Agriculture South Africa looks to Middle East to replace Russia fruit exports The conflict in Ukraine has throttled South Africa’s citrus exports to Russia and driven input costs higher, further squeezing fruit producers already suffering from spiralling shipping costs, an industry body said. The war, which started on Febuary 24, blocked South Africa’s citrus shipments to Russia in the immediate aftermath, Citrus Growers Association of Southern Africa […] May 26, 2022
Manufacturing Saudi Arabia likely to see two more electric vehicle plants Plans by American electric vehicle (EV) maker Lucid Motors to build a production plant in Saudi Arabia is likely to be the first of at least three such facilities in the kingdom, investment minister Khalid Al-Falih said today. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Falih did not provide any further details on the […] May 25, 2022
Exclusive Manufacturing UAE’s aluminium drive is out of this world Aluminium has been a bedrock of the UAE’s economy and its industrial ambitions for years with exports reaching more than 50 countries around the world. Now, Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA), the country’s largest industrial company outside oil and gas, is looking to enter the ultimate export market – outer space. The company is in talks […] May 24, 2022
Agriculture Greek graviera cheese could soon be off the menu In a small factory on the Greek island of Naxos, workers are busy churning out its famous graviera cheese. At least, they are for now. A crisis unfolding on the island’s farms is sparking fears that the locally-produced pale yellow wheels may soon start to disappear from the cheese counter. Standing among his cows in […] May 20, 2022
Agriculture Middle East to benefit from World Bank’s $30bn food security fund The World Bank said on Wednesday it will make $30 billion available to help stem a food security crisis threatened by Russia’s war in Ukraine, which has cut off most grain exports from the two countries. The total will include $12 billion in new projects and over $18 billion funds from existing food and nutrition-related […] May 20, 2022
Manufacturing Lucid’s electric vehicle hub to create 4,500 jobs in Saudi US-based Lucid Group on Wednesday revealed more details about its plans to build an electric vehicle (EV) production hub in Saudi Arabia, with 4,500 jobs to be created. With an annual capacity to build 155,000 EVs, agreements in place are estimated to provide financing and incentives to Lucid of up to $3.4 billion over the […] May 19, 2022
Energy Borouge to sell 10% of shares in IPO as it lists on ADX Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and its Austrian chemicals partner Borealis AG are planning an initial public offering (IPO) of their petrochemicals joint venture Borouge on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX). Borouge, a specialty plastics firm that produces polyolefins used in items such as cars and food packaging, said its offering will consist […] May 18, 2022
Agriculture 300,000 tonnes of wheat bought by Egypt stranded in Ukraine The wheat ordered by Egypt's state grains buyer has yet to be shipped, with one cargo stuck in port and four others to be loaded, traders say May 17, 2022
Analysis Agriculture Indonesia’s cooking oil crisis explained An export ban has infuriated farmers, amid soaring prices and claims that a ‘palm oil mafia’ is operating in the country Indonesia, the world’s biggest exporter of palm oil, halted shipments on April 28 in a bid to flood the domestic market with supplies and control the soaring price of cooking oil. The tough policy […] May 17, 2022
Agriculture Egypt can still buy Indian wheat despite export ban Any agreements by Egypt’s government to purchase Indian wheat will not be affected by an export ban announced by New Delhi, Egypt’s supply minister said yesterday. “For India, we are talking with them on the basis of a government agreement. The ban exempts governments including the government of Egypt,” minister Ali Moselhy said. Egypt, the world’s largest wheat […] May 16, 2022
Manufacturing Renault sells Russian carmaker Avtovaz for one rouble Renault is to sell its majority stake in carmaker Avtovaz to a Russian science institute for just one rouble with a six-year option to buy it back, leaving the door open for the French carmaker’s return. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said to preserve thousands of jobs Renault’s plant in the city would be used to […] May 16, 2022
Insight Food & Drink Ukraine war drives Gulf to double down on food security As the war in Ukraine has pushed up food prices and disrupted supply chains, hard-hit Mena countries explore ways to protect themselves In Abu Dhabi clusters of fresh tomatoes are growing inside rows of climate-controlled greenhouses in the middle of the desert – just one example of the lengths the arid region must go to […] May 12, 2022
Tourism Emirates aims to start repaying Dubai $4.1bn in Covid aid Dubai’s Emirates hopes that it will soon start paying back the 15 billion dirhams ($4.1 billion) in state assistance it receive from the government during the pandemic, its chairman said on Monday. The Dubai government injected billions of dollars into its flagship airline via equity injections over the course of the pandemic that had at […] May 12, 2022
Media & Advertising Musk incurs regulators’ wrath with late Twitter stake disclosure US regulators are investigating Elon Musk’s delayed disclosure of his stake in Twitter Inc last month, the Wall Street Journal yesterday, citing people familiar with the matter. Musk disclosed a 9.2 percent stake in Twitter to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on April 4, a delay of at least 10 days since surpassing […] May 12, 2022
Tech Make it happen: How to digitally transform your business Here is the first of our monthly guides to harnessing global trends with a razor-sharp regional focus May 10, 2022
Growth in Saudi non-oil private sector still robust in April Saudi Arabia’s non-oil private sector continued to see robust growth in April, albeit at a slower pace than in March as fears over inflation began to weigh on demand, a survey showed on Monday. The headline seasonally adjusted S&P Global Saudi Arabia Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for the whole economy fell to 55.7 in April […] May 9, 2022
Manufacturing Costs at three-year high in UAE non-oil sector Energy and material costs are at their highest levels for more than three years in the United Arab Emirates non-oil sector, forcing businesses to increase their prices, according to the latest S&P Global UAE Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) released on Monday. “The burden of rising input prices continued to be felt across the UAE non-oil […] May 9, 2022
EXCLUSIVE Tech Abu Dhabi is harvesting technology to drive a farming revolution The Gulf region has historically imported around 90 percent of its food requirements, constrained by arid soils, scarce water resources and searing temperatures. But concerns about the impact of climate change on food production, coupled with the recent coronavirus-induced global supply chain crisis, are forcing governments to rethink food security. Technology solutions Abu Dhabi has […] May 9, 2022
Sustainability Heavy rain and floods in Afghanistan kill 22 Heavy rain and flooding has killed 22 people, destroyed hundreds of homes and damaged crops in Afghanistan, which is already facing a humanitarian crisis, a disaster management official said today. The Taliban government, struggling to cope with the disaster that has affected more than a third of its provinces, will approach international relief organisations for […] May 5, 2022
Analysis Industry In Syria, business hub hopes to drive recovery from war In an industrial zone in northern Syria’s rebel-held city of Al-Bab, Abu Omar al-Shihabi’s smelter churns out iron bars he says can compete with any produced in Syria and beyond. The industrial zone is an unlikely business hub. It is located on the edge of a city which was once occupied by Islamic State and […] May 3, 2022
Agriculture Brazil plans ‘fertilizer diplomacy’ trip to secure more imports Brazil’s new agriculture minister Marcos Montes will visit Jordan, Egypt and Morocco in a tour starting this week to discuss increasing fertilizer imports from those countries. “It’s a pilgrimage that we are calling fertilizer diplomacy,” Montes said in an interview with Reuters late on Monday, adding he would be joined by private sector representatives. “We […] May 3, 2022
Manufacturing $3bn IPO of Coca-Cola’s African bottler delayed Coca-Cola’s estimated $3 billion initial public offering (IPO) for its African bottling unit will likely take place in the third quarter after market turmoil linked to the war in Ukraine upset plans to list earlier, three sources have said. The flotation of Coca-Cola Beverages Africa (CCBA) would be the biggest on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange […] May 3, 2022
