Forbes Middle East - English - July 2021 by Forbes Middle East

THE MIDDLE EAST’S

TOP 5 RICHEST HEDGE-FUND MANAGERS THE MIDEAST’S SHIFT TO SUSTAINABLE INVESTMENT

TOP 10 BANKS

3 MULTI-BILLION-DOLLAR DONORS ARAB INVESTMENTS INTO SOCIAL MEDIA GIANTS

JULY 2021 ISSUE 106

KARIM AWAD Group CEO of EFG Hermes Holding

30 BIGGEST ASSET THE MIDDLE EAST’S

JULY 2021 ISSUE 106

MANAGERS 2021

MEET THE MONEY EXPERTS LEADING INVESTMENT IN THE MIDDLE EAST, WITH $258.2 BILLION IN ASSETS UNDER MANAGEMENT.

“WE’RE VERY BULLISH ABOUT THE STARTUP SCENE. SOME VERY BRIGHT PEOPLE ARE COMING UP WITH EXTREMELY DISRUPTIVE IDEAS.”

UAE.......................................................... AED 30 SAUDI ARABIA......................................SAR 30 BAHRAIN................................................. BHD 3 KUWAIT................................................ KWD 2.5 OMAN....................................................... OMR 3 QATAR..................................................... QAR 30 OTHERS............................................................$8

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6 I Sidelines Venturing Into The Unknown By Claudine Coletti LEADERBOARDS INVESTMENT

CONTENTS

10 I

Arab Investments Into Social Media Giants Here’s a look at some prominent investments in social media giants made by Arab individuals and corporates.

By Layan Abo Shkier PHILANTHROPY

12 I

3 Multi-Billion-Dollar Donors While many billionaires have signed the Giving Pledge—a commitment to give at least half of their wealth to charity during their lifetime or in their wills—critics argue that too much time passes while this wealth is accrued. Dedicated to using their money to solve world problems now, here are three generous individuals pioneering the idea of “giving while living.”

By Jamila Gandhi SUSTAINABILITY

14 I

The Mideast’s Shift To Sustainable Investment Middle Eastern countries are preparing to invest billions into ESG projects.

By Jamila Gandhi BILLIONAIRES

16 I

Top 5 Richest Hedge-Fund Managers The five members of this all-boys club are Americans with a self-made score of eight by Forbes. Figures are as of June 10, 2021.

By Jamila Gandhi INVESTING

18 I

By Jamila Gandhi BANKING

20 I Top 10 Banks In The Middle East As of June 6, 2021, the banks on Forbes Middle East’s list of the “Top 50 Banks In The Middle East” had a total value of $513.6 billion and assets worth $2.5 trillion. Here’s a look at the top 10.

By Layan Abo Shkier FRONTRUNNER

24 I Reboot Melinda French Gates becomes a billionaire in her own right.

By Rachel Sandler

26 I The World's Ten Highest-Paid Athletes By Brett Knight and Justin Birnbaum

F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

30 I Inclusive Capitalism Ensuring that everyone has a fair shot at the American Dream. By Kamala Harris Plus: How much is President Biden’s cabinet worth? THE 50 OVER 50

86 I Screen Queen Shonda Rhimes spent the first 12 years of her TV career contributing to Disney’s empire. Now she’s building her own.

By Madeline Berg HOTEL REVIEW

88 I Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi For any couples looking for a memorable honeymoon in a magical world of natural beauty, the Maldives is a fantasy destination.

By Sheera Hamed Al Shobaki

JULY 2021

30 THE MIDDLE EAST’S

CONTENTS

BIGGEST ASSET MANAGERS

Tuning Into Tech A key U.A.E. investor, SHUAA Capital’s Group CEO Jassim Alseddiqi is doubling down on technology as he seeks to build a regional financial powerhouse. By Samuel Wendel

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F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

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July 2021

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4 CONTENTS

Issue 106

COVER STORY

INSIDE

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New Directions Karim Awad, Group CEO of EFG Hermes Holding, has seen the company evolve over more than two decades from being an Egyptian investment bank to becoming a global financial services corporation. Now he’s leading a new era of diversification. By Claudine Coletti

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F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

JULY 2021

SIDELINES

FORBES MIDDLE EAST

Venturing Into The Unknown The saying goes that money makes money; you need to spend it to accumulate it. But deciding where to plant your hard-earned cash—or someone else’s—is not an easy one unless you’re well-versed in the world of finance. It’s risky and complex and not for the faint-hearted, especially if, like me, you’re pretty risk-averse. Understanding all the options takes a solid understanding of constantly-changing markets, whether you’re investing as an individual, an organization, or a government entity. Thankfully, experts are around to help and, as technology takes over, it’s becoming easier to access advice, control your investments, and keep an eye on your stash. These days you don’t have to be a millionaire or money guru to be an investor, and traditional assets are far from the only path to profit. If the last year has taught us anything, it’s to hedge your bets. Asset managers are the shrewd specialists in the business of foreseeing opportunities and growing wealth for paying clients, and they are playing with some serious numbers. The biggest asset manager in the world, according to ADV Ratings, is Black Rock, which had assets under management worth over $9 trillion in Q1 2021, followed by the Vanguard Group with $7.2 trillion, and the UBS Group with $1.1 trillion. The biggest Arab counterpart is Saudi Arabia’s NCB Capital, with $50.4 billion under management. But although the companies on our new regional ranking may seem small in comparison to their global competitors, their investments are making big waves in the Middle East. The 30 companies have a total of $258.2 billion in assets under management. This sizable chunk of capital is invested across a wide variety of different asset classes of course, but for our featured leaders this month at least—Karim Awad of EFG Hermes and Jassim Alseddiqi of SHUAA Capital—technology and startups seem to be key areas of focus. But then, it seems these are themes for many investors, with various sectors now having “tech” specific branches, such as Fintech, foodtech, proptech, edtech, and healthtech. Just looking at a couple of big announcements from June shows the extent of investors’ appetite for online platforms. Saudi’s Watheeq Financial launched a $26.7 million Venture Capital Fund purely to invest in proptech startups. Egypt’s celebrity video request platform, Minly, raised a $3.6 million seed round. U.A.E.-based IoT startup iWire secured $34 million in a Series A. And Kuwait’s flowers and gifts e-commerce platform Floward announced a $27.5 million Series B. In Fintech alone, we estimated that by June startups in this space in MENA had raised more than $243 million from 32 deals since the beginning of the year, the biggest of which was for Saudi’s Tamara, which secured a $116 million investment. Whether you’re placing your bets on startups and stocks, securing safe assets in real estate, or bravely venturing into crypto, investing is about calculating risk and taking a chance. Stay as informed as possible, and enjoy this month’s issue. —Claudine Coletti, Managing Editor

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INNOVATING SINCE 2010 JULY 2021 ISSUE 106

Dr. Nasser Bin Aqeel Al Tayyar President & Publisher

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FORBES MIDDLE EAST

Khuloud Al Omian Editor-in-Chief Forbes Middle East, CEO - Arab Publisher House

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Editorial

Business Development

Claudine Coletti Managing Editor claudine@forbesmiddleeast.com

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Research

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Investment

Arab Investments Into Social Media Giants Here’s a look at some prominent investments in social media giants made by Arab individuals and corporates.

More than half of the world’s population (53.6%) use social media platforms, according to a report by We Are Social. In the U.A.E. alone, 99% of the population use Twitter, Facebook, and Snapchat among others. As such, social networking platforms have received global attention from investors pledging millions to secure shares of this irresistible monetization opportunity.

Mubadala Investment Company PLATFORM: Telegram AMOUNT OF INVESTMENT: $75 million

In March of this year, Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment Company announced that it had invested $75 million in the cloudbased messaging platform Telegram. Mubadala said its investment is a five-year pre-IPO convertible bond of the app, founded in 2013 by Pavel and Nikolai Durov as a secure messaging platform using end-to-end encryption. This investment comes as part of Abu Dhabi’s plan to further expand its technology ecosystem, according to the fund. Telegram’s co-founder Pavel Durov is the U.A.E.’s richest resident, with a real-time net worth of $17.2 billion as of June 2, 2021.

Abu Dhabi Catalyst Partners (ADCP) PLATFORM: Telegram AMOUNT OF INVESTMENT: $75 million

ADCP, a joint venture between Mubadala Investment Company and New York-based Falcon Edge Capital, also invested another $75 million in Telegram on the same day as F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

Alwaleed Bin Talal & Kingdom Holding Company PLATFORM: Twitter AMOUNT OF INVESTMENT: $1 billion

Alwaleed Bin Talal

Mubadala’s investment. The platform is climbing in popularity, with the number of active users growing from zero to 500 million over the past seven years. Telegram is reportedly planning to establish an office in Abu Dhabi Global Market, the financialfree zone of the city.

Alwaleed Bin Talal

Kingdom Holding Company (KHC), the investment holding owned by Alwaleed Bin Talal, announced in December 2011 that both KHC and the Saudi Prince had invested $300 million in the social media platform. The initial investment came two years before Twitter went public in 2013. A few years later, in 2015, both KHC and Bin Talal increased their stakes in Twitter to a total of 34.9 million shares. This represented 5% of the platform’s common stock at a market value of $1 billion, recorded in October 2015, making the Prince and KHC the second-largest stakeholder of Twitter at the time.

Mansour Family & Man Capital

PLATFORM: Snapchat AMOUNT OF INVESTMENT: $250 million

PLATFORM: Twitter & Facebook AMOUNT OF INVESTMENT: Unknown

In 2018, Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud tweeted a video of him with Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel stating that he has invested $250 million in exchange for 2.3% of Snapchat’s shares. The Saudi businessman bought the shares with no voting rights or direct influence on the company’s decisions, according to TechCrunch. The announcement came just hours before the social media platform had released its Q2 earnings. At the time, the company was not performing well, as its share price was dropping, closing at $12.3 on the day of the announcement and at $5.5 by the end of 2018.

Egyptian billionaire Mohamed Mansour has revealed that he and his family were early investors in Facebook before the social network’s IPO in 2012. The serial investor began backing tech companies around 15 years ago, according to Bloomberg. His family-owned investing arm, Man Capital, which was established in 2010, is also an investor in Facebook and Twitter, along with other Silicon Valley giants such as Spotify and Uber. The three Mansour brothers, Yasseen, Mohamed, and Yousseff, are billionaires with a combined net worth of $5.1 billion as of June 2, 2021. JULY 2021

BY LAYAN ABO SHKIER; IMAGE FROM ALWALEED PHILANTHROPIES FOUNDATION

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JULY 2021 Together we thrive

Philanthropy

Chuck Feeney AGE: 90 CITIZENSHIP: U.S.

On September 14, 2020, Feeney closed his charitable business Atlantic Philanthropies as he hit his four-decade goal to give away all his money. Over the last 40 years, the former billionaire cofounder of airport retailer Duty-Free Shoppers has donated over $8 billion to global charities, universities, and institutes through his foundation, Atlantic Philanthropies, which he established in 1982. Some of the causes include bringing peace to Northern Ireland, modernizing Vietnam’s healthcare system, and spending $350 million to turn New York’s longneglected Roosevelt Island into a technology hub. In 2012, Forbes named him the James Bond of Philanthropy. Feeney estimated he had set aside around $2 million for his and his wife’s retirement.

Warren Buffett AGE: 90 CITIZENSHIP: U.S.

Investing legend Warren Buffett announced a new $4.1 billion donation in F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

On September 14, 2020, Chuck Feeney—with wife Helga Feeney— signed documents in San Francisco marking the close of the Atlantic Philanthropies after four decades of global giving

June 2021, bringing the total value of his Berkshire Hathaway stock donations to $41 billion. The move puts him halfway through his commitment to the Giving Pledge to donate all of the 474,998 shares he controlled in June 2006. In 2010, the “Oracle of Omaha” cofounded the Giving Pledge with Bill and Melinda Gates to set a global standard of generosity among the ultra-wealthy. As of June 2021, there are 222 signees from 25 countries. Forbes

ranked the frugal billionaire as the most generous philanthropist in the U.S. on its Top 50 Givers list in 2019.

Azim Premji AGE: 75 CITIZENSHIP: India

In March 2019, tech titan Premji announced that he had shifted a $7.6 billion stake in his IT outsourcing company, Wipro Limited, to his charitable foundation. The benevolent gesture

made him Asia’s biggest philanthropist. But, Premji also topped Forbes’ list of The Biggest Billionaire Losers of 2019. By transferring more than 60% of his stake, the generous multi-million-dollar donation caused Premji to lose $14.1 billion in net worth, from $22.6 billion to $7.2 billion. Along with his family, he now owns a 7% stake in Wipro. The first Indian to sign the Giving Pledge, his lifetime giving now stands at $21 billion. JULY 2021

BY JAMILA GANDHI; THE ATLANTIC PHILANTHROPIES

LEADERBOARD

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JULY 2021

Sustainability

The Mideast’s Shift To Sustainable Investment Middle Eastern countries are preparing to invest billions into ESG projects. Last year witnessed the historic issuance of Egypt’s U.S. dollar sovereign green bond, making it the first in both Africa and the Middle East and the first sovereign bond to list on the London Stock Exchange. Besides helping strengthen the country’s Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) credentials, the move has opened Egypt up for those seeking to support FDIs, private equity, and sustainable lending, amongst other goals. Egypt’s landmark climate-focused investment represents the remarkable growth in the Middle East’s socially investing market over the past decade. The region is home to some critical sustainable development opportunities, with an estimated annual financing gap of more than $100 billion in the Middle East, according to data by the Arab Forum for Environment and Development. A 2020 HSBC study found that 62% of Middle East issuers and 47% of investors say “we believe it’s right” when asked why they care about environmental and social issues. These rates were also the strongest level globally, underpinning F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park

the significance of moral values in the region. In the U.A.E. specifically, 70% of issuers agreed. Similarly, in another 2020 survey conducted by the CFA Institute, 74% of U.A.E. investors with a values objective said they are willing to give up some return in exchange for meeting their investment goals. Meanwhile, 94% of U.A.E. retail investors were interested in or are using ESG in 2020, up from 90% in 2018. Since 2015, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the U.A.E. have all revised their corporate governance codes, incorporating efforts towards diversification.

Saudi Arabia has been at the forefront of renewable energy in the region. From the $500 billion NEOM smart city to establishing the Saudi Industrial Development Fund’s Mtujadeda, the kingdom is strategically trying to move away from its dependence on oil towards other diversified energy sources. Due to the year-round sunshine and comparatively lower financing costs, solar power has been deemed the “new oil” for the region. Since Masdar inaugurated the Shams Solar Power Plant in 2013, the world’s largest concentrated solar power (CSP) plant, solar energy use has seen continued momentum. Dubai’s

Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, Noor Abu Dhabi solar power project, and Masdar’s Shams Solar Power Plant are a few instances of capitalizing the climate efficiently in the U.A.E. The country was also the first in the Middle East to sign the Paris Agreement and has committed to reducing emissions across all economic sectors within NDCs Now, it’s exploring the possibility of producing green and blue hydrogen through the Abu Dhabi Hydrogen Alliance and has also launched a bid to host the COP 28 in the capital in 2023. To meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, regulators and government authorities are calling on investors to put ESG practices at the heart of their business strategies and connect capital to promote sustainable infrastructure development. And this transition to a low-carbon, sustainable approach to growth is forecasted to lead to an economic boost of $26 trillion up to 2030, with the possibility to create more than 65 million new jobs, as per the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate. JULY 2021

BY JAMILA GANDHI; IMAGE CREDIT: WAM

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Billionaires

Top 5 Richest Hedge-Fund Managers The five members of this all-boys club are Americans with a self-made score of eight by Forbes. Figures are as of June 10, 2021. buyer, snapping up high-priced homes in London, New York, and Palm Beach for millions. He has donated over $1 billion in his lifetime, including more than $300 million to nonprofits in Chicago.

The unusually strong performance of hedge funds in 2020 marked a significant reversal. A report by Citco Funds Services found that all hedge fund strategies and assets under administration categories delivered positive returns last year, and the momentum has spilled over to 2021. In the first quarter, 73.4% of funds delivered a positive annual return.

Steve Cohen Founder, Point72 Asset Management NET WORTH: $16 billion

Jim Simons Founder, Renaissance Technologies Corp. NET WORTH: $24.6 billion Simons, one of the most famous quantitative traders ever, founded Renaissance Technologies in 1982 and still plays an important role even though he retired from day-today operations in 2010. Today, the esteemed quantitative trading hedge fund manages about $55 billion. The firm is well-known for its flagship Medallion Fund, a $10 billion black-box strategy exclusively open to Renaissance owners and employees. Last year, the Medallion Fund returned 76%, earning Simons $2.6 billion in compensation. The 83-year-old has donated $2.7 billion to causes, including autism research. His foundation is the primary funder of Math For America.

Ray Dalio Founder and Co-CIO, Bridgewater Associates NET WORTH: $20.3 billion Dalio is the founder of the world’s biggest hedge fund firm, Bridgewater Associates, which manages roughly $150 billion. He launched the company in 1975 after earning an MBA from Harvard Business School. In 2018, he F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

Steve Cohen

turned the company into a partnership and offered employees more of a stake in the firm. Bridgewater is known for its transparent culture, including encouraging dissent, openly airing disagreements, and recording all meetings. The 71-year-old has donated more than $850 million to charitable causes. His Dalio foundation has supported microfinance and inner-city education.

Ken Griffin Founder and CEO, Citadel NET WORTH: $16.1 billion Griffin sits at the helm of Citadel, a Chicago-based hedge fund firm he founded in 1990. However, he first began trading from his Harvard dorm room in 1987. Today, Citadel manages approximately $34 billion in assets. Griffin also established Citadel Securities, one of Wall Street’s biggest market-making firms, responsible for one of the five stock trades in the U.S. The 52-year-old—and the youngest person on this list—is an avid property

Cohen leads Point72 Asset Management, a $16 billion hedge fund firm that begun managing outside capital in 2018. He previously ran SAC Capital, which was forced to close after the firm pleaded guilty to insider trading charges. The penalty cost Cohen $1.8 billion. In 2014, SAC converted its investment operations to Point72. Earlier this year, Cohen helped bail out Melvin Capital after its sizable and disastrous short of GameStop. The 64-year-old has given $715 million to philanthropic causes over his lifetime, including causes related to veterans and children’s health.

David Tepper Founder and President, Appaloosa Management NET WORTH: $14.5 billion Tepper founded Appaloosa Management in 1993 after getting passed over for a partner when he led the junk-bond desk at Goldman Sachs. Today, the hedge fund firm manages nearly $13 billion, down from a peak of $20 billion. The hedge fund manager grew up in Pittsburgh, went to Carnegie Mellon University, and is a minority investor in the Pittsburgh Steelers. The 63-year-old gifted $67 million to Carnegie Mellon University, sponsoring the David Tepper Quadrangle, a building to create a collaborative learning environment. JULY 2021

BY JAMILA GANDHI; IMAGE CREDIT: POINT72

LEADERBOARD

PRO M OTI O N

Reach For The Clouds How is Microsoft working with Qatar and what is the aim of the partnership? Qatar’s forward-looking approach and the ambitions expressed through the Qatar National Vision 2030 speak to the ideology of transformation by design and not by chance. In partnership with the State of Qatar, we have brought Microsoft Cloud to the country, enabling enterprises to innovate and accelerate their digital transformation, while transforming the country into a digital hub for the region and the world. Can you elaborate on the benefits of the new Microsoft data center? The new Microsoft cloud region will deliver unprecedented opportunity for public and private enterprises in Qatar to enhance their competitive edge and contribute to the nation’s digital transformation goals. Enterprises of all sizes and in all sectors, will have access to the latest, largest, and most advanced cloud services in the region, including artificial intelligence, machine learning, and the Internet of Things. According to a study from IDC, Microsoft’s cloud investment in Qatar will lead to a $3.4 billion opportunity over the next five years and create more than 24,000 new jobs. There is a sustainability advantage too; Microsoft cloud services are up to 93% more energy efficient and up to 98% more carbon efficient than those of traditional enterprise data centers.

How has Microsoft already supported Qatar’s digital ambitions? During the coronavirus pandemic, Qatar leveraged Microsoft’s cloud services to achieve agility, resilience, security, and business continuity. Through joint efforts, more than 140,000 employees in Qatar were able to work remotely, and more than 400,000 students and teachers were equipped to learn online using Microsoft Teams. Within a matter of days, Microsoft technology was also enabling Qatar’s doctors, emergency responders, and caregivers to work remotely. These things were only possible because Qatar had already embarked on its digital transformation journey. How important is the SME ecosystem and how is Microsoft supporting it? Small and medium enterprises

The inOthis F O Rthoughts B E S M I D expressed D L E E A S T.C M advertorial are those of the client.

(SMEs) have a profound impact on economic growth, representing up to 90% of businesses and more than 50% of employment worldwide. Some 600 million jobs will be needed by 2030 to absorb the growing global workforce, making SME development a priority for governments. Microsoft is committed to empowering startups in Qatar by offering them the technology and resources to scale their businesses in the cloud. We work with Qatari entities such as Fintech Hub, QDB, TASMU, Ooredoo, Tawteen, and Nautica 360 to empower a diverse range of startups spanning sectors from fintech to sports. How is Microsoft helping Qatar to prepare the current generation for a digital future? Our mission is to empower every individual and organization across the world to achieve more, and we are dedicated to supporting Qatar as it works towards its visionary agenda. Through new, locally delivered services, we aim to help the current workforce to harness the power of the cloud and we are partnering with the Qatari government to deliver core digital skills to more than 50,000 people by 2025.

www.microsoft.com/mea/ qatar-datacenters/

JULY 2021

17 LEADERBOARD

Lana Khalaf, Microsoft’s country manager for Qatar, explains how the tech giant’s cloud infrastructure is helping the country to accelerate its digital transformation.

Investing

World’s Top 5 Female Venture Capitalists There were 12 female venture capitalists on Forbes’ 2021 Midas List, which ranks the world’s top 100 venture capital tech investors. This year’s number is up from 11 last year and ties 2019’s record. Here’s a look at the leading five women. and has backed whimsical moonshots like China’s first flying taxi, eHang 184, to Kingsoft WPS, which has posted an 81x return. Most recently, portfolio company and ed-tech platform Huohua hit unicorn status by raising funds at a $1.5 billion valuation in January 2021. The Singaporean joined California-based GGV Capital in 2005, the same year she opened its first office in China.

Mary Meeker FIRM: Bond Capital HQ: Woodside, U.S.

Meeker serves as a general partner of VC firm Bond Capital. Her new growth fund raised $1.25 billion in capital commitments in 2019. Previously, she was a partner at VC giant Kleiner Perkins. Meeker was behind the bets on Instacart, Slack, Square, Airbnb, Facebook, and Twitter. The internet analyst releases her famous Internet Trends report each spring, which details her tech predictions in 200 data-laden slides. The 61-year-old was also among Forbes’ 2020 list of the World’s 100 Most Powerful Women.

Anna Fang FIRM: ZhenFund COUNTRY: Beijing, China

Fang has been partner and CEO of early-stage venture fund ZhenFund since 2011, where she oversees a portfolio backed by well over 600 startup companies. The 38-year-old has led investments of billiondollar firms including Xiaohongshu (the lifestyle and shopping site also known as Red), Horizon Robotics, Mia, VIPKid, Good Driver, Perfect Diary, and fresh produce platform F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

Jing Hong FIRM: Gaocheng Capital COUNTRY: Beijing, China

Anna Fang

Nice Tuan. She began her career as an investment banker at JPMorgan’s New York office, covering consumer and retail firms.

Mar Hershenson FIRM: Pear VC COUNTRY: Los Altos, U.S.

A newcomer to the Midas list in 2021, Hershenson made her debut thanks to Pear VC’s early bet on DoorDash. Pear VC also has a stake in Guardant Health, which went public in December. The Spainborn venture capitalist started Pear VC with former rug dealer Pejman Nozad in 2013. After earning a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford

University in 1999, she developed a technique for optimizing the design of analog semiconductors. Hershenson also founded three startups and taught engineering at Stanford for nearly a decade. The 49-year-old managing partner has registered 14 patents.

Jenny Lee FIRM: GGV Capital COUNTRY: Shanghai, China

Thanks to her focus on edtech, robotics, and artificial intelligence, Lee has gained widespread recognition in the Chinese VC space. The 49-yearold serves as managing partner at GGV Capital

Hong, a founding partner at Gaocheng Capital, is another newcomer to the Midas list in 2021. With nearly two decades of experience in growth-stage private equity investment, the 47-year-old has led bets on e-commerce giant Alibaba, online-to-offline business Meituan, and vehicle-for-hire outfit Didi. The growth-stage investment firm also has an investment in Youzan, the largest provider of WeChat stores in mainland China. In 2020, the Harvard grad helped close a $300 million fund. Previously, Hong was a partner at Hillhouse, and before that, a managing director at General Atlantic. JULY 2021

BY JAMILA GANDHI; IMAGE COURTESY OF ANNA FANG

LEADERBOARD

PRO M OTI O N

Together We Can Change the World Expo 2020 Dubai is on a mission to make the world a better place, and in PepsiCo it has found the perfect partner.

he countdown has begun; Expo 2020 Dubai will open its doors to the world on October 1, 2021, for six unforgettable months. After a year of unprecedented challenge, the timing couldn’t be better. Expo 2020 will serve as a launchpad for collaboration at a time when the world needs it the most. It is a chance for humanity to work together to tackle global problems and to build meaningful partnerships —one of which is already firmly in place. As an official premier partner, global F&B leader PepsiCo is working closely with the Expo 2020 Dubai team, with connections that run far deeper than refreshments. PepsiCo and Expo 2020 Dubai share a vision. Both are on a mission to create a fun and sustainable future, and advance the region

they call home. PepsiCo has been present in the Middle East since 1962, making its involvement in Expo 2020 Dubai a natural extension of its commitment to the region. And the synergies don’t end there. Expo 2020 Dubai’s themes of opportunity, mobility, and sustainability align perfectly with PepsiCo’s global vision of winning with purpose—and winning is something that Dubai does well. “The UAE has always brought bigger, better, and bolder ideas to the world,” says PepsiCo’s CEO for Africa, Middle East, and South Asia, Eugene Willemsen. Now, Expo 2020 Dubai promises to continue that legacy, pushing the limits of creativity and innovation. PepsiCo is not holding back, preparing to show the world what innovative and sustainable food and

The inOthis F O Rthoughts B E S M I D expressed D L E E A S T.C M advertorial are those of the client.

www.pepsico.com

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beverage practices look like. Already, as Expo 2020 Dubai’s Official Beverage and Snack Partner, the company has launched Aquafina® water in fully and infinitely recyclable aluminum cans. It also plans to work with waste management partners at the event to ensure PepsiCo waste is collected and recycled, supporting Expo 2020 Dubai’s goal of diverting at least 85% of waste from landfill and boosting recycling efforts. The industry giant has some surprises up its sleeve too, with regional firsts due to be revealed in line with Expo 2020. “Through product, packaging, technological innovations, and partnerships with country pavilions, we promise to entertain, educate, surprise, and delight,” says Willemsen. For visitors, that means entertainment and memorable brand experiences, all designed to connect PepsiCo with consumers, and consumers with the global themes that matter. With a climate emergency looming and global inequality as acute as ever, opportunity, mobility, and sustainability are what will drive positive change. For PepsiCo, this international effort is a priority—a “collective, critical effort,” says Willemsen, “one that cannot afford to wait.” Thanks to Expo 2020 Dubai and its partners, it won’t have to. In less than four months, the event will bring together the world’s brightest minds for the global good and offer some long-overdue fun in an environment set to inspire all who visit in person or virtually.

2. First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB)

LEADERBOARD

Top 10 Banks

In The Middle East As of June 6, 2021, the banks on Forbes Middle East’s list of the “Top 50 Banks In The Middle East” had a total value of $513.6 billion and assets worth $2.5 trillion. Here’s a look at the top 10. Banking and finance is a vital sector for global economies. It is through banks that governments control monetary policy and inflation, and inject stimulus into the markets. When the pandemic hit last year, banks made sure that economies stayed afloat by using measures like postponing loan payments, restructuring debt, and lending to key sectors. Here are the top 10 banks in the Middle East. We collected data from the listed stock exchanges in the Arab world and ranked companies based on market value (calculated as of June 6, 2021), sales, assets, and profits. Check out our website for the full Top 50 Banks In The Middle East 2021 list.

1. QNB Group Group CEO: Abdulla Mubarak Al-Khalifa Country: Qatar Sales: $13.5 billion • Profits: $3.3 billion Assets: $281.6 billion • Market value: $45.2 billion The QNB Group is the Middle East and Africa’s biggest bank in terms of assets. When it was established in 1964, it was Qatar’s first locallyowned commercial bank. The Qatar Investment Authority owns more than 50% of QNB’s shares. The bank operates in 31 countries either directly or through its subsidiaries. Over the last year, the bank’s assets grew by 9%, but net profit fell 16%. Abdulla Mubarak Al-Khalifa became acting CEO in November 2018 and CEO in 2019. He is also a board member at Ooredoo. F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

Group CEO: Hana Al Rostamani Country: U.A.E. Sales: $7.6 billion • Profits: $2.9 billion Assets: $250.2 billion • Market value: $50.2 billion FAB, the U.A.E.’s largest bank, was formed in 2017 by the merger of the First Gulf Bank and the National Bank of Abu Dhabi. Mubadala is the largest shareholder in the company through the Abu Dhabi Investment Council. In January 2021, FAB agreed to buy the Egyptian business of Lebanon’s Bank Audi, making it one of the largest foreign banks in Egypt with total assets of more than $8.1 billion post-acquisition. That same month, Hana Al Rostamani was named Group CEO of FAB. She was the topranked woman on Forbes Middle East’s list of the Top CEOs In The Middle East 2021 at #19.

3. The Saudi National Bank Group CEO and Managing Director: Saeed Alghamdi Country: Saudi Arabia Sales: $6.6 billion • Profits: $3.1 billion Assets: $159.9 billion • Market value: $64.1 billion SNB was formed on April 1, 2021, by the merger of the National Commercial Bank, which was Saudi’s biggest bank in terms of assets, and the Samba Financial Group, which evolved from Citibank. It is now the largest commercial bank in Saudi and the most valuable bank in the Middle East in terms of market cap. It also owns both NCB Capital and Samba Capital & Investment Management, which together form the biggest asset manager, brokerage, and investment bank in Saudi Arabia.

4. Emirates NBD Group CEO: Shayne Nelson Country: U.A.E. Sales: $9.7 billion • Profits: $1.9 billion Assets: $190.1 billion • Market value: $23.5 billion Emirates NBD was formed in 2007 by the merger of the National Bank of Dubai and Emirates Bank International. Today it is Dubai’s largest bank by assets, employing more than 25,000 people. Chairman, Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, is also the chairman and CEO of the Emirates Group. Shayne Nelson has been CEO of the bank since 2013. Before joining Emirates NBD, Nelson served in Singapore as the CEO of Standard Chartered Private Bank. JULY 2021

BY LAYAN ABO SHKIER; QNB GROUP; FIRST ABU DHABI BANK; THE NATIONAL COMMERCIAL BANK - ALAHLINCB (@ALAHLINCB / FACEBOOK); EMIRATES NBD

Banking

CEO: Waleed A. Al-Mogbel

Group CEO: Isam J. Al-Sager

Country: Saudi Arabia

Country: Kuwait

Sales: $5.6 billion • Profits: $2.8 billion Assets: $125 billion • Market value: $69.0 billion

Sales: $3.9 billion • Profits: $859 million Assets: $98.7 billion • Market value: $20 billion

Al Rajhi Bank was originally established in 1957 as an exchange house by the Al Rajhi family. It became the Al Rajhi Banking Corporation in 1988 and changed its name to Al Rajhi Bank in 2006. In 2020, the bank’s active users for digital transactions increased 39% to 7.9 million. The bank’s subsidiaries include investment bank Al Rajhi Capital, insurance broker Al Rajhi Takaful Agency, and microfinance company Emkan Finance. Waleed Abdullah Al-Mogbel became CEO of Al Rajhi bank in 2020. He has a PhD in accounting and auditing, and 23 years of experience in the banking and finance sector.

When NBK was founded in 1952, it was the first indigenous bank in Kuwait and the first shareholding company in the Gulf region. The bank reported a net profit of $295.8 million in Q1 2021—an 8.5% year-on-year increase compared to Q1 2020. During the pandemic, NBK launched mobile bank branches—a fleet of vehicles that provided services to customers at their doorsteps, such as ATM transactions, withdrawals, and deposits. Isam J. Al-Sager also serves on the boards of Watani Wealth Management (KSA) and MasterCard.

6. ADCB Group

9. Kuwait Finance House (KFH)

Group CEO: Ala’a Eraiqat Country: U.A.E. Sales: $4.6 billion • Profits: $1 billion Assets: $111.9 billion • Market value: $13.3 billion The ADCB Group was formed in 2020 by the merger of the Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank and the Union National Bank, and the acquisition of the Al Hilal Bank. It is the third biggest bank in the U.A.E... with more than a million customers. It follows a U.A.E.centric growth strategy and has not expanded aggressively overseas. Ala’a Eraiqat has been CEO of the bank since 2009. He is also chairman of its subsidiaries, Al Hilal Bank and Abu Dhabi Commercial Properties. Mubadala is the bank’s largest shareholder, and its CEO, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, is also chairman of ADCB Group.

6. Riyad Bank

AL RAJHI BANK; ADCB GROUP; RIYAD BANK; NBK; KFH; DIB

8. National Bank Of Kuwait (NBK)

Acting Group CEO: Abdulwahab Iesa Alrushood Country: Kuwait Sales: $3.6 billion • Profits: $612 million Assets: $71.5 billion • Market value: $21 billion KFH was the first Islamic bank to be established in Kuwait in 1977. Today its largest shareholders include the Kuwait Investment Authority and the Kuwait Awqaf Public Foundation. It employs around 15,000 people. The bank has now surpassed the National Bank of Kuwait to become the most valuable company in Kuwait. In May 2021, KFH launched a digital wallet service enabling payments to be made through electronic devices and wearables.

10. Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB)

CEO: Tareq A. Al Sadhan

Group CEO: Adnan Chilwan

Country: Saudi Arabia

Country: U.A.E.

Sales: $3.6 billion • Profits: $1.3 billion Assets: $82.7 billion • Market value: $21.1 billion

Sales: $3.6 billion • Profits: $860 million Assets: $78.8 billion • Market value: $9.7 billion

Riyad Bank has a network of 341 branches in Saudi Arabia, as well as a branch in the U.K, an agency in the U.S., and a representative office in Singapore. The bank employs 5,200 people. In April 2021, the bank bought a 53-floor office tower in Saudi’s King Abdullah Financial District that will serve as its new headquarters. In May 2021, Riyad Bank signed a memorandum of understanding with Bab al-Khair Medical Services, which aims to establish the kingdom’s first non-profit hospital.

DIB acquired Noor Bank in 2020 to become one of the world’s largest Islamic banks. In April 2021, DIB listed its $500 million Sukuk on Nasdaq Dubai, with a total value of $6.3 billion. Group CEO, Adnan Chilwan, also serves as the president commissioner at Panin Dubai Syariah Bank, and as chairman at DIB Bank Kenya Ltd.

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For the full list, please see www.forbesmiddleeast.com JULY 2021

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4. Al Rajhi Bank

PRO M OTI O N

Skin Deep

Dr Roy Moutran, Head of Dermatology at Mount Lebanon Hospital, shares the latest medical advancements and cosmetic trends that are shaping the way we take care of our body’s largest organ: the skin.

What are the latest developments in the field of dermatology? Let me divide my answer into two parts: medical and cosmetic. In terms of medical dermatology, we are witnessing major developments relating to many diseases. For example, advancements have been made in the treatment of psoriasis and atopic dermatitis, and there are new biological treatments that we now use in our practice, with excellent results. The advantage of these treatments is that they are targeted therapies that works specifically on the disease itself, with fewer side effects. As for cosmetic dermatology, the industry is becoming even more advanced. Threads are now integrated frequently in our practice, and when it comes to restructuring the face, the new trend is to inject fillers, which gives results without giving volume. For example, it is now possible to do a non-surgical nose job this way. This is all possible because fillers are now available in different concentrations and with different properties that allow us to perform major work. How can people with busy work lives have treatments without too much down time afterwards? These days, the majority of cosmetic procedures are very safe, noninvasive, and without side effects such as swelling or bruising. This allows people to undergo procedures and then go straight home or back to work. This is due to the new products we are using and the use of cannulas, which greatly reduce the risk of bruising. What are the best treatments for professionals who want to minimize the signs of ageing? This is a very important question because what I have been talking

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about for years is creating a natural look. Keeping some wrinkles actually makes people look better, and it can be done in a smart and natural way, without changing the structure of the face. Using different concentrations of fillers, we simply enhance some features and reduce wrinkles without removing them altogether. This is very important, especially for businesspeople who do not wish to have major changes to their faces. Stress can take its toll on the skin. How can people reduce stress and enjoy a radiant appearance for longer? Having good skin is a relief in itself. The first and most striking thing that other people see is our skin and our faces, so when we have good skin and we treat it well, we feel more confident in public settings. Many people who get cosmetic treatments look better and feel more confident in both their personal and professional lives. There has been some suggestion that people should not undergo treatments involving Botox or fillers for six months after having a COVID-19 vaccine. What is your advice? Concerning the COVID-19 vaccine, there is no contraindication of having Botox of fillers. There have been a few cases of swelling after such treatments in people who have had the Moderna vaccine, but the side effects are easily treatable with a little bit of anti-allergic medication. To be clear: there is no warning against having fillers or Botox and getting vaccinated at the same time. What is your top beauty tip? One of the most important beauty secrets is to always feminize the woman and masculinize a man, and we bear this in mind with all of our

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“When it comes to restructuring the face, the new trend is to inject fillers, which gives results without giving volume.” treatments. Also, it’s very important to treat every patient differently according to their faces, according to their expressions, and according to their natural structures. Where are you currently based and which other locations do you cover? I am based in Lebanon where I have three clinics: Hazmieh, Jounieh, and Beirut. I am also a visiting doctor in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Egypt, and I recently started to visit some counties in Sub-Saharan Africa, including Ivory Coast, Nigeria, and Senegal. I don’t really believe in online or digital consultation. I think a doctor, and especially a dermatologist, needs to see the skin, and sometimes touch it, to be able to offer the right treatment. What impact has the pandemic had on our beauty and our health? The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected our health.

I have witnessed a lot of suffering and even death as a consequence of the pandemic, and I am happy to say that I have also seen a lot of people recover, although lasting health issues are common. As for our beauty, we have seen a big reduction in maintenance because many people could not visit a doctor for cosmetic procedures during the pandemic and couldn’t maintain their treatments in the usual way. However, thanks to the vaccination rollout, things will get better and hopefully we will get back to normal soon. With this in mind, I strongly advise everyone to take the vaccine; this is probably the only way that we can return to normal life.

www.drroymoutran.com

JULY 2021

Déjà View

BIG-DIGIT DIVORCES

FRONTRUNNER

BILL GROSS

The bond king’s 2016 split from his wife of three decades devolved into dueling restraining orders and a fake Picasso. Sue Gross reportedly got the 1932 painting “Le Repos”—except she allegedly already had it, having swapped it on Bill’s wall with a copy she painted herself.

New Billionaire

REBOOT

On May 3, Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates announced they were divorcing after 27 years of marriage. That same day, Gates’ Cascade Investment arm transferred $2.4 billion worth of stock in four companies (Canadian National Railway; car-dealership group AutoNation; Mexican Coke bottler Coca-Cola Femsa; and Mexican broadcaster Grupo Televisa) to French Gates; he also transferred $851 million in John Deere shares to her in mid-May. One of three living American women, as best as Forbes can determine, to attain billionaire status via divorce (Jeff Bezos’ ex, MacKenzie Scott, and Sue Gross, who was married to Pimco’s Bill Gross, are the others), French Gates stands to get more—potentially much more. The couple have asked a judge in Washington (a community property state in which most divorces are settled with a 50/50 split) to follow a separation agreement to split up Gates’ $126 billion fortune, which encompasses stakes in more than a dozen companies, including an estimated 1% stake in Microsoft, U.S. farmland, a $131 million home near Seattle and private planes. French Gates reportedly began consulting divorce lawyers in 2019 after her husband’s meetings with the late financier Jeffrey Epstein became public. Days after the divorce announcement, a spokeswoman for Gates acknowledged he had an affair with a Microsoft employee “20 years ago.” French Gates cofounded the $50 billion (assets) Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 2000 before establishing Pivotal Ventures in 2015 to invest in social progress for women and people of color. “I tell my daughters to have their voice in this world, and it became clear I needed to role-model that,” she told Forbes at the time. Last year, with support from MacKenzie Scott, French Gates launched Equality Can’t Wait, an initiative offering $40 million in grants to women’s organizations throughout the U.S. F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

TED TURNER

His decade-long marriage to Jane Fonda broke up in 2001, yet the Oscarwinning actress still calls Turner her “favorite ex-husband.” The media mogul speaks fondly of her, too. “When you love somebody, and you really love them,” Turner said in 2012, “you never stop loving them no matter how hard you try.”

HAROLD HAMM

The fracking tycoon wrote his ex-wife an astronomical $974,790,317.77 check from his Morgan Stanley account after their 2014 split. She pocketed her zillions, unsuccessfully tried to get more—and then funded a political action committee that helped unseat the judge who oversaw the divorce.

JULY 2021

NEW BILLIONAIRE BY RACHEL SANDLER. MELINDA GATES: JONAS FREDWALL KARLSSON/TRUNK ARCHIVE; GROSS: FRANK AUGSTEIN/AP; TURNER: JIM SMEAL/RON GALELLA/GETTY IMAGES

Bill and Melinda French Gates aren’t the only members of The Forbes 400 to learn that yachtloads of money can’t buy a happy marriage. The 50 current richest Americans have gotten hitched 72 times in all, with 35 unions (49%) ending in divorce. Some billionaire marriages end amicably. Others, well . . .

PRO M OTI O N

There’s no going back: retail is heading towards a digital future and Microsoft is leading the way.

SURASAK_CH / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

How are Microsoft solutions supporting retailers to digitally transform their operations? We are in the era of digital transformation, where businesses are embracing emerging technologies to revolutionize the way they work. Today, AI and machine learning are creating more intelligent businesses, the Internet of Things is offering companies new data points, and blockchain is delivering a new level of security and transparency across stakeholder networks. These new tools and capabilities have been democratized by Microsoft Cloud. Now, retailers and consumer packed goods (CPG) companies can leverage our intelligent cloud to create data-driven organizations, boost efficiency, enhance customer personalization, and achieve greater revenue growth. Furthermore, we recently announced Microsoft Cloud for Retail, which offers a range of targeted solutions for the sector. There was an e-commerce boom during the pandemic. What challenges did this create for your retail clients and how can AI help to overcome them? The COVID-19 pandemic is the new chief innovation officer for the retail industry. We witnessed years of e-commerce growth in just a few

months, hitting penetration levels forecasted for 10 years from now. This growth requires retailers and CPG companies to humanize their digital experience, re-creating the magic of physical stores. This can be achieved through livestreaming and virtual ‘clienteleing’, as well as delivering more personalized, targeted marketing. Most of these activities can be enabled via AI, machine learning, and advanced learning capabilities, all of which are facilitated by our intelligent cloud. In one example, U.A.E.-based retail conglomerate, AL Futtaim, leveraged the power of AI and advanced analytics to accelerate its hyper-personalization strategy to boost customer satisfaction and accelerate growth. How can brick-and-mortar retailers use technology to become more competitive? Stores are going to play a more vital and diverse role, as customers increasingly demand a wider variety of services: buy online, click and collect, the list goes on. These services require a “phygital” world, that combines the best of physical and digital retail. For example, Switzerland’s largest retail company, Migros, is harnessing advanced technology to detect product freshness, quality, and stock. Doing so

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means the company can guarantee product quality, availability, and delivery on a continuous basis. Supply chains, logistics, and delivery were heavily impacted during the pandemic. How can retailers utilize technology to remain resilient and profitable, even during challenging times? Supply chains need to be reimagined and re-designed on the principles of flexibility, transparency, and resilience, rather than cost and speed. We have seen retailers further localizing their supply chains and accelerating partnerships with logistics players to improve their last mile delivery and meet customer needs. As for technology, AI and robotic process automation play fundamental roles in supply chain transformation. Starbucks is leveraging AI to create an integrated digital planning capability across the business, to reduce costs and increase the productivity. Using blockchain, the company has also enabled transparency across the supply chain, from bean to cup.

www.microsoft.com/ mea/industry JULY 2021

25 LEADERBOARD

Retail Reimagined

SportsMoney

BILLION-DOLLAR CLUB

THE WORLD’S TEN HIGHEST-PAID ATHLETES. Empty stadiums. Curtailed seasons. Playoff bubbles. And a year of record paydays as four athletes each earned more than $100 million, helping boost the combined earnings of the top ten to $1.05 billion.

1. Conor McGregor

7. Roger Federer

9. Tom Brady

ON THE FIELD: $22 million OFF THE FIELD: $158 million The brawler was knocked out in his UFC return but won big selling his beverage brand.

ON THE FIELD: $35,000 OFF THE FIELD: $90 million Deals with brands including Uniqlo, Rolex and Credit Suisse help the Swiss tennis titan cash in even while injured.

ON THE FIELD: $45 million OFF THE FIELD: $31 million The ageless 43-year-old is making more than ever, inking deals with apparel seller Fanatics and Danish eyewear maker Christopher Cloos.

2. Lionel Messi

8. Lewis Hamilton

10. Kevin Durant

ON THE FIELD: $97 million OFF THE FIELD: $33 million A leak of his contract showed the Barcelona soccer icon was earning much more than previously thought.

ON THE FIELD: $70 million OFF THE FIELD: $12 million The Mercedes driver piled up bonus payments en route to a seventh Formula 1 title.

ON THE FIELD: $31 million OFF THE FIELD: $44 million Durant scored with Postmates’ sale to Uber (he was an investor) and produced a short fi lm that won an Oscar.

$180 million

$130 million

$90 million

$82 million

$76 million

$75 million

3. Cristiano Ronaldo $120 million

ON THE FIELD: $70 million OFF THE FIELD: $50 million The Juventus soccer star has more than 500 million social media followers to pitch his CR7 clothing brand to.

4. Dak Prescott $107.5 million

ON THE FIELD: $97.5 million OFF THE FIELD: $10 million A $66 million signing bonus pushes the Dallas Cowboys quarterback to an NFL earnings record.

5. LeBron James $96.5 million

ON THE FIELD: $31.5 million OFF THE FIELD: $65 million A new deal with PepsiCo helps lift the Lakers’ King above the rim to a record high for an NBA player.

6. Neymar $95 million

ON THE FIELD: $76 million OFF THE FIELD: $19 million The Brazilian added Puma, Epic Games, PokerStars and Triller to his sponsor list. F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

JULY 2021

BY BRETT KNIGHT AND JUSTIN BIRNBAUM

FRONTRUNNER

PRO M OTI O N

Lift Your People Up

With the support of Microsoft Viva, organizations can unlock employee potential and build business fit for the future. How can companies help employees to reach their potential? Organizations need to continuously look at how best to support their employees to protect productivity, encourage creativity, and promote engagement. Microsofts “Work Reworked” survey found that for many companies in the Middle East and Africa (MEA), productivity either increased or remained the same last year. However, as we’ve seen in the Work Trend Index, these productivity levels could be hiding an exhausted workforce with many employees experiencing “digital overload.” With this in mind, companies need to protect their employees’ wellbeing and optimal workflow—the state in which people are able to give focused attention to a single task for superior output. Some simple measures include scheduling meetings outside of workflow sessions during the day and encouraging the use of tools like scheduled Focus Time in Microsoft Teams. As for creativity and engagement, rebuilding social capital is of great importance because it is linked to successful business outcomes. This involves reconnecting distant networks, encouraging teams to expand their interactions, and sharing knowledge.

More broadly, managers need to create a culture where social capital thrives, underpinned by kindness, fun, and collaboration. How can managers empower employees to make decisions and promote an innovative culture? Remote work has its benefits, but it has encouraged some habits that are detrimental to innovation. One example is the increase in work being done in silos. The Work Trend Index found that interactions with our close networks at work increased, but that they dropped with distant networks. We are, however, seeing an increase in interactions among networks when lockdowns are eased. This offers us a glimpse of the hybrid future as companies learn to balance the benefits of remote work and inperson interactions. As for decision-making, business leaders should encourage employees to act with confidence and speak their minds. The ‘Work Reworked’ research demonstrates that managers in innovative companies facilitate regular, open dialogue, and allow people freedom in how they approach their roles. Furthermore, the last year has put a lot of pressure on people, so exercising empathy and flexibility

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will help organizations and their people to thrive. Organizations are now discovering the power of data. How can cloud and AI-powered tools help extract insights for smarter decisionmaking? Tools such as MyAnalytics and Microsoft Viva Insights offer workers private, personalized insights that help them take control of their week. For example, they can identify the best time for focused work, catching up on email, and connecting with people. In addition, Microsoft Viva Insights gives employees the tools to recognize when and how they might need to switch off. Our research also highlighted that finding the right information is a big timewaster for employees. Here, tools like Microsoft Viva Topics can prove indispensable. Topics identifies and organizes new and existing information, arming employees with the knowledge they need to make informed decisions.

www.microsoft.com/ mea/newcultureofwork/ Collaboration.aspx

JULY 2021

PRO M OTI O N

A Feat Of Engineering 28

After sailing through the COVID-19 storm, Fares Nassif, Founder and CEO at DEP Partners, is bullish about the future as the world of engineering and construction continues to bounce back.

What key decisions and strategies have shaped DEP’s journey to success? The engineering consultancy business is full of competition, so in order to really distinguish ourselves we developed several strategies that have become determining factors in our success. In addition, we took the decision to involve our engineers not only the technical side of the business, but in financial incentive plans too. Furthermore, we rose above traditional methods by investing in advanced engineering technologies and simulations. Last but not least, we embarked on a challenging marketing plan that enabled us to win airport projects that are, in fact, the most complex in engineering. Combined, all these factors have contributed to the success of DEP, as it is known today. How did COVID-19 impact your business? The impact of COVID-19 was hardly felt within the company’s operations because our research and development department had already created engineering solutions that enabled us to work remotely, without losing any sense of coordination or unity amongst ourselves. Most of our clients are from overseas, and while they were all impacted by the pandemic in some form, they were each affected at different times, so we remained operational and busy throughout. From the COVID-19 experience, we

have learned that we are able to generate business in challenging international circumstances. How do you use and promote sustainable design practices in your projects? Sustainable design involves the consideration of all environmental,

The in this F Othoughts R B E S M I expressed D D L E E A S T.C O Madvertorial are those of the client.

social, and economic parameters, and is nowadays a key factor in investors receiving a fast return on investment. Our sustainable design solutions seek to reduce negative impacts on the environment and enhance the health and comfort of building occupants, by improving technical performance and reducing

JULY 2021

PRO M OTI O N

bill ratios. We strive to provide the most economical solutions to our clients. These solutions include project orientation vis-à-vis prevailing wind and solar exposure, and we carefully consider building materials, water consumption, and used water recycling. We also focus on renewable energies, air conditioning and noise cancellation, and smart systems that eliminate energy waste. With lifestyle and wellbeing in mind, our research has led to the best use of wind currents and landscape effects, by enriching the useful space with oxygen and good smells. What business trends do you foresee in your sector post-COVID-19? At DEP, we believe all economic sectors will shift back to normal very soon. In fact, some have already done so. Our business is correlated to worldwide operations and growth, particularly in the sectors of energy, industry, health, infrastructure, travel, and others, which make up most of our everyday interests. From now on, in order to mitigate future disruption within this growing business, the engineering industry will integrate smart operational solutions based on the acquisition and implementation of intelligent data. What is the most iconic or memorable project that DEP has delivered? The most iconic project that we ever produced was the airport operational management center in 2006. That project was based on integrating aircraft, passenger, and baggage operations, and while there were already some advanced systems available at the time, we were able to add great value. We integrated flight information

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systems, passenger registrations, and baggage into big data; we introduced a design performance script that formulated this data, and we came up with a total airport management solution that saved a lot of money and time. Today, 15 years later, the philosophy of our solution has been complemented by the Internet of Business (IOB).

How do you see the future of engineering and construction? And how can young engineers develop successful careers in the sector? Knowledge and perseverance are vital to success. School and university diplomas are necessary but not sufficient; the earlier engineers get involved in real engineering processes, the easier

“The most iconic project that we ever produced was the airport operational management center in 2006.” What advice would you give to the new generation of professionals in your field? What is the recipe for success? My advice to young engineers and technicians today is to shift their studies towards aviation, since transportation has grown steadily throughout the years and has always been a winning financial investment. Global industry forecasts indicate that the six billion passengers who fly around the world today will grow to 13 billion in 2035, while airport and air traffic volumes are expected to double in 10 years. Against this backdrop of growth, the world has a shortage in airport engineering, and that shortage will remain for the next decade, as demand is much higher than supply.

their entry into the industry will be. Engineers need to assimilate revolutionary software and simulators, get acquainted with standards and codes, and gain a deep understanding of design concepts. With skilled workers in place, the future of the sector is bright: engineering and construction are essential to everyday life, opportunities are plentiful, and the threats are minimal. That said, competition will always exist, so industry players must continue to innovate and work hard to stay ahead of the curve.

www.deppartners.com JULY 2021

WHAT ’ S NEW

•

FRONTRUNNER

•

WHO’S NEXT

INCLUSIVE CAPITALISM

The pandemic has prompted a surge in entrepreneurship, voluntary and involuntary. How do we leverage this moment to ensure that everyone who wants to pursue the American Dream can do so? The United States’ first female, Black and AsianAmerican vice president weighs in on this opportunity.

JAMEL TOPPIN FOR FORBES

By Kamala Harris

F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

JULY 2021

JAMEL TOPPIN FOR FORBES

was in Oakland when the Loma Prieta earthquake hit in 1989, and brought a section of the Bay Bridge crashing down. Leaders then had a choice—to restore the bridge to how it was, or to reevaluate and strengthen its support system to withstand future shocks. They chose the latter. As we emerge from the pandemic, our nation has the same choice to make — for our economy and for our businesses, specifically small businesses and start-ups. The pandemic has exposed the flaws and the fissures in our economy. One in three small businesses have closed. Nearly two million women have been forced out of the workforce. And millions of families have struggled to buy groceries and cover rent. In this moment, more than repair, we must reimagine. And after providing $60 billion in relief to small businesses, we must work to broaden access to capital and remove other barriers to success for entrepreneurs across the country. First, capital. I recently met Lorena Cantarovici, the owner of an artisan empanada business in Colorado. She started her business, as so many do, in her own kitchen. When she sought out a loan to expand, the banks she approached told her she was, in their words, “not bankable.” Through hard work, she proved them wrong. Her business has since expanded to multiple locations, and she has employed many people. This is a familiar story. Traditional banks and venture capital firms have not always F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

FRONTRUNNER

Halls of Power Vice President Kamala Harris photographed outside her ceremonial office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, May 18.

seen the vision of women entrepreneurs and those of color. Community lenders, on the other hand, were founded to see that vision. Community lenders understand the value in providing access to capital in communities of color and low-income communities—and because they do, they add value to those communities and our country. When I was in the United States Senate, I worked to secure an additional $12 billion for community lenders. Now, we are working to build on that investment. Together, we must help every American entrepreneur get the capital they need to realize their vision. There are other barriers to success. Danielle Romanetti owns a small yarn shop in Virginia. I visited with her and several of her employees a few months ago. They spoke about how hard it was, during the pandemic, for women business owners to go without childcare. Some have had to make deliveries to customers with children in the car. Others have had to bring their children to work. JULY 2021

Politics

JOE’S REGULAR JOES THE TOTAL NET WORTH OF PRESIDENT BIDEN’S CABINET IS A FRACTION OF DONALD TRUMP’S—AND BARACK OBAMA’S.

businesses. Stores — like Danielle’s — have had to quickly pivot online to retain customers, tapping into a demand likely here to stay. Restaurants — like Lorena’s — have had to create outdoor dining to do the same. Meanwhile, innovators of all types have created new products for the moment. Today, our nation must reimagine our economy, so that every American entrepreneur can launch and grow an enterprise. It is in this reimagining that we will remain competitive—and come out of this pandemic stronger than before.

JOE BIDEN’S CABINET looks rather different than Donald Trump’s, with more women, more people of color, more liberals—and a whole lot less money. It’s not that Biden’s bunch is poor, exactly. The president himself accumulated an $8 million net worth, mostly by writing a book and giving speeches since he departed the vice presidency in 2017. Vice President Kamala Harris is worth about $7 million, thanks in part to big earnings from her husband, a highly paid lawyer. All but two of the 15 officials alongside them are millionaires, and the group is worth $118 million overall. That’s comfortable, sure, but it’s the length of the Acela corridor (and then some) from the $6.2 billion combined net worth of Trump’s crew or the $2.8 billion fortune of Barack Obama’s second-term team.

Merrick Garland 68 Attorney General Net worth: $20 million Janet Yellen 74 Secretary of the Treasury $20 million Antony Blinken 59 Secretary of State $10 million Gina Raimondo 50 Secretary of Commerce $10 million Joe Biden 78 President $8 million Jennifer Granholm 62 Secretary of Energy $8 million Alejandro Mayorkas 61 Secretary of Homeland Security $8 million Lloyd Austin 67 Secretary of Defense $7 million

Janet Yellen • Treasury

Merrick Garland • Justice

Tom Vilsack • Agriculture

After leaving her post as Federal Reserve chair in 2018, Yellen earned over $7 million giving speeches to big banks and other businesses. Her assets include a stamp collection

Obama’s final, and unsuccessful, Supreme Court nominee owns New York City real estate, apparently inherited from his in-laws, bolstering the small fortune he accumulated after working as a partner at the prestigious law firm Arnold & Porter.

Obama’s former ag secretary left the White House during the Trump era but made plenty of money while he was gone. He won $150,000 in the Iowa state lott ery last year and used his farm to cash in on USDA programs.

worth more than $15,000.

Xavier Becerra 63 Secretary of Health and Human Services $7 million Kamala Harris 56 Vice President $7 million Tom Vilsack 70 Secretary of Agriculture $4 million Denis McDonough 51 Secretary of Veterans Affairs $3 million Marty Walsh 54 Secretary of Labor $2.5 million Marcia Fudge 68 Secretary of Housing and Urban Development $2 million

Marty Walsh • Labor

Pete Buttigieg • Transportation

Deb Haaland • Interior

The former Boston mayor took offi ce with three pensions worth about $800,000 total, including two from a labor union he once led.

Relatively broke before he ran for president, Mayor Pete earned more than $1 million in 2019 and 2020, according to our estimates, most of it from book sales.

The first Native American cabinet secretary, who won a New Mexico congressional seat in 2018, reportedly overcame homelessness earlier in life. Her financial report disclosed just a $175 annual tribal payment and $15,000-plus in student loans.

F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

Miguel Cardona 45 Secretary of Education $1 million Pete Buttigieg 39 Secretary of Transportation $750,000 Deb Haaland 60 Secretary of the Interior $0

JULY 2021

BIDEN CABINET BY DAN ALEXANDER AND MICHELA TINDERA ILLUSTRATIONS BY STEVE BRODNER

FRONTRUNNER

For women entrepreneurs—and all entrepreneurs—the pandemic has highlighted the importance of our nation’s care infrastructure. For so many, care is the bridge to building a business. That is why, as we work to improve roads to transport goods, improve transit for consumers, and ensure affordable and accessible high-speed Internet, President Joe Biden and I are also working to ensure affordable and accessible child and family care. In the face of the unimaginable, America’s entrepreneurs made the choice to reimagine their

OPTIMISM, RESILIENCE, AND RENEWED PRIORITIES 18 August 2021 • 2:00 PM • Virtual Event

Mohamed Mansour

Ayman M. Tamer

Rashid Khalaf Al Habtoor

Man Capital

Tamer Holding

Al Habtoor Trading Enterprises

Founder and Chairman

H.E. Dr. Nabeel Koshak CEO and Board Member

Saudi Venture Capital Company (SVC)

Abdullah Alkhorayef CEO & Board Member

Alkhorayef Group

F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

Chairman & Partner

Masaood Rahma

CEO & President

Hassan Jameel Deputy President and Vice Chairman

Abdul Latif Jameel

Talal Ajlan Alajlan Makarem Batterjee

Navin M. Valrani

Chief Executive Officer

President & Vice Chairman

Al Masaood Group

National Center for Family Business (NCFB)

Saudi German Health

Anurag Bajpai

Peter Englisch

Ahmed Youssef

Walid Chiniara

McKinsey & Company

Global Family Solutions Deloitte

Board Member

Lower Gulf Head of Consumer and Retail and LG Leader

Senior Partner, Shareholder & Global Family Business Leader

KPMG

PwC Germany

Senior Partner

For more information visit www.forbesmiddleeastevents.com

Vice Chairman and Managing Director

Al Shirawi Group

Partner

JULY 2021

33 FRONTRUNNER

FAMILY BUSINESS SUMMIT

PRO M OTI O N

The Healthy Choice 34

Faddy Zouki explains how his namesake hospitality enterprise rose to success, and how a health-first philosophy is driving the business forward.

With over 30 years of experience, Zouki is a top name in the international hospitality and catering industry. How would you describe the company and what are the key factors behind its success? Zouki has over 30 years’ experience in the hospitality industry, including more than 20 years operating in public health settings. We work to the highest standards of quality and management, and our companies have become industry leaders, with our cafe and retail developments, along with our function catering, providing benchmarks for other businesses across Australia and the wider world. Since the mid-2000s, Zouki has focused on healthcare environments, delivering the very best quality in food, coffee, retail products, service, outlet design, and fit out. From a small café, Zouki has gone on to revolutionize hospital food and retail, providing spaces where workers and visitors can find refuge from the emotional challenges of a hospital environment. Zouki has also influenced and lobbied governments to introduce healthy eating policies and options that were predominately outlined by Zouki Group. Our modern, architecturally designed cafes and restaurants

provide our customers with a comfortable, enjoyable experience, and are the perfect place to catch up with friends for a bite to eat. We also pride ourselves on our ongoing commitment to sustainability and eco-friendly practices. For example, our customers can enjoy fully recyclable coffee cups made from compostable packaging. Zouki operates on a shared partnership basis, with a mutually profitable exchange of skills and opportunity. We also serve

The in this F Othoughts R B E S M I expressed D D L E E A S T.C O Madvertorial are those of the client.

as an important example of multiculturalism at work on the Australian and worldwide business landscape. How have you been managing to operate and keep people safe during the pandemic? We have over 200 cafes and retail outlets within healthcare, and the health and wellbeing of our customers, team members, and the hospital communities we operate in, remain our top priority.

JULY 2021

PRO M OTI O N

We are following the advice of the Australian government, state government, and the World Health Organization when it comes to recommendations for minimizing the spread of the virus. We have also been able to work with governments to implement a tracking system and practice strict policies to identify and prevent the transmission of the virus. Furthermore, while cleanliness has always been a priority for us, our very high standards of cleaning practices have been increased to include more regular cleaning and disinfecting during the day and increased end-of-day deep cleans. Our team members have all been retrained on strict hygiene practices too. In times such as these, we believe it is our responsibility to do our best to provide uninterrupted access to the services people need, while doing everything we can to keep our customers and our team safe and healthy. How has COVID-19 affected your business? Zouki’s business within healthcare has fared much better than mainstream retail and hospitality, but we have seen a significant increase in online ordering and deliveries. COVID-19 made us create an online application and ordering system that would cater to that change in consumer behavior, and at the moment, Zouki is servicing 30% online and 70% direct contact sales. How does Zouki encourage customers to eat healthily? Now, more than ever, it’s important to stay as healthy as possible, and eating nutritious food is a great starting point. With this in mind, Zouki encourages healthy eating by

F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

offering the variety of foods required for a healthy immune system. Specifically, we ensure that our foods contain plenty of vegetables, fruits, and wholegrains, as well as a variety of healthy protein sources such as fish, seafood, and legumes such as beans. We also offer small quantities of egg and lean poultry as part of a heart-healthy diet. In terms of dairy, we favor unflavored milk, yoghurt, and cheese, though we recommend reduced fat varieties for those with high blood cholesterol. As for healthy fats, we opt for nuts, seeds, avocados, olives, and their respective oils for cooking. And of course, we choose great herbs and spices over salt to add flavor.

wages are sufficient to enable people to purchase healthy foods and enjoy an adequate standard of living. Subsidies for fresh and nutritious foods in rural and remote areas, where food prices are much higher, are also necessary. Crucially, we need regular monitoring of food insecurity too. Current data is underestimating the magnitude of the problem and its economic burden on our government. Zouki sees food insecurity as a symptom of social system failure, and we are discussing all aspects of food, food systems, food production, and food access, as well as the cost of living, across the whole community.

“Zouki has gone on to revolutionize hospital food and retail, providing spaces where workers and visitors can find refuge.” What are your thoughts on solving food security issues across the world? While there are several wellestablished programs providing essential services for struggling families, they are not able to address the root causes of food insecurity. Zouki advocates for access to nutritious food to be viewed as an essential human right, and we believe that decision-makers need to prioritize action to ensure that those who most need access to healthy food, are able to get it. Food insecurity is deeply entrenched in poverty and therefore has complex causes. Effective solutions must be multipronged and will take time and a coordinated approach. We can start this approach and begin to really tackle this problem by ensuring that welfare benefits and

How can hospitality and catering businesses grow and remain competitive? Mainstream retail and hospitality will always be subjected to heavy competition, hence, it is a question of survival of the fittest. A good operator will always maintain innovation, creativity, quality, and affordability. Those are the traditional elements that will sustain a business in the hospitality sector. In addition, it is also important to consider underlying commercial terms, such as the cost of occupancy and general operational costs.

www.zoukilawyers.com.au

JULY 2021

• COVER STORY •

KARIM AWAD • EFG HERMES HOLDING

NEW DIRECTIONS Karim Awad, Group CEO of EFG Hermes Holding, has seen the company evolve over more than two decades from being an Egyptian investment bank to becoming a global financial services corporation. Now he’s leading a new era of diversification.

BY CLAUDINE COLETTI F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

JULY 2021

Karim Awad, Group CEO of EFG Hermes Holding

IMAGE FROM SOURCE

F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

JULY 2021

KARIM AWAD • EFG HERMES HOLDING

One of the region’s leading financial services corporations, EFG Hermes Holding, has been through a lot in its 37-year history. So when the board first offered Karim Awad the Group CEO role in 2013, he thought carefully before accepting. At the time, Egypt was reeling from a political crisis, and the company itself was considering significant changes. “I was actually quite worried about taking the job,” he confesses. “It was a very tough time for us.” Of course, he accepted the role. And since taking the helm, he has set a course of diversification for EFG Hermes that has seen it greatly expand the breadth of financial services that it offers and markets that it covers. While the investment banking arm still makes up the majority of its business, over the last six years the company has also established a non-bank financial services (NBFI) platform and begun busily investing in areas such as microfinance and Fintech. It has also added several new frontier markets to its portfolio. While headquartered in Egypt, and previously present in Kuwait, the U.A.E., Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Jordan, it now also covers Pakistan, Nigeria, Kenya, Bangladesh, and Vietnam, with offices in London and New York. “All of this diversification, whether geographically or via products, has helped make our business model more sustainable,” says Awad. As a result, the company has proven resilient through the toughest of years. In 2020, it had a total of $3.5 billion in group assets under management, compared to $3.4 billion in 2019, and it completed 24 investment banking transactions worth a total of $1.7 billion. The company managed to achieve group operating revenues worth around $349 million in F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

the 2020 financial year, a growth of 12% compared to the previous year. And 2021 is already looking promising. In Q1, revenues hit $80 million, a 30% increase compared to the same period in 2020, and net profits shot up by 223% to $18.6 million. With its shares trading on both the Egypt and London stock exchanges, EFG Hermes’ market value stood at $665.2 million as of June 13, 2021, making it one of the Middle East’s biggest asset managers. In May 2021, the bank announced its latest move, partnering with The Sovereign Fund of Egypt (TSFE) to acquire a 76% stake in Egypt’s Arab Investment Bank (AIB), with the current major shareholder, the National Investment Bank, retaining 24%. Owning a bank in its home market means the company can further expand its services. “The priority is to create a digital banking strategy as well as a focus on retail lending and small and medium enterprises,” said Awad at the time. The cost of the deal is estimated to be $242.6 million, with EFG Hermes gaining 423 million newly-issued shares and 51% ownership for $162.8 million, and TSFE gaining 207 million shares and 25% ownership for $79.8 million. The acquisition is currently awaiting approval from the Central Bank of Egypt and is expected to be completed in Q3 2021. The big-picture goal is to offer a full suite of financial services to retail, institutional, and corporate clients. Awad even hopes to one day launch a superapp for customers. “I hope that we will be able to turn around the bank in the next two to three years to give us another sustainable source of income going forward that is not as volatile as the capital markets we operate in,” he explains. This volatility has been particularly choppy recently, with global markets recovering from the impact of the pandemic. Despite being the leading securities broker in Egypt, holding 36.4% of market share in 2020, EFG Hermes’ securities brokerage business witnessed a 17% year-on-year decrease in 2020—recording $64.3 million in revenues compared to 2019’s $77.1 million. However, experts still see opportunities in some sectors. “Given that most central banks are starting to consider tightening monetary policy, or at least withdrawing the additional aid provided during the pandemic, the days of the ‘everything rally’ is likely to be over,” says Hussein Sayed, Chief Marketing Strategist at Exinity. “At this stage, investors need to protect their portfolios against this risk. Materials, energy, miners, and financials are the sectors where you should be overweight in the short to medium term. Tangible assets should also be considered, such as real estate and commodities.” JULY 2021

IMAGE FROM SOURCE

F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

the company in 2003. “I worked with the senior management on what was then a $40 million capital increase into the company that effectively saved it and restructured it completely,” he shares. “It wasn’t my idea; I was just there to help out.” It did not go unnoticed. The next decade saw the company grow through recessions, revolutions, and economic cycles, while Awad climbed the ranks. However, by 2012, EFG Hermes was facing some difficulties. Its joint CEOs at the time, Hassan Heikal and Yasser El-Mallawany, were accused of illegal share dealings and linked to cases against Gamal and

Alaa Mubarak, sons of Egypt’s former president Hosni Mubarak. All four men have since been acquitted. Meanwhile, external troubles were also affecting the firm, as Egypt bore the weight of an ongoing political crisis and uprising. In 2013, Awad stepped up to help steer the company to new ground. “When I was presented with the challenge, I felt I had a responsibility towards the company,” he explains. “It was either you jump ship because things are really bad, or you take responsibility and try with the management team to rectify things. And I decided the latter.” As part of an intense restructuring plan, the company undertook a non-cash goodwill impairment charge in excess of $38.2 million to help clean up its balance sheet. As a result, in that financial year EFG Hermes recorded losses of over $21.3 million. The new management team also cut expenses, reduced the JULY 2021

39 KARIM AWAD • EFG HERMES HOLDING

Globally, markets seem to be showing evidence of more positive sentiment, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq rallying in June. And in the Middle East, Awad is finding opportunities among the region’s biggest business hubs and most populated countries. “When it comes to the stock market, we are bullish on Egypt and the U.A.E. given where the valuations are at and the gross prospects that the companies have there,” reveals Awad. “And we are always bullish on Saudi Arabia given the size of their market and the depth of the industries that are there.” This is largely thanks to core sectors and ongoing development. Whereas the U.A.E. is hopeful that tourism will soon witness a post-pandemic boom as vaccine rollouts continue worldwide, Saudi Arabia is also moving ahead with plans to open up to international visitors and investors through a number of megaprojects and industry reforms. And in his home market, Awad thinks recent changes will lead to positive outcomes. “In Egypt, we feel that the government has taken massive steps in terms of economic reform, a very tough program, and we hope that with the pandemic hopefully coming to an end sooner rather than later, the economy will start to show some massive signs of growth,” he adds. All in all, Awad appears calm in the face of some lingering uncertainty—but then, this is not the first challenging period he has been through with EFG Hermes. Having been with the company for more than two decades, he has witnessed his fair share of ups and downs. He first joined the bank as a fresh graduate in 1998 after a friend pointed him in the direction of EFG Hermes. At the time, the company was in a transition of its own, having been newly-formed by the 1996 merger of the 12-year-old Egyptian Financial Group (EFG) and its competitor, Hermes Financial. Starting out as an analyst, Awad found the pace demanding. “It was very hard work, very long hours, not really as glamourous as I thought when coming in,” he recalls. It didn’t take long for him to get stuck in. He remembers playing a role in helping restructure

F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

opportunity,” reveals Abdulaziz Al Jouf, CEO and Founder of PayTabs. “It’s a two-way portfolio expansion. Our collaboration with valU on buy now pay later schemes, for example, has definitely broadened the market scope and widened horizons for PayTabs Egypt, making this a longterm, win-win partnership.” On the other side of the business, the company has also been active in taking successful firms public. In August 2019, EFG Hermes was the sole bookrunner for the IPO of Egyptian e-payments platform, Fawry, which was founded in 2008. The IPO was over-subscribed by over 30 times, according to Reuters. EFG Hermes also acted as a joint bookrunner for Saudi Aramco’s IPO— the biggest IPO in history—which was executed in 2019. In July 2020, the company concluded an advisory role on the follow-on sale of $50 million worth of Fawry shares, and it was a joint bookrunner on the $700 million IPO of Saudi healthcare company the Dr. Sulaiman Al Habib Group. In March 2021, it concluded the $144 million IPO of Saudi’s Alkhorayef Water & Power Technologies as a bookrunner and underwriter. As he continues full-steam ahead with expansion plans, Awad predicts more investment in the region’s startup ecosystem in the future. “We’re very bullish about the startup scene. Some very bright people are coming up with extremely disruptive ideas,” he muses. In the meantime, he’s following a disruptive path of his own. Luckily for EFG Hermes, after a 23-year evolution, the Group CEO seems steadfast. “Even when we were analysts, and we didn’t own shares in the company, we always felt a sense of belonging to it. A sense of pride in seeing it do better,” he smiles. “One day, the right thing to do will be for a younger generation to take over, but currently, we’re committed.”

EGYPT’S 3 BIGGEST ASSET MANAGERS Egypt’s three biggest asset managers recorded assets under management (AUM) worth a combined

$6.9 billion in 2020.

EFG Hermes Holding Founded: 1984 AUM 2020:

$3.5 billion

Misr Capital Founded: 2010 AUM 2020:

$2 billion

Al Ahly Financial Investments Management (AFIM) Founded: 1994 AUM 2020:

$1.4 billion

JULY 2021

JACKKPHOTO / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

KARIM AWAD • EFG HERMES HOLDING

employee cost-to-revenue base, and sold some non-core assets before plotting a new path. “We started to think, what is EFG 2.0? And this is when we started approving our new strategy for a non-bank financial platform,” Awad recalls. EFG Hermes launched its NBFI platform in 2015 and acquired its microfinance player, Tanmeyah, in 2016. To help it refocus, as well as release funds, the company decided to sell off its shares in Lebanese bank, Credit Libanais. “We felt that this bank did not have many synergies with our existing businesses,” says Awad. Having bought a 65% stake in 2010 for $542 million, EFG Hermes announced in March 2016 that it would be exiting by selling 40% of its shares at $33 each to a group of Lebanese and Arab investors in a deal valued at $492 million at the time. With fresh capital and a new direction, in 2017 EFG Hermes launched EFG EV Fintech in Egypt, a Fintech-focused startup accelerator and early-stage venture capital fund, as a joint venture with Egypt Ventures, a government-backed VC fund. In December that year, the company launched its buy-now-paylater Fintech app, valU, which allows customers to pay for products and services through installments over up to 60 months. Last year, the app had more than 898 partner merchants, 170,000 users, and 265,000 total transactions worth more than $93 million. valU’s net operating revenues hit $7.1 million in 2020, up from $1.6 million in 2019. It plans to launch in Saudi Arabia next. EFG Hermes has since made other big bets on Fintech, including partnering with Saudi payments startup PayTabs in 2020 to launch PayTabs Egypt. “The PayTabs business development and expansion team had been scouting North Africa for a suitable market

Envisioning The Cities Of Tomorrow, Today November 2021 • Dubai Exhibition Center

• Key Topics •

The Post Covid Future of Real Estate Business In The Middle East Hospitality & Tourism In The New Normal Sustainable Financing – The Way Forward? Smart And Connected Cities: The Need Of Time

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JULY 2021

41 DUMMY TEXT DUMMY

BUILDING THE FUTURE

• 30 BIGGEST ASSET MANAGERS •

TUNING INTO TECH A key U.A.E. investor, SHUAA Capital’s Group CEO Jassim Alseddiqi is doubling down on technology as he seeks to build a regional financial powerhouse.

BY SAMUEL WENDEL F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

JULY 2021

IMAGE BY FORBES MIDDLE EAST

JAS S I M A L S E D D I Q I • S H UA A CA P I TA L

Jassim Alseddiqi, Group CEO of SHUAA Capital

F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

JULY 2021

JAS S I M A L S E D D I Q I • S H UA A CA P I TA L

As the future of finance takes shape in the Middle East, a face consistently at the forefront of change is Jassim Alseddiqi, Group CEO of Dubai-based asset management and investment banking firm SHUAA Capital. Consider one of the most hyped local deals this year: the move to take Abu Dhabi-based streaming platform Anghami public. The nine-year-old company is set to become the first Arab tech player to list on Nasdaq in New York after agreeing to merge with a special purpose acquisition company. Alseddiqi played a key role in setting up the deal, which is expected to close this year and gave Anghami an enterprise value of roughly $220 million. SHUAA acted as financial advisor for the deal and provided $30 million in funding through private investment in a public equity, or PIPE, deal. That came after SHUAA invested an undisclosed amount into Anghami in December 2020. The entire arrangement, says Alseddiqi, shows what SHUAA brings to the table. “We don’t only buy an investment and flip it,” he explains. “We add value to it, and we maximize the return for shareholders.” Moves like this have helped Alseddiqi chart an ambitious rise in the U.A.E.’s financial world. Since starting the asset manager Abu Dhabi Financial Group (ADFG) in 2011, he’s built a reputation for introducing new investment concepts, making distressed investments, and orchestrating company turnarounds. In 2019, Alseddiqi merged ADFG with Dubai investment bank SHUAA to create a new financial services platform that manages around $14 billion in assets. “This is a powerhouse,” says Alseddiqi. Listed in Dubai, the firm posted net profits of $34 million in 2020, a rise of 168%, and paid its first dividend postmerger. SHUAA has delivered promising earnings to start 2021, recording its fourth straight profitable F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

quarter in Q1. Net profits reached $6.8 million, and its asset management business enjoyed record results. That’s after a net loss of $71 million in Q1 of 2020 in the face of the pandemic. Alseddiqi sees the combined entity having few regional peers offering similar capabilities—although it does look up at a few bigger players, such as Bahrain’s Investcorp, which has roughly $35 billion under management, and Saudi’s NCB Capital with assets under management worth over $50 billion. Still, this new version of SHUAA is just getting started. After finishing the integration process in 2020, Alseddiqi is making a slew of moves as SHUAA looks to the future. Technology is a big focus. SHUAA started 2021 by announcing that it will pursue more tech investments. Alongside backing Anghami, SHUAA structured and placed a $50 million sukuk this year for U.A.E. agri-tech company Pure Harvest. That marked the first time an early-stage business in the region secured venture debt funding from capital markets, according to SHUAA, and saw investors such as Franklin Templeton come aboard. Pure Harvest’s business is capital intensive currently, says CEO Sky Kurtz, but securing private equity to fund infrastructure is extremely expensive and time-consuming. The company is also establishing the viability of a new tech-enabled sector in the region, complicating matters. “The financial markets and institutions to support our industry remain nascent,” says Kurtz. But when Pure Harvest turned to SHUAA, it stepped up with an innovative solution. Alseddiqi is eying more tech investments too. “We’re looking at many, many transactions right now, but as you know, it’s quality over quantity,” he says. Simultaneously, SHUAA is also doubling down on developing digital offerings. In June 2021, it unveiled plans to launch a digital wealth platform intended to serve existing clients and attract the next generation of affluent investors. The platform is meant to elevate the traditional wealth management and advisory experience using technologies such as AI. The platform is a sign of things to come at SHUAA. Alseddiqi believes the firm’s future growth will come from digitization and acquiring clients digitally. He says ten years from now, there won’t be a SHUAA; instead there will be a technology company that focuses on financial services. “I believe that every company will become a technology company globally,” he says. To spearhead this drive, SHUAA recently brought in Hadi Raad, a Visa and Google alum, as chief digital officer. It’s a new role for the firm and part of JULY 2021

IMAGE FROM SOURCE

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a hiring spree that includes a new CEO for its sizable He then started ADFG in 2011 as an asset manager real estate business. More hiring is coming too, with serving an investor base including institutions, high Alseddiqi reporting plans to boost headcount by over net worth individuals, and family offices. Against the 30% this year. backdrop of economic turmoil unfolding during the The days ahead should be active for players like Arab Spring, the new firm adopted an opportunistic SHUAA. The pandemic obviously increased pressure approach that saw it target value in distressed assets. on businesses, setting the stage for consolidation From the beginning, Alseddiqi introduced new and macro adjustments, says Saurabh Verma, a investment concepts to the region. His firm’s first fund senior director with consultancy Frost & Sullivan. was a secondary private equity fund, which focused That should afford opportunities for asset managers on acquiring stakes in distressed private equity funds and investment bankers in the region, with sectors primarily run by GCC managers. That made it the first from energy to retail and beyond considering heavy of its kind in the Middle East, says Alseddiqi. The $45 investment to fast-track digital strategies. “These will million fund invested in more than 10 private equity be interesting and busy times for investment bankers funds in the coming years and proved to be a success. and asset managers,” says Verma. As COVID-19 recedes, Alseddiqi is bullish on regional prospects. He sees the low-interest rate environment, government spending initiatives, and changing regulations all pushing economies towards expansion across many sectors. Simultaneously, Alseddiqi believes SHUAA is poised for profit growth in 2021. The firm reports a healthy deal pipeline and new fund launches aimed at improving recurring revenues (one of Alseddiqi’s key short-term goals). More headturning moves like Anghami seem possible too. “The conventional SHUAA structured and placed a $50 million sukuk this year for U.A.E. agri-tech company Pure Harvest. transactions will always be there, but we always like to sprinkle in the new, sexy, exciting, exotic transactions and initiatives,” ADFG quickly branched out, becoming particularly he says. “This is what really makes us excited about active in real estate. By 2013, it was targeting prime what we do.” London real estate and it took a majority stake in Before becoming a key financier in the U.A.E., luxury residence developer Northacre. Simultaneously, Alseddiqi was an engineer. He studied electrical in the U.A.E. it invested in properties such as the engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Marina 101 tower. By 2013, the firm’s assets under and later pursued a master’s in electrical and management reached $748 million, up from $97 computer engineering at Cornell. Following that, he million the year before. joined gas processing firm Gasco in Abu Dhabi as an Alseddiqi continued introducing unique investment electrical engineer in 2005. He also served briefly as concepts too. A prominent example came in 2015 a lecturer for electrical engineering courses at The with the launch of the activist Goldilocks fund. An Petroleum Institute in Abu Dhabi. open-ended fund, it invests in GCC-listed equities and But Alseddiqi soon turned his attention to undervalued assets, with an eye on turnarounds. The engineering financial deals. In 2006, he joined the first of its kind locally, it has taken stakes in embattled Abu Dhabi Capital Group, a private institutional firms like GFH Financial Group and Dana Gas. Since investment house, serving as a business development its inception, it has outperformed regional and global and structuring manager. Only two years later, he indices, delivering a 92% return. became the firm’s CEO. Still, Alseddiqi doesn’t see his approach as that

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innovative. “We look at what’s working best in the U.S. or in Europe, and we copy it with pride,” he says. He points to ADFG’s first fund: it was a carbon copy of secondary private equity funds in the U.S. Meanwhile, Goldilocks mirrors activist funds globally. Alseddiqi freely admits the strategy is “plain vanilla.” Yet, it helped ADFG quickly become a notable player in the U.A.E. financial scene. A key turnaround engineered by Alseddiqi has proved to be the SHUAA brand. ADFG took a controlling interest in the firm in 2016 after acquiring Dubai Banking Group’s 48.4% stake for an undisclosed amount. SHUAA was already a well-known U.A.E. institution, tracing its roots to 1979, however it had struggled after the global financial crisis. At the time of the deal, Alseddiqi noted the potential for SHUAA to evolve and become a big name in Middle East financial services. SHUAA offered a broad range of investment banking services, as well as a foothold in Saudi Arabia. Following the deal, SHUAA made progress by expanding in Kuwait and Turkey and by refocusing on investment banking and capital markets. In 2017, SHUAA recorded its best financial results in a decade. Meanwhile, Alseddiqi also targeted technology opportunities. In 2018, ADFG made a strategic investment into global venture capital firm 500 Startups for an undisclosed amount that netted it a board seat. By 2019, Alseddiqi saw a compelling opportunity to merge ADFG and SHUAA. The region’s banking industry was experiencing consolidations, and Alseddiqi believed financial services overall could benefit from the same process. The combined firm—eventually rebranded under the SHUAA name— initially managed $12.8 billion and began narrowing its focus to asset management and investment banking while exiting non-core areas. “We want to double down on the activities that we do. We will not expand into other activities,” says Alseddiqi. F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

THE U.A.E.’S 5 BIGGEST ASSET MANAGERS The U.A.E.’s five biggest asset managers recorded assets under management (AUM) worth a combined

$23.9 billion in 2020.

SHUAA Capital Founded: 1979 AUM 2020:

$14 billion

Emirates NBD Asset Management Founded: 2006 AUM 2020:

$4.7 billion

ADCB Asset Management Founded: 2018 AUM 2020:

$2 billion

Mashreq Capital Founded: 2006 AUM 2020:

$1.8 billion

Waha Capital Founded: 1997 AUM 2020:

$1.4 billion

Complicating matters, COVID-19 reared up barely six months after the merger. With lockdowns looming, Alseddiqi called an emergency meeting with his team in early March. As a firm exposed to real estate, equities, and financial services, the threat of the pandemic required them to adapt quickly. To strengthen its balance sheet and liquidity, SHUAA issued a high-yield $150 million bond last year, which helped deleverage its business. It accelerated the disposal of non-core units, shedding over half of those assets over the past 18 months. It also introduced new products intended to build recurring revenues, including launching three Shariah-compliant funds last year. True to form, SHUAA pulled off a distressed investment in 2020, leading a consortium that bought out $308 million of debt held by offshore services company Stanford Marine Group. “The culture of distressed investing or opportunistic investing is still there with us,” says Alseddiqi. Still, he stresses that SHUAA is also focused on growth stories. That saw him get in touch with Anghami’s CEO Eddy Maroun at the height of the pandemic in June 2020 to discuss a deal. Looking ahead, Alseddiqi should keep people on their toes. He plans to continue localizing innovative investment products—as he is with SHUAA’s digital wealth platform, which he reports is 90% similar to existing global counterparts. And while some people may sniff at copycat approaches or think that certain investment concepts won’t work well in the Middle East due to local challenges, Alseddiqi’s track record demonstrates a basic truth: localization works. “It’s a very simple strategy; there’s no rocket science behind it,” he says. “What I can say is we have the ambition to do it. That’s what differentiates us; we take the first step all the time.” JULY 2021

METAMORWORKS / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

CORPORATE MARKETING REPORT F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

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Innovation, A Click Away

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Dare To Deliver

stc is delivering a digital future through innovation, investment, and adventure.

tc is the leading provider of telecommunications services in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and is among the largest operators in the Middle East. The company offers landline and fixed infrastructure, as well as mobile and data services, to consumers and businesses. On April 21, 1998, stc was established as a Saudi joint stock company by royal decree, and by the following month, it had begun providing telecommunications services across Saudi Arabia. On June 29 of the same year, stc acquired its commercial registration, and remained solely under state ownership until the government sold 30% of its shares in September 2002. Today, the Saudi government has a 70% controlling stake in stc, through its Public Investment Fund. With the recent interest in mobile, broadband, and cloud computing services, stc generates most of its sales in Saudi Arabia, but it is actively expanding in key regional markets, using its telecom expertise to tap a wealth of growth opportunities. Currently, the company is investing in nextgeneration networks, upgrading to a packet-based architecture where information, services, and media can be carried across the network to reduce operating costs while

improving speed and availability. These investments are facilitated by a healthy balance sheet and strong cash inflows, that give the company the option to access debt to fund growth. Staying ahead, thinking ahead, and delivering what’s next, are all part of stc’s brand story. Together with its values and visual identity, the brand wants to inspire its own people to break boundaries and explore new digital opportunities. This innovative approach has earned the stc brand the highest growth in its existence as well as the title of pioneer provider of

architecture, digital offerings, and customer experience. As part of its strategy, stc is also on course to achieve its ambitions to cultivate a digital mindset, maximize the potential of digital and analytics capabilities, and transform into an agile technology company. Going even further, the company strives to embrace new ways of working, maximize shareholder returns by transforming costs and monetizing assets, and serve as a role model when it comes to sustainability and corporate governance. When stc is envisioned as a personality, the “explorer” is

“This innovative approach has earned the stc brand the highest growth in its existence.” telecommunications services in Saudi Arabia. These achievements are down, in part, to the company’s unwavering vision to “be a digital and telco leader, enabling the society and economy to thrive, in Saudi Arabia and beyond.” The current stc strategy is based on the theme of “dare,” which involves creating value with greater efficiencies for a better future. In particular, the theme focuses on agility, next-generation

The in this F Othoughts R B E S M I expressed D D L E E A S T.C O Madvertorial are those of the client.

the archetype that most fits the brand. With the determination to chart new horizons and discover new elements, the company is a voyager in search of a better future. It is on a mission to humanize its brand presence and make it more relevant to clients and end consumers. Adventurous in spirit, it pursues opportunity and goes where others dare not, bringing the entire tribe along for the ride.

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Staying Ahead, Thinking Ahead, And Delivering What’s Next

Olayan M. Alwetaid, stc Group CEO, explains how the telecom giant is doing its part to shape the future as Saudi Arabia pursues a vision of opportunity, empowerment, and advanced technology.

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How will stc’s emerging technology strategy enable Saudi Arabia’s digital transformation and its Vision 2030 reforms? I’m truly proud of the work we are doing at stc, which has made us such a big part of the rapid transformation of Saudi Arabia. Vision 2030 at its core is a bold expression of the future of Saudi. The kingdom’s leadership is diversifying the economy away from oil dependence, growing other sectors, and opening up employment opportunities for young Saudis. In doing so, it is laying the foundation for the future. So much of this is dependent upon the digitization of industries, enterprises, public services, and consumer retail. To achieve this, the kingdom needs robust underlying technology infrastructure and welldeveloped digital services that are among the best in the world. Here, all technology-based sectors in Saudi have stepped up and are playing their part. stc and other telecom companies are emerging as key enablers of digital economies and are essential to transforming industries, businesses, and lifestyles quickly. This shift in the economy, from being oil-dependent to being driven by digital transformation, is a strategic advantage for stc. I think the most important of these emerging technologies are 5G, IoT, cloud, AI, robotics, and data analytics. We are investing heavily in these areas and have plans to continue well into the future. For example, our new fintech service stcpay, has

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become the Middle East’s latest unicorn, valued at $1.3 billion in November 2020. stcpay will help the government achieve its goal of a cashless society as it modernizes the economy. It has been so successful we’re already looking to roll out the service in other countries, including Bahrain, Kuwait, and the U.A.E. Our customers are enjoying using digital technology more than ever before thanks to huge technology advances. We are providing products and services that enrich people’s lives.

While a lot of our success in coping with this increased traffic was due to our investment in hardware, I think the biggest reason we were successful—and why our customers were satisfied —was because of our investment in strategic programs. These programs helped us better serve our customers through digital channels. Don’t forget, we too were affected by the pandemic. I am proud of the way we handled COVID-19. As a digital enabler we were able to react quickly

“Our new fintech service, stcpay, has become the Middle East’s latest unicorn, valued at $1.3 billion in November 2020.” Due to the pandemic, many aspects of business and education have been transformed to operate online. What did stc do to facilitate this in Saudi Arabia? Saudi Arabia took intensive precautionary measures to combat COVID-19, which became a global pandemic in a short time. The kingdom’s efforts to control this pandemic were not limited to the local level, but also expanded to a global one. The shift to remote working, online education, remote health services, and e-commerce exponentially increased traffic on our network. We faced challenges related to network capacity, quality of service, continuity of operations, and access to customer services.

and efficiently, ensuring that our customers received digital services at the level they needed them to be. We were ready for the sudden increase in demand thanks to our forward planning. Demand for online education was up 1,000%, and demand for remote health services is up 177%. This, plus the drastic rise in e-commerce, exponentially increased traffic on our network infrastructure. This meant challenges related to network capacity, quality of service, remote operations, and the need to provide customer services and customer care via digital channels. stc provided access to education and health platforms to customers for free during this difficult period.

The thoughts expressed in this advertorial are those of the2021 client. JULY

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all the latest news and goings on in the gaming world. Gaming and e-sport is one sector that continues to grow and grow so we’re delighted to be a part of it, and in fact we’re playing a huge role in transforming the Middle East’s gaming industry by connecting gaming service providers with gamers to ensure they have the best possible gaming experience. Our vision is to lead the gaming community in MENA. I think stcplay is well on the way to delivering that.

“We are proud to be among the top 44 digital companies in the world and the most powerful telecommunications company in the Middle East.” stc provides many different services beyond telecom. Can you tell us more about these services and how they support your overall goal of being a leader in digital transformation? stc redefined itself in 2017 through its “dare” strategy. The company doesn’t see itself as a telecom operator but as a digital enabler providing digital services in various verticals. It’s been great to see how our customers have received our ventures into other areas. The two main launches have been stcpay and stcplay. stcpay is a digital wallet, which not only is of great convenience to our customers but is also inline with the Vision 2030 goal of

reducing cash transactions. The launch was a real milestone for our company and I was delighted with the way in which it was developed and delivered to our customers. stcpay achieved unicorn status and Western Union is now a shareholder with a 15% stake in the business, taking its total valuation over $1 billion. The deal also means that our users can send money to over 200 countries around the world. stcplay is our dedicated e-sports and gaming platform. Here, both professional gamers and casual players can compete in tournaments, interact with other players, keep an eye on the leaderboards, and generally find

The in this F O thoughts R B E S M I Dexpressed D L E E A S T.C O M advertorial are those of the client.

Cybersecurity is a challenge for telecom companies across the world. What is your approach to ensuring a transparent and safe digital environment? stc has made large investments in technology and talent within its data privacy and cybersecurity businesses. The key focus is to clearly understand the threats and risks faced by all our stakeholders and customer demographics, from confidentiality, integrity, availability, privacy, security, and resilience perspectives. Every customer and stakeholder group faces a specific set of unique cybersecurity threats, and risks. Our cybersecurity teams work diligently to identify these threats, risks, and vulnerabilities. They use cutting edge 24/7 cyber defense monitoring, vulnerability and penetration testing, and threat hunting, as well as governance, risk, and compliance practices, involving the support of specialist teams. Earlier this year, stc launched its cybersecurity arm, SIRAR. This will help secure businesses against threats and will be particularly useful as demand grows for digital services. Many businesses have

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turned to digital services following the pandemic. A cybersecurity company can offer a wide range of solutions that defend against attacks and detect vulnerabilities before they become a threat. stc was recently named one of the most influential brands in Saudi Arabia. How did stc achieve this success, and how does this reflect your business strategy? We are proud to be among the top 44 digital companies in the world and the most powerful telecommunications company in the Middle East. The best way to understand how we became one of the most influential brands in Saudi Arabia is to look to the essence of who we are. Our vision is to provide innovative services

and platforms to our customers while enabling the digital transformation of Saudi Arabia and the markets we operate in. stc’s ambition to help facilitate the kingdom’s digital transformation program also motivated us to transform ourselves from a telecommunications provider to an advanced digital player. Today, we have many success stories in digital transformation, application programing interface (API) management, big data, cloud services and cybersecurity. We are positioned to collaborate with the government and the private sector to successfully achieve the three key pillars of Vision 2030: a vibrant society, a thriving economy, and an ambitious nation.

“We are also working hard to ensure that our female employees are getting the training they need to become our future leaders.”

Though our continued efforts to improve digital connectivity in Saudi Arabia and help the country achieve Vision 2030, stc has no plans to slow down when it comes to providing advancements in digital technology. We feel we have a key role to play in the success of the future of the countries we operate in by providing services that can help businesses and individuals thrive in the coming years. What opportunities are there to empower women in Saudi Arabia through communication technologies? Women’s empowerment has become an essential part of our strategy. There are many ways that we have translated those words into tangible results. For example, during the last five years, we’ve been taking bold steps toward attracting and recruiting more women in all subsidiaries and all levels across the stc group. Today, we have more than 3,000 female employees, representing 22.6% of the group’s workforce, and we have established an stc women’s council. We are also working hard to ensure that our female employees are getting the training they need to become our future leaders and future specialists in different critical fields like cloud computing, cybersecurity, and infrastructure. We believe in the importance of investing in our employees and giving them the best opportunities to develop their skills and knowledge.

www.stc.com.sa F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

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Ready For A 5G Future 54

For Haithem Mohammed Alfaraj, Senior VP of Technology and Operations Unit at stc, 5G is a vital part of a globally accessible digital future. Here he explains how stc is at the forefront of the new technology. What are stc’s future plans in terms of rolling out 5G in Saudi Arabia? We plan to ensure that everyone in Saudi has access to 5G connectivity, no matter where they are located in the kingdom. Our technology will be among the most advanced in the world. Currently, stc has over 6,000 5G sites across 75 cities in the kingdom, giving us the widest 5G coverage in Saudi Arabia—equal to 37% of the population coverage. We are planning to invest even further in 5G in order to expand the network’s capability to handle future traffic demands. We are very excited about the future; we know we are going to deliver results for our customers that they have not seen before. The world has changed in a very short space of time, with the global pandemic altering the way we think, behave, and interact. We are now living in a transitional phase that has seen digital demand increase heavily. Restrictions around the world have meant that now, more than ever, people are relying on technology in their everyday lives. Thanks to lockdowns and social distancing, demand for mobile and internet gaming has risen considerably, and online streaming services have surged, which means that we have to be ready to meet the needs and demands of our customers. We are preparing for a digital future where internet speeds will need to be faster and more reliable.

At stc, we have been busy changing the face of the Middle East, turning it into one of the leading digital hubs by pioneering the digital transformation of the region. 5G will be crucial to Saudi achieving its Vision 2030 goals. We plan to

The thoughts in O this FOR B E S M I Dexpressed D L E E A S T.C M advertorial are those of the client.

make 5G accessible to previously remote and rural areas that have never before seen the types of internet speeds we can offer. We have a vital role in improving the future of Saudi, and we take that responsibility very seriously.

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We have recently opened our Digital Operations Control Center, which is the largest in MENA and can accommodate up to 2,300 employees. The facility includes a highly advanced system made up of various digital processes, such as simulation, digital infrastructure management, digital crises management, and reinvention within a range of digital solutions. It lays the foundation for stc to become a regional hub, offering unparalleled digital services while operating the biggest international gateways in MENA. The facility has the latest protection and distribution systems, used for the first time in the region. These systems secure the company’s service system and the data transmission and voice circuits system for all customers. It will be a vital space in years to come. We have also launched three mega data centers in Riyadh, Jeddah, and Al-Madina, funded with a $266.6 million investment. The facilities include over 150 prefabricated modules fully equipped with power, thermal management, and IT infrastructure. They provide 10.8 MW of critical IT power (white space ready) expandable to 16.8 MW. Phase 1 of the project is complete with new data centers in Jeddah and Madinah already online. Phase 2, which is already under construction, will deliver four additional data centers in strategic locations throughout the kingdom, bringing the total critical IT power to 40.8 MW. These are huge steps, which not only give us great confidence in what we’re doing but also show customers and shareholders that stc is en route to becoming an

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even bigger player in the digital communications sphere than it already is. How are both consumers and businesses adopting 5G technology? What are its benefits, and how can businesses leverage 5G deployment? We already have over a million people using 5G in Saudi so we know it has been well received by our customers. So far we have seen

5G technology is not just good for gaming and entertainment. Sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing, and logistics will all benefit from 5G as well as businesses, schools, and homes. Working from home could become the norm. Homeschooling will be more successful with no lags in video calls. Augmented and virtual reality will also offer new solutions. We are working on 5G use cases. For example, for one

“We have recently opened our Digital Operations Control Center, which is the largest in MENA and can accommodate up to 2,300 employees.” 160% growth in 5G traffic—it made up 10% of our overall mobile traffic in Q1 2021. People are experiencing digital connectivity like never before. For example, people are using our fintech platform, stcpay, to make transactions from their digital wallets instead of using cash, and gamers are using stcplay to play and interact with incredible connectivity. 5G has also enabled us to partner with businesses like Dizmo, with whom we are going to be launching a new smart home platform in the future city of Neom. This new metropolis will be filled with digital science powered by renewable energy on a scale unlike any other city in the world. It’s thanks to 5G that the city is able to put such ambitious plans in place, which will change the face of digital. A partnership between Dizmo and Fitbit will enable a real-time digital relationship, with doctors ensuring the person’s health is constantly monitored.

customer we have a Secure 5G Campus Network that provides ultra fast, low latency, and secure connectivity to its employees. We are developing hologrambased video communication and conferencing solutions. We have developed our IoT platform to accelerate the fourth industrial revolution in industry. And we are providing infrastructure to serve the communication needs of pilgrims during Hajj, helping authorities with crowd movement analysis and management. We know that the world is always changing, and we’re delighted to be playing such an important role in shaping the future of Saudi Arabia and the wider MENA region.

www.stc.com.sa JULY 2021

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Thinking Of Tomorrow, Now

People are at the heart of sustainable success for businesses. Abdullah Abdulrahman Alkanhl, Senior VP of Corporate Affairs at stc, knows this all too well and reveals how the company maintains its standards.

With such rapid expansion, how are you ensuring that stc is providing digital solutions sustainably? We are committed to providing a service that is as environmentally friendly as possible, which is why we integrate sustainable practices into every aspect of our business. As a large digital provider, we have a duty to our country and to our customers to ensure we are operating in a sustainable manner. We have a sustainability framework, which focuses on seven key areas: doing business with integrity; enhancing economic impacts; enriching people’s lives and experiences; expanding access to technology and connectivity; advancing innovative digital opportunities; empowering our people; and caring for the environment. We are executing our strategy over the course of three years by elevating the regional standards of transparency. It’s important for us to build on the trust of our current and potential customers so that we can continue to thrive. We want to ensure we are the leading company when it comes to sustainability and performance. Saudi’s economy will only continue to thrive, with the support of our telecoms and digital infrastructure, so we’re all too aware that we

need to be responsible in our economic activities. The company has achieved so much in a short space of time. What other goals has stc set itself? Our journey has only just begun and, while we have grown rapidly, this is just the start of our story.

The in this F Othoughts R B E S M I expressed D D L E E A S T.C O Madvertorial are those of the client.

Of course, we are committed to providing for our customers, and that is an important aspect of our immediate future. We continue to protect our customers and provide them with first-class digital services that are simple and easy to use yet offer an experience like no other.

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We are also committed to promoting the responsible use of technology. We have a responsibility to ensure our customers are using our services sensibly and responsibly. One thing we are very keen on is being able to provide optimal digital services to everyone at affordable prices. We believe the future is extremely bright in Saudi, and we want to contribute to that future by ensuring people can access technology from anywhere in the country, and that there are packages and offerings for all. We want stc to be recognized throughout the region, not only as a highly successful enabler but also as the number one digital platform for services such as online learning,

of our decision-making across the entire organization. In developing the sustainability framework, we took account of the interests of our key stakeholders, national and regional strategic visions, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. We use the framework to improve our operations and performance. In 2020, we also established a sustainability management committee, which informs the board about sustainability issues and helps demonstrate a corporate commitment to sustainability at the highest level. It monitors environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risks and opportunities and oversees stc’s conduct and corporate reputation.

“Our journey has only just begun and, while we have grown rapidly, this is just the start of our story.” governmental activity, and energysaving solutions. Internally stc is dedicated to providing an excellent working environment for our staff, which enables them to work as efficiently as possible while maintaining high levels of employee satisfaction. Our company has faith in its people, and we have invested heavily in our workforce to ensure they are highly skilled and among the best in the industry. We also have a heavy emphasis on gender equality and ensure our workforce is equally split between male and female staff. stc has a sustainable framework for its business. Can you elaborate on how this framework is applied and what other measures the company takes internally to do its bit for the environment? Sustainability considerations are part

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What can you tell us about stc’s involvement in the new smart city of Neom? Neom is one of the most exciting projects that Saudi has underway. We are delighted to be involved in such an incredible project. It will rely heavily on smart technology and will be one of the most advanced cities in the world. In terms of stc’s involvement, we will be developing the infrastructure that provides Neom with the technologies it needs. Crucially, this includes the implementation of our 5G network. The city will be fully connected with technology, including IoT, data analytics, virtual reality, augmented reality, smart homes, and autonomous vehicles, along with Neom’s security services. What is stc doing to develop the next generation of digital pioneers?

Saudi Arabia has one of the world’s youngest populations, with many people interested in the digital sphere and keen to learn and be part of the digital revolution happening throughout the kingdom. If we want to be one of the world’s leading digital hubs for generations to come, we have to nurture and develop the next wave of digital specialists. At stc, we’re all about bringing through emerging talent, and we do that with the stc academy program, which has been in place since 2018. We’ve seen over the last year just how quickly things can change and how we have to be ready to adapt, which is why we put a lot of emphasis on upskilling our staff. No economy can thrive without investment in people, and we believe that human talent will drive the digital revolution. One way we encourage young people to think outside the box is through stc’s InspireU—a place for young entrepreneurs and startups to come for support so they can see their ideas become a reality. The program has helped 28 startups and created over 160,000 jobs so far. stc’s strong relationships with leading universities in Saudi, along with highly respected international institutions, has also helped unearth talent and inspire young people. Furthermore, we offer an internship for those looking to get real-world experience in the field. Ultimately we believe in people, and we believe in building the next batch of digital groundbreakers, ready to become the leaders of Saudi’s future.

www.stc.com.sa JULY 2021

PRO M OTI O N

The Show Must Go On Shady Fayad and Nathalie Rahal, co-founders of companies including ICE Events, discuss some of their biggest events, their attachment to Lebanon, and how their adventure began.

How did you meet each other and what were you both doing at that time? Nathalie: We met around 16 years ago while we were working as volunteers at the NGO, Enfants de Lumiere. We shared the same passion for social work and became close friends directly. Shady: At that time Nathalie had already created Amareyn, a company specialized in designing and creating outstanding weddings. I was a senior art director at Team Yong and Rubicam. We started our partnership a year later with ICE Events. I handled the creative side and Nathalie handled the

management and client aspects. Nathalie: Since then, we have successfully created several other companies. One is an events space called The Legend Venue, which is located on an historical site and considered one of the top event venues in Lebanon. Another is an 18,000 square-meter production company that offers everything required to set up an event, from grandstands and stages, to wood and steel factories. Shady: And today our newest addition is H Hookah, a factory based in Georgia that produces high-quality shisha tobacco molasses and shisha products.

The in this F Othoughts R B E S M I expressed D D L E E A S T.C O Madvertorial are those of the client.

Where did the inspiration come from to set up an events business and step away from your former careers? Nathalie: Several things played an important role in this decision. At that time, the events market was almost non-existent, and we saw clear potential to create outstanding things. And we were right, because today these events are key drivers of tourism across the region. Shady: We had a vision and a passion for creating beautiful events from scratch, so we wanted to pursue that dream and bring it to life.

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In the early days, how did you start developing the business and grow your client base? Shady: I can honestly say, we have rarely had one-time clients. Our clients are loyal and this loyalty is due to our unique creative hub, where we present different ideas and concepts every year, taking into consideration our clients’ identities. We work relentlessly and with high professional standards—our events are extremely well organized. Nathalie: We go into every single detail to ensure each attendee enjoys their experience and the event itself. We are also personally present at all of our events, alongside our team, to make sure everything runs smoothly. We have built a trustworthy reputation throughout the years, and when you give your all to a client, you win their loyalty. How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected the events industry? Shady: In this industry, our aim is to get people together, to produce festivals with thousands of attendees, to organize gatherings. All this completely stopped when the pandemic began. Events were organized on Zoom calls and countries worldwide banned gatherings. Nathalie: Events represent hope, life, and joy. It is an industry that will never die. Today, as vaccine rollouts increase, we see demand for events re-surfacing and we promise our clients and followers that we will get back to delivering unforgettable and impactful experiences. What are the current trends shaping the events industry? Shady: The trends in this sector change every couple of years. For example, we have handled

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destination weddings, international artists at festivals, technologybased events in corporate companies, sports and martial arts events with federations, and so on. This variety is what makes the sector so different and you always have to change your style to stay in style. Nathalie: Every country also has its own unique character and preferences. We create our concepts and ideas around this, taking into consideration not only local people’s needs, but the impact requested from every client. So, if the target is to attract tourists from neighboring countries, then our strategy differs from the approach we would take to an event with a local focus. You have produced events for many international artists. Who have you enjoyed working with and do you have any new star-studded events in the pipeline? Shady: We have produced concerts for international artists from around the world, and we have loved every single one of them: Andrea Bocelli, Shakira, Imagine Dragons, Kendji, Mikka, Jason Derulo, Zaz, Johnny Hallyday, Chris de Burg, Michel Sardou, Magida, Jessy J, The Voice, and so many more. The list is long, and we are looking forward to producing several new concerts in the fourth quarter of 2021 and throughout 2022 for great international stars and shows. We will be advising our followers of the list and dates in due time. Why do you think ICE is a leader in events production in the Middle East? What are the core values that make it so successful? Nathalie: We have worked extremely hard to place ICE among the main leaders in the

“Events represent hope, life, and joy. It is an industry that will never die.” industry. We have an amazing team that supports us, we work some 20 hours a day, and it is a combined effort between the 100 experienced people who work with our group, sharing their positive input and adding value to our success story. Shady: We are proud to say that our core values are to work with integrity, with honesty, and with professionalism, while maintaining a healthy work ambiance. Innovative ideas and creative work using the most up-to-date technologies are also at the top of our check list. Looking ahead, what are your goals? Nathalie: To grow regionally in the coming few years, making Lebanon proud of the events we create. And to succeed in launching our newest factory project, H Hookah. Shady: To always set the standards very high and try to help restore Lebanon’s status as a unique destination in the Middle East. Lebanon has so much potential, it just needs someone to give it the proper chance. After the tragic Beirut blast, we will strive to create a blast of hope and culture in our beautiful country.

www.icecorporate.com JULY 2021

THE MIDDLE EAST’S

THE LIST

30 BIGGEST ASSET MANAGERS

In the Arab world, countries in the Levant and North Africa were way ahead of the GCC when it came to establishing their financial markets. For example, Egypt formed the Alexandria and Cairo stock exchanges in 1902 and 1904, respectively, and Morocco formed the Casablanca Stock Exchange in 1929. Meanwhile, the Saudi stock exchange wasn’t established until 2007, nearly 80 years later. However, today Saudi’s Tadawul is the biggest stock market in the Arab world, with a market cap worth more than all stocks on all other exchanges in the region. Over the past two decades, the GCC countries have made great strides, and their financial sectors have undergone a significant transformation. Saudi Arabia established its Capital Markets Authority in 2003, which has helped shape the investment banking and asset management industry. And the U.A.E. and Qatar have both established financial zones and world-class regulatory infrastructure. All of these were strong steps towards building a solid foundation for the capital markets. Additionally, Saudi Aramco’s IPO, which was the biggest IPO in the world, helped propel the region’s financial markets. Asset management companies are the gateway for most individual investors to their savings. Asset managers invest customers’ capital in companies listed on stock exchanges, bonds, as well as real estate and private equity. They use their expertise to maximize returns for their customers. Most of them also act as brokers for their clients to invest directly and offer investment banking and other advisory services. In our first list of the Middle East’s 30 Biggest Asset Managers, Saudi Arabia dominates with 16 entries. It is followed by the U.A.E. with five, and Bahrain and Egypt with three each. Saudi’s NCB capital, with assets under management worth more than $50 billion, tops the list, followed by Bahrain’s Investcorp.

Methodology

We ranked the companies based on the value of their total assets under management as of December 2020. • We collected information on the Middle East’s asset management companies from questionnaires, publicly disclosed data from websites and financial statements, and capital market authorities. • We only considered companies that are based in the Middle East. We excluded regional offices of international companies. • We also excluded sovereign wealth funds, venture capital funds, and family-owned investment companies. • We considered all fiduciary assets that the asset manager invested on behalf of its clients— including equity and debt mutual funds, discretionary portfolios, real estate funds, and private equity—as assets under management.

To nominate yourself or someone else for our lists, email: info@forbesmiddleeast.com

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2. INVESTCORP

Co-CEOs : Rishi Kapoor & Hazem Ben-Gacem Country: Bahrain Established in: 1982

AUM: $35 billion Investcorp recorded $35 billion in total assets under management (AUM) in 2020. Its real estate AUM increased by 5% last year to $6.4 billion as of June 2020. Investcorp recorded net profits of $29 million in Q3 of the 2021 financial year ending March 2021, compared to losses of $2 million in the same period the previous year. The company contributed 25,000 face masks and 65,000 medical gowns and donated $1 million to the Royal Humanitarian Foundation in Bahrain to support its COVID-19 combat campaign.

1. NCB CAPITAL

CEO: Rashed Sharif Country: Saudi Arabia Established in: 2007

AUM: $50.4 billion NCB Capital was founded in 2007 as the investment banking arm of the National Commercial Bank. The firm recorded $50.4 billion in assets under management in 2020. NCB Capital and Samba Capital & Investment Management Company will complete their merger in the third quarter of 2021, forming the biggest asset manager, brokerage, and investment bank in Saudi Arabia. CEO Rashed Sharif was the head of local holding investments at Saudi’s Public Investment Fund from 2017 to 2020.

3. ALINMA INVESTMENT

CEO and Managing Director: Mazin Baghdadi Country: Saudi Arabia Established in: 2009

AUM: $18 billion Alinma Investment is the investment arm of Alinma Bank. Its assets under management reached $18 billion in 2020, an increase of over 9% compared to 2019. The company also recorded profits of around $85.8 million and revenues of $128.4 million in 2020, both increasing by around 34% and 29% respectively, compared to 2019. In March 2021, Alinma Investment signed an agreement with the Retail Real Estate Company to develop an open commercial complex on an area of around 41,000 square meters in the city of Riyadh. F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

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3. RIYAD CAPITAL

CEO: Sabty Sulaiman Al Sabty Country: Saudi Arabia Established in: 2008

AUM: $18 billion Riyad Capital is the investment arm of Riyad Bank. It recorded assets under management of $18 billion in 2020, an increase of 35% compared to 2019. Assets under custody increased by 292%. In April 2021, Riyad Capital signed an agreement with BNP Paribas Securities Services to provide global custody, fund services, and consolidated data management services in Saudi Arabia.

THE LIST

5. WAFA GESTION CEO: Reda Hilali Country: Morocco

Established in: 1995

IMAGE FROM SOURCE; IMAGE BY FORBES MIDDLE EAST

AUM: $14.4 billion Wafa Gestion is 66% owned by Attijariwafa bank and 34% by French asset management company Amundi. The company’s total asset under management reached $15.8 billion as of April 23, 2021. Wafa Gestion operates through four distribution networks. It has been considered the largest investment manager in Morocco for the last five years, with a market share of 25% as of the end of September 2020. In December 2020, Fitch Ratings confirmed Wafa Gestion’s National Investment Management Quality Rating as “Excellent(mar)” with a stable outlook. F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

6. SHUAA CAPITAL

Group CEO: Jassim Alseddiqi Country: U.A.E. Established in: 1979

AUM: $14 billion SHUAA Capital was initially established as the Arabian General Investment Corporation but changed its name in 2001. In 2016, around 48.4% of SHUAA Capital was acquired by the Abu Dhabi Financial Group, making the latter a majority shareholder. SHUAA Capital recorded assets under management of $14 billion in 2020. The company’s total assets were worth $1.7 billion as of March 2021, an increase of around 2% compared to December 2020. In January 2020, SHUAA led the issuance of a five-year sukuk for the GFH Financial Group at $300 million, which had orders of over $700 million. JULY 2021

7. AL RAJHI CAPITAL

CEO: Waleed AlRashed AlHumaid Country: Saudi Arabia Established in: 2008

AUM: $13.3 billion

8. KAMCO INVESTMENT CEO: Faisal Mansour Sarkhou Country: Kuwait Established in: 1998

INVESTMENT

CEO and Managing Director: Tariq Al Sudairy Country: Saudi Arabia Established in: 2006

AUM: $8.6 billion Jadwa recorded $8.6 billion in assets under management in 2020, an increase of 39% compared to 2019. In the same year, Jadwa launched 11 funds across asset classes such as public equity, real estate, private credit, and endowment funds. Tariq Al Suidairy joined Jadwa in 2011 as head of the private equity and investment banking division, before being appointed as CEO and Managing Director in 2014. Before joining Jadwa, Al Suidairy was a senior vice president at Amwal AlKhaleej.

AUM: $13 billion Kamco Invest is an independently managed subsidiary of KIPCO Group. It recorded $13 billion in total assets under management in 2020. It completed 11 transactions valued at $3.3 billion between April 2020 and April 2021. Last year it acted as the joint lead manager and joint bookrunner for the Arabian Centres Company senior unsecured sukuk issuance of $650 million. Kamco Invest has been listed on Boursa Kuwait since 2003.

9. GFH FINANCIAL GROUP Group CEO: Hisham Alrayes Country: Bahrain Established in: 1999

AUM: $12 billion GFH Financial Group recorded profits of $19.3 million in Q1 2021, an increase of 185% compared to the same period in 2020. In February 2020, the group’s investment banking arm, GFH Capital, acquired a 70% stake in the Dubai-based Fintech company, Marshal. It also invested around $250 million into the U.S. hospitably sector by acquiring a portfolio of 12 hotels in partnership with Arbor Lodging Partners. F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

11. NBK CAPITAL CEO: Nabil Maroof Country: Kuwait

Established in: 2005

AUM: $6.5 billion NBK Capital operates in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the U.A.E., Bahrain, Turkey, and Egypt. It is 5.6% owned by the Public Institution for Social Security, and it recorded $6.5 billion in assets under management in 2020. Last year, NBK advised on the listing of Shamal Az Zour on Boursa Kuwait, making it the first power generation and water desalination company in Kuwait and the first PPP project to list on the Kuwait stock exchange. In February 2021, Saudi’s Public Investment Fund became an anchor investor in a new $300 million sharia-compliant credit fund launched by NBK Capital Partners, the company’s alternative investments unit. JULY 2021

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Al Rajhi Capital is the investment banking arm of Al Rajhi Bank. By the end of 2020, Al Rajhi Capital had $13.3 billion in assets under management, an increase of 19% compared to 2019. Its profits rose by 112% in 2020 to $154 million, and its revenues rose by 81% to $226.7 million. Al Rajhi Capital was a joint local bookrunner and underwriter for Saudi Aramco’s record IPO of three billion shares worth $25.6 billion in late 2019.

10. JADWA

12. SAMBA CAPITAL Acting CEO: Naif Al-Saif Country: Saudi Arabia Established in: 2007

AUM: $5.9 billion Samba Capital was 100% owned and directly controlled by the Samba Financial Group, before the group’s merger with the National Commercial Bank (NCB), which formed the Saudi National Bank in April 2021. Samba Capital is currently in the process of merging with the NCB Capital Company in an integration that was approved by the Capital Market Authority in June 2021. The company achieved a net income worth $78.4 million in 2020, an increase of 3% compared to $76.1 million in 2019.

THE LIST

14. SEDCO CAPITAL

CEO: Samer Abu Aker Country: Saudi Arabia Established in: 1976

AUM: $5.2 billion SEDCO Capital has offices in Riyadh, Dubai, London, and Luxembourg. It recorded more than $5.2 billion in total assets under management in 2020. It was the first Saudi Sharia-compliant asset manager to be a signatory of the United Nations Principles of Responsible Investing. In February 2021, SEDCO completed its acquisition of 1899 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington DC, an office building near the White House.

13. ALISTITHMAR CAPITAL (ICAP) CEO: Khaled Alrayes Country: Saudi Arabia Established in: 2007

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AUM: $5.5 billion Alistithmar Capital is an investment bank wholly-owned by the Saudi Investment Bank (SAIB). In 2020, the firm had 3.1% of the market share of the total transactions in the Saudi stock market, which exceeded $34.6 billion. In 2017, ICAP was the financial advisor for the IPOs of Raydan foods and Baazeem. CEO Khaled Alrayes has nearly 19 years of experience in the investment banking sector. He holds an MBA from the University of Denver, Colorado, and is a CFA charter holder. F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

15. EMIRATES NBD ASSET MANAGEMENT

Senior Executive Officer: Steve Corrin Country: U.A.E. Established in: 2006

AUM: $4.7 billion Emirates NBD Asset Management is the 100%-owned subsidiary of Emirates NBD Bank, offering both conventional and Sharia-compliant funds. The company recorded assets under management of $4.7 billion in 2020. The funds managed by the company are also domiciled in Jersey, Luxembourg, and the Cayman Islands. In 2021, it partnered with Masdar to provide services for the U.A.E.’s first “green” REIT. Senior Executive Officer Steve Corrin is a member of the Institute of Directors, the London Institute of Banking & Finance, and the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investments. JULY 2021

16. SAUDI FRANSI CAPITAL CEO: Salam Al-Khunaizi Country: Saudi Arabia Established in: 2011

AUM: $4.3 billion In 1985, Banque Saudi Fransi offered securities brokerage in Saudi equities. Today, its investment arm, Saudi Fransi Capital, offers investment banking, asset management, research, and local and international securities brokerage. Between 2020 and 2021, the firm issued sukuks for Banque Saudi Fransi, and the Saudi Real Estate Refinance Company as well as a rights issue for Zain Saudi. Before joining Saudi Fransi Capital, Salam Al-Khunaizi served as CEO of Samba Capital. Al-Khunaizi was among the leaders behind Saudi Aramco’s IPO in 2019, the biggest IPO in history.

THE LIST

17. EFG HERMES HOLDING

Group CEO and Chairman of the Executive Committee: Karim Awad Country: Egypt Established in: 1984 EFG Hermes’s asset management division recorded $3.5 billion in assets under management in 2020. Group revenues reached $350 million last year, an increase of 12% compared to 2019. In 2020, it also advised on the $700 million IPO of the Dr. Sulaiman Al Habib Group on Tadawul, as well as the sale of Pakistan’s United Bank Limited’s Tanzanian subsidiary. In 2021, EFG Hermes completed advisory on the $144 million IPO of Alkhorayef Water & Power Technologies and was appointed as sole financial adviser of FAB’s 100% acquisition of Bank Audi (Egypt). F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

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AUM: $3.5 billion

SAUDI ARABIA

CEO and Managing Director: Khalid Al Mulhim Country: Saudi Arabia Established in: 2009

AUM: $3 billion Alkhair Capital trades in three stock exchange markets: the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul), the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX); and the Dubai Financial Market (DFM). In 2020, the firm was appointed by Ibn Roshd Educational Holding Co. as financial advisor, lead manager, and underwriter for its IPO. Bahrain’s Bank Alkhair is a major shareholder in the company. CEO and Managing Director Khalid Al Mulhim joined the company in 2009 and previously held roles at Arabian Capital and Samba Capital.

20. ALBILAD CAPITAL

CEO: Zaid Almufarih Country: Saudi Arabia Established in: 2008

AUM: $2.4 billion Established in Riyadh in 2008, Albilad Capital operates under Islamic Sharia principles offering investment and financial services to individuals, institutions, and corporates. In 2020, Albilad issued sukuks for Bank Albilad, Arabian Centers, and Rawabi Holding Company worth a total of $1.9 billion. It also introduced Sharia-compliant sovereign sukuk and gold ETFs. CEO Zaid Almufarih began his career with the Saudi Central Bank before moving to the private financial services sector.

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18. ALKHAIR CAPITAL

21. SICO BSC

CEO: Najla Al Shirawi Country: Bahrain Established in: 1995

AUM: $2.3 billion SICO is one of the leading regional fully-fledged asset managers, brokers, market makers, and investment banks. It recorded more than $4 billion in assets under management in April 2021. In March 2021, SICO completed the acquisition of 72.7% of Saudi-based Muscat Capital, worth $14.6 million, which will be rebranded as SICO Capital. Najla Al Shirawi has been with SICO for more than 24 years and became CEO in 2014. She is also a board member at the Bahrain Economic Development Board and the Bahrain Institute of Banking and Finance.

19. ALJAZIRA CAPITAL CEO: Naif bin Mesned Almesned Country: Saudi Arabia Established in: 2008

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AUM: $2.9 billion Aljazira Capital is a Shariah-compliant company owned by Bank Al Jazira. By the end of last year, it had recorded a net income of $36.7 million, an increase of more than 434.7% compared to the $6.9 million it recorded in 2019. The company’s revenues also increased by 57.4% to $78.4 million in 2020. Being the IPO lead manager for the Alkhabeer Diversified Income Traded Fund, Aljazira Capital announced a 15-day IPO of the fund on the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) in December 2020. F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

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22. ARAB NATIONAL

INVESTMENT COMPANY (ANB INVEST)

CEO: Khalid S. Al-Ghamdi Country: Saudi Arabia Established in: 2007

AUM: $2 billion ANB Invest is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Arab National Bank acting as its investment arm. It offers 12 mutual funds including Shariah-compliant and conventional funds such as: the Al-Arabi Balanced Fund, the Al-Mubarak Sovereign Sukuk; and Al-Mubarak Saudi Equity among others. In 2020, it invested $86.7 million in the Sara Second Real Estate investment fund. Khalid Al-Ghamdi became CEO in May 2021. He started his career as a stockbroker at Merrill Lynch in London in 1997. Before joining ANB Invest Al-Ghamdi was CEO of Credit Suisse Saudi Arabia.

22. ADCB ASSET MANAGEMENT

22. MISR CAPITAL

CEO and Managing Director: Khalil El Bawab Country: Egypt Established in: 2010

AUM: $2 billion Misr Capital is the investment arm of Banque Misr. It recorded nearly $2 billion in assets under management in 2020, with $800 million worth of deals executed between April 2020 and April 2021. Among its biggest deals were the $380 million launch of Nile Misr Healthcare, a $160 million sukuk issuance by Sarwa Capital, and the $172.5 million securitization issuance by CI Capital’s Corplease. CEO and Managing Director Khalil El Bawab has an MBA from the Maastricht school of management, and previously held positions at Arab Bank and EFG Hermes.

Chief Investment Officer: Mark Friedenthal Country: U.A.E. Established in: 2018

25. MASHREQ CAPITAL

AUM: $2 billion

Established in: 2006

ADCB Asset Management is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB), which is the third largest bank in the UAE. The company is incorporated on the Abu Dhabi Global Market. It has assets under management of more than $2 billion. Its ADCB Arabian Index Fund and the ADCB MSCI UAE Index AED were among the region’s first index funds, founded in 2008 and 2007 respectively.

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CEO and Head of Asset Management: Robert Hahm Country: U.A.E.

AUM: $1.8 billion Mashreq Capital is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mashreq Bank. It recorded $1.8 billion in assets under management in 2020. In December 2020, the firm launched a new conventional fixed income fund. CEO and Head of Asset Management Robert Hahm began his banking career in 1999 and joined Mashreq Capital in 2011.

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PRO M OTI O N

Microsoft is changing the way we work with an exciting range of solutions that puts people first. What is Microsoft Viva and how does it deliver a better working experience? Microsoft Viva is an employee experience platform that puts people at the center of an organization, uniting employees through the process of sharing knowledge, skills, and connections, no matter their location. Powered by the capabilities of Microsoft 365 and embedded in Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Viva helps to organize information in the most efficient and effective way possible so that employees can optimize the way they work. According to our research, people spend an hour each day looking for or recreating information. Viva Topics helps to address this by automatically identifying, processing, and organizing information across a company’s systems. Meanwhile, Viva Connections helps to remove silos and make remote workers feel more connected by amplifying culture, communication, and engagement among teams. The employee experience doesn’t stop here. Viva Insights helps to promote a balance between productivity and wellbeing for the hybrid workplace, while Viva Learning rounds off the employee experience through the integration of skills development and training within the workday.

It’s through this holistic approach that organizations will be able to ensure the sustainability of the hybrid workplace, while enabling people to bring their best selves to work. Getting to grips with digital resources can be daunting for employees. How does Viva Learning help? Viva Learning is a one-stop content library that brings together materials from LinkedIn Learning, Microsoft Learn, third-party providers, Learning Management Systems, and a company’s own content. Our research found that while employees value learning opportunities, their engagement with materials is low and they have limited time for upskilling. With that in mind, we wanted to offer employees a way to do everything from daily tasks to learning skills and managing goals, through one easy-to-use interface. How does Microsoft Viva Insights cater to individual needs? By analyzing a user’s Microsoft 365 data, Viva Insights adds structure to their workday to enhance wellbeing and productivity. For example, Viva Insights will analyze an employee’s calendar and suggest breaks such as guided meditation. In addition, employees can take proactive steps to protect their workflow by

The thoughts in this FOR B E S M I Dexpressed D L E E A S T.C O M advertorial are those of the client.

scheduling focus time with the help of Viva Insights and MyAnalytics. Further personal recommendations include virtual commutes, scheduled learning time, and prompts to connect with colleagues or follow up on tasks. To protect privacy and security, recommendations and insights are only visible to the user. For managers and business leaders, data is anonymized and aggregated with privacy protection every step of the way. How can people leverage Microsoft Viva solutions to grow, upskill, and become more productive? Through the intuitive features of Microsoft Viva, we’ve tried to remove the barriers that hinder people in the hybrid workplace. Viva takes on the task of organizing a person’s time, knowledge resources, and connections. By handling these routine tasks, it allows users to focus on what’s important such as learning a new skill, maintaining productivity, and protecting wellbeing.

www.microsoft.com/ mea/newcultureofwork/ EmployeeExperience.aspx

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Enhancing The Employee Experience

25. ALPHA CAPITAL

28. ALKHABEER CAPITAL

Established in: 2018

AUM: $1.4 billion

Executive Chairman: Fahad K. AlSaud Country: Saudi Arabia

AUM: $1.8 billion

Alkhabeer Capital is an asset management and investment bank offering services for individuals, corporations, and family groups. It recorded $1.4 billion in assets undermanagement in 2020, a 30% increase compared to 2019. The company has launched 32 funds including Alkhabeer REIT, the Alkhabeer Waqf Fund, and the Alkhabeer Income Fund. Last year it established its brokerage department. CEO Ahmed Ghouth has over 20 years of experience in investment banking.

In 2020, the Alpha Capital Company achieved total revenues of $7 million, a 27.4% increase compared to the $5.5 million recorded in 2019. The company’s total assets under management increased by 400% in 2020 to $1.8 billion. Alpha Capital partnered with Four Principles, a lean management consulting firm, in December 2020 to support its new $100 million F&B growth fund. CEO Fahad K. Alsaud was an advisor at Saudi’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) before establishing the Alpha Capital Company in 2018.

27. DERAYAH

FINANCIAL COMPANY CEO: Mohammed AlShammasi Country: Saudi Arabia Established in: 2008

28. AL AHLY FINANCIAL INVESTMENTS MANAGEMENT (AFIM)

Executive Chairman: Mansour Kelada Country: Egypt Established in: 1994

AUM: $1.5 billion

AUM: $1.4 billion

Derayah recorded a net income of $27.9 million in 2020, a 305.5% increase compared to 2019. The value of the company’s total assets under management had reached $1.5 billion by the end of 2020. Before becoming CEO in 2016, Mohammed AlShammasi was the company’s Chief Investment Officer.

Al Ahly Financial Investments is the asset management arm of the National Bank of Egypt. It recorded $1.4 billion in assets under management in 2020 and currently manages seven mutual funds, including equity, fixed income, Islamic, balanced and money market funds. Executive chairman, Mansour Kelada, previously served as regional manager at IFC (World Bank Group) and has an MBA from Harvard.

28. WAHA CAPITAL

CEO: Ahmed Khalifa Al Mehairi Country: U.A.E. Established in: 1997

AUM: $1.4 billion Waha Capital is listed on the Abu Dhabi stock exchange and invests in both local and international markets. In 2020, it reported total income of $243.6 million. Last year, it also launched the Waha Capital Islamic Income Fund, which invests in Shariahcompliant assets across the sukuk and equity markets. CEO Ahmed Khalifa Al Mehairi previously held roles on the Abu Dhabi Investment Council and at the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. He is a board member at the Abu Dhabi National Hotels Company and previously served on the boards of Al Dar Properties PJSC, Etihad Airways, and the Abu Dhabi National Energy Company.

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DERAYAH FINANCES; IMAGES FROM SOURCE

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CEO: Ahmed Saud Ghouth Country: Saudi Arabia Established in: 2004

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A Transforming Landscape For

Heads Of Business

LEADERSHIP SPECIAL REPORT F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

JULY 2021

LE A D E RS H I P R EP O RT

Corporate Leadership Post-COVID-19:

FIVE KEY TRENDS

While the pandemic has posed a humanitarian crisis worldwide, it has also posed a challenge to economies and businesses. The agility and resilience of corporate leaders have been tested, with several companies falling victim to the resulting economic downturn.

any CEOs have been able to successfully pivot during this difficult time by revising their priorities and rethinking their business strategies. The lessons learnt from this period of uncertainty have caused a transformation in corporate leadership in the Middle East, with several key trends emerging. F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

Digitization With billions of people shifting to remote working over the past year, digitization has become one of the most urgent needs for businesses. According to a report by PwC, 59% of Middle East CEOs aim to increase their digitization investments by 10% or more over the next three

years, compared with only 11% who planned to do so in 2010. Also, 75% of family businesses—a huge driver of economies in the Middle East—have said that digital, technology, and innovation initiatives are going to be a key priority in the next two years. The pandemic has pushed digitization strategies to also include social responsibility considerations. For example, Etisalat Digital partnered with American Hospital to launch telehealth services, and Abu Dhabi Airport deployed a robot to disinfect airport terminals, limiting contamination risks. JULY 2021

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PRO M OTI O N

Embracing A New World

Jean-Christophe Durand, CEO of the National Bank of Bahrain (NBB), discusses how the bank is embracing a digital world and supporting its customers and people through the pandemic. What attributes have made NBB one of the top banks in the Middle East? NBB prides itself on serving the national economy across all segments and being at the forefront of innovation in the financial sector in line with Bahrain’s vision. This has resulted in significant investments in our digital capabilities to facilitate our clients’ transactions and access to services in a fast-moving digitalizing economy. It is also illustrated by the leading role NBB plays in strategic transactions at the country level. We place the customers at the core of our business strategy, we listen to their requirements and design solutions that are relevant and fulfil their current and future needs. Changes triggered or accelerated by the COVID-19 crisis are forcing banks globally to reassess traditional products, strategies, and business models. What postpandemic strategies has NBB put into place to address this? The pandemic has definitely forced banks and other businesses to adjust their strategic approach across the region and beyond. At NBB this unprecedented situation further accelerated one of our strategic directions, which we had already been working on for a few years, namely digital transformation. We

have been building robust and state of the art digital platforms in order to continuously improve the delivery of our banking services and enable more customer convenience and accessibility. We have strengthened our presence in the region’s financial ecosystem and reinforced our position as a banking partner of choice for high-growth sectors and for sectors which have a strong impact on the local economies. A virtual environment requires different ways of building and maintaining customer relationships. What innovations has NBB brought in retail banking to help retain customers? Our digital evolution has set new standards in digital banking services with direct value to customers. We have invested in state-ofthe-art technologies to upgrade our conventional offerings, and elevate the customer experience through improved accessibility and enhanced branch capability. We have invested in technologies to make banking more accessible and convenient for our customers by empowering them with more transparency over their financial standing and transactions while giving them complete control over their data.

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Some of our latest initiatives have focused on automating daily banking processes like the nation-wide “Tap & Go” contactless payments to encourage cashless transactions. More recently, in a bid to further simplify the customer journey, we unveiled our new one-stop-digitalshop mobile application. How is the bank focusing on monitoring, managing and curating a culture by design? We firmly believe that our progress is driven by our people. We invest in cultivating a strong NBB Team spirit, which fuels a shared passion for business success. Our culture is founded on teamwork, mutual respect and appreciation, and inspired by a strong sense of pride and belonging. We continuously monitor our performance in this respect through focus groups and periodic surveys. We have launched a series of training and development initiatives to empower our people and prepare and align them with the fast-changing banking environment.

www.nbbonline.com JULY 2021

PRO M OTI O N

Energizing The Middle East 74

Dietmar Siersdorfer, Managing Director of Siemens Energy Middle East, is continuing a 170-year legacy through collaboration, understanding, and cutting-edge technology. Where is the energy sector heading in terms of digitalization? Digitalization is a vital tool in accelerating the decarbonization of the energy sector and we are seeing an increase in adoption of digital tools and in the ability of organizations to improve safety, productivity, and efficiency. However, digitalization is still in its infancy, and as we move forward in the energy transition, it will play an increasingly important role. The rich data gained through digitalization will enable better interconnectivity, process automation, monitoring, and analysis, to ensure that we can provide stable, efficient, and clean energy for society. What does it take to win megaprojects in the Middle East? Partnership and trust are most important. We are building projects that will change the face of nations, creating pathways for economic growth, whilst decarbonizing energy systems. Working together to develop tailormade energy roadmaps for our customers is crucial. We are also building projects that will operate for decades and generations, creating training and job opportunities that benefit millions of people. Preparation is key too, and having strong capacities and local knowledge cannot be understated. Siemens has a legacy stretching back over 170 years; our technologies are used in an

estimated one-sixth of the electricity generated worldwide, and our global reach and strong local presence ensure we understand the countries in which we operate. What steps is Siemens Energy taking to create a positive impact on the environment? Environment, social, and governance (ESG) topics are a core part of our strategy to transform energy systems. Having a positive impact on the environment starts at home. That’s why we have set

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ambitious targets to switch our own power consumption to 100% green electricity by 2023 and we are aiming to make our own operations climate-neutral by 2030. Highlighting the importance we place on ESG topics, our CEO, Christian Bruch, is also our chief sustainability officer, and our CFO, Maria Ferraro, is our chief inclusion and diversity officer. Furthermore, we have a zeroharm policy that reaches every facet of our business, from the boardroom to the engineers on site.

JULY 2021

PRO M OTI O N

What challenges do you face in the region, undertaking projects like decarbonizing a country’s energy sector? Energy transformation requires new approaches to power system planning, and market operations, on top of stable regulation and public policy. The right policies and regulations need to be in place to facilitate the large amounts of investment required to enable large-scale decarbonization. This will also facilitate the partnerships needed to develop the innovative projects that will accelerate the energy transition. This is why we are collaborating with organizations such as the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), to facilitate a free exchange of ideas, experience, and best practice, across countries and industries. How has your project in Egypt impacted lives? Our involvement in Egypt has helped reshape the national economy, enabling better access to energy for industrial, economic, and societal growth, whilst setting the stage for the country to expand into renewable energy. Through our majority stake in Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy, we are developing large-scale wind projects, supporting Egypt’s ambitious renewable targets. With the addition of three highly efficient gas power plants, Egypt’s total generation capacity increased by almost 45%, with huge savings in terms of emissions and natural gas costs. Additionally, Siemens Energy jointly developed facilities to provide better access to education, health, and employment. Siemens Energy works with various partners world-wide. What is the key to a successful partnership?

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“We are building projects that will change the face of nations, creating pathways for economic growth, whilst decarbonizing energy systems.” We believe that partnership is vital. In the energy transition, no one company, or country can be successful alone. It’s primarily about trust, creating value, and the ability to execute. We need to be able to work closely together in the same direction, understand our partners’ requirements, and leverage each other’s strengths. Trust is built on delivering outstanding solutions that meet or exceed the customer’s requirements and create lasting, local value. Over your 34 years at Siemens Energy, are there any projects that stand out? Some of my personal highlights have been the Egypt megaproject, our Siemens Energy Damam Hub (SEDH) in Saudi Arabia, and our green hydrogen project in Dubai. But it is not just about the large projects, it’s about the partnerships we have formed and the innovations we have made that are contributing to saving our planet. In this regard, our partnership with Masdar Clean Energy and the development of our green hydrogen demonstrator, which

will produce synthetic aviation fuel, stands out. This is a game-changing innovation made possible by strong collaboration. What milestones have influenced your life and leadership style? I think one of the key lessons I’ve learned through my career is the importance of being bold. Taking every risk is definitely not advisable, so the trick is to find the right balance. The loss of friends has definitely taught me to value my relationships more greatly, and to communicate more openly. It is very important to stay close to people and customers. Losing touch dramatically increases the risk of failure, especially for projects. The Covid pandemic has taught all of us a great deal. But one key lesson for me has been how quickly we can adapt, particularly in adopting digitalization.

www.siemens-energy.com JULY 2021

LE A D E RS H I P R EP O RT

Mergers and acquisitions Mergers and acquisitions will hold a more important role in business leaders’ strategies in the coming years, as companies worldwide mull restructuring and repairing efforts. According to PwC, around 41% of Middle East CEOs hope to form a new strategic alliance or joint venture in the next 12 months. And 30% of Middle East family businesses surveyed by PwC are also pursuing strategic acquisitions and mergers. In an effort to create stronger entities in Saudi Arabia’s banking sector, Samba Financial Group merged with the National

Commercial Bank to create the Saudi National Bank, which had $239 billion in assets as of December 2020. Saudi Aramco acquired a 70% stake in SABIC for $69.1 billion in June 2020, as the company sought to build its presence in the downstream and chemicals segments. There have also been consolidation efforts within the public sector, as governments seek to increase efficiency. For example, ASYAD consolidated three of Oman’s ports and free zones among other assets to maximize the financial returns and economic impact of government logistics investments. And ADNOC listed its distribution arm and raised funds through divestment in stakes of other assets like pipelines.

Diversification As countries in the region faced the dual shock of the pandemic and an oil price crash, diversification has been a key priority for Middle East economies and companies alike. Entering a new market is one of several key methods to diversification, with 35% of Middle East CEOs telling PwC they are planning to enter a new market in the next year, more than any other region in the survey. Also, 58% of Middle East family businesses plan to expand into new markets in the next two years. Entering a new market is no easy task, but many big corporations and small companies have been successful. Egypt, which was one of the few countries to grow in 2020 and the only one in the Middle

Mergers and acquisitions will hold a more important role in business leaders’ strategies in the coming years, as companies worldwide mull restructuring and repairing efforts.

ASYAD Port of Salalah

IMAGE CREDIT: ASYAD

A crucial part of a company’s digital transformation includes cybersecurity, with 43% of Middle East CEOs planning to increase investment in cybersecurity and data privacy by 10% or more over the next three years, well ahead of the global average of 31%, according to PwC.

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PRO M OTI O N

Digital Transformation, The Smart Way

As one of the world’s largest software companies, Micro Focus is helping organizations on their digital transformation journey as Gonzalo Usandizaga, the company’s President of Sales for EMEA and LATAM explains. You have built an impressive career in the tech industry. What steps led you to where you are today? How has your experience influenced your management style? Over the years I’ve realized that there are four elements to my success as a professional and as a leader: integrity, teamwork, respect, and finally, delivering results. Experience always helps to polish management style, and I’m no exception. Like most people, in the early stages of my career I was focused on moving up and moving on to the next level. But, once you feel established, your focus inevitably shifts to your own employees. Building trust means your most important asset —your teams—are always protected. How has the global pandemic influenced the digital transformation journeys of your customers? The latest Micro Focus ‘Digital Transformation Survey’ revealed that nearly 30% of organizations have fast-tracked projects as a result of the pandemic. This new-found urgency will likely persist, but without a strong digital transformation strategy, organizations risk making costly mistakes. Often the best approach is to bridge existing and emerging technologies—balancing what’s now with what’s next. What role has Micro Focus played in helping the digital world to run smoothly during the pandemic?

The pandemic has shifted the technology ecosystem in myriad ways and has highlighted the need to accelerate application delivery. For example, health providers needed to act quickly to meet a wave of new demands. Currently, with vaccinations and COVID passports coming into play, healthcare institutions need to manage sensitive data quickly and securely. One of our healthcare customers recently needed to handle citizen demands during a pandemic, while planning for secure management of sensitive data in the future. We helped them to scale up quickly and get new services to their users, while also planning to launch more web applications. The cloud plays a lead role in most digital transformation initiatives. What’s the best way to achieve cloud transformation instead of integration? Every transformation journey is unique. Guided by our own

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experience in cloud transformation, we help customers bridge existing and evolving IT practices, without jeopardizing the critical systems and processes developed over decades. The pandemic has also underscored the need for simplicity. The more an IT transformation is simplified, the more likely the organization is to continue running and providing value to customers when something unexpected happens. What key technologies enable your customers to operate and innovate at the same time? Predictive analytics, utilizing AI and machine learning, help teams to gain valuable insights and rapidly identify innovation drivers. Earlier this year we partnered with Jaguar Racing for the Formula E World Championship. We leveraged real-time analytics and machine learning to deliver deep insights that drove Team Jaguar to the win; both on and off the track. Organizations across the world are struggling to re-balance their IT priorities. However, we believe business can run and transform at the same time. That’s what we call Smart Digital Transformation.

www.microfocus.com JULY 2021

PRO M OTI O N

Technology That Delivers Nour Suliman, CEO of DHL Express MENA, explains how the company is harnessing advanced technology to grow the business, meet demands, and exceed expectations.

In spite of the pandemic, DHL Express MENA increased its revenues by 2.3% in 2020, reaching $1.3 billion. What contributed to this increase? One of the biggest triggers was the surge in e-commerce activity. Store closures, social distancing, and lockdowns caused a mass switch to online shopping while traditional brick-and-mortar brands started shifting their business to the digital sphere to meet consumer demands. DHL’s global network saw a 35% spike in e-commerce volumes in 2020 and reached historical peaks in the third quarter of the year as shipment quantities jumped by more than 50% compared to the same period in 2019. Q3 revenues also saw a record high of 14.6% y-o-y growth and timedefinite international DHL Express shipments rose by 15.8%. Similarly, in the region, DHL Express witnessed a steep growth in cross-border e-commerce volumes led by Kuwait, which topped 157%. Oman followed with growth of 123% while the U.A.E. experienced 115% growth.

Can you elaborate on the DHL Africa eShop and how it has benefited the region? This is a one-stop-shop platform that provides users with access to over 150 U.S. brands. It is a shopping gateway that offers a convenient, safe, and fast way to purchase items directly from U.S. online stores and have them delivered to your doorstep without concerns of payment, delivery, customs, or returns, which are all handled by DHL. It also enables hassle-free payment which can be done in your own currency, through your own bank, or through the electronic payment system, SADAD. We have already launched eShop in Egypt and Morocco where it has proven very successful, and very soon we will introduce it to Saudi Arabia and the U.A.E., two of the GCC’s most dominant e-commerce markets. DHL Express MENA is expanding its regional aviation fleet. What benefits will this bring?

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Since the pandemic struck and flights were grounded, DHL Express MENA has had to rely heavily on its own air fleet to support the company’s activities. Despite the loss in commercial belly space, we capitalized on our dedicated regional and international freighters to satisfy the increased demand for cross-border shipments. e-commerce in MENA is on an upward trend and we anticipate that it will continue on its doubledigit trajectory for the foreseeable future. We have enhanced our air capabilities with seven new Boeing 767-300F freighters to better handle the anticipated demand for delivery expertise in time-definite express shipments. These modern, energyefficient planes will improve our load capacity by over 33%. They will also enable us to maintain a well-connected regional network for high-demand lanes across the Middle East, Africa, and the Indian subcontinent, which house some of DHL’s key commercial partners.

JULY 2021

PRO M OTI O N

How is DHL taking advantage of the ongoing surge in e-commerce? E-commerce has been a key driver for us and we are constantly developing new competitive B2C products and services to grow our market share and strengthen our e-commerce footing. There is great opportunity to increase activity between Asia, the Middle East, and Africa and as we continue to add capacity and expand our reach across key markets, we will benefit from greater capability to enhance transit times. Now more than ever, our logistics expertise is crucial in supporting e-commerce players and helping them stay competitive. Innovation and customer service are where we excel, and we can add value

We have spent quite a bit to boost our air and road network and facilities in order to accommodate growth, especially in e-commerce hubs such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the U.A.E. We have also upgraded our regional aviation network, increasing flight frequencies and doubling our aviation touch points for better flexibility to adapt to volume spikes and swings. You have maintained operations in several countries that have experienced political instability in recent years. How have you managed your teams through such challenging circumstances? After operating in this region for over 40 years, we have become very well accustomed to overcoming

“DHL’s global network saw a 35% spike in e-commerce volumes in 2020 and reached historical peaks in the third quarter of the year.” by helping online merchants reach even more of the B2C market with speed, flexibility, and at competitive costs. We are always trying out new solutions and technologies such as AI, blockchain, and digitization, to deliver faster and more conveniently. We are also investing in innovative systems to enhance the visibility and traceability of shipments as expectations for real-time information continue to rise.

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business challenges related to its geo-political temperament. We have a competitive edge in contingency and continuity planning, which ensures our operations remain unaffected by changing country dynamics. The safety and security of our people always take precedence while we capitalize on our extensive network, utilizing alternative land and air solutions, to ensure our operations continue with minimal disruption.

How is DHL benefiting from advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics, and big data analytics? Advanced technologies and data analytics deliver significant gains in productivity and performance and can enhance the entire customer journey. We are using automation technologies, such as AI and robotics, for operational tasks including picking and packing goods within warehouses, and for enhancing strategic planning and forecasting. Certain technologies were specifically adopted during the pandemic to help enforce social distancing in our warehouses, such as robotic goods-to-person (G2P). Such technology is advanced and economical and improves productivity in warehouse management and storage density. Data analytics is also transforming the industry’s capabilities and efficiencies and has been crucial to making our supply chain more flexible and resilient. Enhanced data capabilities result in more efficient planning processes for complex operations, such as cross-border deliveries, because they enable full visibility of the movement of goods. This means an unexpected change would no longer be a disaster for the delivery journey, but rather an opportunity to reroute the flow of goods and still arrive on time. A data-led approach also gives customers a greater and more flexible range of tracking options while advanced analytics offers unlimited insights that can be turned into actionable opportunities.

www.dhl.com JULY 2021

LE A D E RS H I P R EP O RT

support government efforts in the fight against COVID-19, while the Landmark Group donated $4 million. DP World partnered with Emirates Skycargo, Dubai Airports, and the International Humanitarian City to create the Vaccine Logistics Alliance to distribute two billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines around the world. On the environmental front, many companies have adopted

DP World partnered with Emirates Skycargo, Dubai Airports, and the International Humanitarian City to create the Vaccine Logistics Alliance to distribute two billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines around the world. Sustainability and social responsibility Middle Eastern companies have taken a strong position towards CSR this year, with numerous companies contributing hefty donations in support of pandemic relief efforts. For example, family conglomerate Easa Saleh Al Gurg, donated $3.5 million to F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

more eco-friendly processes when conducting their business. For example, TAQA completed the financial closing of the world’s largest single-site solar power plant, the AI Dhafra Solar Photovoltaic Independent Power Producer project. The project will supply power to the Emirates Water and Electricity Company

using four million solar panels. Meanwhile, Emirates Global Aluminium partnered with DEWA in January 2021 to produce aluminum using solar power, making the U.A.E. the first country in the world to produce aluminum this way. Family businesses and family values It’s hard to talk about the Middle East’s corporate landscape without mentioning the importance of family businesses, which are largely considered to be the backbone of Middle Eastern economies. Globally, they are considered to be one of the most trusted forms of business. Many of them are bringing in corporate governance, establishing clear structures, and putting professional managers in place. Some companies have separate family boards and corporate boards, and several have non-family members on their board. Most have a non-family member in the top management team. Many are still focused on traditional business and to a large extent have stayed clear of the tech industry, but while currently successful they will need to transform as tech begins to disrupt industries. As younger generations take over their family business, many have been mindful of potential disputes, making family values and professionalism a top priority. According to PwC, 75% of family businesses in the region claim to have a clear set of values, with 56% claiming to have written them down. Family businesses in the Middle East (33%) are more likely than global family businesses (30%) to have “a robust, documented and communicated succession plan in place. JULY 2021

IMAGE CREDIT: EMIRATES GLOBAL ALUMINIUM

East, has become an increasingly attractive market due to its comprehensive reform program. Other M&A deals in the pipeline include First Abu Dhabi Bank’s acquisition of the Egyptian unit of Lebanon’s Bank Audi, as well as Saudi Sharbatly Group’s $2.5 billion investment in Egypt in the next five years. Startups like Foodics and PayTabs have also recently entered the Egyptian Market.

PRO M OTI O N

Cutting Costs, Not Corners According to Tariq Chauhan, CEO of EFS Facilities Services Group, the growing pressure from clients to cut costs is not bad news, it is an opportunity to transform.

he recent crisis and its ensuing economic hardships have taught us many lessons in the art of resilience. One such lesson for service providers across industries, is that costcutting demands from clients are not always bad news, nor do they necessarily have a detrimental impact on quality. In fact, they can lead to positive change for clients and providers alike. While concerns over quality are not always misplaced, the relationship between service quality and cost-cutting needs to be studied in more detail. Of course, when it comes to searching for ways to save money, key expenses such as sufficient wages and necessary materials should not be compromised. However, through collaboration, innovation, and sound strategizing, it is possible to cut costs and transform organizations in the process. To set off on the right path, clients and service providers must work as a partnership, with shared goals and shared agreement on how to reach them. Both parties need to cement a relationship with complete transparency and a shared vision. They should also carry out impact analyses on any proposed cost-cutting measures and conduct in-depth research into the scale of any crisis, going the extra mile to help where possible. Confidence is key too. Here, it is important that service providers

“Service providers need to move beyond their fixation with status quos and pursue new avenues of innovation and change management.” engage with their clients and walk them through relevant data, providing sensitivity analysis on the associated risks and rewards of any potential cost-cutting exercise. As the crisis of COVID-19 was unfolding, EFS faced a situation that demanded rapid action and close collaboration with our partners. As a service provider, we realized that we were in deep water, but rather than stop and panic, we acted swiftly and worked closely with our clients to find joint solutions to the unprecedented challenges we

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faced. As a result of our approach, we delivered considerable benefits in savings whilst providing the same end-user satisfaction. In times of crisis, quick thinking and fundamental change are often required, accompanied by the necessary risk analysis. With this in mind, service providers need to move beyond their fixation with status quos and pursue new avenues of innovation and change management. Innovation is particularly important in workforcecentric contract engagements, but change management will lead companies to achieve the most outstanding results. Most management principles touch upon how to rise above negativity and navigate through crises or adverse conditions. But much of this is theory. The litmus test lies in how to successfully manage real life situations. Here, there is no better lesson than experience. While the COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc worldwide, it has also equipped organizations with a whole new arsenal of skills and experience, leaving them stronger and more resilient as they look ahead to brighter days.

www.efsme.com JULY 2021

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JULY 2021

PRO M OTI O N

The Future Of Work:

The Time To Upskill Is Now

he debate around the future of work and the impact of automation on workers has raged for decades, but it has been brought into sharp focus by COVID-19. A recent study from PwC indicated that almost 40% of workers believed their job would become obsolete in the next five years, while 60% were worried that automation was putting jobs at risk. Meanwhile, the World Economic Forum estimates that one billion people will need to be reskilled by 2030, driven by the emergence of automation in the workplace. So, are robots coming for people’s jobs? Or will a new era of automation create more opportunity? Narrowing the skills gap The skills gap is a very real problem, especially in manufacturing and construction, where demand for skilled workers dramatically outweighs supply. Automation helps to address that shortfall. However, as it becomes more widespread, the risk of the skills gap widening becomes more acute. That’s why a world-wide focus on reskilling and upskilling is critical. The challenge is this: how do we ensure that automation creates opportunity for workers?

Lisa Campbell, Chief Marketing Officer at software company, Autodesk, believes automation creates opportunity for workers, but that seizing it relies on closing the skills gap. Automation will create opportunity if we are deliberate about three things: 1. Building the right kind of transferable skills among workers 2. Stimulating investment in workers by employers 3. Facilitating partnerships between all stakeholders to meet future workforce needs While collaboration between multiple stakeholders is critical to embracing the future of work, the private sector can lead the way. The role of private sector in supporting “Future Skills” The private sector needs to consider how it can support investment in transferable “future skills”. Our work with Factory_OS is a good example of this. Factory_ OS is essentially constructing multi-family housing on a factory production line. In doing so, it is helping to address the housing crisis while opening the industry to underrepresented workers, like women. With a focus on digital technologies, Factory_OS has also taught new skills to 60% of its workforce who were not previously employed in construction and has created new job types based on transferrable “future skills”.

The inOthis F O Rthoughts B E S M I D expressed D L E E A S T.C M advertorial are those of the client.

Building simple lifelong learning pathways Not only do we need governments to strategically invest in industries with quality job growth, but we also need to ensure that workers in those industries are equipped with the right skills. Here, the private sector has a role to play in helping workers learn new skills and gain professional credentials on the job. Many companies have recognized this need, launching or expanding credentialing programs during the last 12 months. Initiatives like the Autodesk certification program offer dozens of online learning pathways that empower professionals to build skills and achieve their goals. What now? Without active intervention in helping people prepare for an evolving work environment, some employees may be left behind. The future of work is not a decade away anymore; businesses are already transforming, and jobs are changing. To prepare for the future of work, workers need to start upskilling today.

www.autodesk.com JULY 2021

PRO M OTI O N

Leading A Strategic Expansion Hassan N. Fawaz, CEO of financial brokerage company, GIV Capital, reveals the vision that makes the company stand out and where its next focus lies.

What services does GIV Capital offer and what makes the firm stand out amongst the competition? GIV Capital offers a wide range of financial services covering online trading and asset management to individuals and institutions. We have partnerships agreements with leading liquidity providers and global banks and our clients benefit from tight spreads, low commissions, no swap, fast and transparent execution, 24/5 customer support, daily analysis, and market reports. Our team assists clients with their top-notch experience of online trading using the Meta Trader 5 Online Platform and helps them to achieve their investment objectives. Our clients can securely trade across a wide range of currencies and financial assets with complete confidence.

We also provide customized strategies for asset management clients after thoroughly understanding their objectives, risk tolerance, and expected returns. We have many lines with major global banks, where funds are safely allocated. With regards to asset management we have been able to provide consistent returns to our clients over the past few years and we are keen to expand on our client base in different jurisdictions. Our main goal is to build close relationships with our clients based on confidentiality, trust, and transparency, and to protect their accounts, whether big or small, from risks. What exciting projects is GIV currently working on? We are developing an online platform and app that clients can use to trade stocks, futures contracts, exchange-traded funds, forex, ETFs, options and cryptocurrency. This app will compete with top international ones like Robinhood, Webull, and Binance. Our platform will serve three main market categories. Both beginners and intermediate traders usually opt for FX, CFDs, commodities and are less likely to indulge in complex market analysis and rarely need advanced indicators, research, and

The expressed in this F Othoughts RBESMID D L E E A S T.C O Madvertorial are those of the client.

trading tools. Advanced traders usually focus on portfolio building, ROI optimization, reliable sources of information, and adequate professional tools. Crypto traders are always looking for educational sources and a secure way to fight the stigma around the crypto space. What plans do you have for future growth and expansion? Over the last 15 years, the transformation in the financial services has been spectacular, triggered by technology and regulation. We believe that this trajectory of change will continue in the years to come, making it imperative for financial service providers to analyze their business models continuously. GIV Capital’s vision is to expand in promising pioneer markets such as Dubai and the U.S. So we have chosen the Dubai International Financial Center to strengthen our role as a regional player in the financial sector. We are also working on getting registered with FINRA in a broker dealer capacity.

GIV CAPITAL

www.giv-capital.com JULY 2021

SUSTAINABLE INNOVATION SUMMIT 2021

Reimagining The Future Through Sustainable Innovation

13 October 2021 • 9:00 AM • Dubai

Future Mobility

Sustainability

Opportunity

For General Inquiries

For Sponsorship Inquiries

event@forbesmiddleeast.com

advertising@forbesmiddleeast.com

F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

www.forbesmiddleeast.com

JULY 2021

By MADELINE BERG

• THE 50 OVER 50 •

SCREEN QUEEN Shonda Rhimes spent the first 12 years of her TV career contributing to Disney’s empire. Now she’s building her own.

THE 50 OVER 50

Shonda Rhimes “I’m very clear on my track record. . . . I’m no longer worried about negotiations in any way, shape or form.”

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JULY 2021

JAMEL TOPPIN FOR FORBES

Last Christmas, as millions of people were watching Bridgerton for the first time, Shonda Rhimes was at home in Los Angeles with her three daughters, unwrapping gifts. Her first hints of the mania her debut Netflix series was sparking were multiple gushing texts from the streaming giant’s CEO, Ted Sarandos. Then came an email from Hillary Clinton. “How does one cure oneself of a Duke obsession?” Clinton asked, referring to the actor Regé-Jean Page and his beloved portrayal of aristocrat Simon Basset in the Regency-era drama. With her adaptation of the popular romance novels, Rhimes, 51, has done the seemingly impossible: created a must-see sensation in a world overflowing with binge-worthy television. In the first 28 days it was available, 82 million households—40% of Netflix’s paying audience—watched the eight-episode series, smashing the service’s previous viewing records. Sarandos booked a second season within weeks, and in April he agreed to fund seasons three and four. A spinoff is in the works. Rhimes, who is already making about $30 million a year to create exclusive content for the streamer, is expected to receive millions in bonus pay because of the series’ success—a rare feat in typically frontloaded streaming deals. “I never worried that I deserve the money,” Rhimes says. “I deserve every penny I make. . . . I always find these young women who have been conditioned to believe or to speak of themselves in ways that make them smaller. It drives me bonkers.” Bridgerton’s resounding success is proof that jumping ship in 2017 from ABC, her home for more than a decade, has paid off. “I don’t know how you do things without betting on yourself,” the show creator says. “If I was going to play it safe, I would’ve stayed exactly where I was and kept doing exactly what I was doing. It wasn’t like a crazy leap to believe in myself.” Not after all her success. Rhimes has brought in more than $2 billion to ABC’s parent company, Disney, with hits such as the medical drama Grey’s Anatomy; Scandal, which cast Kerry Washington as the first Black female lead in a network drama in almost 40 years; and F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

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How to Get Away with Murder, starring Viola Davis, who became the first Black woman to win a Best Lead Drama Actress Emmy for her role. Even so, Rhimes had to constantly fight for higher writing and producing salaries (she went from making about $30,000 per episode to $250,000 since Grey’s premiered in 2005, Forbes estimates) and a larger cut of the show’s profit. Network executives would eventually step up, she says, but it was always a battle. “It’s really startling to realize how much money your work is earning for a place and then to discover how much they think that you’re worth versus that,” she adds of the years she spent wrangling with ABC. When she began negotiations with Sarandos in 2017, Rhimes dispensed with any pretense of modesty. “I was very clear that everybody was going to make it happen in the way that I wanted,” she says. Sarandos concurs: “I’ve been astonished by Shonda’s total clarity about what she wants in this next chapter. . . . [She] is at the very top of her game.” “Shonda Rhimes is a force like no other,” says Michelle Obama, who first met Rhimes when the showrunner sat in the Obamas’ box at the 2013 Kennedy Center Honors. “All you have to do is look at the empire that keeps growing year after year to see that her stories—her example—are something people are hungry for.” That empire, dubbed Shondaland, is now 50 staffers strong and, like the casts of her series—some of the most racially diverse on television—is “uncommonly inclusive,” according to Rhimes. While half are engaged in creating television, the others are working in new areas. There’s Shondaland Audio, a partnership with iHeartRadio, which has a Bridgerton companion podcast, as well as shows hosted by Laverne Cox and Scandal star Katie Lowes. Shondaland. com, a partnership with Hearst, is a mix of articles meant to empower women and update fans on Rhimes’ series. There’s also an eight-week Peloton program based on her 2015 inspirational book, Year of Yes, and a top-selling master class. Forbes estimates Rhimes will earn close to $40 million from Netflix this year thanks to her Bridgerton bonuses, plus about $8 million in producing fees for Grey’s Anatomy and Station 19, another $17 million for her share of the profits from Grey’s, Scandal and How to Get Away with Murder, and a few million more from Shondaland ventures including podcasts, web content, books and more. All told, Rhimes should take home close to $70 million before taxes in 2021, her biggest payday yet. Since her television career began, she has already earned more than $350 million, pretax. All that is just the beginning, too, as Rhimes looks decades ahead. “We’re not working for anybody. . . . We do things the Shondaland way,” she says, adding: “In 30 years, somebody should look around and not know there’s a Shonda to the Shondaland.”

By Sheera Hamed Al Shobaki

WALDORF ASTORIA MALDIVES ITHAAFUSHI

For any couples looking for a memorable honeymoon in a magical world of natural beauty, the Maldives is a fantasy destination.

Choosing where to spend your honeymoon is not an easy decision to make. Your first holiday together as a married couple comes after months spent planning your wedding, hosting parties, and socializing with your guests, friends, and family. When the time comes for your F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

honeymoon, you want to relax, unwind, and spend time together. Among the wide variety of hotels on offer in the Maldives stands the Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi, which my husband and I were lucky enough to enjoy on our one-of-akind honeymoon. The entire hotel feels like a fantasy land come true, with stunning views and warm-hearted hospitality all around. Here’s why our 10-day retreat felt like getting lost in paradise.

The Maldives are known for being a premium romantic destination for couples. IMAGES FROM SHEERA HAMED AL SHOBAKI

HOTEL REVIEW

• HOTEL REVIEW •

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HOTEL REVIEW

Hospitality: Our journey began at Velana International Airport, the Maldives’ main international airport in the capital of Malé, where we landed after our flight from Dubai. Most large aircraft land here as access to the smaller remote islands is only possible via boat or seaplane. We were shown from the airport to a large yacht where hotel staff greeted us for our 45-minute ride. As we approached Ithaafushi Island, we could see more hotel staff on land waving at us from a distance, and once we had docked, they handed us welcome drinks, showed us to our beach villa, and gave us a tour of the beautiful surroundings. Ithaafushi Island is one of the biggest in the Maldives, at 32,000 square feet. The Waldorf Astoria covers the whole area, making it very much a private island experience, but there is still plenty of room for nature. Weaving throughout the resort, the contrast between F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

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HOTEL REVIEW

Dining: Throughout our stay, we had the opportunity to dine at almost all of the restaurants located on the island. Each one had its own unique spirit and theme. My favorite was Yasmeen, which specialized in Arabic cuisine. I found its ambiance particularly interesting as the restaurant contained historical items from the Arab world dating back to the 1800s and 1900s, such as doors, windows, iron ornaments, and ancient kitchen appliances. The food was also delicious and reminded me of my own Middle Eastern roots and the places I have called home. On the other hand, my husband’s favorite place to dine was a Japanese restaurant called Shimizu, which is open to the ocean so you can enjoy your meal with a calm ocean breeze. All the restaurants offer something different. For example, Terra has been designed to represent a bird’s nest, F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

Nava is an American-cuisine beach club and tasting table where we had breakfast, and Amber is where we had our first sunset pre-dinner drinks. If you are more interested in traditional steak and barbeque, The Ledge is the restaurant for you. Whereas if you are a fan of organic food and healthy eating, Glow is your best option, with its fruits and vegetables grown at the island’s very own farm. Li Long is where you’ll find Chinese cuisine, and The Rock is where you can try the most expensive wines and champagnes for private dinners and events. Spa: After all the exhaustion from wedding preparations and parties, we really needed a relaxing massage, so we were thrilled to find that the hotel we were staying in had one of the best spas we had ever seen. We even had to fill out a questionnaire about our personalities to decide how our treatments should be carried out. Questions included: “What is your favorite color?” “Are you a morning or a night person?” and “What is your favorite season?” The spa’s treatment rooms were separate from the main villa, and to get to them we walked on glass floors so that we could see the ocean beneath us. As well as a massage we also had an “aqua-treatment.” For this, we spent time in a multi-level pool where each level used different jets to treat a specific part of the body. JULY 2021

IMAGES FROM SHEERA HAMED AL SHOBAKI

the lively colors is almost unreal, with the combination of lush green forestry, glistening blue ocean, and white sands. We stayed at the beach villa for the first five days, where we had access to a private beach. For the second half of our trip, we stayed in an over-water villa, with steps down to a secured open ocean area. It was very secluded and pleasantly peaceful. The water is accessible from every room and room service is 24-hour. It feels as though you are living in the middle of the ocean.

Activities: If you can drag yourself away from your secluded private hideaway, the hotel also provides plenty of exciting and fun activities. The main mode of transport while on the island is bicycle, so we rode around the resort and saw the wildlife up-close. We also went snorkeling in the clear turquoise ocean and explored vibrant coral reefs. And above the water we went parasailing, which meant we could view the island from a different perspective and see the neighboring islands and mountains. Later in the day, on a sunset cruise, we were excited to see dolphins and small sharks.

HOTEL REVIEW

Nightlife: Despite how calm, relaxing, and quiet this hotel is, there is also a lively nightlife on offer. The hotel hosts parties every Tuesday and Thursday night for its guests at a lounge that its staff set up on the beach. The dress code is simply “white,” and there is a DJ so people can enjoy music and dancing. To be allowed onto the island every visitor must have a negative PCR test, tables in communal areas and restaurants are well spaced out, and staff must wear masks at all times, so we felt safe socializing with other guests. If I had to pick one night that really stood out for us, it would be the evening of our destination dinner. The hotel staff led us to a private beach where a fairy-light monument spelled out the word “LOVE,” and on the ground flowers drew the shape of a heart. Even the table where we sat for our extraordinary meal of steak and grilled seafood was sculptured from the sand. It was an experience we will never forget.

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• THOUGHTS ON •

Purpose “The least of things with a meaning is worth more in life than the greatest of things without it.”

“To increase knowledge, to take burdens from the weak, to develop the brain, to defend the right, to make a palace for the soul: This is real religion. This is real worship.”

—Carl Jung “He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.”

—Robert G. Ingersoll “You told me once that we shall be judged by our intentions, not our accomplishments. I thought it a grand remark. But we must intend to accomplish—not sit intending on a chair.”

—Friedrich Nietzsche “I don’t feel frightened not knowing things, by being lost in a mysterious universe without any purpose, which is the way it really is, as far as I can tell.”

—E.M. Forster

—Richard Feynman “Obsessions are the only things that matter.”

“The purposes of a person’s heart are deep waters, but one who has insight draws them out.”

Friedrich Nietzsche

—Patricia Highsmith “The terrible pain of loss teaches humility to our prideful kind.” —Dean Koontz “The purpose of life, after all, is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.” —Eleanor Roosevelt “The most daring thing is to create stable communities in which the terrible disease of loneliness can be cured.” —Kurt Vonnegut F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M

—Proverbs 20:5 “I like a good story, and I also like staring at the sea. Do I have to choose between the two?” —David Byrne

“Here is a test to find out whether your mission in life is complete. If you’re alive, it isn’t.”

—Lauren Bacall

“What am I living for and what am I dying for are the same question.”

“Different persons have various modes of excellence, and we must have an eye to all.”

—Margaret Atwood

—William Wilberforce

“The blind pursuit of profit at all costs is untenable. It is essential that we make money the right way.”

“If there is a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, you must be the one to write it.”

—Indra Nooyi

—Toni Morrison

SOURCES: THE DARKEST EVENING OF THE YEAR, BY DEAN KOONTZ; PALM SUNDAY, BY KURT VONNEGUT; HOW MUSIC WORKS, BY DAVID BYRNE; THE YEAR OF THE FLOOD, BY MARGARET ATWOOD; THE WORKS OF ROBERT G. INGERSOLL, VOL. IV; WHERE ANGELS FEAR TO TREAD, BY E.M. FORSTER.

FINAL THOUGHT “Everybody has to be somebody to somebody to be anybody.” —Malcolm Forbes

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IMAGE FROM WIKIPEDIA

THOUGHTS

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Forbes Middle East - English - July 2021

Articles inside

I Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi

I Screen Queen

I Reboot

I Top 10 Banks In The Middle East

I Top 5 Richest Hedge-Fund Managers

I The World's Ten Highest-Paid Athletes

I The Mideast’s Shift To Sustainable Investment

I Arab Investments Into Social Media Giants

I World’s Top 5 Female Venture Capitalists

I 3 Multi-Billion-Dollar Donors