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Egypt wind farms

Dubai firm plans $1.1bn clean energy investment in Egypt

Dubai-based Amea Power announced on Wednesday that it has achieved a financial close to deliver 1 gigawatts (gw) of wind and solar energy projects in Egypt. The 500mw wind and 500mw solar projects, represent $1.1 billion of investment into the Egyptian economy and takes the company’s clean energy portfolio to 2gw in the country. Amea […]

An Iran fan in the Khalifa stadium, Doha, ahead of her team's opening World Cup match against England on November 21. A marine link from Bushehr, southern Iran, to Qatar has opened for the tournament

Qatar scores, with vital assists from Iran, Turkey and the UAE

Alongside the massive investment and the 12 years of preparation, Qatar has called in more than a few favours to aid the smooth running of the World Cup. While its allies have proved keen to help, Doha has had to tiptoe carefully around the geopolitical faultlines that run through the Gulf. Turkey has sent more […]

Ministers deliver statements during the closing plenary at Cop27

Cop27 deal delivers landmark on ‘loss and damage’, but little else

Countries adopted a hard-fought final agreement at the Cop27 climate summit early on Sunday that sets up a fund to help poor countries being battered by climate disasters – but does not boost efforts to tackle the emissions causing them. After tense negotiations that ran through the night, the Egyptian Cop27 presidency released the final […]

Venturesouq climate investment fund

Mena VC firm VentureSouq to set up climate-focused fund

Middle East and North Africa-based Venture capital firm VentureSouq is to launch a new climate-focused fund to support companies developing solutions for the green economy. Achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050 globally will require as much as $173 trillion in investments in the energy transition, according to BloombergNEF’s (BNEF) New Energy Outlook 2021 (NEO), […]

Cop27 sign in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt

Sticking points slow crunch talks to agree final deal at Cop27

Government ministers and negotiators from nearly 200 countries began working towards a Cop27 final deal on Tuesday, with the summit host Egypt issuing assurances that the slow-moving talks remain on track. On the conference floor in Sharm El Sheikh, however, some delegates have begun to speculate that the UN talks could run over time into […]

Fintech Pyypl mulls more fundraising amid investor demand

Pyypl, the Middle East and Africa (Mena) focused financial services platform, is mulling plans for a new fundraising drive after closing its Series B raise of $20 million. The company said it is considering opening a second tranche for further investment due to interest from investors. Since inception in 2017, Pyypl has raised almost $40 […]

Table Lamp, Lamp, Woman

Cherie Blair ‘optimistic’ for Middle East entrepreneurial equality

Nearly 20 years ago, Cherie Blair CBE, leading King’s Counsel and committed campaigner for women’s rights, predicted that the UAE would lead the Middle East’s drive on gender equality. Her first visit to the GCC region – during her husband Tony’s 10-year stint as British Prime Minister – was promptly followed by the appointment of […]

Sudan borrowing limited amounts from central bank

Sudan’s finance minister said on Wednesday said the government was borrowing limited amounts from the central bank, but was still able to control inflation. Sudan’s economy has been in crisis for years. That crisis has deepened and the economic activity has stagnated since a military takeover in October 2021 derailed a political transition that was […]

The Entertainer app offers deals in many sectors including attractions, such as the Dubai Aquarium and Underwater Zoo

Saudi and Egypt offer ideal stage for UAE’s The Entertainer

The Entertainer, a Dubai-based tech company that offers thousands of lifestyle product discounts, is focusing on Saudi Arabia and Egypt for expansion as demand rises amid the current cost of living crunch. New CEO Ahmed Gaber, who was previously general manager of Visa’s operations in North Africa where he was responsible for developing the digital […]

Egypt’s ‘Golden License’ bonanza aims to plug ailing private sector

Egyptian President Abdel Fateh Al-Sisi has announced that Egypt will accept all applications from investors for “Golden Licenses” for the next three months, in a bid to spur private investment in the Arab world’s most populated country. The Golden Licenses allow foreign investors to buy or rent land, operate and manage projects, and allocate the […]

Person, Human, Shelf

Tunisia to start tough economic reforms soon for IMF package

Tunisia will soon enact difficult economic reforms that have been delayed for years, the central bank governor said on Saturday, adding that financial authorities were trying to keep the dinar currency stable. Tunisia this month reached a preliminary agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a $1.9 billion rescue package that could be finalised […]

Solar energy Gulf

Revealed: Gulf climate targets – and the progress so far

The economies of the Middle East differ greatly in size and diversity – partly because of the distribution of oil and gas resources. Their impact on the climate varies accordingly.  Governments’ willingness and ability to tackle climate change also differs. Many oil-rich Gulf states are engaged in high-profile renewable energy projects, for example, yet their […]

Abu Dhabi's IHC is accelerating the growth of its tech portfolio

IHC sets out plan to create Mena’s largest tech company

International Holding Company (IHC), the Abu Dhabi-based conglomerate, plans to create the largest tech holding company in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region. IHC said it wants to scale up its IT businesses as part of the long-term strategy to grow its capacity in the tech industry across different sectors. The company added […]

COP27

Egypt’s Cop27 will see developing nations call for ‘climate justice’

Drought and famine haunt the Middle East. The Dead Sea has fallen to its lowest level in centuries. Starved of food and fresh water, desperate migrants criss-cross the Mediterranean, fomenting social unrest and violence. Within a few decades, a healthy global trade network has collapsed. Every major settlement has been abandoned or razed to the […]

Startups

‘It’s destined for disaster’, expert warns, as startups dilute equity

Investors who demand increasingly bigger stakes in startups amid plunging valuations could be signing their own “death warrants”. Startup valuations in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region are already seeing a downward correction this year, in line with global trends as VC funding has tightened since interest rates were increased by central banks […]

Person, Human, Shelf

Tunisia raises key interest rate again to combat inflation

Tunisia’s central bank on Wednesday raised its key interest rate by 25 basis points (bps) to 7.25 percent to combat inflation, the bank said, the second hike in five months. The central bank also decided to raise the interest rate on savings by 25 bps to 6.25 percent. Inflation in the North African country rose […]

Coin, Money, Nickel

Tunisia’s dinar hits record low, may erode forex reserves

Tunisia’s dinar currency has fallen to a record low versus the dollar, central bank data showed on Thursday, a decline that threatens to erode Tunisia’s foreign currency reserves and will increase inflationary pressures. Tunisia’s annual inflation rate rose to 8.6 percent in August, the highest level in nearly three decades. The dinar traded at 3.309 […]

Sonatrach in Algeria

Algeria’s gas in demand as Europe looks beyond Russia

Recent legal changes to woo international oil companies and new projects by state-owned Sonatrach should help Algeria maintain record natural gas production and raise exports to the European Union, industry experts predict.  EU countries have scrambled to find alternative gas suppliers following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February. In 2020 Russia provided 43 percent of […]