A short video of the applicant’s face will measure key health metrics like heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration rate
Banking & Finance
agrifood industry
Invictus Investment acquires Mozambique’s largest flour miller
Merec Industries, with a processing capacity of 1.0 million MTpa, is expected to add over USD272 million to Invictus’ consolidated revenues
M&A activity
Gulf sovereign wealth funds drive $36bn+ mega-deal boom as UAE, Saudi buck global M&A slowdown
Saudi Arabia’s PIF and UAE sovereign funds, including Mubadala and ADIA, have been central to this growth
Bitcoin
Bitcoin price rebounds to cross $100,000 amid lingering fears of major crypto market upheaval
Ethereum rebounded from $2,451 on Monday to $2,799 on Tuesday, marking a significant recovery for the major cryptocurrency
Digital Dubai
Dubai Government adds new Tabby payment option on DubaiPay
Tabby joins various other payment methods available on DubaiPay, such as credit cards, direct debit cards, smart wallets, online banking services, Apple Pay, and Google Pay
Abu Dhabi
Side hustles in Dubai; UAE petrol prices; Saudi job localisation; Habtoor cancels Lebanon investments – 10 things you missed this week
UAE petrol prices, Dubai real estate analysis, Saudi job updates, how to get a side hustle and more top stories this week
Mashreq Bank
Mashreq delivers $2.45bn net profit in 2024
The bank reported a 24% jump in its revenue in 2024 to AED 13.4 billion
Artificial intelligence
DFSA co-leads report on AI’s impact in financial services
The report, prepared alongside UK’s FCA, provides key insights on the use of consumer-facing AI in global financial services
Blockchain
UAE’s crypto regulation offers model for others as new report reveals rising extremist funding in Europe: Experts
A new report suggests that Europe’s crypto extremism problem is growing faster than anyone expected
Emirates NBD
Emirates NBD reports record $7.4bn profit before tax
Emirates NBD reports profit after tax of $6.3bn
Careem
EXCLUSIVE: Careem Pay launches fee-free remittance service, undercuts traditional exchanges
The move comes as conventional exchange houses increased their fees by 15% last year
Corporate tax
UAE Corporate Tax: FTA sets March deadline for registration of natural persons
According to the FTA, a natural person is defined as a living individual of any age, residing in the UAE or elsewhere
NEOM
NEOM announces $3bn financing for ambitious developments
NEOM has secured massive financing agreement with Italian group and international banks
Arab Financial Services
Arab Financial Services Expands into UAE to enhance digital payments ecosystem
The move follows the successful acquisition of a retail payment services license – category II from the Central Bank of the UAE
BNPL
Tabby says no ‘new minimum’ as some online UAE stores set AED300 order threshold
New threshold targets larger transactions over smaller purchases
Capital Market Authority
Saudi Arabia now allows foreign investment in listed real estate companies in Makkah and Madinah
Saudi Arabia announces plans to allow foreigners to invest in real estate companies listed in the country
Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank
Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank outlines plan to double profit to $5.4bn in 5 years
Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank unveils major expansion and dividend growth plans for next five years