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Trump Dubai
  • EXCLUSIVE

Trump-branded properties in Dubai report 100% growth

Donald Trump may be the subject of an ongoing criminal investigation in the US, but his name is still big business in Dubai, where properties in the Gulf city bearing his brand name have appreciated by nearly 100 percent and continue to command strong demand. The former US president is under multiple probes, including the […]

Metaverse

Gulf investors back $20m funding for ‘YouTube of the metaverse’

Los Angeles-headquartered social media startup VUZ, which describes itself as ‘the YouTube of the metaverse’ has raised $20 million from a range of Gulf-based investors and aims to use the new funding to expand into Asia. Founded in 2017, VUZ also has offices in Dubai and Riyadh, and is a social app which allows users […]

Prospective buyers can explore a metaverse city before buying a property off plan

Metaverse will boost online home sales ‘five-fold’, says Damac

One of Dubai’s largest real estate developers is already close to $500 million in property sales each year online – and the metaverse is expected to help this grow more than five-fold when it is fully utilised as a selling channel. Many observers may be sceptical about the nascent Web3 sector, but Damac Properties is […]

Islamic finance set to embrace metaverse and cryptos

The Islamic finance industry is ripe for growth in the fields of crypto, digital assets and open banking, according to new research published by IslamicMarkets.com. A study published this week by the platform found that nearly two-thirds (63 percent) of Islamic finance professionals predict the sector’s level of adoption of crypto and digital assets will […]

Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng

UK tipped to see record levels of Middle East capital in 2022

Outbound investment from the Middle East to the UK is forecast to rise sharply this year, particularly for deals up to $250 million. Corporate finance specialist Lumina Capital Advisers said the strong dollar, weak sterling and the UK’s uncertain economic outlook made it a “highly attractive destination” for Middle East capital.  Sterling tumbled to a […]

  • Analysis

Something old, something new: The Quran goes NFT

In a novel merging of yesterday and tomorrow, one million people have been invited to purchase a non-fungible token (NFT) version of a rare copy of the Quran. MetaDee, a London-based digital NFT marketplace offering artworks and rare collectibles from around the world, has tokenised an exclusive handwritten Holy Quran manuscript by the personal scribe […]

Parents can keep an eye on their children's spending with the app

Teen banking app Zywa targets Saudi after funding boost

Zywa, a teen-focused fintech startup in the Middle East and North Africa, has announced plans to expand into Saudi Arabia following a seed funding round of $3 million.  The startup, which is part of Hub71, Abu Dhabi’s global tech ecosystem, offers a prepaid card for teenagers and an app to manage and save money. The […]

Damac's data centre company Edgnex has started work on a Riyadh facility

Dubai’s Damac to invest $990m in data centres in Germany

Dubai-based conglomerate Damac Group is planning to invest $990 million in data centres and technology acquisitions in Germany. The company is currently on a fact-finding expedition in the European country to identify opportunities. “It’s a very interesting time now in Germany, especially for future-oriented industries and the country has a lot of opportunities in sectors […]

Truck, Vehicle, Transportation

DP World to invest $1.4bn as half year profit goes up 51.8%

Dubai-owned DP World, one of the world’s biggest port operators, is planning to spend $1.4 billion on capital expenditure in 2022, as it reported a 51.8 percent rise in profit during the first half of the year. The company reported profit of $721 million for the first six months of 2022, as revenue rose 60.4 […]

Dubai bank enters metaverse to support $4bn tech push

Emirates NBD, Dubai’s biggest bank, today announced its first play in the metaverse as part of the emirate’s ambition to become one of the world’s top 10 virtual economies.  Its global accelerator programme, in partnership with the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Fintech Hive and powered by Microsoft, is for metaverse startups and aims to […]

Smiling until he sees the bill: mobile data does not come cheap in Dubai

Dubai ranks as most expensive city for mobile data

Dubai has taken the unenviable top spot as the most expensive city for affordability of mobile data, with the average cost of 1GB equating to 0.55 percent of personal disposable income, said a new study. In second place is Auckland with 0.37 percent, followed by Seoul (0.32 percent), Buenos Aires (0.32 percent) and Manila with 0.31 […]

Person, Human, Monitor

UAE businesses to boost investment in cyber insurance

Revenue from the cyber security insurance sector is forecast to grow by 10 percent per annum to $10.6 billion in 2025, with Gulf companies set to be part of this investment push. “The Russia-Ukraine war has increased the likelihood of state-sponsored cyber attacks that target critical infrastructure, military operations, and businesses,” said Amrit Dhami, a London-based […]

Consolidation coming to Gulf fintech, warns $40bn unicorn VP

Consolidation is coming to the Gulf’s fintech sector, according to Remo Giovanni Abbondandolo, senior vice president for MENA at global payments processor Checkout.com. The London-headquartered fintech, which offers a full-stack platform that simplifies payments processes for large global enterprise merchants, closed a $1 billion Series D funding round in January. “In my opinion, if you’re […]

Dubai ranks 18th in new index of top digital cities

Dubai is the only Middle Eastern city to be highlighted in the Digital Cities Index (DCI) 2022 – a new ranking of 30 global cities across four key pillars: connectivity, services, culture and sustainability. Ranked 18th with an overall score of 63.8, the city’s position highlights its forward-thinking approach to the digitised economy, underpinned by […]

  • Analysis

Dubai crypto chief predicts a $200k Bitcoin by 2024

“It might get worse,” Vineet Budki, managing partner and CEO at Cypher Capital, told AGBI when asked: Just how bad is the crypto market crash? Yet, the UAE-based venture capital (VC) firm has been deploying millions in Bitcoin, even as cryptocurrencies suffered their most brutal collapse this year. A major sell-off in cryptocurrencies in May […]

Virtual reality headsets are becoming more affordable, allowing more people to meet in the metaverse
  • Analysis

Inside Dubai’s big $4bn metaverse push

The UAE is punting big on the next iteration of reality. Crown prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed announced the launch of the Dubai Metaverse Strategy earlier this month, with an aim to place the emirate among the top 10 metaverse economies in the world. Many observers may have been sceptical but there are already early […]

Shoe, Footwear, Clothing
  • Analysis

MENA startup funding poised to recover in second half of 2022

Last year was a standout for Middle East and North African startups in which many notable records were broken, including the largest funding round to date and the highest number of deals. The total amount of investment raised by regional startups was pushed to $2.8 billion across 639 deals. This constituted a quadrupling of investment, […]