#MENA

Aramco, PIF and China’s Baosteel steel JV

Aramco and PIF set up JV to build steel plant with China’s Baosteel

The steel manufacturing base has a designed annual capacity of 2.5 million tonnes of direct reduced iron and 1.5 million tonnes of steel plate

Middle East venture capital market

The Middle East’s booming venture capital market

The drive for economic diversification and state-backed initiatives together with financial support for startups is fuelling Middle East’s venture capital industry

Uber insights for MENA 2022 app

Tourists from over 80 countries visited MENA region in 2022, reveals Uber

The latest insights revealed that the number of sustainable trips in the UAE doubled with over 9 per cent of trips requested in Q1 2023 being emission-free

SME story: Interview with Khaled Arwani, founder of MyUniPath

SME story: Interview with Khaled Arwani, founder of MyUniPath

The university admission and application process can be very challenging and time-consuming and is quite fragmented

Tamara, Goldman Sachs

Goldman Sachs backs BNPL startup Tamara with $150m facility

The facility will help finance the growing demand for bringing the buy now, pay later products in the GCC while continuing its growth across new verticals

UAE corporate tax exemptions.

MENA M&A activity smashes record to top 700 deals in 2022

Domestic deals represented 34 per cent of the total M&A value at $28.4bn while outbound deals led in value at $40.1bn

UAE sustainable finance

UAE’s green, sustainable finance enjoy two years of rapid growth

The issuance of green and sustainable finance in the Middle East increased by 532 per cent to $24.6bn in 2021 from $3.8bn a year earlier.

Arab Health: At the crossroads of healthcare

Arab Health: At the crossroads of healthcare

The online event, which began on January 9, will go on until to March 2

vertical farms

Saudi’s PIF partners with AeroFarms to build indoor vertical farms across MENA

The first farm, to be built in Saudi Arabia, will have an annual production capacity of up to 1.1 million kgs of crops

UAE: The year 2022 in review

The UAE has accelerated its growth this year with key strategies, strong initiatives and a future-first approach

Remittances rise by 5%, reveals world bank report

Remittances see 5% rise in 2022, reveals World Bank report

Remittances to the developing countries of the MENA region are estimated to have grown 2.5 per cent in 2022 to $63bn, compared to a 10.5 per cent growth last year

MENA customers doubled their spending on White Friday, reveals survey

According to Admitad, shoppers in the MENA region increased their orders by 135% and their spending by 94% during the sale week compared to the ‘usual’ period

Launching Odyssey into the MENA region

Kanousei Technology launches Odyssey in MENA region

Kanousei Technology’s goal is to get 1,000 companies into the metaverse through Odyssey

Dubai attracts 57% of scaleup funding in MENA region – report

Scaleups in the UAE raised $5.4bn as of December 2021

PepsiCo expands recycling and collection initiatives in the Middle East

PepsiCo has introduced mass collection initiatives in partnership with large third-party companies across various markets in the region

E-commerce

UAE e-commerce market valued at over $5bn in 2021

Total e-commerce in the UAE is projected to cross $8bn by 2025

talabat Cristiano Ronaldo

Watch: Cristiano Ronaldo appointed as official ambassador for talabat

Talabat will feature Ronaldo in a number of campaigns and on-ground activations across the MENA region

In pics: Sheikh Hamdan opens Meta’s new regional headquarters in Dubai

The new base will serve the Middle East and North Africa region

Darwinbox accelerates MENA expansion after leaping to unicorn status

With new Series D investment, the company is set to aggressively expand its team in the UAE and open its next GCC office in Saudi Arabia

HSBC reclaims bond crown in Mideast

Following $122bn in debt sales in 2021, governments and companies will probably front-load much of their funding needs this year

Bahrain’s Al Waha Fund of Funds invests in $50m fintech fund

The VentureSouq MENA FinTech Fund will support fintech companies in Bahrain and across the region

Voices from the MENA region’s women in tech

As the IT industry grows, so will opportunities for everyone – including women, who often do not have the same opportunities available to them in an arguably male-dominated field

Human Logic - Gamalearn partnership

Human Logic, Gamalearn collaborate to support region’s education sector

The organisations plan to integrate their technological solutions to boost the growth of the education industry

IT spending in Middle East and North Africa to grow by 2.6% in 2022: Gartner

Spending growth will be moderate compared to 2021, but will exceed pre-pandemic level

GITEX Global: Interview with Massimo Cannizzo, CEO and co-founder, Gellify Middle East

Gellify, in collaboration with Azimut recently launched a $50m VC Fund to help MENA startups, with a focus on enhancing advanced technology-based innovation in the region

Zofeur

Dubai-based tech startup raises $500,000 in seed funding

The company was founded in July 2020 and now has over 50,000 users in Dubai alone is offering a unique pay per minute payment model

IMF upbeat about MENA growth, warns about uneven recovery

The fund raised its economic growth projection for MENA to 4.1 per cent this year from an earlier estimate of 4 per cent

PUBG Mobile MENA and Anghami team up to bring music rewards to players

PUBG Mobile players will have the chance to redeem special music prizes and enjoy exclusive Anghami playlists from September 30-October 7

Terminus Group_MENA headquarters

Terminus Group inaugurates MENA headquarters in Dubai

Terminus Group was announced by Expo 2020 Dubai as the only official premier partner from China

Majority of MENA, Pakistan consumers prefer digital payment methods for ecommerce: report

The report estimates that 209m more customers in MENA and Pakistan have begun shopping online since the start of the pandemic