Newsletter #06
Mohammed Azim Ansari
Ex-IDC, BCG, e& | FinTech | Digital | Tech | Strategy | Consulting | Advisory | Analytics | Growth | Market Research | KSA Vision2030 | Startups | Entrepreneur | Consultant
Latest MENA News
With Tabby , five authorized companies are now offering BNPL solutions across Saudi Arabia. The BNPL solutions offer finance to customers wishing to buy products and services without incurring financing costs.
Saudi Arabia's financial system is to benefit from Hong Kong's expertise due to the new deal signed between the Kingdom's central bank and the Asian powerhouse. An agreement was signed to facilitate the exchange of expertise on regulatory issues, laws and policies, and best practices in the field of financial innovation.
noon .com launches noon Pay, a peer-to-peer payments service that enables individuals to easily transfer money in the form of noon credits in KSA and the UAE. noon Pay is a one-of-a-kind platform that enables individuals to transfer money in the form of noon credits in a seamless, efficient, and dependable manner.
e& enterprise and Tap Payments announced a strategic partnership aimed at revolutionizing the digital payments landscape across the region. The collaboration combines the strengths and expertise of both organisations to create an extensive payment acceptance ecosystem with unique features tailored to regional markets.
Saudi Arabia has invested $3.9 billion in research and development since 2021 and established innovative biotech clusters in its bid to become a global research leader, revealed an industry report. Saudi Arabia has the potential to become a world-leading hub for biotech research, development, and pharmaceutical manufacturing driving economic diversity and addressing national healthcare and food security issues.
Rain Trading Limited has been granted a Financial Services Permission (FSP) by ADGM , Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) to operate a regulated virtual assets brokerage and custody service in the ADGM. The FSP will cement Rain’s position as one of the leading regulated virtual assets trading platforms in the region.
UAE-based fintech ???? | Tamam Finance has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Lean Technologies to introduce Open Banking services that augment finance management. This programme supports Tamam's goal of expanding its services and cementing its position as a trusted partner for customers, aligning with the Financial Sector Development Programme of Saudi Vision 2030.
Through 萬事達卡 , geidea will extend its range of services and products, operating as an issuer. As part of the agreement, Geidea will leverage Mastercard’s leading-edge technology to issue BIN ranges and enable consumers, merchants and fintechs across the Kingdom to benefit from innovative payment solutions.
Egypt's digital money transfer firm Fawry is in talks with SAUDI PAYMENTS , the operator of the Kingdom's national payment infrastructure, to explore licensing and certification opportunities in the market. The move is part of its regional expansion plans into the Gulf Cooperation Council region.
Delivery Hero , a German online food ordering and delivery company, it had taken over HungerStation Holding, the sole shareholder of HungerStation | ????????? in Saudi Arabia, for a "highly attractive purchase price" of $297 million to enhance its ecosystem in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).
Saudi Arabia's housing sector has recorded an 8 percent increase in apartment-linked mortgages in the 12 months to the end of May, as buyers look for more affordable options to own a house in the Kingdom, the latest report by global consultancy firm Knight Frank revealed. While owning a villa remains the top goal among Saudis, apartments are fast emerging as a more realistic option from an affordability perspective.
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The three entities will combine nearly 30,000 telecommunication tower assets in Qatar, Kuwait, Algeria, Tunisia, Iraq, and Jordan into a jointly owned independent tower company in a cash and share deal.
Beyon announced net profit attributable to equity holders of the company for Q2 2023 of BD19.9M (US$52.8M), in line with BD20.0M (US$53.1M) for the corresponding quarter of 2022. Earnings per share (EPS) are 12.0 fils for the second quarter of 2023 compared to 12.1 fils in Q2 2022.
Consolidated revenue increased by 4% to KWD 318 million in H1 2023, compared to KWD 306 million in H1 2022 for Ooredoo Kuwait . Revenues benefited from efficient operations in Kuwait and a year-on-year improvement in Maldives and Algeria. Consolidated customer base increased by 2% to 24.6 million in H1 2023 compared to 24.1 million in H1 2022.
TONOMUS , NEOM’s cognitive technology company, has unveiled its inaugural digital communications facility, the TONOMUS. NEOM Telecommunications Centre. This centre is equipped with a high-capacity data centre and associated infrastructure, designed to bolster the availability, resilience, and growth of 5G, satellite, and fiber cable network connectivity.
Sharjah Taxi is testing its first electric vehicles at Sharjah Airport . Testing of its fleet of limousines is a pioneering endeavor towards environmentally friendly transportation in Sharjah, with the ultimate goal of achieving carbon-free public transportation by 2050. The experiment, launched last month, aims to evaluate the vehicle’s key advantages and suitability within a luxury fleet while adhering to global comfort, safety, and security standards.
?Latest Global News
China has imposed hefty fines on tech titans 蚂蚁集团 and 腾讯 as it looks to transition to a "normalised" supervision of the sector. Ant Group, which operates mobile payment service Alipay, along with its subsidiaries, have received a penalty of 7.123 billion yuan ($984.3 million), while Tencent’s Tenpay has been slapped a fine of 2.99 billion yuan ($413 million). The fines were issued for a range of illegal activities, including corporate governance, consumer protection, banking and insurance, payments and settlement, anti-money laundering practices, and fund sales.
New York City has deployed 60 shark-monitoring drones across Long Island and NYC beaches. Surveillance was increased following several shark attacks over the Fourth of July weekend. As part of the $1 million plan, the state has activated scores of drones — adding dozens to the already existing set of 18 — with the hope of protecting against dangerous shark encounters.
Telefónica and Spanish satellite company Sateliot have claimed an industry first by extending the reach of 5G to space, a milestone that puts the Spanish telco group in a position to start offering ‘everywhere-in-the-planet connectivity’ from 2024. The expanded network has potential applications for monitoring and communication purposes in the agricultural and industrial sectors.
Twitter owner Elon Musk officially changed the company’s famous bird logo to an “X” on Monday as part of a sweeping rebrand he announced on the social media site over the weekend. Musk stripped Twitter of its blue bird logo and replaced it with a fan-made X insignia, signaling a broader business overhaul. As of this last week, the domain X.com directs users to Twitter’s homepage, though Twitter.com also remains live.
The prototype vehicles from AutoFlight took off vertically and flew in formation. The vehicles have flown at different heights and for different durations. Previous test flights have ranged up to 75 miles at a time and up to 42 minutes per flight. AutoFlight plans to turn the prototypes into products, starting with a cargo-carrying version for Asia next year, followed by a passenger-carrying version.
Deutsche Telekom , e& UAE , SK电讯 (SKT) and Singtel penned an agreement to form a global telecoms AI alliance designed to use the technology to unlock new business opportunities and accelerate industry growth. The quartet signed a multilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) agreeing to co-develop a platform for new AI tools to improve existing telecoms services and for the deployment of digital assistants.