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President Jacob Zuma

UAE arrests Gupta brothers, wanted in South Africa

The United Arab Emirates has arrested Rajesh and Atul Gupta, brothers who face charges of corruption in South Africa. Dubai Police confirmed the arrest on Twitter, posting on Tuesday that it had received an Interpol red notice for the brothers and was coordinating with the South African authorities “regarding the extradition file to complete the legal procedures”. South Africa’s Ministry of Justice and Correctional Services said […]

Mena has high hopes for post-pandemic tourism

Visitors are returning to key tourism destinations around the Middle East and North Africa, but not everywhere is faring so well The surge in passenger numbers at the Gulf’s biggest airports in the opening months of this year tells a clear story of recovery in the region’s travel and tourism sector. Doha’s Hamad International handled […]

Oil price fall dents Gulf stock markets

Most Gulf markets ended lower on Thursday on growing concerns over inflation and recession and as oil prices slumped following speculation that Saudi Arabia would boost production. Saudi Arabia’s benchmark index finished 1.3 percent lower, hurt by a 2.1 percent fall in oil giant Saudi Aramco and a 1.2 percent decline in country’s biggest Islamic […]

Africa’s online platforms take on Silicon Valley

African startups challenge giants like Facebook, Twitter Innovators say local knowledge is key to meeting needs Platforms prioritize indigenous languages, data rights By Kim Harrisberg and Menna A. Farouk Plan a funeral, call out corruption or start a business – tough jobs all now made easier by a generation of tech-savvy Africans tackling local problems […]

Saudi aims to increase its 300 tonnes of beans a year to 2,500 tonnes

Saudis want the world to wake up and smell their coffee

Did Arabica coffee originate in Arabia? Many say it hails from Ethiopia and then spread to Yemen and the rest of the Middle East. As coffee experts and aficionados continue to debate its history, Saudi Arabia is working to put a new stamp on the industry.  Saudi Arabia has named 2022 the year of Saudi […]

mandarins

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 […]

Menap countries must work together to close GDP shortfall

Economic cooperation in the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan, and Pakistan (MENAP) is a strategic must for continued regional prosperity and socio-economic development, says a new report. The introduction of bloc-wide common standards and free flow of capital, goods and services could help unlock up to US$230 billion in GDP, according to research from UAE […]

Person, Human, Glasses

UK $350m venture capital fund sees Dubai on the Horizon

Founder of London-based Digital Horizon targets investment potential in UAE startups  London-based venture capital fund Digital Horizon is targeting the UAE for growth, with investments in its first Dubai-based startups expected to be completed later this year. Alan Vaksman, founder and general partner of Digital Horizon, which has $350 million of assets under its management, […]

ADGM will regulate the exchange

World’s first carbon credit exchange boosts green projects

Abu Dhabi Global Market pioneers the milestone exchange allowing companies to trade carbon credits like conventional financial assets The launch of the world’s first regulated carbon credit exchange and clearing house to regulate carbon credits will help mobilise capital for renewable energy projects in the MENA region. It will also help companies reach their decarbonisation […]

Face, Person, Human
  • How I got to the top

Ayham Gorani, co-founder and CEO, Pemo

What does your company do?Pemo empowers businesses across the Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan by offering them a fast, transparent, and simplified way to manage their company spend. We’ve built a platform that addresses the day-to-day spend management challenges faced by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the region. Our offering includes smart corporate […]

fields 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 […]

Egypt’s net foreign assets retreat further into the red

Egypt’s net foreign assets (NFAs) dropped by 169.7 billion Egyptian pounds ($9.17 billion) in March, the sharpest decline since the coronavirus crisis broke out in February 2020, central bank data showed on Sunday. NFAs fell to a negative 221.3 billion pounds at the end of March from a negative 51.69 billion pounds a month earlier. […]

Bulldozer, Tractor, Vehicle

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 […]

$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 […]

Oil prices have rocketed since the Russian invasion of Ukraine

Tapping oil stockpiles may not be enough to plug loss of Russian supply

Top oil consuming nations may find that one of their main tools to fight high global oil prices – the release of strategic stockpiles – will prove inadequate to soothe markets starved of Russian supply since its invasion of Ukraine. The 31-member International Energy Agency, representing industrialised nations but not Russia, presided over the fourth […]

Actual COVID death toll near 15 million

The official death toll from the first two years of the coronavirus pandemic is about 5.4 million. But according to a new World Health Organization report, the actual number is around three times higher than that. The U.N. body said on Thursday there were 14.9 million excess deaths associated with COVID-19 by the end of […]

Ukraine war push egg prices higher worldwide

Severe outbreaks of bird flu in the United States and France are tightening global egg supplies and raising prices for the food staple as the war in Ukraine disrupts shipments to Europe and the Middle East. Higher prices are particularly painful for consumers who rely on eggs as a low-cost source of protein and substitute […]

Tunisia’s dinar hits record low versus dollar

Tunisia’s dinar currency has fallen to record lows versus the dollar, driven down by high inflation, a worsening trade deficit and the severe impact of the Ukraine crisis on public finances. It traded at 3.074 against the dollar on Thursday, central bank data showed on Friday. Earlier this month, the state statistics institute said Tunisia’s […]

Jordan’s king agreed with U.S. Biden on need to defuse Jerusalem tension

Jordan’s King Abdullah agreed with U.S. President Joe Biden on the need to prevent a repeat of recent confrontations in Jerusalem’s Muslim holy sites that sparked concerns of wider conflict, state media said. In a phone call on Monday, Abdullah was quoted as saying the cornerstone of peace was a comprehensive Arab Israeli settlement based on a two-state solution […]

Egypt current account deficit narrows to $3.8bn

Egypt’s current account deficit narrowed to $3.8 billion in the October-December quarter from $4.85 billion in the same period a year earlier, boosted by a jump in tourism, the central bank said in balance of payments figures released on Thursday. The figures also showed a sharp outflow of portfolio investment, which shrank to a deficit […]

Sub-Saharan Africa’s growth to slow to 3.6% this year

Sub-Saharan Africa’s economy is set to grow 3.6% this year, down from 4% in 2021, the World Bank said on Wednesday, as it warned rising food and energy prices fuelled by Russia’s war in Ukraine could spark civil unrest in the region. While it upgraded the forecast for this year by 0.1 percentage points and […]