Gulf Business May 2021

p.34

How influential are the region’s influencers?

p.64

Inside the world of Watches & Wonders BD 2.10 KD 1.70 RO 2.10 SR 20 DHS 20

gulfbusiness.com / M A Y 2 0 2 1

WHY THIS MAN IS SEEKING TO CREATE THE “WORLD’S LARGEST DIGITAL BANK” Mountasser Hachem, CEO and founder of Monty Holding

SPECIAL REPORT: REVEALED - THE UAE’S BIGGEST STARTUP STARS

CHRONOMAT

Gulf Business

CONTENTS / MAY 2021

07

The Brief An insight into the news and trends shaping the region with perceptive commentary and analysis

38

Having an edge How edge computing is making its way into mainstream adoption

43

Special Report: The Rainmakers The movers and shakers of the UAE startup ecosystem

gulfbusiness.com

22

Cover Story: Digital focus Mountasser Hachem, CEO of Monty Holding, on why the company is diversifying into fintech

May 2021

3

‫ﻋﺻﻳﺭ ﺗُﻔّﺎﺡ‬

‫ﻋﺻﻳﺭ ﻛ َ​َﺭﺯ‬

‫ﻋﺻﻳﺭ ُﺭ ّﻣﺎﻥ‬

‫ﻋﺻﻳﺭ ﻓﻭﺍﻛﻪ ﺃﻭﺭﻭﺑﻳّﺔ ﻣﻥ ﺯﺭﺍﻋﺔ ﻋﺿﻭﻳﺔ‬

‫ﺇﺳﺗﻣﺗﻌﻭﺍ ﺑﻌﺻﻳﺭ ﻓﻭﺍﻛﻪ ﻣﻥ ﺯﺭﺍﻋﺔ ﻋﺿﻭﻳﺔ‬

‫ﺷﻬﻳّﺔ‬ ‫ﻋﺻﺎﺋﺭ ﻓﻭﺍﻛﻪ ُﻣﻣﺗﺎﺯﺓ ﻭ َ‬

‫‪www.euorganicjuices.eu‬‬

‫"ﺍﻟﻠﺟﻧﺔ ﺍﻷﻭﺭﻭﺑﻳﺔ ﻭﺍﻟﻭﻛﺎﻟﺔ ﺍﻟﺗﻧﻔﻳﺫﻳﺔ ﻟﺣﻣﺎﻳﺔ ﺍﻟﺻﺣﺔ ﺍﻟﻌﺎﻣﺔ ﻭﺍﻟ ُﻣﺳﺗﻬﻠﻛﻳﻥ‬ ‫ﻭﺍﻟﻣﻧﺗﺟﺎﺕ ﺍﻟﺯﺭﺍﻋﻳﺔ ﻭﺍﻟﻐﺫﺍﺋﻳﺔ" ﻫﻲ ﻏﻳﺭ َﻣﺳﺅﻭﻟﺔ ﻋﻥ ﺃﻱ ﺇﺳﺗﺧﺩﺍﻡ ﺃﻭ‬ ‫ﺇﺳﺗﻬﻼﻙ ﻳُﻣﻛﻥ ﺃﻥ ﻳﺗ ّﻡ ﻛﻧﺗﻳﺟﺔ ﺃﻭ ﺗﺑﻌﺎ ً ﻟﻠﻣﻌﻠﻭﻣﺎﺕ ﺍﻟ ُﻣﺣﺗﻭﻳﺔ ﻓﻲ ﺍﻟﺩﻋﺎﻳﺔ‪.‬‬

‫ﻫﻳﺋﺎﺕ ﺍﻹﺗﺣﺎﺩ ﺍﻷﻭﺭﻭﺑﻲ ﺗﺩﻋﻡ‬ ‫ﺣﻣﻼﺕ ﺍﻟﺗﺭﻭﻳﺞ ﺍﻟﺩﻋﺎﺋﻳﺔ ﺍﻟﺗﻲ‬ ‫ﺗﻬﺩﻑ ﺇﻟﻰ ﺗ َﺭﺷﻳﺩ ﺍﻟ ُﻣﺳﺗﻬﻠﻛﻳﻥ ﺇﻟﻰ‬ ‫ﺻﺣّﺔ‪.‬‬ ‫َﻧ َﻣﻁ َﻣﻌﻳﺷ ٍﺔ ﺃﻛﺛَﺭ ِ‬

‫ﻣﻭﻟﺔ ﺑﺩﻋﻡ‬ ‫ﺣﻣﻠﺔ ﺗﺭﻭﻳﺞ ﺩﻋﺎﺋﻳﺔ ُﻣ ّ‬ ‫ُﻣﻘﺩّﻡ ﻣﻥ ﺍﻹﺗﺣﺎﺩ ﺍﻷﻭﺭﻭﺑﻲ‪.‬‬

CONTENTS / MAY 2021

63

Lifestyle

Ones to watch p.64

Regenerative tourism p.68

Luxury consultants p.72

“There is a wrongful perception that the kingdom of Saudi Arabia would like to dispose off the oil. Not at all. We want to exploit everything, whether the oil sector or other sectors” – Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in an interview with local media

74

The SME Story Interviews with entrepreneurs and insights from experts on how the regional SME ecosystem is evolving

Editor-in-chief Obaid Humaid Al Tayer Managing partner and group editor Ian Fairservice Group director Andrew Wingrove andrew.wingrove@motivate.ae Editor Aarti Nagraj aartin@motivate.ae aartinagraj Deputy editor Varun Godinho varun.godinho@motivate.ae varungodinho Contributor Zainab Mansoor editorial.freelancer@motivate.ae zzainabmansoor Senior art director Olga Petroff olga.petroff@motivate.ae Art director Ángel Monroy angel.monroy@motivate.ae theangelmonroy Photographers Joachim Guay

General manager – production S Sunil Kumar Assistant production manager Binu Purandaran Production supervisor Venita Pinto Chief commercial officer Anthony Milne anthony@motivate.ae Group sales manager Manish Chopra manish.chopra@motivate.ae Senior advertising manager Ravi Dutt ravi.dutt@motivate.ae Group marketing manager Dominic Clerici dominic.clerici@motivate.ae Group marketing manager Anusha Azees anusha.azees@motivate.ae

Cover: Ángel Monroy

Vol. 25. Issue 12. May 2021 Printed by Emirates Printing Press, Dubai

Follow us on social media: Linkedin: Gulf Business; Facebook: GulfBusiness; Twitter: @GulfBusiness; Instagram: @GulfBusiness

HEAD OFFICE: Media One Tower, Dubai Media City, PO Box 2331, Dubai, UAE, Tel: +971 4 427 3000, Fax: +971 4 428 2260, motivate@motivate.ae DUBAI MEDIA CITY: SD 2-94, 2nd Floor, Building 2, Dubai, UAE, Tel: +971 4 390 3550, Fax: +971 4 390 4845 ABU DHABI: PO Box 43072, UAE, Tel: +971 2 677 2005, Fax: +971 2 677 0124, motivate-adh@motivate.ae LONDON: Acre House, 11/15 William Road, London NW1 3ER, UK, motivateuk@motivate.ae

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May 2021

5

One of the most powerful and timely books of the year,

Sons of Abraham

The successful journey of a Rabbi and an Imam in building their global friendship.

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Supplying the world

The Brief

The countries leading the production of Covid-19 vaccines As of April 15, 2021

Doses kept

China 196m

166m

8 13 14 15 16

MAY

EU 122m

India 115m

21

UK

362m

3m / 238m

US 235m

Future Startups Social Tourism Sustainability

Doses exported

192m

70m

65m

180m

18.3m / 0.7m / 19m SOURCE: AIRFINITY VIA AXIOS

Ready to welcome the world Saudi Arabia opened its doors to international tourists in 2019. And then the Covid crisis hit. How has it coped? p. 09 gulfbusiness.com

May 2021

7

ILLUSTRATION: GETTY IMAGES/DICKCRAFT

The Brief / Future

A N A LY S I S

Rehan Khan Principal consultant for BT, an educator and novelist

Signals and noise

We must learn to focus our attention on what’s important and ignore the rest

I

would like you to take a moment and sit back and contemplate the real world wherever you are – the local café where the gruff-looking man sits in the corner adding three sugars to his morning tea, or the Ash trees that shed their leaves covering the pathway on the street where you live, or the whirring sound coming from the Metro that runs by overhead. How do you sense and interpret the world of humans and things you encounter? What new understanding do you formulate from observing and being in the world of experiences? What connections can you formulate between things that, on the face of it, might appear disparate? Are you able to somehow join the dots between them?

When we try to break down the setting in which we find ourselves, the outer and the inner, we can 8

May 2021

11 million

‘bits’ of information, in the form of sensory experiences that our brains receive each second

soon become overwhelmed by the sheer amount of rich information and experiences around us. It’s in these moments that we learn to focus our attention on what’s important and ignore the superfluous. Timothy Wilson, a professor of psychology at the University of Virginia, estimates that our brain receives 11 million ‘bits’ of information in the form of sensory experiences each second. Yet despite receiving so much input, our minds can consciously process just 40 bits per second.

In other words, the brain is constantly making choices – what chunks of information to process and what to ignore. One way to instruct the choices our mind makes, according to Shawn Achor, author of The Happiness Advantage, is to look for positive signals “because the better your brain is at using its energy to focus on the positive, the greater your chances of achieving your goals”.

He cites a number of studies that suggest that picking up on positive signals can help you make better decisions, be three times more creative, generate 37 per cent more sales, improve your health, increase your productivity by 31 per cent, make you 10 times more engaged and 40 per cent more likely to get a promotion. Achor suggests we make a distinction between a signal, something we should pay attention to, and noise, something we should ignore.

He explains that information can be identified as noise if it falls into any of the following categories: • Unusable: The information will not change your behaviour; for example, reading about a natural disaster on the other side of the world, unless you plan to help the victims.

• Untimely: Information that you do not plan to use immediately and may change by the time you use it, such as currency rates for a holiday destination you are planning to travel to in six months’ time.

• Hypothetical: Where the information is “could be” as opposed to “what is”, such as a five-day weather forecast that has a 53 per cent chance of being correct.

• Distracting: In which the information you are receiving distracts you from your career or personal goals. If it does, then it is noise.

When we have limited attention and need to make a choice between a signal and noise, then directing our mental gaze to what is currently occupying our attentional space becomes crucial; otherwise, we run the risk of senseless mind wandering. Bringing attention to what we are thinking about in the moment is a process called meta-awareness. This is one of the best practices for managing our attention. The more we notice what is occupying our attentional space, the faster we can get back on track when our mind wanders, which it does 47 per cent of the time. gulfbusiness.com

The Brief / Q&A INTERVIEW

Fahd Hamidaddin CEO, Saudi Tourism Authority

Explainer: How has Saudi’s tourism sector coped with the Covid-19 crisis?

The kingdom is investing more in tourism infrastructure than any country in the world today

H

ow has Saudi Arabia’s tourism sector handled the pandemic?

Partnerships have been at the heart of Saudi’s mitigation and recovery programmes across the hospitality ecosystem, including close collaboration between the private and public sectors to create new and innovative ways of working together. At the Saudi Tourism Authority (STA), it has been our role to create a framework for the ecosystem to support local businesses in the private sector in the wake of Covid-19.

Over the past 12 months, our summer and winter domestic campaigns supported the local travel and tourism sector and provided opportunities for growth and development, even during the international lockdown. Throughout the Saudi Summer campaign, which ran between June and September 2020, average hotel The kingdom is investing in large signature projects like the Red Sea project

occupancy was at nearly 50 per cent, with peak occupancy for some destinations at almost 100 per cent. Despite increasing visitation to target destinations by more than 30 per cent year on year, our comprehensive approach to traveller safety meant that we did not see a corresponding spike in Covid-19 cases. STA continues to work with Saudi’s hospitality players, to provide the tools, learning and insights they need to increase their business opportunities.

Has this year been better than 2020 – so far?

While borders have remained closed, our key focus has been on building a solid foundation to welcome guests back into the kingdom.

Our opportunity is unique. Saudi is a new leisure destination on the global stage.

We are the authentic home of Arabia – a bold claim – but founded in multiple touchpoints and experiences, from our people

and stories, to our hospitality and beautiful, iconic locations around the country.

We are in the process of developing an international network, a global community dedicated to driving awareness about Saudi and all the beauty, diversity and hidden treasures the destination has to offer.

In 2021, we have successfully launched a domestic winter and an international brand awareness campaign, reaching audiences in 26 countries and 13 languages – our biggest such marketing initiative ever.

We launched our ‘Tourism Shapers’ programme, a new initiative to equip the local private sector with the support needed to navigate and manage the evolving tourism landscape. We also engaged the international tourism trade through our ‘Journeys in Arabia’ programme, which introduced travel and tourism companies around the world to the experiences that make Saudi a unique destination.

Amid the uncertainty that the past year has brought us, our strategy has been developed with one objective in mind: to achieve 100 million annual visits to Saudi by 2030, made up of both domestic and international travellers.

Saudi will continue to invest in developing new destination projects to support the local tourism ecosystem.

The kingdom has pushed for increased domestic tourism – have you seen that taking off?

The tourism sector is thriving, driven

by Saudi’s domestic market. Our launch of ‘Saudi Summer’ in 2020, a campaign designed to encourage Saudi nationals and residents to discover their own country, played a key role in supporting the local tourism industry. As the largest domestic tourism campaign in Saudi history, we saw a 33 per cent increase in spend on hotels, gulfbusiness.com

May 2021

9

The Brief / Alan’s Corner

restaurants and recreation/cultural activities compared to the same period in 2019.

Domestic tourism represents a huge opportunity for Saudi Arabia. The kingdom is investing more in tourism infrastructure than any country in the world today, not only in the large signature projects like the Red Sea project, Qiddiya and Amaala, but also in training, skills building, visitor experience management and, of course promotion.

Our activities are encouraging more Saudis than ever before to explore their own country and inspiring more and more young people to consider careers in the sector.

Any particular segment within the industry that is faring better than the others/has more potential?

While countries around the world adopt new strategies to return to normalcy, the global appetite to travel, explore and seek adventure outdoors has increased. Travellers are rethinking how they want to spend their vacation time and are considering visiting bucket-list attractions and lesser-known, less crowded destinations.

Saudi has an incredible range of diverse landscapes and experiences. Part of the beauty of Saudi is the unexpected. Dramatic mountain areas, lush valleys, sweeping desert dunes and pristine untouched coastlines perfectly meet the needs of the post-Covid traveller.

And for those travellers keen to pair nature and the outdoors with new discoveries, Saudi’s top sites offer rich culture and heritage experiences that are authentically Arabian. From snorkelling among the unspoiled coral reefs of the Saudi Red Sea, to exploring more than 100 tombs dating back to the Nabataean era in AlUla, there is something for every adventure seeker and cultural explorer in Saudi.

Looking ahead, when do you expect Saudi’s tourism sector to recover? And where is it headed longer-term?

Saudi introduced the first international tourism e-visa in September 2019. By March 2020, we had issued more than 400,000 tourism visas, clearly demonstrating an innate curiosity in the kingdom and demand in visitation amongst a global audience.

When travel safely resumes and borders reopen, we are confident we will see a surge in leisure arrivals once again.

In the meantime, we will continue to use our time to proactively prepare for visitors to return.

We will engage our global trade partners, empower and upskill the local private sector and support the development of the wider ecosystem so that we have a healthy, safe and robust tourism sector for tomorrow.

There is so much about Saudi for the world to discover. We are ready and we look forward to welcoming our guests safely back into the kingdom.

10

May 2021

Alan’s Corner Alan O’Neill Change consultant and speaker

‘Culture eats strategy for breakfast’ It’s the culture within an organisation that ultimately shapes how things will get done

D IT’S POSSIBLE TO ‘READ’ THE CULTURE OF AN ORGANISATION FROM HOW IT INTERACTS WITH CUSTOMERS, MEDIA, SUPPLIERS AND ITS OWN PEOPLE

uring a recent leadership workshop, I asked the question: “What is the main driver of success for an organisation?”

You can imagine the range of answers I got. “It’s about having an amazing product that is different,” said one. Another offered: “It’s all about having great people”. While others gave answers such as “great service”, “lowest prices”, “clever marketing”, I simply nodded in agreement, supporting every answer.

The reality is that all of these answers are perfectly correct in varying proportions, depending on where the organisation is in its evolution. It also depends on the competitive environment, the market and changing customer dynamics. But what is it that binds all of these concepts together and ensures they are executed effectively?

I believe the common denominator that determines the success or failure for any organisation, is its culture. Vision and mission describe ‘why’ an organisation exists. Strategy outlines ‘what’ should be done and ‘when’. Structure details ‘who’ will do what. But it’s the culture that shapes ‘how’ things will get done.

Management guru Peter Drucker was credited with saying: “Culture eats strategy for breakfast”. In corporate language, culture is often defined as ‘the way we do things around here’. It’s possible to ‘read’ the culture of an organisation from how it interacts with customers, media, suppliers and its own people.

For example, the experience you get in Spinney’s is quite different to what you get in Carrefour. That’s driven by a clearly defined brand to set context and culture to execute it consistently at every touch point, every day.

Within the definition of culture as ‘the way we do things around here’, there is a clue. Culture in essence is a combination of the values and gulfbusiness.com

The Brief / Alan’s Corner

past successes and failures, they concluded that those results were more to do with execution than the quality of the plans.

Culture Change Tips Every organisation has a culture, whether you realise it or not. You may not be able to define it or even have planned it. But you do have one. There will be elements of it that are good and some that are holding you back. I am an avid supporter of organisations taking charge and shaping their own culture.

Consider these steps in doing just that: 1. DO AN AUDIT OF YOUR CURRENT CULTURE

Firstly, conduct focus groups of your own people, customers and suppliers. Think carefully about what questions you want to ask. You need to address the softer issues such as behaviour, processes and leadership. From the findings, carefully design an independent and anonymous culture survey rather than a generic one. Resist selecting a partner just because of the software they use. Engage a company that understands culture and helps you to ask the right questions. That will ensure you get quality insights as a result.

2. DESIGN A NEW CULTURE, USING ‘VALUES’

ILLUSTRATION: GETTY IMAGES/LUCIANO LOZANO

Use the feedback and insights to design a new culture, built on a set of values that respect the heritage of your brand, the ambition of the key stakeholders and the changes in your environment (such as competition, customers’ changing needs, employee expectations and so on). Do not use generic words from a Google search that any organisation could also claim. Make them your own.

3. USE THIS ‘GAP ANALYSIS’ TO PLAN YOUR CHANGE PROGRAMME

There will of course be a gap between your actual culture and your ideal – there always is! Use these insights to develop a plan and a structured change programme. This is better when it is facilitated by a third party, to share best practices, to challenge you and keep you on track. behaviours of its people, the leadership style, the processes and the rules they live by.

It’s very encouraging to see huge brands like Disney attribute so much of their success to culture.

They proactively defined their culture and continue to embed it right across their organisations. And if an organisation of its size can do it, then a more nimble SME should certainly be able to do that too.

I was invited to kick-start a culture change project for a family business in Dubai. With a level of maturity and openness, they acknowledged that their culture needs a refresh. As they examined gulfbusiness.com

THE LAST WORD

A proactively defined culture impacts your customer experience, how engaged your people are to your brand, your marketing, internal controls and how decisions are made. In other words, everything that happens in your organisation is shaped by your culture. And remember, others can copy your strategy but nobody can copy your culture.

Check back in here over the next few months and I’ll go into more detail for each of my 7-Steps to Profit.

May 2021

11

THE POPE AND THE GRAND IMAM

A THORNY PATH

A book that sheds light on the various stages of the Human Fraternity Document created by His Holiness Pope Francis and His Eminence the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar.

AVAIL ABLE IN ENGLISH AND ARABIC AT ALL MAJOR BOOKSTORES IN THE UAE AND ON BOOKSARABIA.COM

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The Brief / Startups A N A LY S I S

Order in Online food delivery has witnessed a substantial increase in recent years, writes Zainab Mansoor more on developing niche or underrepresented cuisines while also maintaining our position in popular cuisines as demand for dishes that were traditionally not popular have grown significantly,” he adds.

Kuwait-based KLC Virtual Restaurants operates more than 40 virtual restaurants which have been developed in-house across a variety of different cuisines from 15 cloud kitchens in the country.

ILLUSTRATION: GETTY IMAGES/REALBKK

OVERALL ECOSYSTEM

C

onsiderable growth in food delivery platforms, the Covid-19 pandemic and the explosion of digital technologies have triggered substantial shifts in consumer behaviour, bringing to the fore the rising trend of off-premise dining.

These trends are forcing traditional restaurants to rethink their strategies and digitise their services for the new virtual customer. They are also prompting the growth of several virtual restaurants that are keen to cater to the ‘remote’ inbound end-user, by leveraging digital applications and third-party services.

“Consumer behaviour has changed drastically and has accelerated growth in online food delivery as many restaurants have shifted their businesses from dine-in and take away to delivery,” CEO and co-founder of KLC Virtual Restaurants, Mubarak Jaffar tells Gulf Business.

“This competitive landscape has led us to focus gulfbusiness.com

“CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR HAS CHANGED DRASTICALLY AND HAS ACCELERATED GROWTH IN ONLINE FOOD DELIVERY”

Kuwait’s F&B landscape has transformed significantly in recent years. According to a KPMG report, Kuwait recorded the highest spend on delivery in the region in 2019. Furthermore, while the average UAE consumer ordered five delivery meals a month in 2019, Kuwait came close at just under five meals per month.

“Online food delivery has grown significantly during the last several years – specifically across the GCC. Covid-19 has accelerated the rise of virtual restaurants as many traditional established food players see this as a solution to utilise their infrastructure in the current landscape along with the rise in cloud kitchens,” says Jaffar.

The company’s cloud kitchen business model in Kuwait is vertically integrated, which means that it manages all functions in-house, from the creation and development of a virtual brand to kitchen operations and finally delivery of food to the customer.

“We are expanding our reach in Kuwait and plan to launch several cloud kitchens during the course of the year that will house our new virtual brands focused on niche cuisines. We are continuously researching online food delivery trends across the world and will continue developing and upgrading our menus, recipes and introducing new dishes across all territories,” he adds.

The company has a strategic partnership with cloud kitchen platform Kitopi and has launched more than 20 of its brands in the UAE with plans to launch all of its current and new brands later this year.

“We have also recently opened our third cloud kitchen in Dubai Motor City and are planning on opening several more kitchens and hopefully cover the majority of areas across the UAE by end of the year,” notes Jaffar.

May 2021

13

The Brief / Social COMMENT

Zaib Shadani Managing director, Shadani Consulting

now an integral part of the customer journey and sales funnel.

In the rapidly evolving world of social media, marketers have to keep integrating new and trending tactics into their digital campaigns. With online audiences craving authenticity, uniqueness and a real connection, here are three tips that will help you fulfil all these requirements on Instagram.

Tip 1. Instagram stickers are the holy grail of engagement Instagram stickers are a tried and tested way to boost follower engagement and engage in authentic conversations with audiences. It’s no surprise that over 60 per cent of businesses use stickers and other interactive elements on their stories. The beauty of stickers are that they can be used for both photos and video content as well. In fact videos with stickers have some of the highest engagement rates when it comes to Instagram content. While there is a whole portfolio of stickers to choose from, some of the most popular ones to generate conversations are the ‘question’ and ‘poll’ stickers.

Tip 2. Reels are the ‘real deal’

Stand out on Instagram

Three steps to help you boost your brand discoverability on the social media platform

S

ocial media may have started out as a fun way to socialise and share snippets of your life with your community of followers, but it has morphed into an important and fundamental component of any brand’s marketing strategy.

Studies indicate that more than 50 per cent of all new brand discoveries happen on Instagram, hence strengthening the case for having a robust presence on the social media platform built into a company’s marketing mix.

The ways that consumers acquire information in a digital age is completely different from what it was a decade ago. Now, consumers are constantly on their phones and on social media. In order to effectively engage with audiences, brands need to ensure a strong presence on platforms like Instagram – since this not only allows businesses to interact directly and in real-time with their customers, but it’s also

14

May 2021

The introduction of ‘Reels’ in the Middle East is a game changer. Essentially, Reels enables users to cut and edit up to 30-second videos with text, music, stickers and other special effects. The results can be highly-addictive short form content that attracts and engages Instagram users. They are a great way to grow your brand’s footprint by showcasing your business’ personality, values and core differentiators in a fun and engaging way. At the heart of it, social media is not about traditional hard-selling tactics and more about connecting with audiences and resonating on a common level. If you can show that your brand values align with your customers’ own values, then your social media followers will become your fans for life.

Tips. 3. Let’s go Live

+50%

of all new brand discoveries happen on Instagram, studies indicate

The popularity of the Instagram ‘Live’ feature skyrocketed during Covid-19, with Instagram revealing that it had seen over 70 per cent uptick in live streaming at the beginning of the pandemic and associated lockdown period. The results, however, have had far greater ramifications with even LinkedIn jumping on the ‘Live’ bandwagon and slowly rolling out this feature.

One of the major benefits to marketers of using Instagram Live is the high levels of interaction – if executed properly. Using the feature can also help expand your company’s reach, because ‘Live’ stories appear ahead of regular stories and, hence, get more visibility. gulfbusiness.com

The Brief / Tourism A N A LY S I S

Back to life

The discovery of a 3,000-year-old city may just be the impetus required for Egypt’s tourism

A

PHOTO: KHALED DESOUKI/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

rchaeologists in Egypt have discovered a 3,000-year-old “lost city” buried under the sands in Luxor, home to the Nile Valley’s famed Valley of the Kings, the latest pharaonic-era wonder to be unearthed as the country seeks to revive its tourism industry.

The city, known as “The Rise of Aten,” dates to the reign of Amenhotep III which began around 1,390 BC, and was later used by successors including Tutankhamun, according to a statement from the Egyptian mission that made the find.

“The discovery of this lost city is the second most important archaeological discovery since the tomb of Tutankhamun,” Betsy Bryan, professor of Egyptian art and archeology at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, said in the statement.

It offers “a rare glimpse into the life of the Ancient Egyptians at the time where the empire was at its wealthiest,” she said.

The announcement comes after Egypt staged a grandiose parade to move 22 royal mummies to a new Cairo museum that celebrates the country’s ancient heritage.

The procession, which featured trucks adorned with pharaonic designs, was carefully choreographed

gulfbusiness.com

Archaeologists have uncovered the remains of an ancient city in the desert outside Luxor that they say is the "largest" ever found in Egypt and dates back to a golden age of the pharaohs 3,000 years ago

HISTORICAL RECORDS SUGGEST THE SETTLEMENT CONSISTED OF THREE ROYAL PALACES BELONGING TO KING AMENHOTEP III, AS WELL AS THE EMPIRE’S ADMINISTRATIVE AND INDUSTRIAL CENTRE to bolster interest in Egypt’s important tourism industry, which has been hit by the pandemic.

Excavations by a team under Egyptian archaeologist Zahi Hawass started work in September 2020 and soon found a large, well preserved city, with intact walls, a bakery and ovens, tombs, and rooms filled with tools, as well as rings, scarabs and colored pottery. Evidence of several industries, including spinning and weaving, metal manufacture and glass-making, was also found. The mission was conducted jointly with Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.

Historical records suggest the settlement consisted of three royal palaces belonging to King Amenhotep III, as well as the empire’s administrative and industrial centre. Mud bricks bearing the pharaoh’s seal, or cartouche, confirmed the dating of the city. Further work at the site could help explain what Bryan described as one of the age’s greatest mysteries: Why did Amenhotep III’s son Akhenaten and his wife Nefertiti move the dynasty’s capital to a new location at Amarna?

The coronavirus pandemic cut tourism revenue to $801m in the three months from last July, compared to $4.2bn in the same quarter a year earlier, according to the central bank.

Bloomberg May 2021

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The Brief / Sustainability COMMENT

Aamer Sheikh President, PepsiCo – MENA and Pakistan

Making a business case Investing in a circular economy isn’t just about protecting the environment, it’s also good business

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021 isn’t an easy year – not for businesses, governments or people. We’re looking at a complex set of challenges as we build economies back and attempt to ‘reverse’ the damage done to the environment.

With less than 10 years to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the clock is ticking, and we need concerted action to fight climate change and make businesses more resilient for the current vulnerable environment.

At the heart of this recovery is the circular economy. We need to tackle economic issues and the climate crisis simultaneously. A circular economy isn’t just environment-friendly – it’s a multi-million dollar business opportunity and more businesses need to recognise that.

When waste is looped back into the supply chain in the form of new products, we’re extending its lifecycle – keeping it in the production system and out of the environment.

According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, adopting a circular economy approach across plastics, steel, aluminum, cement, and food can achieve a reduction of 9.3 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases by 2050. It also presents a unique market opportunity of close to $4.5 trillion by 2030.

In January this year, the UAE government approved the Circular Economy Policy for the next decade, which touches on four priority areas – green infrastructure, sustainable transportation, sustainable manufacturing, and sustainable food production and consumption. As the Minister of Climate Change pointed out, this is a call to action for all stakeholders across the board to consider how they can think and act in a more circular way to support this transition.

From ensuring the efficient use of natural resources, shifting to cleaner industrial production methods that involve the use of AI and 4IR technologies to adopting sustainable consumption and production patterns that reduce environmental stress, the private sector has an indispensable role to play in the process. But how does that translate for big players like us in the F&B sector – an industry which is looking at an opportunity of more than $30bn?

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$4.5 trillion

The market opportunity that adopting a cirtcular economy can bring about by 2030

THE IMPORTANCE OF COLLABORATION

Forging a path to a circular economy requires collaboration across the ecosystem. The UAE is working towards a sustainable environment and infrastructure through new initiatives and KPIs to measure its targets. Similarly, late last year, energy ministers from the world’s leading economies backed Saudi Arabia’s circular carbon economy strategy. For companies that help shape culture, we need to inspire action. We need to go beyond lip service and think about the role we can play in realising these goals.

That means partnering with governments to reduce, recycle and reinvent. It means investing in local resilience, local economies and local supply chains to advance recycling infrastructure. It means elevating public discourse on the importance of resilient food systems and sharing learnings across industries. It means calling for bold new actions and encouraging public policymakers, private stakeholders and development practitioners to improve policy coordination and practical collaboration. It means educating consumers, manufacturers and retailers on the role they can play in driving a circular economy.

DISRUPTIVE PLAYERS

WE NEED TO BUILD A WORLD WHERE PLASTICS NEED NEVER BECOME WASTE

Today, multinational organisations with decades of experience, complex supply chains and processes can struggle to keep pace with circular innovation.

By contrast, entrepreneurs may have the disruptive solutions to solve these challenges, but lack the capital, resources or networks to put their plans into action. Connecting multinational actors with disruptive players can empower stakeholders across the value chain to create the kind of systems and positive incentives that drive real change.

INNOVATION

We need to build a world where plastics need never become waste. This means looking at increasing the recyclability of packaging, the use of recycled content in packaging, and recycling rates. Improving regional collection rates helps to increase the supply of recycled plastic and will further drive the demand for recycling facilities which are still limited in the region. gulfbusiness.com

The Brief / Sustainability

private sector. The time is now to invest in the region’s waste management and recycling industries so that waste can be more effectively managed.

REINVENT PACKAGING

Where it is environmentally efficient, businesses need to consider alternative packaging materials to plastic – for example aluminum, plant-based and compostable or biodegradable packaging. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation estimates that converting 20 per cent of plastic packaging into reuse models is a $10bn business opportunity.

ILLUSTRATION: GETTY IMAGES/ASTAMAIS

TRANSFORMING CONSUMPTION

To increase the amount of recycled content in packaging, we need several pieces of the puzzle to fit together. Replacing virgin PET with recycled PET (rPET) is part of a closed loop recycling solution for beverage bottles, which minimises the carbon footprint. However, there simply isn’t enough recycled content in the supply chain today. The only way to make more is to drive higher recycling rates.

POLICY REFORMS

We need more governments in the region and across the world to adopt policies that allow for rPET in food and beverage packaging. We also need to invest in boosting recycling rates by forming new partnerships to help develop enhanced recycling technologies.

In line with national agendas, waste management infrastructure in several regional markets needs to be better equipped through collaboration with the gulfbusiness.com

Green profit

There is a business opportunity in converting a fifth of plastic packaging into reusable models IN US DOLLARS

20%

$10bn

SOURCE: THE ELLEN MACARTHUR FOUNDATION

Amid the unprecedented fallout from the Covid-19 crisis, the World Food Programme estimates that the number of people experiencing acute food insecurity around the world has doubled to nearly 270 million.

We need to create more products with ingredients that have been grown sustainably. This means employing regenerative farming practices, made in manufacturing facilities that are carbon- and water-neutral, packaged using materials that are 100 per cent recycled or renewable and transported via optimised transportation and logistics processes. For retailers, it means focusing on redistribution of unsold food and encouraging recycling for all materials. For consumers, it means preventing avoidable food waste through storage mechanisms and smart buying. They also need to recycle and sort their waste to minimise the amount of packaging and food cluttering landfills.

To really drive widespread change, the entire food value chain needs to be addressed to ensure we’re creating an inclusive, efficient, sustainable and nutritious system. It’s going to take everyone on earth making decisions that are good for them and the planet to help reverse the trajectory we’re currently on and build a sustainable global food system.

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The Brief / Infographics

Making a difference

Urgent need The number of people of concern grew by 12 per cent in 2019 Refugees 26m

Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) 45.7m

Venezuelans displaced abroad 3.6m

With the refugee crisis unfolding across the world amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, the UNHCR’s Refugee Zakat Fund grew its reach to over two million beneficiaries in 13 countries in 2020

79.5m

Forcibly displaced people

Asylum seekers 4.2m

HOW MANY OF THEM LIVE IN OIC COUNTRIES? Rest of the world 46%

OIC 54%

REFUGEES BY HOST COUNTRY 1.8m

Colombia

Iraq 510.4m

Budget needs in zakat distribution countries for this year

Pakistan Uganda

IN US DOLLARS

Germany

Lebanon 488.4m

Mauritania 27.1 m

3.6m

Turkey

The call for 2021

Iran 97.2m

Pakistan 99.8m

1.4m 1.4m 1.1m

(Year end 2019)

Bangladesh 288.9m

Egypt 117.5m

Burkina Faso 92m

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Jordan 405m Nigeria 96.4m

Somalia 157.7m

Yemen 271.0m India 9.5m

Thailand 22m gulfbusiness.com

2020 IN NUMBERS Breakdown of funds, expenditure and needs by country Although zakat allocations have increased towards UNHCR’s Zakat Fund, the amount still falls short of the requirement Zakat received

IN US DOLLARS

Operations expenditure*

Total zakat-compliant needs

Lebanon 5.7m

66m

146.8m

Yemen 26.5m

48.6m

102.9m

Iraq 1.1m

18.8m

*UNHCR’s expenditure in 2020 on activities identified as zakat-compliant in the 10 targeted countries via the distribution of cash and goods, as of March 1, 2021

94m

Jordan 0.9m

62.4m

67.6m

Bangladesh 8.7m

27.8m

41.9m

In total

Zakat donations covered around 20% of UNHCR’s expenditure on zakat-compliant activities in 10 countries

Egypt 0.4m

8.3m

18.3m

Pakistan

Zakat received 48.6m

0.6m 7.8m 8.1m

India

Total zakatcompliant needs 485.1m

PLUS

80,439 3.2m 3.7m

ZAKAT RECEIVED

4.5m

Mauritania 85,425 0.6m 1m

Niger 25,048 0.7m 0.9m

55%

Of zakat donations were for Yemen

For 'where most needed' category, which was distributed fully to IDPs in Iraq based on needs assessment

UNHCR’S ZAKAT FUND BENEFICIARIES 2020 1.03m

87%

97%

From institutional partners and philanthropists

Of zakat donations came from MENA

MOST SUPPORTED COMMUNITIES IN 2020 1.63m

2019 2016-18

Operations expenditure* 244m

651,425 580,911 IDPs in Yemen

34,440

Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh** and India

328,654

Syrian refugees in Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt

**Beneficiaries in Bangladesh also include 32,000 individuals from the host community who received cash assistance

Sadaqah - voluntary charity

The Covid-19 impact

Unlike zakat, which is mandatory, sadaqah is voluntary, whose amount is at the will of the benefactor

$12.9m

90%

Was raised through sadaqah donations in 2020

MENA

+500,000

SADAQAH RECEIVED

BY DONOR REGION

People benefited across 10 countries: Egypt Yemen Iraq Lebanon Sudan Bangladesh Ethiopia Chad Mauritania Jordan

gulfbusiness.com

10%

NonMENA

83%

Institutional partners & philanthropists

17%

Digital giving

SADAQAH RECEIVED

BY DONOR TYPE

The pandemic has worsened the struggle for refugees, IDPs and host communities

1.4m

more people are food-insecure in Syria (total is 9.3m)

2.45m

more people are food-insecure in Pakistan (total is 42.5m)

9.6m

at risk of famine in Yemen SOURCE: UNHCR ISLAMIC PHILANTHROPY ANNUAL REPORT (REFUGEE ZAKAT FUND) 2021

May 2021

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The Brief / Lightbox

Ashok Kurmi, a pharmaceutical company employee dressed as comic character Spiderman, sprays disinfectant outside the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj terminus railway station in Mumbai on April 21, 2021 20

May 2021

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PHOTO: PUNIT PARANJPE/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

COVER STORY / MONTY HOLDING

Digitisation has transformed the way industries operate, with businesses now required to innovate constantly. For Mountasser Hachem, CEO and founder of Monty Holding, the leap has been about seeking opportunities in fintech with ambitious plans to launch the “world’s largest digital bank”

BY AARTI NAGRAJ

PLANNING A DIGITAL FUTURE May 2021

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COVER STORY / MONTY HOLDING

If there has been one word that has now become a cliché for discussing the economy during the Covid-19 pandemic, it is arguably ‘digitisation’.

The crisis forced companies to innovate and accelerated digital transformation plans. Every sector has had to adapt to changing consumer demands while also ensuring cost efficiencies.

“D

igital transition has been the main focus during this past year and will remain a focal point for many industries and businesses in the future,” says Mountasser Hachem, CEO and founder of Monty Holding – the parent company of regional telecoms solutions provider Monty Mobile.

“It helped organisations overcome most of the challenges – not just those set by the pandemic.

Without this major development, many companies and even industries would have experienced a distressed period. But the challenge resides in the ability to not just develop digitisation to meet current demands and improve services, but to also keep up with new future trends,” he elaborates.

It is to tap into the future that Hachem has now diversified his business by entering into the fintech space – an industry that is set to take off in the region. According to consultancy PwC, although smartphone penetration is at 96 per cent in the GCC region – well above the global average of 58 per cent,

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fintech has not developed at a similar pace. However, that is rapidly changing, driven by evolving consumer preferences.

A survey of more than 1,000 respondents in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt

by PwC last year found that 53 per cent had used smartphone payments for online deliveries during the pandemic. More than 90 per cent of those respondents also stated that they would continue using smartphone payments even after the crisis had subsided.

“Regional governments have understood the scope for rapid fintech growth and have sought to introduce regulations to facilitate market development,” says PwC. In Saudi Arabia, for instance, the Financial Sector Development Program (FSDP) is spearheading the move towards a cashless society by targeting 70 per cent of transactions to be cashless by 2030.

“Entering the world of fintech was not an easy decision nor an easy implementation. However, this step was much needed to cope with current global demands and trends. This line of business will offer us new challenges in terms of new products and services to forge, and, at the same time, it will open new opportunities for Monty Holding,” explains Hachem.

The company has set up Monty Capital, a Swiss financial institution based in Geneva through an acquisition, as part of wider plans to establish and launch its own global neo digital bank, My Monty.

“There is now a clear demand for banking processes based on a simple and straightforward approach with consumers moving towards digital banking services to perform a lot of their daily needs. Many tools are offering features that were not doable through traditional banking methods. The evolution in fintech gulfbusiness.com

Mountasser Hachem, CEO and founder of Monty Holding

A connected region

The MENA region stands out when it comes to mobile penetration UNIQUE MOBILE SUBSCRIBERS

MOBILE INTERNET USERS 458m

394m

45%

280m people

+2.5% CAGR

2019

By the end of 2020

2025

MOBILE PENETRATION RATE

65%

68%

$70bn will be spent in

the MENA region on infrastructure rollouts between 2019 and 2025 SOURCE: GSMA

gulfbusiness.com

technology is expected to further trigger the growing demand for such services,” states Hachem.

“The ability to perform banking services anywhere on the planet is what My Monty is targeting. Our new services will strengthen our presence and reach new regions in the emerging markets. Our new fintech products will incorporate many banking and financial services that go beyond the need for any traditional bank access. From payment gateways and financial advisory services, to digital and core banking as well as direct carrier billing, our fintech solution will enable us to target and offer financial inclusion to many unbanked regions with over one billion residents who have no access to traditional banking services, thus fulfilling our main purpose and mission.”

Some of the services that My Monty will offer include allowing customers to open a paperless account without a minimum amount; physical and virtual “any currency” payment cards; online banking services; money transfer and remittances; bill payments and nano lending.

Meanwhile, planned features of the new venture, aimed to be implemented this year, include digital onboarding (covering ID verification and profile management); payment instruments (link to different cards, forex transaction management and payments); AML and anomaly detection; and personal finance management.

Additional features including loyalty management, AI and digital lending are slated to be added on next year, with future plans also envisioning an expansion into wealth management, stocks and cryptocurrency.

For the new venture, Hachem is looking to collaborate with banks – starting May 2021

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COVER STORY / MONTY HOLDING

July – to capitalise on their facilities and help the sector transition from a traditional mindset to a digitalised and technology-oriented standing. He is primarily looking to tap into banks and investors interested in entering the South East Asian, Middle Eastern and African markets, who are keen to explore the fintech space. My Monty is also seeking to partner with mobile operators who would like to manage their wallets and offer a wider range of services to their subscribers.

“My Monty will give banks and mobile operators the opportunity to manage their wallets across two aspects. On one side, they can develop their wallet capabilities by allowing a better customer experience. And from the other side, it will give them the ability to increase the digital aspects of their wallet services, to a wallet-tech futuristic approach,” he says.

According to Hachem, “as of July 1st, we will start welcoming investors and partners aiming to become part of the largest digital bank in the world”.

Despite not being part of the traditional banking ecosystem, Hachem is confident that the company has the scope to run the new venture successfully.

“This is not the first launch of such an entity by entrepreneurs coming out of the traditional banking institution. Our past experience, innovation and willingness to invest in advanced knowledge that meet current demands as well as future trends will be our assets to gain ground in this new rising industry,” he states.

“Fintech is the future, and it is grabbing a lot of attention these days by many different industries which are complementing their operations in one way or another to achieve higher efficiencies and better services. In addition, the demand for such services is rising exponentially. It is a good time to ride the wave in this direction and develop ourselves in creating this futuristic technology,” Hachem adds.

He is also confident that Monty Mobile and the new fintech venture will be able to combine their strengths to offer new synergies.

“Mobile operators and fintech are without a doubt two different types of businesses. They come from different industries, operate and target different markets, have different sizes, and different cultures. However, there are several areas in which they can collaborate and offer creative and new technologies to the market even though they are so distinct in every aspect.

They complement each other. Operators, through their marketing and distribution expertise, would offer a wide access to the market, while fintech will bring about fast, innovative and flexible competence,” he explains.

MAKING THE CONNECTION An interesting exhibit at Terra – the Sustainability Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai, which was open to the public between January to April, was an area where visitors were asked to pick three things they would carry with them in case their houses burned down/got submerged in the ocean. There were all kinds of items listed, but a popular choice – not surprisingly – was their mobile phone.

For most of us today, the day starts and ends with our mobile phone. Its usage 26

May 2021

has moved from being a good-to-have to a musthave, with manufacturers scrambling to add new features and make us ever more connected with the devices.

The increasing use of the mobile ecosystem has in turn put more pressure on network operators, who have been forced to constantly repurpose their offerings in line with market demands. “Revenue growth from traditional mobile services is coming under increasing pressure because of price competition and market saturation, particularly in the highly penetrated GCC markets,” industry body GSMA said in a 2020 report.

But it also credited the mobile industry in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) of “rising to gulfbusiness.com

COVER STORY / MONTY HOLDING

and reducing leakages in their networks to increase the challenge of sustaining social and economic activities in the region during the efficiency of their systems and decrease losses on pandemic, despite the unprecedented growth in data traffic”. By the end of 2020, their revenues.” nearly 280 million people in the region (45 per cent of the population) were conAccording to GSMA, $70bn will be spent in the nected to mobile internet.

MENA region on infrastructure rollouts between As someone deeply connected with the regional telecom industry for over 20 2019 and 2025. years, Hachem knows the market well and has seen its rapid evolution.

“To keep up with such a growth rate will not be “The telecom industry has been at the centre since the beginning of the digital easy and will come at a definite cost. I believe that evolution that started a couple of years ago. Since then, many forces were buildthe telecom sector in the GCC specifically will likely ing pressure on mobile operators’ businesses,” he says. go through some sort of consolidation given the huge “The past year was exceptional; it was full of unexpected circumstances that investment required to secure and structure a new led to major changes in consumer behaviour. Put simply, consumers shifted to business model. digitisation through their phones to fulfil most of their daily basic needs. Commu“New revenue generation models as well as nication, shopping, banking services, and even remote work all became accessible new advanced businesses have to be meticulously at the palm of their hand. explored. The future will be defined by this new “This situation, which affected the telecom industry as much as the subscribers, form of digitisation. Operators in this region having prompted Monty Mobile to take action through the development of innovative a suitable infrastructure will be able to take advanproducts offered to mobile operators that meet subscribers’ current demands in tage of those trends wherein lies most of the future this particular phase,” he explains. growth,” says Hachem.

Monty Mobile, as a VAS (value added services) provider and an international However, while the telecom sector has been SMS wholesale intermediary hub, introduced products such as Mobile Virtual instrumental in bringing about digital transformaCredit Card, Story RBT (and Video RBT) and M-Health (including the Corona tion, they have not been able to reap significant app) to support operators. financial benefit from it, opines Hachem.

That the market is booming is no secret; the number of unique mobile subscrib“The role that mobile operaers in the MENA is set to grow from tors are playing in translating this 394 million in 2019 to 458 million digital service to subscribers has in 2025, expanding at a CAGR of not returned the full value for 2.5 per cent, according to mobile mobile operators. The digital shift industry expert GSMA. The mobile has posed key barriers for the telpenetration rate during the period ecom industry that include the is also estimated to increase from need for new revenue generating 65 per cent to 68 per cent. opportunities.

Looking specifically at mobile “Revenue generation from trainternet users (excluding licensed ditional communication channels cellular IoT), numbers are set to are severely affected and it is now grow at a CAGR of 5.1 per cent, important for operators to broaden from 264 million in 2019 to 357 their focus and reach services in million in 2025, with the penetrathe internet of things, digital sertion rate rising from 43 per cent vices and new models of digital to 53 per cent. Meanwhile SIM connections (excluding licensed communication structure featuring cellular IoT) in the MENA region interfaces such as augmented and are also slated to increase from 636 virtual reality,” he states.

In its report, GSMA similarly million in 2019 to 709 million in states that due to the increasing saturation in mobile markets across the region, 2025, at a CAGR of 1.8 per cent, according to GSMA. particularly in the GCC states, operators are seeking new revenue streams – “Currently the telecom industry in the Middle because of which momentum for enterprise services is growing.

East and Africa is going through an inflection point.

“Competition in this industry has been very tight. A race to win long-term cusIn the last couple of years, the sector was growing tomers and subscribers’ loyalty always exists. It is driving most mobile operators rapidly. We witnessed many telecom companies to become more disposed towards searching for new products and services to expanding through regional mobile operators’ guarantee different sources of revenue,” adds Hachem. acquisitions for the purpose of promoting their Looking ahead, Hachem remains optimistic that the key to progress will remain proper networks,” Hachem explains. innovation – but only when it’s combined with the very basic values that any ser“The rapid population growth in this region, espevice provider offers. cially in the youth segment, combined with a growth “As I always convey to my team, never give up no matter the difficulty of the in smartphone penetration, will lead to a booming situation. While innovation is the main key to our progress, the continuous availasubscriber growth. Thus mobile operators have to bility and quality of our service will remain the key driver to retain our customers’ keep up with such growth and new upcoming serloyalty,” he says. vice requirements by updating their services and Hachem certainly appears to be headed in the direction of the future. upgrading their infrastructures as well as protecting

“As of July 1st, we will start welcoming investors and partners aiming to become part of the largest digital bank in the world”

gulfbusiness.com

May 2021

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BRAND VIEW

Supporting a circular economy in the GCC Dubai-based DGrade recycles plastic bottles into high-quality sustainable clothing by way of its Greenspun technology

T

he sheer statistics around plastic pollution are staggering. National Geographic estimates that roughly half of all the plastic ever manufactured was produced in the last 15 years. The global production of plastic has risen from 2.3 million tonnes in 1950 to 448 million tonnes in 2015. Worryingly, that figure is projected to double by 2050.

Here in Dubai, an SME that was started a little over a decade ago – DGrade – has established a process to take PET plastic bottles and convert them into yarn that can be used to create high-quality fabrics.

Its Greenspun technology uses a process whereby plastic bottles are washed, shredded, melted into fibre and then spun into its trademarked Greenspun yarn.

DGrade has been providing a sustainable solution for corporate uniforms and branded clothing lines since 2010 by producing bespoke products for clients with its proprietary yarn.

The company is careful to reduce its own impact on the environment in the process of converting the plastic bottles into yarn which effectively diverts plastic from landfills. Using recycled plastic to produce new products supports a circular economy by utilising discarded plastic as a resource and reducing

DGrade produces a wide range of textiles including shirts, trousers, caps, face masks, backpacks, carry bags, blankets, and towels. It can manufacture more than 200 different types of fabric

backpacks, carry bags, blankets, and towels, among others. It can manufacture more than 200 different types of fabric from jersey, twill, canvas, and denim to fleece. The yarn can be treated further to make garments bacteriaresistant, UV-resistant, waterproof or even fire retardant giving the end products several uses – from uniforms and accessories to branded merchandise. Products are designed and produced according to client specifications and can be printed with custom logos and designs too.

Plastic recycling rates are reportedly less than 10 per cent across the GCC. DGrade is working to change that. Over the past three years, it has expanded its operations to directly collect local PET plastic for recycling.

It does so through its Simply Bottles recycling initiative which works with businesses, events and schools to recycle their plastic bottles and through local waste management companies. Looking ahead, these sources reliance on other resources including oil. will help provide the 1,200 tonnes per month DGrade’s process of producing Greenspun – of PET which DGrade plans to process into which doesn’t use any oil – uses 50 per cent hot washed PET flake through its Kizad freless energy, 20 per cent less water and proezone facility. duces 55 per cent fewer carbon emissions The new 4,700-square-metre facility will compared to virgin polyester yarn. wash, shred and sort the PET plastic from It produces a wide range of textiles labels and lids. The lids are processed and sold including shirts, trousers, caps, face masks, off to other plastic recyclers, while the PET plastic is hot washed and processed through DGrade’s supply chain into Greenspun yarn.

Choosing to go down the sustainable road can make good business sense too for companies embarking on this path. Businesses have a vested interest in combating pollution and sourcing sustainably as governments and cusDGrade has been providing a sustainable solution for corporate uniforms and branded clothing lines since 2010 tomers place a greater

Above: The new facility at Kizad freezone will process 1,200 tonnes of PET per month Right: DGrade has been appointed as an official Dubai Expo 2020 licensee

focus on sustainability and sustainable manufacturing processes.

DGrade’s Simply Bottles also creates awareness for plastic pollution and recycling through activities such as workshops, seminars and desert clean-ups. The programme currently works with a range of clients and more than 180 schools in the UAE. It plans to expand this Simply Bottles recycling initiative from entities within the UAE to other countries across the GCC over the next 1-2 years.

DGrade’s creations are already being recognised at the governmental level within the country. It was appointed as an official Expo 2020 Dubai licensee, and its t-shirts with the Expo logo are being offered for sale at the Expo 2020 Sustainability Pavilion.

Another example of how DGrade is partnering with organisations and driving a circular economy is its partnership with Yas Marina

Circuit. In 2019, it partnered with Yas Marina Circuit to collect and recycle plastic from the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, establishing activations to engage visitors and placing PET recycling bins around the venue to recover PET plastic.

More than 72,000 water bottles were collected during the event and then recycled into uniforms by DGrade for Yas Marina Circuit employees. It also works closely with Mai Dubai Water for its PET water bottle collection and production of sustainable uniforms and merchandise.

DGrade is determined to play a key role in supporting a circular economy in the region with plans to expand its PET plastic collection programme and partner with governments, blue-chip companies and smaller organisations alike, to support them in taking action to combat plastic pollution and support a circular economy.

FEATURES / SOCIETY

BEYOND BOUNDARIES

Rabbi Marc Schneier has been working tirelessly to champion the cause of interfaith relations and build bridges between the GCC and Israel. And slowly but surely, that journey has fructified Aarti Nagraj

W

hen I interviewed Rabbi Marc Schneier in December last year, he made a prediction that the rift among the GCC states would be mended very soon. By the next time we spoke, in March, that prediction had borne fruit with Qatar normalising relations with the other Gulf states.

Resolving conflicts and promoting greater harmony is a subject close to the rabbi’s heart – whether that is across faiths or beyond borders. And that’s a journey he has been on for several years now.

A pioneer in building Jewish-Muslim relations, the rabbi started working on bridging ties between the two faiths way back in 2005. “My sole objective, since 2005, has been to find the path to narrow the divide – the chasm – between 1.6 billion Muslims and 16 million Jews. And thank God it’s been an extraordinary journey. I’m not going to represent that we have arrived at the final destination of Muslim-Jewish relations, but the good news is that the journey has begun, and we’ve had so many successes along the way,” he says.

A key element of spreading this message has been the book, Sons of Abraham, co-authored by Rabbi Schneier and Imam Shamsi Ali, which revolves around a candid conversation on the issues that divide and unite Jews and Muslims. The book, which features a foreword by former US President Bill Clinton, talks about how Rabbi Schneier, who grew up deeply suspicious of Muslims, and Imam Shamsi Ali, who believed that all Jews wanted to destroy Muslims, managed to overcome their prejudices and become friends. “[The first time] we met I barely looked at him, you know, I had this certain hesitation when it came to Muslims. But we were on the set together [for a TV panel discussion] and then we decided to have lunch.

And the rest is history,” the rabbi says.

To further champion the need for interfaith 30

May 2021

dialogue and greater understanding, the two religious leaders decided to write the book.

“It was very, very important for us to be an author on this subject, to gain greater credibility and legitimacy, and most importantly, to disseminate the message of the book that as the children of Abraham, we share a common fate and how our single destiny must strengthen our bonds of concern, compassion and caring for each other. I felt it was very important to write a book of what would become the definitive text in Muslim-Jewish relations,” the rabbi states.

GCC TIES

Rabbi Marc Schneier addressing former Saudi King Abdullah on behalf of American religious leaders in New York in November 2009

The rabbi was also a pioneer when it came to developing ties with the GCC region, having established connections with the late King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia 12 years ago. That led to introductions with the heads of state in Bahrain and Qatar.

“I think my challenge at the time was not MuslimJewish relations, it was more Gulf-Israel relations. For 12 years, I helped to sensitise Gulf leaders and Muslim faith leaders that Israel for the Jewish people is not a political issue, it’s a religious one. So if you want to have an authentic dialogue with the Jewish people, you can’t ask to bifurcate Israel from Judaism.

“Not everyone necessarily wanted to hear what I was saying, but they did go through a process of acknowledgement. And I think that greatly contributed to the Abraham Ac c o r d s b e c a u s e , there’s the political platform – and I headed up the interfaith platform – in a region such as the Gulf, which is so steeped in religion, you cannot move this process forward without having the approval and the support of the religious leadership of the gulfbusiness.com

FEATURES / SOCIETY

Covid-19 crisis passes.

“There are great opportunities, and the objective is clear – we will use the Hampton synagogue as a springboard to challenge other Jewish congregations to follow suit and to look to the Gulf as a prime destination, particularly before they go to Israel,” he says, adding there is already “tremendous interest” among other congregations.

“We’ve already established the plan and the structure for these trips. The problem is that Americans are still not travelling because of Covid-19. I think once everything passes, the sky is the limit in terms of Jewish travel,” he adds.

The UAE has seen close to 150,000 Israeli visitors since the Accords were signed last year, which reflects the natural bonding between the two peoples.

“People have asked me, ‘Why do you say it’s like a love-fest in Dubai, between the Israelis and the Emiratis?’ My feeling is that when it comes to Muslim-Jewish relations, there is a unique bond, there’s a familial chord, we’re family. So I don’t necessarily see hundreds and thousands of Jews coming to the Gulf as something new, as much as it’s a reunification of family. There are no two other faith communities in the world that can point to the commonality that Muslims and Jews share. And I think that’s the underlying foundation that has led to a very natural love-fest that we are now witnessing in Dubai.”

Looking ahead, I ask him to make his next prediction.

“My prediction is that the other Gulf states, the Saudis, the Qataris and the Omanis – even the Kuwaitis – will normalise ties with Israel. But the

region. So I think that in some small way, my contribution to the Abraham Accords was my constant, and very tenacious, promotion of Israel, not as a political issue but as a religious one,” he explains.

CHANGING OUTLOOK

While the Abraham Accords, signed by the UAE and Bahrain with Israel in August last year has already led to several joint projects and collaborations, it has also opened up the GCC to the wider Jewish community worldwide.

Rabbi Marc Schneier recalls how – in what was another historic first – he brought members of his Hampton Synagogue from New York to Bahrain in February 2018 following an invitation from King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain to forge better relations between Muslims and Jews. The trip marked the first ever Jewish congregational mission to a GCC state.

The visit proved to be ‘overwhelming’ for his congregation, the rabbi says, and he is now keen to bring them again to other parts of the GCC, once the gulfbusiness.com

“My feeling is that when it comes to Muslim-Jewish relations, there is a unique bond, there’s a familial chord, we’re family”

Above: Rabbi Schneier has co-authored Sons of Abraham, a book about the issues that divide and unite Jews and Muslims

caveat will be that there will be some Israeli-Palestinian engagement working towards a permanent solution to the conflict. And I think that that will be the great contribution of US President Joe Biden, because he has the sensitivity and the empathy. He will make Israeli-Palestinian engagement a priority,” he states.

“So I think that we will now see even more of the Gulf states joining the very bold and courageous moves made by the UAE and Bahrain. And then we’ll have the domino effect across the entire region.”

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FEATURES / FINANCE

Here’s how you can

RETIRE AT 40

With the right kind of savings and investments, it is possible to retire early in life, says Vijay Valecha, chief investment officer at Century Financial, who is himself on that journey

I

t almost sounds improbable, but is it actually possible to retire at 40?

It’s definitely possible – and not just probable, it is also doable. There are just certain do’s and don’ts.

The first and the most important one is to never ever expand your lifestyle too much. Being in Dubai, it’s the easiest thing to do. People tend to expand their lifestyles and spend much more than they actually earn.

I’m not saying that people should just postpone their holidays or put aside things just for the aim of retiring at 40. But the idea is to just have a smaller budget and be more planned for each one of those activities.

The reality is that you don’t require a huge amount of capital to be retiring at 40. An example is what I call it as the ‘5 to 15 rule’.

So, let’s say that your current expenditure is $5,000 a month. The idea is that you need to make sure that you get fixed returns of $5,000 from your investments after you retire. People think to earn $5,000 [after retirement] is a very complicated process.

It really is not. If you have to make $5,000 a month – which is $60,000 a year, you have to invest somewhere around $1m overall [as per the 5 to 15 rule]. So, if you have investments or savings of over $1m at the age of 40, it is definitely a possible opportunity to retire. The important things to note is that you need to start investing at least 10 to 15 years before the age at which you wish to retire. For instance, I started investing at the age of 25.

How should one structure their investments?

The idea of investment as compared to your returns is a very simple graph that a person gulfbusiness.com

“The important things to note is that you need to start investing at least 10 to 15 years before the age at which you wish to retire”

should follow. As a person’s age goes higher, the risk capital of the investments has to go lower. So, if you start investing at the age of 30, and you’re looking for a return of 10 to 12 per cent per annum, as your age goes in the 35 to 40 bracket, you have to ensure that you don’t look for returns of more than 5 to 6 per cent annually. The main reason for controlling that is because you cannot take that much risk as you grow older.

In terms of an investment portfolio, the best thing to do is diversify yourself – not just through asset classes, but also through countries, investment companies and banks.

It’s good to have a bond portfolio, an equity portfolio and invest in gold. I think gold is here to stay for the ages, although it will have slower growth for now. I feel a small percentage should also be given to cryptocurrencies because there is a possibility that it becomes a new asset class. I would highly recommend not more than 1 per cent of your total capital investment.

Looking at real estate, it is going to pick up very soon – especially in this part of the world. The UAE government is taking excellent steps in getting tokenisation done, where we can have fractional ownership of real estate.

In terms of geographies, I’m bullish on the emerging markets – I still think Asia has a lot more growth potential. At the same time, at least 60 per cent of your capital has to be with the world’s biggest economy – so major investments have to be with the US. Also, don’t ever get into any investment strategy that promises you very high double-digit or triple-digit returns annually.

Anything which is too good to be true is not true.

What has been the biggest challenge for you on this journey?

The biggest challenge I would say is the YOLO (you only live once) movement. However, I don’t compromise on my holidays or my vacations. The idea is just for prioritising what you really prefer and what you don’t.

Just keep focusing on a year-to-year basis and the goal will actually be there.

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FEATURES / MARKETING

GROWING INFLUENCE Several brands are deploying influencer marketing to put their products on the map. Is the strategy working?

By Zainab Mansoor

“P

eople do not buy goods and services. They buy relations, stories and magic,” author and entrepreneur Seth Godin famously said.

Stardom and brands have been companions for a while now. Athletes have endorsed sports giants, movie stars have backed skincare and F&B products, while other celebrities have helped drive a plethora of customers to banks and other brands. The marriage was a happy one.

But as digital connectivity and content curation exploded, advertising mediums grew and social media donned a new face of engagement and connectivity, the concept of modern endorsement shifted.

Marketing arenas, once restricted to celebrities and famous people, beckoned individuals who deployed social media platforms to exert a certain ‘influence’.

This shift came as ‘influencers’ started to become a trusted presence within their communities while engaging customers in a more personalised fashion.

Drawing on the connect and its benefits, brands began to leverage the concept to market their products and services via digital creators. But is an influencer’s value restricted to just their following?

“In 2021, I’d go as far as to say that the size of an influencer’s following is one of their least valuable 34

May 2021

Above: Jumana Khan is a UAE-based social media influencer

assets. Brands have realised a big following does not equal big success. It’s much more valuable to focus on audience engagement and drill down into the specifics of where those followers are than blindly hit big numbers. That’s why micro influencers have become so popular, they have much more engaged followings, so recommendations are more trusted,” explains Karl Mapstone, head of Middle East at Vamp, a content and influencer marketing platform.

“People are spending more time online than ever before and there has been an uptick in online shopping. Brands have shifted their focus to social campaigns to meet their customers where they are.

But influencers don’t just reach customers, they connect with them on a deeper level. That’s a big draw for brands who, while working hard to empathise with their customers’ pandemic realities, can’t compete with influencers’ storytelling abilities,” he adds.

Due to the strong engagement and unique content it offers, influencer marketing has not only secured a spot within a brand’s marketing/promotional drawing board, but it has also started to attract the spend that some brands rolled back from other mediums.

This shift was prompted in part by brands pruning their budgets pre-pandemic, and in part by the lockdowns put into effect by the Covid-19 crisis.

“As their customers retreated into lockdown, brands predictably cut spending on out-of-home advertising and funneled it into digital channels. But with so many doing the same thing, competition increased dramatically.

Brands needed to find a way to stand out online – and influencers helped them do this,” explains Mapstone.

“It also impacted spend on traditional content creation. Due to reduced budgets and lockdown restrictions making big advertising shoots difficult, brands shifted spend from creative agencies to social content creators. Influencers are used to being self-sufficient and creating content alone, so were able to continue supplying brands with assets for their social channels and e-commerce sites.”

Shant Oknayan, general manager of global business solutions MENAT at ByteDance – the parent company of TikTok – opines that due to the pandemic, the strength of the story now sits at the heart of every successful campaign, and not the product itself.

“The rise of conscious consumerism along with the pandemic acted as catalysts for the shift to purposeled marketing and authentic storytelling. Brands and influencers are seen now more than ever moving gulfbusiness.com

ILLUSTRATION: GETTY IMAGES/BOBMADBOB

FEATURES / MARKETING

promoting it to my people,” says UAE-based influencer Jumana Khan, who commands a TikTok fan base of nine million followers.

Oknayan adds: “We think it’s extremely important for influencers and creators to be fully aware of the products they are promoting and ensuring it is the right brand fit for them. They have a responsibility to their online community – who look up to and trust them – and by essentially endorsing the product, they have given it their seal of approval. With the rise of conscious consumerism now making ethical promotion more of a necessity rather than a choice, consumers today are less interested in product endorsements that generate clicks and are more inclined to trust authentic advertising.”

NEW FRONTIERS

In the face of the changing digital landscape, especially at a time when brands are constantly seeking people’s attention, there is no understating the role of influencers.

With people continuing to spend an increasing amount of time on social media, the role of influencer marketing appears to remain relevant in the immediate future.

Professional networking site LinkedIn listed ‘digital marketing specialists’ as one of the most indemand jobs in the UAE in 2021, while ‘influencer marketing’ was featured as a top skill.

The influencer marketing industry is set to be worth $15bn by 2022 and there are some specific emerging trends which will also help to prove its value, suggests Mapstone.

“Following the increased adoption in online shopping, social commerce is the next frontier. Instagram and TikTok are introducing new shoppable options all the time and they will help increase those influencer-led conversions. We’re expecting to see ‘Live’ shopping on Instagram take off with the platform investing in making it shoppable – particularly having seen the power of live social commerce in Asia.

“As brands branch into that market, they’ll be looking for trusted social personalities to front their live streams – and influencers will fit the bill,” he adds.

It’s much more valuable to focus on audience engagement and drill down into the specifics of where those followers are than blindly hit big numbers towards brand communication and less toward product communication,” he states.

“Brands now have more sustainable relationships with influencers, rather than transactional. This new movement is definitely in the favour of consumers, who now spend more time online and are hungry for authentic and unique stories and ideas. This shift also accelerated the rise of creative content, as we see brands loosening control over content and giving influencers more room to create and inspire.”

While influencers can fortify a brand’s reach and appeal, resonating to a range of customers, it is equally imperative that they be aligned with the brand’s strategy. But should they be fully aware of the products they are promoting and believe in them too?

“I’m not really sure about all the influencers, but when I promote something, I have to believe in the products and I make sure I try them out before gulfbusiness.com

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BRAND VIEW

Embarking on the journey of a lifetime Entrepreneur and investor Shailesh Dash has launched many businesses in the last 15 years, seeing strong success along the way. In his book, Entrepreneur – The Journey of a Lifetime, he outlines his key learnings while sharing advice for handling the rollercoaster ride of an entrepreneurial adventure

Book excerpt

Q&A with the author

T

oday, while it seems that almost everybody is an entrepreneur and would like to own their own business, it was a very difficult decision for me to make that decision at the age of 40, even though I was probably ready for it around five years earlier; but my thoughtprocess and the fact that almost everybody at home used to work for the government meant that my risk-taking ability had become quite subdued.

Having finally realized that it was something that I must do, I was prepared to give it everything. To take this decision, you must be ready to bear the consequences. Even though starting a business might seem easy, turning it into a successful organization and taking care of thousands of people takes everything. The success of any business depends on providing a return for all stakeholders and this means you must add value to your consumers without which it would be impossible for any business to survive. Maintaining the edge in consumer service is always easier said than done and that is mostly because of the everchanging needs and demands of consumers and customers.

Any successful business needs a vision and goal which could add value to their customers and help the economy; it also requires a good team who can implement all necessary factors to achieve the entrepreneur’s vision. In the end, the one thing which truly makes the difference in terms of a successful and notso-successful business is the hunger of the leadership team to achieve their goals. In the race to achieve those goals, everyone must keep in mind the needs of customers, otherwise the enterprise will result in failure.

Entrepreneurship is not always easy. It is full

Tell us more about your book. What inspired you to write it at this stage?

It has been a while that I have been trying to share my experiences with the younger generation on developing businesses and maintaining a professional work-life balance, but my hectic schedule never permitted me to put my thoughts into writing. But being stuck at home for six weeks [due to the Covid-19 pandemic] actually helped me spend time to put my plan finally into action, which you see in the form of the book today.

With the job market hit hard by the Covid crisis, many people are seeking to become entrepreneurs. Is now a good time to become one?

of bumps at every step of the way and unless you are able to raise enough capital and your business plan is strong enough to weather the storm, it may not work.

Everything has to be right for creating a successful business – a right product that consumers want, a hardworking and ethical team, the right networking sources, support of your shareholders, the correct sales strategy, support of legislation, and above all, proper implementation.

Growth will only come to you if you are seeking it, and nothing will happen automatically.

The book, Entrepreneur – The Story of a Lifetime, is now available on Amazon

I am not sure the above assumption is accurate because while millions of people have lost jobs worldwide because of the Covid crisis, I am sure they are innovating to earn a living – more via freelance work and ‘side hustles’. I am not sure you can say that they are necessarily turning to entrepreneurship.

But yes, surely this is a time when we will see a lot of innovation as the pandemic has clearly changed our life, social habits and how we do business. That would mean we will see lots of new products and services in the market. When it comes to entrepreneurship, I think it’s always a good time to start as long as you have a product/service that people need and you are ready to give up everything for making your dream come true.

In your journey as an entrepreneur, what are the biggest challenges that you faced?

Challenges for an entrepreneur are many and they were not any different for me. Only

Shailesh Dash

In an entrepreneur’s life there are many important points, but the two most important are when he sets up a business (when his idea is successfully launched) and the second is when it is validated by his customers and investors. Having successfully launched many businesses in the last 15 years – which have been validated by customers and investors alike – and the fact that many of those businesses are successful and running after 14-15 years, that is what makes me have a real sense of satisfaction.

In your book, you talk about the need for taking risks to grow. Can you elaborate on that?

Every business and every initiative an entrepreneur takes has risk and rewards. For example, when I left India to start a new career in Kuwait 21 years ago, I knew I was taking a risk to change countries in the hope of a better future. It happens the same with businesses and especially new enterprises. Despite all the meticulous business planning one does, there is always the risk of the business environment changing, altering government regulations, finding skilled human resources and funding at the right time. But an entrepreneur always needs to find a solution to all these challenges that come along the way and plan for their growth.

Financing has traditionally been a major obstacle for many entrepreneurs. Has that changed now?

Only a good idea is not enough for a successful entrepreneur; the successful implementation of that idea includes a whole host of activities

a good idea is not enough for a successful entrepreneur; the successful implementation of that idea includes a whole host of activities such as having proper planning, right partners, funding, right team, innovative and quality service, customers/clients, dealing with the changing economic landscape and a greater digital adoptation of business practices, among other things. For a business to be successful, each of these have to work well at the same time. Each of them are a challenge to solve but I think the most important has always been to find the right-skilled talent with the right attitude.

Also, which are the moments you treasure the most?

Financing always has been easy and difficult for entrepreneurs. It is difficult when the entrepreneurs think they have a good product/service with which they can make some money, but there is no incremental benefit for the clients/customers. Then the fundraising becomes challenging. But when you have a product/service which adds incremental value to a large population and is appreciated by them, then fundraising is not difficult with the right advisors in place.

During a crisis, many startups are forced to close for a variety of reasons. How can they survive during the tough periods?

To be successful, an entrepreneur has to have two very inherent traits – find solutions to problems and adapt to an ever-changing world. It is true that we have seen sudden and significant change in the world due to the pandemic, but it only reminds entrepreneurs to operate a lean model for startups in general and be ready to be flexible and adopt.

Lastly, what are your three main words of advice to entrepreneurs in the region?

Plan (take help), start and adopt.

FEATURES / TECHNOLOGY

EDGING INTO THE CLOUD How edge computing completes the cloud equation David Ndichu

opportunities and business value with reduced costs and real-time decision making,” says Yehia.

While supporting ubiquitous access, cloud data centres are only slightly more distributed than onpremises data centres. By contrast, the edge enables organisations to deliver applications closer to users.

“In many ways, the edge is just the next step outward in an expanding universe of distributed applications, with benefits – and drawbacks – aligned with those of multi-cloud strategies,” says Lori MacVittie, principal technical evangelist, Office of the CTO at F5.

“Data analytics represents a key edge computing use case, enabling the insights required for digital transformation initiatives,” MacVittie adds.

AI has traditionally resided in data centres, where there’s sufficient compute power to perform processor-demanding cognitive tasks. This works fine when immediacy is not paramount – the issue is that more and more applications require instant or near-instant reactions to the information they are delivering.

“Moving that front-end information-gathering part of the app to the edge, and then applying AI intelligence at the same point, allows AI systems to use inference (how AI uses observation and background to reach a logical conclusion) for faster decision-making,” says Joe Baguley, vice president and CTO, VMware EMEA.

5G

Widespread 5G rollout and edge computing deployments will go hand in hand, as they both drive and benefit each other. With almost 10 times the speed of 4G, 5G is set to unlock numerous potentials in many s internet of things (IoT) devices proliferate and incorporate industries. “With its ability and bandwidth to supmore processing power, vast amounts of data are being generated port billions of connected devices, new applications at the edge of computer networks. IDC predicts that by 2025, for sensors and connected devices will emerge, raisthere will be 55.7 billion connected devices worldwide, 75 per ing the demand for edge devices that can process, cent of which will be connected to an IoT platform. analyse and transmit data in real-time,” says Yehia.

Traditionally, the data produced by IoT devices was relayed Likewise, edge computing is essential for helping back to the cloud, processed and further instructions sent back 5G reach its full potential by solving the latency probto edge devices. This setup is howlem. “Quick network performance is a necessity for ever unproductive as it creates inefficiencies with 5G when connecting numerous devices, especially speed and latency. where AI applications are present, such as in smart Edge computing filters and processes data closer Connected devices cities or for autonomous vehicles that require feedto the source, sending only relevant data to the worldwide by 2025, back in milliseconds,” he observes. cloud. This minimises bandwidth and cloud storage IDC predicts Gartner predicts that around 75 per cent of entercosts associated with data derived from IoT devices, prise-generated data will be created and processed observes Walid Yehia, senior director, Presales for outside a traditional centralised data centre or cloud by 2025. “As we continue to MERAT, Dell Technologies. see more edge deployments, the combination of the two technologies [edge and Additionally, as many industrial applications for 5G] will be a game-changer,” says Yehia.

IoT also require critical real-time sensor responses, network disruptions cannot be risked. This applies particularly in remote locations, where network connectivity is not always available. “As edge computing With the decentralisation of computing technology, moving workloads from the capabilities are becoming a critical component of cloud to the edge exposes a larger surface to cyber threats. “For edge computing, IoT platforms, they are making a stronger case for every device can be seen as a point of entry. This calls for the need to build in prodeployments. IoT is spreading across many industries tection for data at the edge, with a plan that includes maintaining business and and generating a lot of data from connected devices, service continuity despite one or more edge sites being compromised,” warns Yehia. with the presence of edge in IoT starting to create new Measures should be put in place beyond network and endpoint security that

A

55.7bn

CYBERSECURITY

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ILLUSTRATION: GETTY IMAGES/JORG GREUEL

USE CASES

enterprises may rely on from providers. Designs, standards, processes and best practices geared toward minimising the risk of data loss should be baked into the process from the beginning, he recommends. “Additionally, protecting data at the edge can entail building a separate network fabric for data assurance operations, including backup, restore, archive and snapshot. With security done right, edge computing can reap more benefits than pose risks.”

Edge computing can also mitigate some of the security shortcomings inherent in cloud infrastructures. With public cloud, ensuring security falls on the provider, and organisations don’t have much control over how their data is managed since the cloud is shared with other users, Yehia observes.

“The privacy and compliance problem regarding sensitive data (especially in the finance and healthcare fields), is better solved with edge since organisations have more control over their data, access, and security by filtering data at the source,” he says.

“Additionally, since data is processed onsite with edge computing, this minimises its risks for distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks and other vulnerabilities, such as network disruptions and power outages,” Yehia adds. gulfbusiness.com

Edge computing has the potential to transform healthcare, retail, transportation and logistics, gaming, and surveillance and monitoring industries. These sectors are increasingly moving towards AI and machine learning applications, while generating tonnes of data through devices and sensors, making real-time feedback and insights necessary. “Increased use-cases for moving processing closer to the data source are especially favourable in various industries due to the nature and volume of the data created. Examples include industrial sensors, autonomous vehicles, augmented reality/virtual reality use-cases, connected healthcare devices, smart logistics, real-time surveillance, etc,” says Yehia.

Though edge solutions can be leveraged to solve some of the limitations of cloud computing, the debate should not be framed as ‘edge vs. cloud’, rather, how the two should work in tandem.

They both fall under the wider umbrella of employing a hybrid approach that best suits business needs, says Yehia. “The question has to do more with which computing workloads need to be placed where and why. If we assume that all workloads are deemed to be placed on the cloud, then edge can come in as a competitor. But that was never the case and the deployment of cloud and edge should be seen as complementing each other rather than opposing.”

Edge isn’t going to replace cloud-based apps; it’s going to sit alongside it, as a necessary complement to allow organisations to get the most from their applications and data, agrees Baguley of VMware.

IT environments are becoming more decentralised, and organisations must be forward-looking to identify their unique needs to develop a robust hybrid approach that includes a mix of cloud, edge and core.

“Quick network performance is a necessity for 5G when connecting numerous devices, especially where AI applications are present”

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T

he already hugely successful esports sector is looking to conquer another frontier – the TV screen.

Esports streaming on Twitch and YouTube and other such platforms is a thriving model, with channels attracting fans by the hundreds of millions. But bringing esports to TV screens will bring in hundreds of millions of new devotees and help further legitimise gaming.

In the region, Starzplay last year signed up to broadcast the V10 R-League, a sim racing series that saw Rachel Stringer, Nicolas Hamilton and Ben Daly among other stars in the genre competing.

Further afield, the BBC linked up with video game publisher Electronic Arts (EA) to air live coverage of the FIFA 21 Global Series esports competition on its digital platform iPlayer as well as BBC Sport website and app this year. The BBC has previously broadcast, among others, the Rocket League European Spring Series and League of Legends UK League Championships.

Nigel Crow, Sport Rights executive for BBC Sport said the Covid-19 pandemic demonstrated the massive appeal of esports, a fact not lost on traditional broadcasters who are fighting for eyeballs with online platforms. “What has caught broadcasters’ eye is the fact that gaming is bigger than music and video combined. That has been the case for a few years now but there has been a whole lot more information in the past 12 months that’s shone the spotlight on gaming and esports in particular.”

ESI DIGITAL SPRING Crow was part of a panel brought together as part of the ESI Digital Spring online event to discuss esports development in 2021, with a focus on the esports content that appeals to traditional broadcasters. Crow was joined

by Nicolas Estrup, VP of Product at Blast – a global esports content producer – and Ryan Thompson, CPO and co-founder, Esports Engine – a producer of esports content and broadcasts. The panel moderator was Nick Collier, managing director, High Viz Media Group. ESI (Esports Insider) is an esports business news outlet, consultancy and organiser of industry events.

Estrup highlighted the evolution in esports that has brought the genre to the TV screen. “We started broadcasting on 40

May 2021

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FEATURES / GAMING

national TV, which helped take esports from conference halls and events to mainstream coverage just like sports. We see broadcast as an incredibly important piece in legitimising esports at a whole new level.”

Streaming on Twitch and similar platforms has a Wild West element to it, in contrast to broadcasters who have to operate in a more regulated environment. Crow highlighted the rating regime that is brought to bear on the kind of violent content that is a staple in most popular online games.

TIMEKEEPING

Also, anyone who has been in an esports tournament knows that they rarely end on time and many games finish hours later. This is challenging for broadcasters where programming is timed to the second.

“While the sheer amount of content created in esports is in some ways a blessing, the lack of certainty of when a series or a match will end is particularly challenging for us trying to get esports onto the video channels,” Crow said.

According to Estrup, some elements of the game can be tweaked without necessarily scaring away the core audience. “This means making sure that games start and finish at a given time, something that in the early days of esports wasn’t a consideration, but now increasingly crucial with broadcast becoming important.”

The risk of alienating the core gaming audience highlights the delicate balance esports promoters have to navigate – keeping the core constituency happy while appealing to the more traditional TV-watching audience. “What traditional broadcasters bring to the table is the prospect of turning esports into a communal experience where family members and friends gather in front of the TV,” Crow explained. This will go a long way in helping overcome the negative stereotype of loner gamers holed up hours on end in their rooms.

Computer games are exhilarating, and broadcasters are betting that this excitement will keep the audience glued to the screen. “One of the main things going for us is just how exciting games are no matter the audience, and whether or not they understand the genre. Games like League of Legends are produced at a very high standard and with lots of exciting action, you’re still going to be entranced even if you don’t gulfbusiness.com

ESPORTS PLOTS TO CONQUER TELEVISION

ILLUSTRATION: GETTY IMAGES/MALTE MUELLER

BY

DAVID

NDICHU

FEATURES / GAMING

know exactly what is going on,” said Crow.

Thompson of Esports Engine however cautioned that television viewers are a different type of audience from those on streaming platforms, hence highlighting the need to create content that appeals to their palate. “We need to pick the right game, maybe pick something that’s not as complicated as some of the stuff that tends to get on streaming sites.

“One strategy that we have found a lot of success with is broadcasting an abridged portion of a tournament. Esports tournaments are long and gruelling, a formula hardly suitable for TV. For example, at prime-time, you could transmit the last match of the tournament. That’s a great compromise to have by keeping the core audience on streaming services, and then have some form of exclusive content for a linear TV audience,” Thomson added.

AUTHENTICITY The question remains whether bringing

esports to traditional TV will dissolve the authenticity of the experience in an attempt to cater to a more nuanced audience.

Estrup of Blast said insiders should recognise the differences between the two platforms. “TV and streaming solve two different things. Our approach has always been to distinguish between the two audiences by putting the more hardcore content on Twitch because that’s where the primary audience lives, and then produce a more muted version for broadcast.”

The industry could take lessons from traditional sports. Typical cricket matches are long and complex, so figureheads created Twenty20 cricket. Similarly, Crow recommends brand new competitions geared specifically for TV. “In such a scenario, you can still have Twitch events for the fanbase, and then a new cup competition specifically for broadcasters. That would be best for everyone as it caters to both.”

The potential windfall from broadcasters may start influencing the way games

are designed from the outset.

Thompson highlighted how publishers have adapted to the mobile platform as a model of how to approach the broadcast channel. “Last year, two of the top five mostviewed esports were mobile games. So, if you’re a developer, you should acknowledge that, embrace the changes and incorporate that at launch.”

Crow stressed that the main takeaway from the short history of broadcasting esports is that there’s a “passionate fan base and incredibly skilled pool of talent”.

“What was interesting for us was just seeing these organisations come together, promoting themselves and promoting the sport. The second season of the League of Legends UK League Championships was much better than the first. The promotion and the relegation aspects were very interesting for me because you don’t often see that in esports. I think these are very good examples of what can be done in esports,” he concluded.

ILLUSTRATION: GETTY IMAGES

SPECIAL REPORT

S P E C I A L R E P O R T I N C O L L A B O R AT I O N W I T H V I R T U Z O N E

THE RAINMAKERS:

THE UAE’S STARTUP STARS

SPECIAL REPORT

S

tartups are often referred to as the ‘growth engines’ for any economy. In the UAE, backed by a supportive regulatory framework that welcomes innovation at every stage, entrepreneurs from across an eclectic mix of sectors have achieved remarkable growth, in turn feeding the booming ecosystem to create a train of success stories.

According to official stats, the wider SME sector contributed an estimated 53 per cent to the UAE’s GDP in 2019, up from about 49 per cent in 2018.

Small-and-medium-sized businesses also accounted for approximately 95 per cent of the companies in the country and for employing 86 per cent of the total workforce in the non-oil private sector.

While challenges persist – whether it’s setup costs, financing, scaling or external factors such as the Covid19 crisis which struck every industry hard, several startups in the UAE have managed to stay the course, assisted by mentors and business enablers.

To highlight the true stars within the startup ecosystem, Gulf Business in collaboration with leading company formation specialists Virtuzone, put together the names of the movers and shakers within the space – whether it’s company founders, venture capitalists, government officials or mentors.

By no means is this list exhaustive, but it provides a glimpse into the people powering the startup space and driving the UAE’s agenda to be a global startup hub.

FOUNDERS

Magnus Olsson and Mudassir Sheikha Co-founders, Careem

Names arranged in no specific order

IN COLLABORATION WITH

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Credited with creating the region’s first ride-sharing service, Careem, Sheikha and Olsson – both of whom had experience dealing with SMEs in their careers – quit McKinsey & Company after their respective stints to form Careem in 2012.

They have since led the company to operate in more than 100 cities across 13 countries, while diversifying its operations into food delivery and digital payments. In what was a remarkable deal for the region, Uber signed a $3.1bn deal in 2019 to acquire Careem’s mobility, delivery, and payments businesses across the greater Middle East region. Outside Careem, both co-founders also invested in Endeavor Catalyst’s Fund III, a $134m venture capital fund last year.

SPECIAL REPORT

Eddie Maroun and Elie Habib Co-founders, Anghami

Michael Lahyani Founder and CEO, Propertyfinder

Having identified a gap in the property advertising market in Dubai way back in 2005, Michael Lahyani moved from Switzerland to Dubai to start Al Bab World, a property print magazine which paved the way for online portal Property Finder to launch in 2007.

The site, which connects developers, property brokers, house hunters and renters, has expanded rapidly across the region and currently operates in seven markets, including Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Egypt, and Morocco. It also has a significant stake in the second-largest property portal in Turkey. Lahyani was also the first UAE entrepreneur to be taken on by non-profit accelerator Endeavor.

Anghami made global headlines when it became the first Arab technology company to list on Nasdaq in New York in early March, through an SPAC deal. For co-founders, Eddie Maroun and Elie Habib – who launched the music streaming platform in 2012 in Beirut following an idea formulated after a ski trip – it was a proud achievement. They have steadily overseen Anghami (My Tunes in Arabic) – now based in Abu Dhabi – grow to offer more than 57 million songs to over 70 million registered users with around one billion streams per month.

Rashid Al Ghurair Founder and CEO, Cafu

Tech entrepreneur Rashid Al Ghurair has been in the spotlight for all the right reasons. The CEO of on-demand fuel delivery company Cafu founded the company in 2018, revolutionising the fuel distribution sector. Cafu also bagged the Disruptor and Company of the Year awards at the 2020 Gulf Business Awards. Bringing more disruption to the market – this time in the property space – Al Ghurair unveiled his proptech brand Urban last year. He is also a board member at Al Ghurair Investment and a member of the board of trustees of the Abdulla Al Ghurair Foundation for Education (AGFE).

Ambareen Musa Founder and CEO, Souqalmal.com

Musa started dabbling in entrepreneurship quite early. At age 21, she launched her first digital business, an online property portal for international students in Australia. She later relocated to London where she founded online financial literacy initiative Moneybasics.co.uk.

After moving to the UAE in 2008, where Musa worked as a consultant for Bain & Company Middle East, she founded comparison site Souqalmal.com in 2012. The site is now a leading platform for information on more than 3,200 banking, insurance and education products in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, propelling Musa to become a recognised expert in the fintech sector.

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SPECIAL REPORT Kunal Kapoor Founder and CEO, The Luxury Closet

Kapoor worked at his family footwear business for six years and later as a sales manager at Louis Vuitton before founding luxury pre-owned goods marketplace The Luxury Closet (TLC) in 2012.

Kapoor has guided the growth of the platform to now list thousands of items from high-end brands like Louis Vuitton, Hermès and Rolex – it listed 80,000 items from 5,000 sellers worth $120m in the 12 months to September 2020. The company also announced in September that it had secured an investment from Huda Beauty Investments as part of a $11m funding round.

Jon Richards CEO, Yallacompare

In 2011, Richards relocated to the UAE to take up a marketing job with Property Finder. Hailing from the UK where comparison was secondnature, he noticed a gap in the local market, which led to the establishment of yallacompare. The platform enables customers to compare and purchase insurance policies and apply for banking products, including credit cards and loans. Last year, the comparison website secured $4.25m of capital from Kuwait-based Gulf Insurance Group as part of plans to expand its product offering. It also inked a partnership with investment advisory platform Sarwa, offering the latter’s investment opportunities.

Saygin Yalcin CEO and founder, SellAnyCar.com

Sky Kurtz Founder and CEO, Pure Harvest Smart Farms

Focused on solutions that would help tackle sustainability challenges, private equity investor turned serial entrepreneur Kurtz launched Pure Harvest Smart Farms, a sustainable agriculture business focused on the production of greenhouse fruits and vegetables in 2016. The agritech business has boomed since then and in March, announced that it raised $60m to support regional expansion, and is soon to complete its third hybrid greenhouse growing system in the UAE. Before launching Pure Harvest, Kurtz co-founded Vence, a technology solution for livestock management. Prior to building technology companies, Kurtz invested in them.

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The emerging technology space drew Yalcin to Dubai. He founded the flash sales site, Sukar.com, which was later acquired by Souq.com, making him a partner in the latter entity. He later launched the online marketplace for used cars, SellAnyCar.com in 2013, which continues to broaden its regional footprint.

Last year, it expanded into the Saudi market with the launch of the Kayishha platform following a $35m cash infusion. Previously, Yalcin was also an advisory board member and an academic lecturer at the Canadian University of Dubai.

SPECIAL REPORT

Mona Ataya Founder and CEO, Mumzworld.com

One of the UAE’s most prominent women entrepreneurs, Ataya worked at P&G and Johnson & Johnson, and later became a co-founding member at Bayt.com before setting up e-commerce website Mumzworld in 2011.

Mumzworld has pioneered a revolutionary e-commerce shopping experience for all things mother, baby and child in the Middle East region. Today it has over 200,000 products, an engaged community, exclusive product offerings and provides delivery to over 20 different countries.

According to Ataya, Mumzworld is also the number one funded womenled e-commerce company in the Middle East.

Bader Ataya, Mohamad Ballout, Andres Arenas and Saman Darkan Co-founders, Kitopi

The pandemic led to a rapid push in F&B innovation, and leading cloud kitchen platform Kitopi was ready to meet changing customer demand. The brainchild of Mohamad Ballout, Kitopi was founded in January 2018 when the concept of cloud kitchens was barely known in the region. The startup has since partnered with 200 F&B brands across the world and now operates over 60 kitchens to help them expand beyond their borders. As part of its ‘managed cloud kitchen’ model, the startup handles all the operations – from the sourcing of ingredients and cooking to packaging and delivery.

Michael Truschler Co-founder and CEO, FlexxPay

Jad Sayegh, Nadine Mezher and Mark Chahwan Co-founders, Sarwa

Entrepreneurs with a future vision account for several of the entries on our list, and the co-founders of Sarwa certainly tick that box. Founded in 2017, the robo-advisory investment platform was part of DIFC’s FinTech Hive accelerator programme and received an operating licence in November 2018. The company, which uses a hybrid model by combining technology and human advice, received a fintech ‘experimental permit’ to operate in Saudi Arabia earlier this year. As Chahwan told Gulf Business: “Eventually, we want to eliminate the wealth gap here. And that’s a vision we believe is worth fighting for.”

An avid reader and sports enthusiast, entrepreneur Truschler co-founded Middle East home shopping channel CitrussTV prior to establishing technology company FlexxPay in 2018.

The company, which enables workers access to income that they have already earned via its platform, raised $3m in a Pre-Series A round earlier this year to enhance its technology portal and grow in the region. It also signed a cooperation agreement with Bahrain’s Al Salam Bank. A startup mentor, the German entrepreneur also sits on the value creation committee of investment company Dubai Angel Investors.

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SPECIAL REPORT

Fodhil Benturquia Founder and CEO, Okadoc

Benturquia took a dive into e-commerce by co-founding MarkaVIP.com, then moved on to Souq.com (now Amazon.ae) where he took on several leadership roles and then assumed the position of group CEO of e-commerce giant Noon. com in 2015. Having spent much of his career championing the cause of digital innovation in the MENA region, Benturquia founded Okadoc, the doctor appointment booking platform, in 2018. Last year, Okadoc closed its $10m Series A round, as well as announced the launch of its telemedicine solution, enabling doctors to offer remote virtual consultations.

Hosam Arab Co-founder and CEO, tabby

Hosam Arab is a known name in the UAE’s entrepreneurial space. He cofounded online fashion retailer Namshi in 2011, and following its strong growth, was fully acquired by retail giant Emaar Malls in 2019 – the same year that Arab stepped down as its CEO. He then founded the buy-now-pay-later platform tabby in 2019. The fintech startup announced in December that it had raised $23m in a Series A funding round to fuel the company’s next stage of growth and scale its capabilities.

The investment came following a $7m round in June 2020, which Arab said will be used to launch and expand the startup in the Saudi Arabian market.

Craig Moore Founder and CEO, Beehive

Vilhelm Hedberg Founder, ekar

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The founder of the self-drive mobility company, ekar, has over 10 years of experience in quality management and logistics verticals.

His first UAE-based role was at Wilhelmsen Lines, where he was responsible for the shipment of over one million automobiles throughout the Middle East. In 2016, Hedberg founded ekar, which has grown from a 15-vehicle pilot programme with Etihad Airways to a multi-country service, used by more than 200,000 customers, having booked a whopping 1.3 million trips. Ekar also launched its car subscription offering earlier this year.

An entrepreneur who attributes his success to timing, Craig Moore founded peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platform Beehive in Dubai in 2015, making it a fintech pioneer in the region. The DFSA-regulated platform connects businesses seeking fast, affordable finance with investors who can help fund their growth.

According to its website, businesses have borrowed more than Dhs600m through its platform since launch. A seasoned entrepreneur, Moore previously founded Butterfly Software, a data analytics and migration software company, which was acquired by IBM in September 2012.

SPECIAL REPORT

Huda Kattan

Mohamed Khaled

Founder, Huda Beauty

Founder and CEO, Hotdesk

Kattan lost her job in 2009, started a blog a year later, and launched her beauty brand Huda Beauty in 2013.

The makeup artist and blogger, who also started a skincare line, announced her decision to step down as CEO of her brand in September last year. But that hasn’t eroded her popularity or that of her brand.

The beauty mogul commands a prodigious social media presence, having 48.4 million followers on Instagram alone. She ranked 47th in the Forbes 2020 list of America’s richest self-made women, with a net worth of $510m.

As the co-founder and CEO of Hotdesk, Mohamed Khaled is disrupting the global corporate landscape by enabling entrepreneurs, freelancers and SMEs to access flexible offices and co-working spaces around the world, while providing office owners the opportunity to monetise their unused office spaces. In February, Hotdesk secured an undisclosed amount of seed funding from Zayani Venture Capital – the tech and venture capital arm of Bahraini AlZayani Investments. Looking ahead, Khaled aspires to lead Hotdesk – which was founded in 2019 – to be the region’s first decacorn (valued at over $10bn).

Donna Benton Founder, The Benton Group

In 2000, Benton relocated to Dubai from Australia to pursue a marketing job. The realisation that none of the numerous restaurants spread across the city incentivised customers led Benton to create “buy one get one free” voucher book The Entertainer in 2001. While she completely exited the business in September 2020, Benton has now also set up a holding company, The Benton Group (TBG), which has diversified into businesses ranging from hospitality and sports to fitness and fashion. Last year, she launched her new swimwear brand Caha Capo – under the umbrella of TBG.

Talal Bayaa, Brian Habib and Tarek Bayaa Co-founders, Bayzat

Having come from diverse backgrounds, Talal Bayaa teamed up with his school friend Brian Habib to set up HR, payroll and insurance technology provider Bayzat in 2013.

The company, which has raised a total of $35m since its launch, aims to change the way people live and work. The winner of the 2020 Gulf Business SME of the Year award, Bayzat offers simplified HR practices to create more efficient acquisition channels and convert platform users to group health insurance customers. It is also able to acquire proprietary datasets, allowing the company to improve risk underwriting, product design and cross-selling.

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SPECIAL REPORT

John Tsioris Co-founder and CEO, Instashop

Tsioris started his entrepreneurial journey with Vound, a voice social network. Finding the process of ordering items from stores over the phone frustrating, the Greek entrepreneur launched online grocery marketplace Instashop in 2015. The company serviced more than 500,000 active users in H1 2020, and operates across the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain Egypt and Lebanon. Last year, Instashop was acquired

by Germany’s Delivery Hero for a staggering $360m, although the plan remains for the brand to retain its name and current leadership, whilefurther expanding across the MENA region.

Maaz Sheikh Co-founder and CEO, Starzplay

Maaz Sheikh has steered Starzplay – the subscription video on demand service – adroitly since he co-founded it in Dubai in 2015. Starzplay recorded about 40 per cent growth in its paid subscriber base in 2020, and expects the number of users to double over the next three to four years to around four million, according to a Bloomberg report in February this year. It secured $25m debt financing earlier this year to further strengthen its geographic and customer reach. Prior to establishing Starzplay, Sheikh was the chief sales and operations officer at OSN.

Gaurav Biswas Founder and CEO, Trukker

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Biswas spent 12 years in international consulting with engineering firms AECOM and Arup. However, it took him less than 48 hours to make up his mind to pursue the idea that led to Trukker. In 2019, the technology-enabled truck aggregator raised $23m in Series A funding, following it up with $10m in MENA’s first venture debt deal.

From 5,000 transactions in 2017, Trukker recorded in excess of 75,000, in 2020. Biswas is now mulling plans for an IPO, telling Bloomberg in December that “a listing perhaps in Saudi Arabia is probable or you could see some global consolidation”.

Marwan Hachem Founder and CEO, YAP

The UAE’s first independent digital banking platform, YAP allows users to open a bank account without the need to physically visit a bank. The fintech solution integrates a host of mobile banking solutions into one application, including spend analytics, real-time notifications, bill payments and peerto-peer transactions. At the helm of YAP is Marwan Hachem, who envisions the neobank to play a pivotal role in the UAE’s digital banking revolution. As of early 2021, the fintech platform, which has partnered with RAK Bank, has over over 25,000 interested applicants on its waiting list, a company official told Gulf Business in early March.

SPECIAL REPORT

INVESTORS (Includes venture capitalists, accelerators and incubators)

Fadi Ghandour Executive chairman, Wamda Capital

While Ghandour is best known for founding logistics and transportation firm Aramex, the fact that he guided it to become the Arab world’s first company listed on Nasdaq shows that he knows how to take an idea and turn it into a scalable business. Leveraging that experience and helping other startups succeed, Ghandour is now the chairman of Wamda Capital, a venture capital fund that has consistently backed companies that have gone on to see much success. These include Mumzworld, Yallacompare, and Careem, among others. He also actively encourages founders to give back and build the regional entrepreneurship ecosystem.

Dany Farha Managing partner, Beco Capital

Sheikh Khalid bin Mohamed Chairman, Abu Dhabi Executive Committee (Ghadan 21)

Ghadan 21 is Abu Dhabi’s ambitious three-year Dhs50bn accelerator programme that not only promotes the incubation of companies within the emirate, but also improves the overall ease of doing business. Overseeing the programme is Sheikh Khalid bin Mohamed – the chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Committee – who has found ways to align Ghadan 21’s goals with national objectives such as those of industrial strategy Operation 300bn. With a projection for Abu Dhabi’s economy alone to grow up to 8 per cent over the next two years, Ghadan 21 will firmly be in the spotlight.

A former Lehman Brothers executive, Farha co-founded and subsequently exited job site Bayt.com, the UAE’s biggest commercial laundry company Butlers, and catering firm Intercat.

As managing partner at Beco, Farha relies on his experience to scale fledgeling startups. Beco is a sector-agnostic early-stage venture capital firm, typically investing between $2m-$5m, with its portfolio including the likes of Bayzat, Fetchr, Property Finder and SellAnyCar. Beco says its portfolio impact has facilitated over 650,000 jobs, with its companies raising over $1bn with their GDP contribution reaching $17.1bn.

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SPECIAL REPORT

Mahmoud Adi and Shane Shin Co-founders, Shorooq Partners

Najla Al Midfa CEO, Sharjah Entrepreneurship Center (Sheraa)

The Sharjah Entrepreneurship Center (Sheraa) has so far supported 114 startups in total, that have cumulatively generated over $125m in revenue, and raised more than $74m in investment, creating more than 1,300 jobs in the process. It recently launched the Sharjah Startup Studio (S3), the first government-backed entity of its kind within the UAE, which not only provides startups with pre-seed funding, but also connects founders with industry experts. Last year, Motivate Media Group – Gulf Business’ parent company – also partnered with Sheraa to launch a Dhs1m fund to support SMEs and tech startups in the country. Apart from Sheraa, Al Midfa is also the founder of Khayarat, a platform that enables Emiratis youth to make more informed career choices.

Adi’s high-octane career in the corporate sphere included a vice president role at Mubadala, co-founding Pure Harvest Smart Farms, being a board member at Sarwa, and also serving as CEO at Hub71. In September 2016, he co-founded Shorooq with Shin, who has been an investor in several companies including Trukker, RentSher, and Sarwa, thereby honing his skillset in the business. The first regional VC firm to be regulated by Abu Dhabi’s ADGM, Shorooq deals with early stage investment. With a focus on fintech, software and tech-enabled businesses, its portfolio includes 25-plus startups.

Mohamad Sabouneh Managing director, Startupbootcamp Fintech Dubai

Mayank Singhal Head of Venture Capital and Technology, ADQ (DisruptAD)

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At the age of 24, Singhal started his VC career with TPG Growth in India, quickly rising through the ranks to even advise veteran businessman Ratan Tata on technologies and companies to invest Tata’s VC funds.

That experience has held him in good stead as he now heads up venture capital at Abu Dhabi’s sovereign fund ADQ. Through Disrupt AD, ADQ’s VC investment platform, Singhal oversees the Dhs1.1bn Alpha Wave Incubation fund that focuses on Southeast Asian startups as well as the Dhs535m Ventures Fund, part of the Ghadan 21 programme.

ADQ, which has over $110bn in assets under management through its platform, aims to support 1,000 startups by 2025.

Startupbootcamp Fintech Dubai was launched in 2018 in partnership with Dubai International Financial Centre, Visa, Mashreq and HSBC. The accelerator has already graduated over 30 fintech startups across the fields of payments, Islamic digital banking and lending. Sabouneh, who previously worked as the managing director of Dubai Smart City Accelerator, began his foray into the VC world with a stint at Middle East Venture Partners. He also co-founded Moodfit, the MENA region’s first online interior design platform.

SPECIAL REPORT

Raja Al Mazrouei

Abdullah Mutawi

Executive vice president, DIFC Fintech Hive

Co-founder and chairman, Dubai Angel Investors

With 50 per cent of all fintech businesses within the UAE operating out of the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), DIFC Fintech Hive – which serves as an accelerator to fintech, insurtech, regtech and Islamic fintech firms – tripled its operating space in the first half of 2020. Al Mazrouei has previously worked at Dubai Holding and the National Bond Corporation, and is now steering Fintech Hive in a new strategic direction by opening to markets such as Israel. Fintech Hive can also lean on other programmes such as the $100m DIFC Fintech Fund and the DIFC Innovation Hub which allows fintechs to avail of the ‘Innovation Testing Licence’ regulatory sandbox.

Since its founding in 2016, Dubai Angel Investors has invested in approximately 30 tech startups worldwide including the UK, US, France, Lebanon, Egypt and the UAE. Its 100+ C-level members and two UAE institutional investors have backed the likes of Lunch:On (now Munch:On), Zbooni, and Clara.

It typically deploys between $100,000 to $250,000 in each company. Mutawi, besides spurring the angel investor network in the region, is also a corporate lawyer with a focus on M&A, restructuring and corporate governance – all of which are vital to his role in supporting early-stage VCs. He also serves as partner and head of Corporate Commercial at Al Tamimi & Company.

Salem Bou Aoun Founder and CEO, Novos Capital

Connecting Middle East capital with global opportunities, Novos Capital is a UAE-based financial advisory services firm that aims to redefine capital raising and add value to its stakeholders. Headed by Salem Bou Aoun, Novos Capital leverages its experience in capital raising, fund placement and asset protection to help global investment managers and companies find the right partners, whilst building and nurturing the engagement they seek. With a passion for innovation and sustainable investing, Salem draws on more than 21 years of experience in asset allocation and global markets to help cultivate companies in the areas of mobility tech, medical tech and fintech.

Hanan Harhara Al Yafei CEO, Hub71

Appointed to lead Hub71 last July, the former executive director of human capital at Mubadala has made rapid strides within her new role. When she took over, there were around 50 startups operating out of tech ecosystem Hub71. By February this year, that number has roughly doubled to over 100 tech startups – and growing. Hub71 is part of the Ghadan 21 programme, with startups operating out of it cumulatively raising over Dhs185m since Hub71’s launch in 2019.

Under Al Yafei’s leadership, it also struck a strategic agreement with UAE national carrier Etihad Airways to collaborate on mentorship opportunities, community events and workshops.

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SPECIAL REPORT Samih Toukan Chairman, Jabbar Internet Group

Louis Lebbos and Muhammed Mekki

Toukan founded Arabic portal Maktoob.com which was acquired by Yahoo in 2009. He also co-founded Souq.com, which was snapped up by Amazon for $580m in 2017. The team at Jabbar Internet Group, of which Toukan is the chairman, built both those platforms from the ground up. Last year, Jabbar scored another home run when it exited Instashop – a company that it had invested into back in 2015 – but not before it was sold for $360m to Delivery Hero. A Jordanian national, Toukan has received the Al Hussein Medal for Distinguished Performance of the First Order from Jordan’s King Abdullah II.

Founders, AstroLabs

Former McKinsey & Company consultants Lebbos and Mekki successfully co-founded Namshi in 2011. Having left the company, the duo carried on their winning partnership and co-founded tech incubator, co-working community and training academy AstroLabs in 2013. AstroLabs became the first international business incubator licensed in Saudi, and in September, it launched Setupinsaudi.com to help entities establish 100 per cent foreign-owned operations in the kingdom. The company said at the time that it has assisted over 60 companies to enter Saudi, with a combined value of over $5bn.

Walid Hanna Founder and chairman, Middle East Venture Partners

Middle East Venture Partners is a venture capital firm with $260m assets under management that is focused on tech investing within the MENA region.

Hanna has been involved in VC development over the past 20 years, and has completed more than 50 investments over the past decade in firms including Anghami, The Luxury Closet and Wego. Previously, he served as the CEO of Dubai International Capital’s venture division, the Arab Business Angels Network. He has also co-founded, invested in, and exited several startups.

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Mohamed Alabbar Chairman, Zand/Founder, Noon.com

Despite having established his stronghold over the Dubai property market with his company Emaar, businessman Mohamed Alabbar has not shied from supporting new and innovative ventures. He started e-commerce firm noon in 2016 to create a major regional player in the digital retail space. Leveraging its experience and reach, noon has partnered with government departments to enable small-scale entrepreneurs and startups in Ajman and Abu Dhabi to gain a wide platform for their products. Alabbar’s latest venture has come in the form of Zand, which is being touted as the world’s first digital bank. As its chairperson, Alabbar will oversee its strategy of aiming to be a digital economic accelerator.

SPECIAL REPORT

Kamal Hassan and Yousif Al Mutawa Founders, Turn8 Venture Capital

Turn8’s venture capital-as-a-service approach has seen it manage over $500m in enterprise value, having accelerated over 120 startups for corporate clients and also helping corporates develop their VC strategies.

US-based Hassan started his career as a genetic engineer before moving on to the VC world, founding The Cribb – which helps entrepreneurs cultivate their ecosystems, led a private angel network and co-founded Turn8 with Al Mutawa. Al Mutawa, based in Dubai, who was a member of the management team for Dubai eGovernment during its startup phase, was also previously the chief information officer for DP World before launching Turn8.

Abdallah and Ghaith Yafi Co-founders, B&Y Venture Partners

B&Y Venture Partners is a venture capital firm seeking to invest in highimpact founders and high-growth ventures, with a mission of bridging the MENA region’s tech ecosystem with more mature markets. Leading B&Y Venture Partners are its co-founders, Abdallah and Ghaith Yafi, who together bring a deep understanding of the technology market, combined with their years of experience in entrepreneurship, venture capital, investment banking, strategy and management consulting. Their portfolio comprises diverse tech startups, including Mumzworld, mobile gaming company YallaPlay, global payments solution Veem and Onfido, an AI-based tech for verifying identity.

Noor Sweid Founder, Global Ventures

Ramesh Jagannathan Managing director, startAD

Jagannathan is the managing director of startAD, a joint partnership accelerator between New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) and Tamkeen. StartAD supports seed stage startups in the UAE and is involved in stimulating grassroots entrepreneurship through several of its programmes including those focused on financial literacy and youth business training initiatives. In April, Aldar Properties partnered with startAD to launch a six-month entrepreneurship incubator programme called Manassah, concentrated on tech and sustainability startups, with winners receiving Dhs1m in incentives. Jagannathan also serves as the vice provost for innovation and entrepreneurship at NYUAD.

The Dubai-based venture capital fund, whose portfolio includes tabby, Tarabut Gateway and Paymob among others, chooses to invest between $1m-$4m in only around 10 companies each year. Making that call is the founder and general partner Noor Sweid, who apart from being an orchestra pianist, was also the first Arab woman to scale, IPO and operate a public company within the MENA region – Depa. The former CIO of the Dubai Future Foundation, she is the current chairperson of the Middle East Venture Capital Association and a director at TechWadi, whose mission is to build tech bridges between the MENA region and Silicon Valley.

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SPECIAL REPORT

ENABLERS Abdul Baset AI Janahi CEO, Dubai SME

SMEs and startups were among the hardest hit by the pandemic, and Dubai SME, as the agency of Dubai Economy mandated with developing the SME sector, supported its members with procurement contracts worth Dhs896m from 61 government entities and other establishments in 2020. Leading from the front is Abdul Baset Al Janahi, who has been contributing significantly to developing the emirate’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. In March, he led the launch of Dubai SME’s ‘Tjaarz Business Incubation Centre’ to support entrepreneurs. Al Janahi also serves as the vice chairman and managing director of the Mohammad Bin Rashid Fund for SMEs.

Shaker Zainal Head, Mohammed Bin Rashid Innovation Fund

Dr Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi UAE Minister of State for Entrepreneurship and SMEs

In what was a landmark move aimed at highlighting the importance of the SME sector to the UAE, the country appointed its first ever Minister of State for Entrepreneurship and SMEs last year, with Al Falasi handed the responsibility of the role. Tasked with designing national initiatives to strengthen the SME sector and support entrepreneurship, the former Minister of State for Higher Education has plenty of experience – he previously served as the chairman of the Federal Authority for Human Resources, chairman of the UAE Space Agency and the CEO of Masdar, among other roles.

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As the head of Mohammed bin Rashid Innovation Fund (MBRIF), a federal initative sponsored by the UAE Ministry of Finance to support innovators with affordable financing, Zainal is keenly involved with supporting the startup ecosystem. The MBRIF, operated by Emirates Development Bank, supports innovators through two programmes including the innovation accelerator and the guarantee scheme.

A banker by profession, Shaker Zainal, who also serves as the Business Finance director at Emirates Development Bank, previously worked at HSBC, Mashreq Bank and Commercial Bank International.

SPECIAL REPORT

Sami Al Qamzi Director general, Dubai Economy

As the person leading Dubai’s agenda to position itself as a global trade, logistics, finance and investment hub, Al Qamzi has played a key role in supporting the growth of the startup and SME ecosystem in the emirate. In a statement last month, Al Qamzi, who has been heading the department since September 2008, stressed that SMEs are a “strategic component of sustainable and innovation-driven economic growth in Dubai and the UAE”.

A member of the Executive Council of Dubai, Al Qamzi holds several senior positions and also previously served as Dubai’s director general of the Department of Finance.

William Chappell Fahad Al Gergawi CEO, Dubai FDI

As the CEO of Dubai FDI – Al Gergawi drives the emirate’s agenda to attract foreign investment into the country.

The agency provides information and support to foreign businesses looking to invest in Dubai’s economy – from determining the appropriate legal structures to identifying investment opportunities and introducing a network of government and private sector contacts. Al Gergawi, who has been heading the agency since 2008, seeks to position Dubai as a global hub for entrepreneurship and a test-bed for future technologies. He is also the president of the World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (WAIPA).

CFO and EVP, Technology and Entrepreneurship, Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority (Dtec)

Projecting itself as ‘a complete startup ecosystem’, the Dubai Technology Entrepreneurship Campus (Dtec) – an initiative of Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority – helps entrepreneurs set up a new business in Dubai taking care of everything from office space to visa processing and wifi. A seasoned financial officer, Chappell has overseen all the technology ecosystem activities of the DSOA since 2011. Under his leadership, Dtec campus has grown to become what it claims is the ‘largest tech hub and co-working space in the MENA region’, serving as the base of operations for more than 820 startups from 72 countries.

Esam Mahmoud Senior vice president, Etisalat SMB

Recognising the central role of small and medium businesses in supporting the national economy, Esam Mahmoud leads UAE telecoms operator Etisalat’s efforts in providing SMBs with a robust and responsive telecommunications infrastructure. Catering to nearly 300,000 SMB customers, Etisalat also launched its Hello Business Hub in 2018, aimed at specifically catering to the needs of SMBs and startups. The hub, headed by Mahmoud, offers tailored telecommunications as well as value added services to SMBs. Mahmoud leads Etisalat’s SMB arm to provide more focused solutions for the different stages of business growth.

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SPECIAL REPORT

Khalfan Juma Belhoul, CEO, and Dr Noah Raford, chief of Global Affairs Dubai Future Foundation

The Dubai Future Foundation focuses on developing an innovation ecosystem that includes accelerator programmes, incubators, labs, regulatory sandboxes, and knowledge platforms – to design a future-ready city. Leading its initiatives is Khalfan Juma Belhoul, founder of the Belhoul Investment Office.

Supporting him by identifying emerging opportunities, strategic partnerships and future initiatives is futurist-in-chief Dr Noah Raford, who has also been involved with projects such as Dubai Future Accelerators and the Dubai Future Academy.

Sheikh Dr Rashid bin Hamad Bin Mohammed Al-Sharqi

Hamad Buamim President and CEO, Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry

Another Dubai-based entity that supports entrepreneurs in the emirate through a series of programmes, workshops, trainings, marketing and advocacy efforts is Dubai Startup Hub – the entrepreneurship arm of Dubai Chamber that was established in 2016. Spearheading the startup focus is Hamad Buamim, who stresses that the SME ecosystem is supporting the UAE’s national vision. “Startups will have a major role to play in advancing these efforts by driving innovation and supporting the country’s transition to a digitally-driven economy,” he told Gulf Business last year. Outside of Dubai Chamber, Buamim also serves as the chairman of World Chambers Federation – International Chamber of Commerce.

Chairman, Fujairah Creative City

With the UAE’s national vision to emerge as a hub for the creative and innovative industries, another freezone that is playing a big role in supporting startups within the media, events, consulting, education and entertainment sectors – among others – is Fujairah Creative City. At the helm, Sheikh Dr Rashid is driving its evolution as a preferred destination for company setup.

The freezone registers companies, provides licences and visas and also offers support solutions such as mediarelated services.

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Vic Barreto CEO, Capital Club Dubai

For over 30 years, Vic Barreto has been passionate about building successful businesses. He has harnessed this drive and conceived, developed, operated and exited eight businesses. Today, he lends his in-depth business acumen to help empower startups and entrepreneurs in the UAE. Under his leadership, Capital Club Dubai gives a voice to the UAE’s business community, connects startups and corporates with key government agencies and fosters enhanced collaboration between the public and private sectors. With his knowledge on “what makes a business tick and what makes a business sick,” Barreto guides entrepreneurs into leading their startups to success and scaling their operations optimally.

SPECIAL REPORT

Ronaldo Mouchawar

Philip Bahoshy

VP, Amazon MENA/Co-founder, Souq.com

Founder and CEO, Magnitt

Passionate about developing entrepreneurship ecosystems across emerging markets, Bahoshy founded Magnitt – a startup community and data platform – in 2014, prior to which he worked at Barclays Wealth and Oliver Wyman.

Magnitt, which claims to be the “largest online community for startups across the MENA region”, connects entrepreneurs directly with ecosystem stakeholders including funders, mentors, support services, and talent. In Bahoshy’s words, Magnitt looks to “take out the loneliness for entrepreneurs by bringing both sides of the marketplace online, making it easier for stakeholders to navigate through the developing MENA ecosystem”.

A regional pioneer in the e-commerce space, Mouchawar founded Souq.com in 2005 and nurtured it to become a juggernaut, before it was acquired

by Amazon for an estimated $580m.

Mouchawar was also one of the team to develop Maktoob – the Arabic/English email service provider that was sold to Yahoo for $164m in 2009.

With the regional e-commerce space stepping into overdrive last year, Mouchawar has driven the growth of Amazon in the region, while also emerging as a mentor in the regional startups space. His continued success has served as a huge motivator for local entrepreneurs to innovate and follow their dreams.

Ammar Al Malik Managing director, Dubai Internet City (in5)

Dr Khalid Al Midfa Chairman, Shams

With a vision to grow Sharjah as an entrepreneurial hub, Sharjah Media City (Shams) helps small businesses set up in a cost-effective manner, providing support and opportunities across 120 business licence activities with facilities, legal framework, general and logistic services to investors. Leading the rise of Shams – which currently claims to be the fastest growing media free zone in the UAE – is Al Midfa, who has served as its chairman since February 2017. Under his tutelage, Shams partnered with peer-to-peer lending platform Beehive last year, to provide low-cost funding to its SMEs.

Beginning his career as a strategic planning officer at the Dubai eGovernment Department, he was appointed as the managing director of Tecom’s Dubai Outsource City and Dubai Internet City in 2016. The latter of the two includes in5, a business incubation platform and membership programme that facilitates business activities across design, technology and media industries.

Al Malik’s ability to navigate a crisis – as he successfully did in 2009 with Dubai Outsource City – was brought back into sharp focus last year with in5, when its members raised over Dhs65m in direct investments in H1 2020, with 41 companies joining the platform during the same period.

Sheikh Ahmed bin Saqr Al Qasimi Chairman, RAKEZ

Ras Al Khaimah has been growing its economic appeal, with the Ras Al Khaimah Economic Zone (RAKEZ) serving as a major draw for startups, entrepreneurs and SMEs due to its range of licences, customisable facilities and support services. As the chairman, Sheikh Ahmed oversees the operations and manages the development of investment activities to support the growth of the non-oil economy. He also serves as the chairman of RAK International Corporate Centre, which is responsible for the registration and incorporation of international business companies in the emirate.

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BRAND VIEW

E-commerce in a box With e-commerce booming across the region, Dubai CommerCity will offer a one-stop-shop platform for international and local businesses involved in the industry, says its board member, Amna Lootah How has the UAE’s e-commerce landscape altered since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic?

With the onset of Covid-19, countries in the region are expediting the use of a diverse range of technology platforms, accommodating greater collaboration across geographies, and developing e-commerce initiatives and infrastructure. According to our upcoming MEASA E-Commerce Landscape: B2C Products Edition report, the MEASA e-commerce landscape is currently valued at $89.4bn with the UAE leading many e-commerce related rankings regionally and globally, including the highest global internet penetration at 99 per cent and securing the 13th position out of 99 countries for ease of starting an online business.

Consumer behaviour has also changed for a large section of the population as Covid-19 provided an ideal opportunity to re-evaluate current lifestyle choices. As such, there has been an increased preference for online shopping. Our report also highlighted that internet shoppers per capita are highest in the Middle East, with the UAE leading at 59 per cent.

Spurred by the impact of the pandemic, the region’s e-commerce market is experiencing a staggering growth of 18.4 per cent CAGR, higher than the global 16.6 per cent growth over the 2019-22 forecasted period, which represents a big opportunity.

How has last-mile delivery progressed in the past few years?

In the past few years, last-mile delivery has gone through a lot of changes due to adoption of technology and changing consumer behaviour. Providers have options to implement cost-effective solutions at a faster pace which has not only unlocked new potential streams, but also resulted in changing competitive dynamics.

The pandemic has further required businesses to improve the ways final delivery

environmental implications if sustainable practices are not adopted. Some strategies including courier route planning, use of efficient and zero-emission transport modes, and adoption of digital technology can address some of the air pollution, traffic congestion scale and urban density challenges.

At Dubai CommerCity, we are committed to adhering to UAE’s sustainability goals. As such, we lower our electricity consumption by using solar energy and reduce water wastage by 40 per cent through the treatment of polluted water and the collection and reuse of rainwater in addition to rooftop photovoltaic solar panels to generate clean energy. Our strategies also include the implementation of global environmental standards for the construction of light industrial units and buildings, as well as the use of environmentally friendly building materials and recycled resources.

How does Dubai CommerCity facilitate e-commerce businesses?

Amna Lootah, Dubai CommerCity board member is made to consumers, with the need to adhere to social guidelines and new safety protocols.

Contactless delivery, track and trace options, and fast and cost-effective solutions for last-mile delivery have since surfaced to accommodate shifting consumer preferences. Customers are eager to have shorter delivery windows and prefer greater visibility as to when a delivery is expected. These newly adopted delivery habits put excessive strain on the couriers, and for many businesses, it has become a trend to move away from in-house personalised deliveries to larger third-party logistics (3PL) businesses. By outsourcing of e-commerce logistics processes to a third-party business, companies and consumers are benefiting from greater consolidation and cost efficiency benefits.

Which sustainability measures do e-commerce players need to adopt?

The growth of the e-commerce industry and surge in online shopping can have adverse

At Dubai CommerCity, we provide a unique e-commerce ecosystem and comprehensive e-commerce solutions for businesses to run effectively and seamlessly. We also offer strategy consulting, guidance on e-commerce regulations in the region, end-to-end logistics solutions inclusive of warehousing and last-mile delivery, complete e-commerce platform solutions, digital marketing services and other support services. In addition, we offer complete business setup and customs support, recruitment support and fulfilment centres.

All in all, Dubai CommerCity is the leading e-commerce enabler facilitating businesses to capture the exponential e-commerce growth opportunities in the MENA region.

It follows an all-under-one-roof approach offering a truly complete turnkey solution to create the perfect e-commerce ecosystem in which businesses can thrive, investing further into their growth and progress.

What are your future plans?

To support the UAE’s industrial strategy ‘Operation 300bn’, Dubai CommerCity is facilitating regional and international businesses by providing a unique e-commerce ecosystem. We are providing a platform – both for international players to bring their products into UAE and be closer to their consumers and serve a wider audience – and for local companies to expand and grow their businesses.

SPECIAL REPORT

Ones to watch Entrepreneurs whose startup ventures hold strong potential and are making waves in the UAE

Amir Milad Founder and CEO, Karma Media

The Egyptian national began his professional life as a social media specialist in Etisalat Egypt. Having moved to the UAE in 2014, he embarked on his entrepreneurial journey in 2019 with digital marketing agency Karma Media. The company offers multimedia production, creative writing and design, social media, PR, digital marketing and web development. A verified partner on Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp Business, Snapchat, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google Services, Karma’s clients so far include Huawei, OPPO, Union Properties and Ajman Municipality, among others. Looking ahead, Milad’s vision is clear: “I believe that Karma stands for doing the right thing and then we can expect the good to come back.”

Jad Antoun and Khalid Ashmawy Co-founders, Huspy

Recognising the gap in the property technology (proptech) space, Jad Antoun – who previously worked with Beco Capital – and Khalid Ashmawy, who was with Uber and Microsoft – launched Huspy in August 2020. The web and app-based licensed mortgage platform, which offers home financing products with no paperwork, claims that it can offer a quote in under one minute and close the transaction “three times faster” than the traditional process.

Huspy says it has already reached more than $200m in annualised gross merchandise value with over 150 transactions. Last month, Huspy also attracted what it claims is the one of the largest seed rounds ever raised by a startup in the MENA region, although the size of the deal was not disclosed.

Ritesh Tilani and Alper Celen Co-founders, Joi Gifts

In March, UAE-based gifting platform Joi Gifts expanded into its eighth country, Qatar, after raising $750,000 as part of a pre-Series A funding round expected to close in May 2021. The startup, which claims to be the region’s largest online gifting marketplace, is now “profitable”, according to cofounder Alper Celen. Launched in late 2015 by the two seasoned investors, Joi is an online platform that offers a range of gifts including fresh floral arrangements, chocolates and cakes, gourmet gift baskets, jewellery as well as personalised gifts. It is aiming to launch a concierge service in H2 of 2021.

For its founders, the mission from the start has been to create “a seamless and enjoyable experience from start to finish to offer the true art of gifting”.

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SPECIAL REPORT

“WE HAVE TO MAKE HISTORY AND APPROACH THE FUTURE WITH STEADY STEPS, NOT WAIT FOR THE FUTURE TO COME TO US”

HH SHEIKH MOHAMMED BIN RASHID AL MAKTOUM, VICE PRESIDENT AND PRIME M I N I S T E R O F T H E U A E A N D RU L E R O F DU BA I

MAY

Lifestyle

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Timeless classics

We revisit our 10 favourite releases from the recently concluded Watches & Wonders Geneva 2021 luxury watch show p.64

“The goal we set for ourselves was to actually increase the conservation value of the destination by 30 per cent over the next couple of decades” - John Pagano, CEO of The Red Sea Development Company and Amaala

gulfbusiness.com

Extans Akhal Sheen Design house Extans’ new bike comprises of a monocoque carbon frame with 24 gold accents, handcrafted carbon detailing and is limited to 19 pieces May 2021

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Lifestyle / Horology

Time stood still

The Watches & Wonders Geneva 2021 edition was once again a digital-only event this year, held last month. There were 38 participating brands, none of whom held back. Here are some of our favourite releases

BY VARUN GODINHO

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May 2021

Montblanc

1858 Geosphere Limited Edition Desert Reinhold Messner is one of the greatest living explorers. He was the world’s first climber to ascend all 14 peaks above 8,000 metres, and the first man to scale Everest without supplemental oxygen.

In 2004, he undertook a daring solo expedition to trek 2,000km across the Gobi Desert.

Commemorating that feat, Montblanc released this new watch which features an image from the Gobi Desert on the caseback, and a world-time calibre MB 29.25 that powers the Northern and Southern hemispheres of the globe visible on the dial.

At Montblanc, the world’s its playground. gulfbusiness.com

Lifestyle / Horology

Patek Philippe

Ref 5236P-001 In-line Perpetual Calendar While Patek collectors were in for a shock revelation in January this year that the Nautilus 5711/1A-010 would be discontinued (they heaved a collective sigh of relief when at W&W 2021 it was announced that the 5711/1A-014 Nautilus would replace it), a parallel story with equal proportions was brewing for the brand. Along with the new Nautilus at W&W, Patek also unveiled this Ref 5236P-001 with a perpetual calendar in-line display on the dial – the first such arrangement ever for Patek. Mind you, this isn’t window dressing – pulling this off required a patented mechanism with an additional 118 components compared to a typical perpetual calendar to allow the four disks showcasing the day, date and month to remain aligned on the same plane.

A. Lange & Söhne

Triple Split in pink gold The Triple Split is the world’s only mechanical watch that can measure comparative and lap times of durations of up to 12 hours. While it was unveiled as a white gold model with a grey dial when it first broke cover in 2018, this year’s iteration is in pink gold with a blue dial, and is limited to only 100 pieces. The manually-wound calibre L1323.1 with 567 components is a technical masterpiece, made all the more captivating by way of a very German-level of movement finishing that challenges the Swiss at their own game. With a stunning movement, exemplary finishing and a new 43mm case material, the Triple Split is triple the fun too.

Bulgari

Octo Finissimo Perpetual Calendar Titanium You’re looking at the seventh and latest world record from Bulgari, the Octo Finissimo Perpetual Calendar, the world’s thinnest perpetual calendar watch. Just how thin? A 2.75mm thick automatic in-house BVL 305 calibre controls not only the hours, and minutes, but a retrograde date, day, month, and a retrograde leap year indicator too. All this in the fully-encased platinum watch (it’s also available in titanium), which is only 5.8mm thick – just a little more than two one dirham coins stacked over each other. gulfbusiness.com

May 2021

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Lifestyle / Horology

Cartier

Privé Collection Cloche de Cartier Skeleton Unusual designs are not unusual for Cartier within its Privé collection – the Crash, Asymétrique and the Tonneau readily spring to mind. With the latest Cloche de Cartier collection, the shape of which resembles a clock, the dial is rotated 90 degrees. It required Cartier to take its manual-winding Manufacture 1917 movement and rework it to create a calibre 9626 MC skeletonised movement that could support the new timekeeping orientation. With case options of 18k pink gold and platinum, a still more decadent option is a platinum case set with 107 brilliant-cut diamonds that shows just how this jeweller-watchmaker can bring its A-game to both jewellery and watchmaking – simultaneously.

Vacheron Constantin

Historiques American 1921 Collection Excellence Platine The original Vacheron 1921 timepiece was born in the Roaring Twenties – a decade that attempted to compensate in jubilance, celebration and grandeur for a world that had just emerged from World War I and the Spanish flu. The cushion-shaped case with a dial that was tilted 45-degrees and a crown that was off-centred was an experimental design that resonated with the times. Skip forward to 2021, and the new Historiques American 1921 marks the 100th-anniversary of that iconic watch. It includes 40mm and 36.5mm white gold versions. But a collector’s favourite will be the 40mm Collection Excellence Platine version of this watch in platinum limited to 100 pieces. All three models are Hallmark of Geneva-certified timepieces backed by the 4400AS manual winding calibre – meaning they’re solid for another 100 years, at least.

IWC

Big Pilot’s Watch Shock Absorber XPL An F1 driver experiences 5g when braking hard while going into a corner; the maximum an astronaut will face during reentry into the earth’s orbit is around 8g; a fighter jet pilot pulling up vertically experiences up to 9g. This watch has a movement that can survive a g force of up to 30,000. A product of IWC’s new Experimental Engineering division, its ultrashock resistant capability comes down to a Sprin-g Protect cantilevered suspension system that insulates it. The 44mm case is made from ceratanium – a titanium and ceramic compound – and houses an automatic-winding lightweight Calibre 321, with production of this watch limited to 10 pieces a year.

If there was ever a watch purpose-designed to survive a torture chamber (not that we advocate anyone ever enter one), this would be it.

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Lifestyle / Horology

Rolex

Explorer Ref 124273 Rolex doesn’t do screaming headlines – and frankly, it doesn’t need to. It’s the world’s top-selling luxury watch brand by a mile. In 2020, its sales were estimated at CHF4.95bn, with one of every four Swiss watches bought worldwide being a Rolex. Rest assured, there’s an insatiable appetite for its current range of watches. Any additions to the basket need only be complementary models. That explains the new Ref 124273, the first-ever two-tone Explorer. The Rolesor, or 18k yellow gold placed alongside Oystersteel model is now offered in 36mm too.

Generally, it’s enough for Rolex enthusiasts to go weak in the knees when the brand decides to change the position of the text on the dial – that’s exactly what happened with this year’s Oystersteel Explorer Ref 124270. But with the Explorer Ref 124273, Rolex has introduced a new case size and a new material – enough to jam up the phone lines of every reputable Rolex dealer in the city.

Jaeger-LeCoultre

Reverso Hybris Mechanica Calibre 185 The new Hybris Mechanica Calibre 185 is the most complicated Reverso ever made.

It is the world’s first wristwatch with four different faces that tell you much more than just the time. There’s a perpetual calendar, minute repeater, and a lunar indicator that displays the moon’s synodic, draconic and anomalistic cycle, allowing this wristbound astrophysicist to predict supermoons and eclipses too. It took six years to create this timepiece which also features a sky chart with the southern hemisphere moonphase on the outermost face of the watch, a tourbillon, minute repeater, and leap year indicator too – all packed into a white gold case that features an incredibly complex manual winding movement. It tells the time too. A star is born.

Panerai

Submersible eLAB-ID PAM01225 How sustainable can watchmaking in 2021 get? Panerai has an answer – 98.6 per cent. This eLAB-ID is the first watch to use 100 per cent recycled SuperLuminova and 100 per cent recycled silicon for its movement escapement.

And it goes further. Its case, sandwich dial and bridges are all made from a recycled titanium alloy called EcoTitanium. Its sapphire crystals, dial, straps and gold hands also use recycled materials. At $60,000, this 44mm automatic-winding watch, limited to 30 pieces, commands a significant investment.

But for eco-warriors with pockets not nearly as deep, the brand also introduced the Luminor Marina eSteel with nearly 60 per cent of its components made from recycled materials and priced at around a seventh of the cost of the eLAB-ID. gulfbusiness.com

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Lifestyle / Travel

28,000

square kilometres, the area that the Red Sea Project covers

Unveiling Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia’s mega vision for its tourism industry is thoroughly embodied by way of two large-scale developments along its Red Sea coast, led by the far-sighted John Pagano

BY VARUN GODINHO

T

he Red Sea Project is determined to transform the tourism trajectory of the world’s largest Arab economy. The sustainable development project which will have its own airport, ultra-luxury hotels and resorts, and cutting-edge mobility solutions, is spread across 28,000 square kilometres – for scale, that’s a little smaller than Belgium.

Within Saudi, the Red Sea development is among three other giga projects – including Neom, Qiddiya, and Amaala – that are being planned and executed as part of the kingdom’s Vision 2030, directly overseen

by Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman.

John Pagano, a veteran property developer with nearly four decades of experience within the field, was handpicked and appointed to the role of CEO of The Red Sea Development Company (TRSDC) 68

May 2021

by the Crown Prince himself. Pagano, the former director of London’s Canary Wharf, who saw the London development project from its inception in the Margaret Thatcher era and spent 23 years with the group, was already retired when the idea of heading up TRSDC was suggested to him. “When I was approached about coming to Saudi Arabia, at first I wasn’t that interested. But they persuaded me to come. I met His Royal Highness, and I was honoured to have the future sovereign of this country directly ask me to lead what is a very near and dear project to him. It wasn’t just the project that attracted me as much as the effect that the project would have on helping transform the country and bring it into a [new] era,” Pagano tells Gulf Business.

That new era that Pagano is referring to is the country’s drive to radically diversify its economy and tear it away from a

decades-long disproportionate focus on oil. “In Saudi Arabia, tourism represents a relatively small proportion of the overall economy. Given the desire to diversify the economy, tourism makes a lot of sense.

Today, we have something like 3-3.4 per cent contribution [of tourism] towards GDP, which is largely based on religious tourism.”

Ultra-luxe tourism mega-developments, like the Red Sea Project, are aimed at tipping that scale. The first phase of construction at the Red Sea is well underway. The team aims to deliver 16 hotels with approximately 3,000 hotel rooms, an international airport, and a new village to house the approximately 14,000 people that are going to live and work at the destination. “We hope to complete the first few hotels at the end of next year and then the balance of that phase by 2023.”

But mindless concretisation and plundering the natural resources of the area was a red gulfbusiness.com

Lifestyle / Travel

flag from the get-go. Beyond sustainability, regenerative development was the overarching goal here. As Pagano explains, there are 90 islands as part of the Red Sea development, with plans to build on no more than 22 of them – leaving 75 per cent of the islands untouched. “The islands that we chose to develop were borne out of a very detailed planning exercise which was to create a computer simulation where we divided up the entire lagoon into 30,000 squares assigning a conservation value.” Each island was therefore assigned a conservation value, and the islands where construction would have the least impact on its flora and fauna were selected for development.

“The goal we set for ourselves was to actually increase the conservation value of the destination by 30 per cent over the next couple of decades. Sustainability is simply distilled down to not making a mess of the place, whereas regeneration seeks to leave the place better than when you arrived.”

For an area that is rich in marine biodiversity, mangroves, seagrasses and marine life including the critically endangered Hawksbill turtles and green turtles, it’s difficult to understate the importance of regenerative tourism in this area of the kingdom.

As part of the regenerative tourism concept, Pagano says that while the area can accommodate 10 million visitors a year, he will be limiting it to a million visitors, “based on our environment-caring capacity”.

With the success that Pagano has had with getting the Red Sea Project off the ground, he was additionally appointed to the role of CEO of Amaala, another giga tourism project aimed at attracting UHNWIs. “Our focus at the Red Sea is primarily on nature, ecotourism and sustainability. The main focus for Amaala is on arts and culture, and a very strong emphasis on wellness,” explains Pagano about how the two projects that he now directly oversees differ from one another. The first phase of development at Amaala will consist of six hotels and roughly 1,000 hotel keys, the construction of which is expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2024. “Subsequent phases will be built out by the end of 2025, and then ultimately the entire project by the end of 2027, which in the aggregate will be about 3,000 hotel rooms across around 25 hotels.”

Saudi introduced its first international tourism e-visa in September 2019 to begin attracting droves of tourists, and by March 2020 had issued more than 400,000 tourism gulfbusiness.com

“The power is 100 per cent renewable energy – the largest tourism destination in the world to be powered exclusively by renewables” visas. But between the Red Sea and Amaala itself, will the supply of hotel rooms outstrip demand? Pagano is quick to counter that suggestion, adding that while the Red Sea and Amaala will deliver around 11,000 hotel rooms, an area of roughly only 50 kilometres along the French Riviera, including Nice and Cannes, has 40,000 rooms along that stretch.

Both the Red Sea and Amaala are financially backed by the country’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF). “With the Red Sea, our equity is committed, so we have the capital to build the first phase. I am signing a debt financing package raising SAR14.1bn. I’ve awarded SAR15bn, including a PPP contract [with the Acwa Power consortium]. To date, I’ve already spent SAR4.5bn.”

Pagano says that while he does have the capital to build the Red Sea in its entirety, the aim is to incentivise the private sector to partner on the project too. “At the end of last year, we awarded a large scale PPP contract to a consortium led by Acwa Power. The consortium will build our utility infrastructure, including power, white water, wastewater,

John Pagano, CEO of The Red Sea Development Company and Amaala

municipal waste and district cooling. The power is 100 per cent renewable energy – the largest tourism destination in the world to be powered exclusively by renewables.

We’re building the largest battery storage system in the world too. We have the largest district cooling plant, powered by renewable energy in the world. That contract was for direct domestic investment in the project.

They’re deploying their capital for a 25-year concession to run, operate and maintain those utilities.”

Amaala is on a smaller scale than the Red Sea, but is also a roundly funded project.

“Our equity [for Amaala] will be committed by PIF which allows us to move forward with the project. In time, we’ll be tapping the debt markets to raise debt financing.

We’re looking and talking to green mobility providers to provide terrestrial, air and marine mobility solutions for the destination, so there are opportunities for the private sector to participate too.”

There are other large-scale tourism projects being built in Saudi including the $500bn Neom, the $8bn Qiddiya entertainment zone, the Soudah Development near the country’s border with Yemen into which PIF has already committed $3bn to build nearly 2,700 hotel rooms, and also the AlUla project for which the Crown Prince unveiled the development’s masterplan earlier this year and which is projected to contribute SAR120bn to the kingdom’s GDP. Pagano is on the board of the AlUla project too.

He explains that with many mega tourism development projects spread across the country, TRSDC can serve a much bigger agenda than its namesake. “The Red Sea Development Company is not a project company. It was never intended to be just the Red Sea. I wanted to build a real estate champion for the kingdom, to be able to not only do the Red Sea, but other projects starting domestically – Amaala is the manifestation of that vision – regionally, and potentially globally too.” Pagano and team are off to a dream start.

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A value proposition How the upcoming Emirates Amateur Golf League can prove to be a financial windfall for team owners, investors and sponsors

T

he world’s first franchise-based golf league – the Emirates Amateur Golf League (EAGL) – is all set to commence its inaugural season in Dubai this November. The brainchild of Indian businessman Sudesh Aggarwal, the tournament is expected to become the first platform of its kind in the world to help elevate amateur golf and raise it to a higher level of consciousness – not only among the sport’s enthusiasts, but also among investors and major sponsors.

70 June 2020

The round-robin format of the league will feature eight teams, with 24 players within each squad. EAGL is now inviting investors and corporates to sponsor these teams. It has proposed a one-time payment fee of $28,000 to purchase a team. It estimates that the team owner will have around $27,000 of cash expenses during the season, and will in addition, need to pay $275,000 per season as the recurring cost of the team to the franchiser.

“The $275,000 a team owner pays to the

franchiser is to partly bear the costs of hosting the league. This includes a majority of the spend they’d have to undertake to be a part of any golf tournament,” explains Aggarwal.

But investing in the league isn’t drawn up to be a cash drain for investors. Teams are expected to receive approximately $40,000 per season from the sponsorship deals that EAGL strikes for the entire franchise, with this figure projected to rise to $100,000 by the fifth year of the tournament.

While a corporate may choose to have other business houses join in and co-sponsor the team, investors stand to raise around $240,000 per season in team sponsorships.

“A team owner has many possibilities to generate revenue from sponsorships of the team – like title sponsor, co-sponsors and banners.

It also depends on the kind of investment they want to make into the team. So, if a team owner somehow manages to rope in Tiger Woods as a team mentor, he would obviously be in a position to charge much more from his sponsors,” adds Aggarwal.

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BRAND VIEW

As for attracting high-profile names, at a franchise level, EAGL already roped in Indian professional golfer Shiv Kapur as brand ambassador earlier this year. Dubai resident Kapur is a three-time champion on the Asian Tour and has won the European Tour twice.

In 2013, he was the brain behind the Premier Golf League, which was based on the Indian Premier League cricket model and featured champions including Darren Clarke, Angel Cabrera and Michael Campbell.

EAGL says that at the end of the season, if a team owner wishes to exit, they can potentially charge up to $70,000 for the sale of their team. Given around $330,000 that they would have spent on owning and operating the team over the course of the season, and deducting that from the funds it received by way of sponsorships and other streams of income, EAGL says that the cumulative income in year one alone stands at $20,00. It could possibly rise to over $700,000 by year five as the sale price of the team, the amount that can be charged to sponsors and the percentage of revenue share that teams are eligible for from the franchise-level deals increase every season.

“The franchiser shares the revenue it generates from the league sponsorships with team owners as they are considered to be ‘partners’ in the league. The model is financially viable for both type of investors i.e. corporates who wish to use this platform for furthering their marketing efforts and customer enhancement as the return on investment, through tangible and intangible benefits, is much higher than the money they put into the league. Individual investors who purely wish to invest for return on their investment, will also make money,” notes Aggarwal.

As Priyaa Kumria, the CEO of the India Trade and Exhibition Centre, Middle East, who is also the League administrator for the EAGL explains, the tangible and intangible benefits are numerous. The tangible benefits to each team participating per season is estimated to be in the range of $720,000 by

way of costs borne by the franchise owner including $150,000 on F&B expenses, a caddie fee of $50,000, branding worth $220,000, media exposure in the range of $140,000 and a green fee of $120,000 for each participating team. “EAGL shall negotiate the best possible terms with the golf courses where the league shall be played. However, it has no impact on the teams, or the players as they will only pay the registration fee,” says Kumria.

The intangible benefits include a PR ad value of around $600,000 and potential networking opportunities with over 11,000 individuals through a mix of Above: Priyaa Kumria, CEO of the India Trade and Exhibition on-ground events. EAGL is Centre, Middle East; and League administrator for the EAGL expected to reach a primary audience of 670,000 people Opposite page: Sudesh Aggarwal, founder EAGL in the UAE itself, and 1.5 mil– that will generate added value to team lion people internationally due to the support owners, sponsors, partners and players. of the Asian Pacific Golf Confederation which As for the players themselves, the league is represented in 42 countries. will offer prizes in cash or kind, as per the rules EAGL has said that while it is still discussapplicable to amateur golfers. “There is no ing broadcast options, it has guaranteed live prize money for the winning team other than broadcasts of the tournament on its social the trophy at the moment, but we are checking media handles. with R&A, the governing body of the game, if “In year one, we are not looking for any revethere can be prize money for the owner of the nue generating deals from the live broadcast, winning team,” says Kumria. but this shall change once we have executed On a related note, a recent proposal by the inaugural event. We have a targeted reach through this medium for branding, product the R&A and the United States Golf Associawareness etc. which has its own valuation,” ation, has opened the door to the possibility says Kumria. of amateur golfers being allowed to accept Other intangible benefits include the value sponsorship (Tiger Woods famously had to generated from the on-ground events. As wait until he went pro to sign a $40m deal Kumria explains, there are 11 events – nine on with Nike), thereby allowing the player particieach match day and two gala events which pants to potentially receive monetary benefits include the opening and closing ceremonies by way of their participation in the league too.

The UAE is the staging ground for the first season, though there is a very real possibility that it would subsequently be taken beyond the country’s borders.

“Once the inaugural event is delivered, we definitely plan to take the league to other countries and we have already received interests for the same as well,” says Aggarwal, making the league only more valuable in the long run.

“In year one, we are not looking for any revenue generating deals from the live broadcast, but this shall change once we have executed the inaugural event” gulfbusiness.com

June 2020 71

Lifestyle / Luxury

The luxury whisperers A recently-opened luxury brand consultancy, focused strongly on horology, is writing a new playbook for brands and collectors in the region

BY VARUN GODINHO

“C

onsumers are not clients, and clients are not consumers,” says Melika Yazdjerdi, co-founder of the new Dubai-based luxury consultancy company Ashfields Consultancies. Understanding the difference between the two, and distilling it to the brands they work with, strikes at the heart of what Ashfields does.

Ashfields was founded in July last year by Emirati Hamdan Al Hudaidi, who worked with the UAE government for 17 years, and was most recently the director of procurement, marketing and foreign contracts at the Sharjah Seaports & Customs, until he left in February to work full-time on Ashfields.

Co-founder Yazdjerdi spent 12 years at Seddiqi Holding, most recently as its senior marketing and communications director. She quit last October to work full-time on Ashfields, and says that the idea of a luxury consultancy was one that Al Hudaidi and herself had mulled over for some time, although the Covid-19 pandemic and the explosion of brands looking to focus and repurpose their strategies for the region was the reason that they finally took the plunge to set up the company.

The timing was spot on, as a recent study

by Bain & Company reported that although the GCC luxury market grew by 6 per cent in 2019, it shrunk by 17 per cent last year.

Markets such as the UAE saw its luxury industry take a body blow with an overall decline of around 23 per cent, forcing many brands to rethink their strategies and plans for the region.

Ashfields was primarily established as a

horology consultancy business, focused on fine independent watchmaking. “It is the first horology consultancy in the Middle East which advises not only collectors, but also corporates to help diagnose their problems and help position or reposition them both regionally and internationally,” says Al Hudaidi.

Al Hudaidi is believed to be among the region’s most prolific collectors of vintage Patek Philippe, a pursuit to which he has dedicated nearly two decades. His personal collection of fine independent watchmakers includes the likes of Philippe Dufour, Roger

We’re not just limited to product-related industries, we’re also advising clients in the F&B and hospitality sector, those who want to set up restaurants or offices here,” notes Yazdjerdi.

The B2C component of Ashfields business model is being reinforced by the Perpétuel gallery, an offshoot of Ashfields, which will open this month as a by-appointment space within DIFC where some of the creations by independent watchmakers are available. “All the products that are sold at Perpétuel will always be exclusive collaborations with Ashfields. We launched Perpétuel with a Baltic collaboration, a strategic decision where we wanted to focus on a product that was accessible to a lot of people because [many] people have the misconception that exclusive, collectable and limited editions have to be super expensive,” says Yazdjerdi.

Al Hudaidi adds that a number of the watches being sold at Perpétuel range between $800-$2,000, yet are very hard to get as the manufacturers in some instances make only around 10 pieces of that collection in the entire year.

Yazdjerdi’s strategy for Perpétuel has seen it rope in other brand names that are only known among the most rarified orbits of the watchmaking community.

“We work with Krayon, Hoffman, Atelier de Chronométrie and Théo Auffret. One of the most important projects we got involved with this year is a watchmaker called Luca Soprana who has got the rights to reproduce Derek Pratt watches. The entire allocation for those watches has been granted to us for the next five years. Any watch produced over the course of that period will be sold exclusively at Perpétuel,” says Yazdjerdi.

Apart from independent watchmakers, the gallery will also showcase vintage timepieces as well as other products such as those from luxury leather brand Charles Simon. “We have another collaboration coming up with Charles Simon, for a product that is being exclusively created [for Perpétuel].”

But hard-selling is definitely off the cards at Perpétuel. Tapping into the luxury consumer mindset and growing its network of clients is its primary focus. “Purchasing or buying is the least of the activities

“Every name we represent, I am the collector of those pieces before I represent them”

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W. Smith, Greubel Forsey and F.P. Journe, among others. Being a collector, he says, adds to his credibility among the region’s tight-knit watch community, and also among brands that turn to his consultancy for advice. “Every name we represent, I am the collector of those pieces before I represent them.”

While Al Hudaidi focuses on communitybuilding among luxury clients in the region, Yazdjerdi dwells on business development and communication. “Ashfields does strategy and experiences – B2B and B2C. We do that for the watch industry, but we also advise clients from the larger luxury sector, for example, from the leather industry.

gulfbusiness.com

Hamdan Al Hudaidi and Melika Yazdjerdi

that we focus on [at Perpétuel]. We’re not there to sell them anything. We’re here to understand who our clients are, so that we can customise our services and products to their needs. And that’s really the deeper differentiation between clients and consumers.”

Cultivating and refining that client base even further, the consultancy will launch Ashfields Experiences later this year. It will gulfbusiness.com

involve taking groups of no more than 10 clients for a trip to an international location where they will be treated to curated experiences that money can’t buy. “We’re doing our first one in Milos in September. We have trips planned for Budapest, Scandinavia, Italy, the UK and Isle of Man. Our UK trip starts with us arriving in London, where the clients meet different individuals whether they’re artists or chefs, or watchmakers

as well as other collectors. We’re mixing collectors from here and around the world, to share their knowledge and information, and to allow them to learn something and walk away with data and information with which they can make informed decisions,” says Yazdjerdi, who remains tight-lipped on the exact itinerary of these by-invitation-only trips or their costs.

While bespoke is a term, often carelessly bandied about by luxury brands, thoroughly understanding it will give brands a shoulder’s lead over their peers in the region. It’s precisely the sort of competitive advantage that Ashfields intends to give their clients.

“You hear the terminology ‘customisation’, ‘bespoke’ and ‘tailor-made’ from a lot of people in the luxury sector. But there are very few of them that actually understand and apply that. How can you bespoke or customise something to my needs when you don’t even know who I am? That’s the point that we’re trying to focus on at Ashfields, to know every single individual that is coming through the door,” adds Yazdjerdi.

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MAY

The SME Story

21

A dedicated hub for the regional startup and SME ecosystem

INTERVIEW

The next chapter An Abu Dhabi company that supports nascent startups and budding entrepreneurs, and a business model that champions the cause of re-commerce are this month’s SMEs on our radar

Nour Sleiman Co-founder and CMO, Cartlow

How mature is the GCC market compared to Western markets with regards to re-commerce?

The market in this region is still untapped through digital channels. There are very few segmented players who are focusing on providing consumers with their pre-loved products through a solid B2C or “classifieds” platform. What we are building is an end-to-end re-commerce model where we focus on introducing a full reverse logistics solution, passing it on to various sales channels.

What is Cartlow’s core business model?

Cartlow is a re-commerce initiative that offers like-new pre-owned, refurbished, open-box and clearance products which have been tested and certified by quality and grading experts, and then sold at lower prices with a warranty tag. Under Cartlow’s B2B model, we have recently launched VASCART with a mission to make retail more sustainable by eliminating waste generated from product returns and by offering a reverse logistics solution, in addition to providing retailers and distributors with different programmes such as return management, buyback, trade-in and recycling.

Does focusing on re-commerce (as opposed to general e-commerce) make good long-term business sense?

While the e-commerce market share is growing year-over-year, re-commerce is also on the rise.

Re-commerce provides a solution to many retailers including major e-commerce players. For customers, it is cost-effective, sustainable, and all about making the old new again. Many factors are contributing to this growth, as we become more cautious of prices and conscious about the environment.

What were you doing before you started Cartlow?

Before Cartlow, I was working at a startup hub that offered online learning and personal development programmes, where I was in charge of quality control, content creation and translation.

What gap did you see in the market that necessitated the need for Cartlow?

The main channel for consumers to buy and sell pre-owned products is the “classifieds’ channel.

We decided to offer high-quality refurbished products with a warranty, which are sold at affordable 74

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prices, in addition to many other value propositions such as payment options and logistics.

As for businesses, another gap lies in the fact that retailers and distributors are unable to get rid of their returned and overstocked products at good retrieval rates, lacking the processing capabilities to resell them. As a result, we focused on building a mature after-sales and liquidation operation. The refurbished and used market is very unstructured in this region – today there are thousands of secondary market traders in the UAE alone that don’t have access to a well-stretched digital reach. Our aim, therefore, was to restructure the market through a defined re-commerce ecosystem and automation platform. At Cartlow, we wanted to redirect some of this e-waste from ending up in landfills by introducing the ‘reduce, re-use, refurbish and recycle’ approach, and also align with the UAE Vision 2021 on diverting 75 per cent of municipal solid waste away from landfills.

What are your expansion plans?

Nour Sleiman, cofounder and CMO, Cartlow

We are targeting a vast segment of people across the MENAP region. While we are currently operating in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, we plan on expanding to two other countries this year. gulfbusiness.com

The SME Story

What were you doing before you co-founded the company?

I started my career in Jordan with Aramex and it thrust me into forming an entrepreneurial mindset which grew throughout my time with the company.

I later joined an Aramex-acquired startup, Infofort, as VP of Sales in which I led the expansion strategy, in addition to launching and growing new business products and revenue streams across 23 cities from South East Asia to West Africa. Starting hatch & boost was the appropriate next step, as I wanted to find a way to bridge the gap between early-stage startup ideation and sustainable venture growth; supporting local talent while providing a model that is ESG-focused.

What are some of the categories of startups that you will focus on?

While we are generally sector agnostic, we heavily focus on ventures that fall within the intersection of technology and impact. Currently in the seed stage, hatch & boost has already co-founded two successful startups in this space, particularly in femtech and agritech.

World of Farming (WoF) is an agritech startup, on a mission to address animal feed production and supply chain challenges facing all types of livestock farming. My Lily Box meanwhile is an all-inone female hygiene and self-care femtech platform on a mission to de-stigmatise female health in the region, providing women with access to personalised healthcare content and products.

Which are some of the other startups that hatch & boost will support?

At hatch & boost we are focused on building startups that utilise technology and innovation to creatively solve regionally relevant problems. While we don’t limit ourselves to a particular industry vertical, all our startups must fall in line with environmental and social governance (ESG), and focus on cleantech, as well as foster a circular economy approach.

We fund these startups by deploying early-stage capital that is invested into taking them to market.

We will soon be launching a venture fund to further support our startups.

Faris Mesmar Co-founder and managing partner, hatch & boost What is the concept behind hatch & boost?

We are an Abu Dhabi-based venture builder dedicated to hatching startup ideas and boosting them into scalable ventures in the Middle East. We employ a model which offers hands-on support from a startup’s earliest stages through to taking them to market.

Having already launched two successful tech startups, with another three in stealth, we aim to fill the gaps in early-stage startup development and reduce the rate of startup failure through the utilisation of a shared pool of resources: ultimately lowering the startup capital cost. This model also aims to nurture home-grown talent and entrepreneurship. gulfbusiness.com

What are the expansion plans you have in place for the business?

Above: Faris Mesmar, co-founder and managing partner, hatch & boost

Our test market is the UAE and we have been operating here predominantly for the last year. However, we do plan to expand to larger markets within the region in the future. Saudi Arabia is on our radar. Whether it’s from a B2B or B2C perspective, the market is ready to accommodate new business models and support the startup ecosystem with strong government backing. We also see great potential in Egypt, a market with a booming startup scene, and the potential to be one of the most lucrative.

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BRAND VIEW

Why podcasts are winning in the Arab world

Finyal Media has been creating fictional storytelling and original content targeted at Arab youth, explains Leila Hamadeh, co-founder and CEO at Finyal Media

V

ery soon the Middle East could lead the world when it comes to podcasting. You only have to look at the latest news to see the buzz around podcasts in the Arab world. Podcasts are fast becoming one of the most trusted mediums for people to consume content within the region.

Ironically, the pandemic has been a catalyst for the growth of podcasts, at a time when the majority of other industries have suffered. They’ve become trendy – most people know someone who has started a podcast during the pandemic. But whilst there has inevitably been a huge variance when it comes to quality, the momentum has also pushed the podcasting scene further up the priority agenda for consumer content. Podcasts are now popularised; they have become part of a culture that trades off the trust of a medium that has connected people during a time of disconnection. They are now part of our vocabulary, and the phrase ‘What podcast are you currently listening to?’ is part of our everyday conversation.

the ease of listening whenever and wherever they want, naturally provides opportunities to incorporate podcasts into the daily routine.

Podcasts are very much here to stay.

And the growth trajectory in the region is marked, spelling huge opportunities – not least from an Arabic perspective. As podcasts gain more traction across the region, and pockets of content creators emerge everywhere from Lebanon to Saudi, the UAE to Jordan, there is a coming of age of podcasts that is driving their growth and in turn their sophistication.

“The pandemic has been a catalyst for the growth of podcasts at a time when the majority of other industries have suffered”

THE COMING OF AGE OF PODCASTS

The overall global usage of podcasts was up 42 per cent during the lockdowns last year. In the US, the pandemic has further accelerated the natural rise of podcast consumption. According to Forbes, US podcast consumption rose by 18 per cent just one month into the pandemic. This is compounded by the fact that in many ways, podcasts are the Netflix of the audio world, and just as consumption of streaming on-demand services rocketed during the lockdown, so too did listenership.

People have more time, they are looking to connect with people at a time when physical social distancing is in play, and 76

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podcasts in the region and our ability to capitalise on a gap in the market. Launching in 2019, we have come a long way in the past two years, establishing ourselves as an award-winning podcast network providing immersive audio experiences for Arab listeners.

Funding to date, to the tune of close to $1m, has helped us create a raft of new series, including everything from modern adaptations of classic stories 1001 Nights, Sinbad and Juha, to more contemporary drama series like The Basement, amassing over five million downloads in our first two years and growing 25 per cent month-on-month last year alone. Fast forward to today, and we now have 15 active titles in our network, many of which have multiple seasons.

Much of our content focuses on fantasy and fiction and this supports the rise in podcasts as a means of escapism which we have seen during the pandemic.

And with the phrase ‘WFH’ now becoming the norm rather than the exception and workforces literally transitioning their homes into makeshift offices overnight, what we have seen is a market that is ripe for the rise of the podcasts in the region; and how this is paving the way for more localised content.

So while the Spotifys and the Apples of the world are grappling for the international slice of the podcast pie, there’s a very interesting and unique community bubbling away closer to home, which we are grateful to help drive. For one, there has been a move towards ‘made in the region’ content. There has been a dramatic

THE ECOSYSTEM

To understand the opportunity, we must first look at the ecosystem in which we’re operating. Like any industry receiving interest, the podcast scene is growing fast.

Music streaming service Deezer, for example, has a fast-growing library of originals in Arabic for the region, while Anghami has become the first Arabic technology firm to list on NASDAQ at a valuation of $220m. And this is on the back of an overall background of rising listenership both in the Middle East and globally.

Indeed, our own growth at Finyal Media is evidence of the growing popularity of

gulfbusiness.com

shift towards localised content, underpinned perhaps by a notion that Arabic speakers are looking for content that speaks to them; and not purely from a language front, but more so from a perspective where there is an understanding of the issues, viewpoints and culture of a region that in itself has a long history steeped in storytelling.

That’s not to say there has been a rejection of mainstream, more Westernised content. But from an Arabic perspective, content here has been sparse, outdated and often found itself not resonating with the Arabic audience it was looking to attract.

Today, Arabic content creators are coming into their own, fuelled by their creativity and unique ability to communicate in a way that resonates with their peers. After all, forging a connection between audience and podcast is key to building an engaged community.

But one audience for whom podcasts are really capturing their hearts and imaginations, is Arab youth. Previously, the media gulfbusiness.com

Above: Finyal Media has 15 active titles in their network

landscape did not champion local culture in a modern way that was relatable to the younger generation, and there was a sense that many young people felt lost and disconnected from the Arab world. Podcasts can bridge that gap.

And this was the ultimate mission for Finyal Media – to connect with the hearts and minds of young Arabs. It has seen us evolve, and now we partner with some of the region’s most well-known brands to produce audio drama series. In fact, our recent partnership with GMC saw the brand loan us a Yukon vehicle so that we could produce a fictional podcast series called Asilah which featured the car for the Saudi market.

What’s more, we also recently collaborated with Unilever to produce A Breath,

A Step, A Mirror, a new mini-series featuring the stories of real women from Saudi Arabia. The opportunities are exciting and the fact that brands are waking up to the power of podcasts demonstrates the value they have to reach a very targeted, digitally-savvy audience, in a new, unobtrusive and innovative way.

WHERE TO NEXT?

Although the community is still being built, the potential is huge. Our focus on fictional storytelling and original content is catering to the previously unaddressed; it’s fulfilling a gap in the market that was otherwise empty, particularly in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the UAE. The appetite for this is ripe; the trust factor is high, the engagement metrics are powerful and there’s the opportunity to speak to Arabic audiences in a way that truly resonates with them. And when it comes to engaging with audiences post the pandemic, that’s got to be worth truly listening out for.

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The SME Story Carasti aims to lead the car-as-a-service space in the MENA region

Rising tide The number of SMEs in Bahrain has grown exponentially over the last decade Up and growing Active SMEs in Bahrain as per year of incorporation 3500 3000 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 0

INTERVIEW

2010

2013

2016

2019

Dominating industries Top business sectors in the kingdom

On the road

IN 2019

0

200

400

600

Building materials & fixtures

Dubai-headquartered car subscription startup, Carasti, recently secured $3m in funding

Business support services Construction & materials Clothing & accessories

Claudio Esposito-Aiardo Co-founder and CEO, Carasti What is the concept behind Carasti?

Cars were designed to provide us with additional freedom in our everyday life - but with multiple disjointed services to deal with, such as bank loans, insurance, dealerships, registration and large downpayments, it feels like car ownership in its current form is actually holding us back.

Carasti subscriptions alleviate all of these headaches, with flexible 1 to 24 [month] terms and no down-payments, allowing customers to switch cars with all-inclusive rates to suit budgets and lifestyles.

Can you give us an overview of your business?

Carasti operates across the UAE with many fleet partners, ensuring we have the widest selection of cars available on subscription in the market. We are seeing double- to triple-digit revenue growth quarter-onquarter and have a 17 [member] team, all based out of our Dubai HQ. What are the biggest challenges you currently face in scaling your business?

Having an asset-free business model is 78

May 2021

both a blessing and a curse; a blessing as we don’t have the risk of owning the cars and managing huge fleets, but also a curse as we scale the business, since we do not yet have full control of how our partners can support that growth operationally.

Tell us about the latest Pre-Series A funding round and what it will be used for?

We closed a $3m Pre-Series A round with Net Ventures and Rua Growth Fund, who bring with them a wealth of experience and strategic support given their focus on building online marketplaces, including in the automotive space.

The funds will be used to continue hiring best-in-class talent, fuel our growth in the UAE, expand into Saudi Arabia, and ultimately solidify our position as leaders in the car-as-a-service space in the MENA region.

What are the expansion plans for the business?

For 2021 we are focused on growing our UAE market share and launching in Saudi Arabia. We have a wider product and geographical expansion plan, which for now we will be keeping confidential.

Family office

Indigenous strength Locals form a huge chunk of business investors and owners in the kingdom 68% Bahraini

LOCAL OWNERSHIP 20% Others 6% Indian

6% Saudi

STARTUP CAPITAL An overwhelming majority of the SMEs are registered in Manama 89%

SOURCE: GULF CAPITAL’S GCC SME OUTLOOK 2020

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