Banking & Finance Jared Kushner’s firm leads $200m funding for Dubizzle’s owner UAE-based unicorn Emerging Markets Property Group (EMPG) has completed a $200 million investment led by Affinity Partners, a global firm launched in 2021 by former US president Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. EMPG owns leading UAE classifieds platforms Bayut and Dubizzle, along with several platforms across emerging markets focused on Mena, South and Southeast Asia. The investment round […] October 28, 2022
Media & Advertising Musk’s Twitter ownership starts with firing of top executives Elon Musk became Twitter Inc’s owner on Thursday, firing top executives and providing little clarity over how he will achieve the lofty ambitions he has outlined for the influential social media platform. “The bird is freed,” he tweeted, referencing Twitter’s bird logo in an apparent nod to his desire to see the company have fewer […] October 28, 2022
Analysis Energy Energy crisis inflates Gulf demand and strains Europe The Opec+ oil production cuts announced in early October look set to ensure high energy prices continue for some time – a boon for Gulf producers but a headache for energy importers elsewhere. The situation is particularly acute in Europe, where countries have been scrambling to find alternatives to Russian gas. The first instinct of […] October 28, 2022
Opinion Banking & Finance Five financial tips: How to beat the inflation crunch Our new personal finance columnist explores ways to manage your money through turbulent times October 27, 2022
Energy Riyadh was more ‘mature’ in spat with Washington, minister tells FII Saudi Arabia decided to be the “maturer guys” in a spat with the United States over oil supplies, the kingdom’s energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said on Tuesday. Prince Abdulaziz made the comment during his speech to the kingdom’s Future Investment Initiative (FII) event, which has drawn top executives from the US and elsewhere. […] October 25, 2022
Analysis Sustainability 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 […] October 21, 2022
Tech Carmakers to double spending on EVs, batteries to $1.2trn by 2030 The world’s top automakers are planning to spend nearly $1.2 trillion through 2030 to develop and produce millions of electric vehicles, along with the batteries and raw materials to support that production, according to a Reuters analysis of public data and projections released by those companies. The EV investment figure, which has not previously been […] October 21, 2022
Logistics Aramex makes largest ever acquisition in $265m US deal Aramex has completed the acquisition of Access USA Shipping, a platform that enables cross-border e-commerce, for $265 million. The transaction marks the logistics company’s largest acquisition to date, it said in a filing on Dubai Financial Market. Aramex said Access USA Shipping, which is better known as MyUS, will be integrated into their business, operating […] October 19, 2022
Banking & Finance Flurry of funds bet on bruised bitcoin and ether allure A growing number of funds are betting on the long-term appeal of bitcoin and ether, a gritty gambit in the depths of a crypto winter. Unfazed by a collapse in prices over the past 11 months, investment firms have unleashed a flurry of exchange-traded funds, anticipating that elite cryptocurrencies and their underlying technology will eventually […] October 19, 2022
Banking & Finance Turkish central bank takes more steps to boost lira deposits Turkey’s central bank took fresh steps to boost lira deposits on Tuesday, raising the ratio of bonds that banks must hold for foreign exchange deposits and requiring those with less than 50 percent lira deposits to hold even more bonds from next year. The central bank raised the securities maintenance ratio required for forex deposits […] October 18, 2022
Analysis MENA startup valuations take a hit as funding tightens Funding for startups in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has continued to decline this year, in line with global trends, but industry experts remain optimistic that the end of the year will see a resurgence. The tightening of cash has also meant investors are looking for increasingly bigger stakes, resulting in startup valuations […] October 18, 2022
Media & Advertising Rupert Murdoch starts process to reunite Fox and News Corp Rupert Murdoch has started a process that could reunite his media empire, News Corp and Fox Corp disclosed on Friday, saying they would consider combining at his behest, nearly a decade after the companies split. Both have formed special committees to review proposals of a potential combination, they said. If a deal goes through, the […] October 16, 2022
Tech 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 […] October 14, 2022
Banking & Finance Twitter says Musk is under federal investigations over $44bn deal Elon Musk is being investigated by federal authorities over his conduct in his $44 billion takeover deal for Twitter Inc, the social media company said in a court filing released on Thursday. While the filing said he was under investigations, it did not say what the exact focus of the probes was and which federal […] October 14, 2022
Analysis Energy Emerging ‘consequences’ of the US-Gulf fallout over OPEC’s cuts OPEC+’s announcement last week of a two million barrel per day (bpd) production cut from November has rocked already fragile US-Gulf relations. Joe Biden pledged that “there will be consequences” for Saudi Arabia in the same week that the UAE president flew to Moscow to meet Vladimir Putin. In response to Biden’s threat of retaliation, […] October 13, 2022
Economy US national security seeks to contain China’s rise The White House rolled out a long-delayed national security strategy on Wednesday that seeks to contain China’s rise while re-emphasising the importance of working with allies to tackle challenges confronting democratic nations. The 48-page document, which was delayed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, includes no major shifts in thinking and introduces no major new foreign […] October 13, 2022
Opinion Energy OPEC+ cuts reopen wounds between West and GCC members Geopolitical dilemma: while the US is concerned about energy price hikes during the midterm elections, OPEC+ is acting to safeguard its own member interests October 11, 2022
Energy OPEC+ cuts: the media’s verdict Major stock markets in the Gulf rose in early trading on Thursday, joining the rise in oil prices following the announcement late on Wednesday October 5 that the oil alliance OPEC+ had agreed to cut production by about two million barrels per day, the largest reduction since 2020. OPEC+ agrees deep oil production cuts, Biden […] October 6, 2022
Opinion Energy Behind the scenes at the controversial OPEC+ meeting The West and GCC nations can now only gain from really engaging in geopolitics and markets with cool heads and open channels of communication October 6, 2022
Media & Advertising Elon Musk reverses course, ready to buy Twitter for $44bn Billionaire Elon Musk is proposing to proceed with his original $44 billion bid to take Twitter Inc private, security filings showed on Tuesday, calling for an end to a lawsuit by the social media company that could have forced him to pay up, whether he wanted to or not. An agreement would put the world’s […] October 5, 2022
HSBC eyes sale of ‘profitable’ Canadian business at premium HSBC is considering selling its business in Canada, worth billions of dollars and one of the biggest international banking brands in the country, as it looks to beef up returns as demanded by its largest shareholder. “We are currently reviewing our strategic options with respect to our wholly owned subsidiary in Canada,” the bank said […] October 5, 2022
Economy IMF says global recession can be avoided with right fiscal policies Global recession can be avoided if governments’ fiscal policies were consistent with monetary policy tightening, but likely there would be countries falling into recession next year, the International Monetary Fund’s managing director said on Monday. In the context of monetary policy tightening, fiscal policy cannot stay idle because the cost of living crisis is hitting […] October 4, 2022
