33 percent of the global Islamic bank assets,” Al Sayari said at the Islamic Financial Services […] August 18, 2023
Finance Bahrain hard currency assets rise $800m says HSBC Bahrain’s central bank foreign currency assets rose by almost $800 million in June from May, recovering further from pandemic lows but still modest for an oil-led economy with a currency pegged to the dollar, HSBC said. “However, the rise means that reserves have risen 50 percent in the space of a year to their highest […] August 18, 2023
Finance Lebanon reports $660m in loans from Gulf states Lebanon’s central bank said its liquid foreign assets stood at $8.57 billion as it disclosed the numbers for the first time in a push for greater transparency after the departure of its long-time governor Riad Salameh. The central bank did not provide comparison figures from earlier periods, but at the start of the financial crisis […] August 18, 2023
Finance Saudi anti-corruption body arrests 107 officials Saudi Arabia’s anti-corruption agency arrested 107 government officials during the Islamic month of Muharram, a sharp jump from 65 during the previous month but down from this year’s high of 159 in February. The Oversight and Anti-Corruption Authority announced the latest statistics on social media app X (formerly Twitter), where it said the detainees were […] August 17, 2023
Finance Remittances from UAE to rise as Indian rupee weakens Remittances from the UAE are likely to surge as the Indian rupee remains under pressure in the near term due to rising US treasury yields and a weaker Chinese yuan. The rupee has declined over 1.2 percent from its late-July high to a five-month low at 83 per dollar for the first time in nearly […] August 17, 2023
