95% of consumers in Middle East and North Africa (MENA) are considering emerging payments such as wearables, biometrics, digital wallets and currencies, and QR code, in addition to Contactless, according to the Mastercard New Payments Index 88% of MENA consumers have access to more ways to pay compared to this time last year 3…
Arab Bank Group reports first quarter 2021 net profit of $128.3 million
Arab Bank Group has consolidated the financial statements of Oman Arab Bank under Group accounts in the first quarter of 2021. Oman Arab Bank has also recently finalized the acquisition of Al Izz Islamic Bank, a full-fledged Islamic bank, accordingly strengthening its presence in the Sultanate of Oman, in line with Arab Bank’s strategy to…
Insure & Match Capital Celebrates the Achievements of the USAID MENA Investment Initiative
Beirut, Lebanon – April 27th, 2021 –Insure & Match Capital (IM Capital) celebrated the achievements under the Middle East and North Africa Investment Initiative (MENA II), a $20 million program funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Launched in 2014, the program is dedicated to providing matching capital, equity guarantees and crucial…
9 in 10 adults in Middle East willing to take personal action on sustainability issues: new Mastercard study
Study of 24 countries shows the pandemic is prompting billions1 to consider more sustainable behaviors 80% of adults in the Middle East are more mindful of their impact on the environment since COVID-19, far higher than global average of 3 in 5 adults Almost three quarters of adults (72%) in the region admit companies behaving…
Noon payments waives set-up fees for SMEs for the duration of Ramadan
Local businesses needing a payment gateway will save 1,000 AED/SAR when joining noon Dubai, UAE. April 22nd, 2021: noon.com, the region’s homegrown digital marketplace, is waiving set-up fees for noon payments giving local SMEs extra support in taking their businesses online during the Holy month.Engineered for growth, noon payments is an online payments platform by noon. From e-commerce stores to…
Deliverect raises $65 million as it surpasses 30 million orders processed in the last year, equating to more than $1bn estimated GMV
New investors DST Global Partners and Redpoint Ventures join Series C bringing total fundraising to more than $90 million in three years United Arab Emirates, April 21, 2021 — Today Deliverect, a Belgian scale-up that connects Talabat, Zomato, Jahez, Deliveroo, Carriage and more delivery companies directly to restaurants by POS system automation, announced that it has raised…
Anghami, the leading music streaming platform in the Middle East and North Africa, merges with Vistas Media Acquisition Company Inc. to become first Arab technology company to list on NASDAQ New York
Link to the Teaser Video Anghami will become the first Arab technology company to list on NASDAQ New York via a merger with Vistas Media Acquisition Company Inc. (NASDAQ: VMAC), a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company that raised $100 million in its August 2020 initial public offering. ● The transaction implies an initial pro-forma enterprise…
Startupbootcamp FinTech Dubai successfully concludes third cycle by accelerating 11 start-ups
Dubai, 1 March 2021 – The third cycle ofStartupbootcamp FinTech Dubai’s industry focused accelerator programme has successfully concluded during the annual Demo Day, with 11 start-ups pitching ideas to investors, corporate partners, mentors, experts and general audience. Startupbootcamp FinTech Dubai was launched in 2018 in partnership with Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), VISA, Mashreq bank…
PROJECT FINANCE UNLOCKS NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR FUND MANAGERS
Risk-mitigated, long-term returns | $20.35tn funds available The opaque and fragmented project finance market has been unlocked with the opening of the Project Finance Exchange (PFX), now enabling seamless access to a growing reserve of quality controlled, risk-mitigated alternative and private capital investment opportunities providing long-term returns for fund managers. Over the past ten to…
There are now 100,000 Bitcoin addresses holding over $1 million
The current Bitcoin wave has ushered in millionaires as the asset continues to attract more investors. Data acquired by Finbold indicates that at least 109,952 addresses each have a Bitcoin balance of about $1 million as of February 22, 2021. About 9,200 of the addresses each have a balance of $10 million, while the remaining 100,752 addresses…