Top News

1 December 05:29 PM Mastercard, Meta - Facebook team up to empower SMEs digitisation in region

Mubasher: Mastercard will be collaborating with Meta, formerly known as Facebook, to endorse the digitisation and growth of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the Middle East and Africa (MEA), according to a press release on Wednesday. Both …

Event

1 December 01:03 PM Saudi Arabia's 1st Future Minerals Summit to kick off next month

Riyadh – Mubasher: Saudi Arabia will debut its first-ever Future Minerals Summit during 11-13 January 2022 in the capital Riyadh, the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources announced on Wednesday. A ministerial roundtable before the summit …

Global Economy

30 November 05:49 PM IsDB’s ICIEC signs agreement with Japan's NEXI to boost trade relations

Mubasher: The Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC) has partnered with Japan-based Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (NEXI), the Export Credit Agency (ECA) of Japan, through a memorandum of …

Companies Investments

30 November 03:10 PM No cases of Omicron variant detected in Egypt – Official

Cairo – Mubasher: Egypt has not registered any cases of the Omicron variant until the current times, Acting Minister of Health, Khaled Abdel Ghaffar, who is the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, stated on Tuesday. Abdel Ghaffar …

Global Economy

25 November 02:26 PM Startup Lounge: COVID-19 impacted positively on growth of digital services – Hesham Safwat

By: Ingy ElSafy Mubasher: The economy of any country mainly depends on small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as they acquire a key share in creating job opportunities and economic development. Online retail or e-commerce has empowered businesses in …

Global Economy

23 November 04:45 PM Saudi consumers plan more spending amid optimism over vaccine rollout – Report

Mubasher: Saudi Arabia’s consumers have been increasing their spending over the past months more than the global average, while 20% of Saudis intend to spend more on an ongoing basis post-pandemic, a report by AlixPartners unveiled on Tuesday. The …

Global Economy

22 November 06:20 PM Saudi SAMACO inaugurates world’s largest Bugatti showroom

Riyadh – Mubasher: Saudi Arabia’s SAMACO Automotive has launched the largest showroom worldwide for Bugatti vehicles in Riyadh. SAMACO, the official Bugatti agent in the Kingdom, opened the first Bugatti showroom in Saudi Arabia on an area …

Companies Investments

1 November 02:29 PM Startup Lounge: Egypt seeing entrepreneurship boom - Nahdet El-Mahrousa

By: Ingy ElSafy Cairo – Mubasher: Non-profit and non-governmental organisations play a pivotal role in developing the country’s entrepreneurship ecosystem, especially when they build the capacities of organisations to scale and expand their social …

Global Economy

The first phase of the development includes 430 units

26 October 11:33 AM Qatari Diar starts working on EGP 1bn first phase of CityGate project in Egypt

Mubasher: Qatari Diar has started working on the first phase of its CityGate project in New Cairo with a value of EGP 1 billion. During a ceremony on Monday, the Qatari real estate firm's Bawabat Al-Sharq New Cairo Real Estate Investment signed a …

Real estate

Nihal El-Chami, Head of Programme and Marketing at Falak Startups

14 September 12:49 PM Startup Lounge: More VC investors now interested in Africa, Middle East – Nihal El-Chami

By: Marina Gamil Cairo – Mubasher: With the growing number of startups across different sectors, especially financial technology (FinTech), the dynamics of the venture capital (VC) landscape in Egypt have been changing with local and international …

Sector Reports

The segment brings the total length of the 2Africa cable system to over 45,000 km

28 September 03:47 PM 2Africa consortium extends subsea cable system to Arabian Gulf, India, Pakistan

Mubasher: The 2Africa consortium, comprised of China Mobile International, Facebook, MTN GlobalConnect, Orange, Saudi Telecom Company (stc), Telecom Egypt, Vodafone, and WIOCC, announced that a new segment has been added to the 2Africa subsea …

Companies Investments

27 September 04:40 PM Pfizer begins study for novel COVID-19 oral antiviral drug

Pfizer has started a mid-to-late-stage study to evaluate the investigational novel oral antiviral drug for COVID-19.

Global Reports

20 September 03:25 PM GCC asset managers expect more inflows amid growing ESG, Islamic investments – Moody’s

Mubasher: The asset management segment across the Gulf region is expected to witness increased inflows over the coming 12 months in line with the growing demand for Islamic and environmental, social, and governance (ESG)-compliant investments, …

Sector Reports

16 September 03:15 PM ITFC pens 10 trade agreements worth over $1bn

Riyadh – Mubasher: The International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) has signed 10 trade financing agreements at a value exceeding $1.2 billion. This was in addition to trade development agreements with ITFC member countries from Asia and …

International Agreements

13 September 04:54 PM NBK issues $1bn Senior Unsecured notes; first of kind across CEEMEA

Mubasher: The National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) has issued bonds worth $1 billion, marking the first callable structure for senior unsecured notes, fixed to floating, across the Central and Eastern Europe Middle East and Africa (CEEMEA) region. Final …

Banking and Finance

The Egyptian market accounts for 10-15% of Mrsool's total operations

16 August 02:39 PM Mrsool eyes expansion in Africa via Egypt, listing on an Arab stock exchange

By: Ahmed Allam Cairo - Mubasher: Mrsool has invested about EGP 300 million in the Egyptian market since launching its operations in the country in mid-2019, Country Manager for Egypt Osama Harfoush revealed. The Saudi delivery platform is …

Companies Investments

ITFC approved for its member countries more than $58 billion since 2008

8 September 05:45 PM ITFC supports members with $605m under COVID-19 Response Program

Mubasher: The International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) has provided the member countries with $605 million as financial support under its COVID-19 Response Program, CEO of ITFC, Hani Sonbol, announced. The corporation aimed to help …

Banking and Finance

1 August 05:20 PM DirectFN signs contract for African Exchanges Linkage Project

Mubasher: The African Securities Exchanges Association (ASEA) has signed a contract with DirectFN to procure an order-routing system, in support of cross-border trading between African markets. Seven of Africa’s leading securities exchanges are …

Event

There was a decline in the capital investment to $12.4 billion

26 August 02:24 PM FDI projects in region decline 7%, capital investment shrinks 17% in H1-21

Mubasher: The number of foreign direct investment (FDI) projects in the Arab countries has decreased by 6.9% to 285 during the first half (H1) of 2021, according to a report by The Arab Investment & Export Credit Guarantee Corporation (Dhaman) on …

Macroeconomics

25 August 04:10 PM Xiaomi records 64% higher revenues in Q2-21

Xiaomi Corp reported a 64% increase in revenues to 87.8 billion yuan during the second quarter (Q2) of 2021.

Global Reports

Job applicants can answer questionnaires and present an introductory video

16 August 03:29 PM AI-powered conversational recruitment tool could cut hiring time by 80%

Mubasher: A new online platform that uses artificial intelligence (AI) solutions claims it can make the recruitment process easier for both employers and job candidates, cutting down hiring time by 80%. Launched by US-based Velents, ConvoRecruit …

Global Economy

The Hajj season this year will witness a digitised journey from start to finish

13 July 01:37 PM How pilgrims benefit from digitisation when performing Hajj

By: Ingy ElSafy Mubasher: The COVID-19 pandemic has brought technology-enhanced methods that help authorities implement social distancing to preserve the health of people. Saudi Arabia will provide a digital Hajj (Muslim pilgrimage) this year and …

Sector Reports

All of MENA’s top markets saw an absolute positive change in funding

5 August 03:52 PM Saudi Arabia is MENA’s second largest market in VC funding – Report

Mubasher: Total venture capital (VC) funding in the MENA region stood at $1.2 billion in the first half (H1) of 2021, with the UAE acquiring the majority of the share at 62%. Saudi Arabia has been the second largest market in the region with a …

Sector Reports

Ahmed El-Alfi, Chairman of Sawari Ventures

22 June 04:46 PM Startup Lounge: Tech offers great opportunities for success – Interview with Ahmed El-Alfi

By: Moslem Ali Cairo - Mubasher: In the second instalment of our interview with the Founder and Chairman of Sawari Ventures, Ahmed El-Alfi, we discuss the future of technology and the opportunities of startups to succeed as technological …

Global Economy