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  • Saudi startups top MENA region in raising funds in H1, collects $446m 

    Saudi Arabia’s focus on encouraging entrepreneurship has paid off as startups in the Kingdom raised $446 million in the first half of 2023, the highest in the Middle East and North Africa region. According to MAGNiTT’s “H1 2023 Saudi Arabia Venture Capital Report”, Saudi startups accounted for 42 percent of the total capital deployed in the MENA region. According to the Dubai-based data analytics platform, the Kingdom ranked second in deal counts, facilitating 54 transactions against the UAE’s 60.

  • Michael Emenalo set to become Saudi Pro League’s first director of football

    Emenalo occupied a similar role at Chelsea between 2011-2017, overseeing a hugely successful period across the men’s, women’s and academy sides at the west London club. The former Nigeria international left-back was also heavily involved in transfer activity, with the likes of Eden Hazard, Kevin De Bruyne, Mohamed Salah and N’Golo Kante recruited during his Stamford Bridge tenure. Emenalo went on to spend two years as sporting director for AS Monaco and has since remained active in consultancy capacities.

  • Saudi Arabia joins global effort to combat synthetic drug menace

    Saudi Arabia recently participated in the virtual ministerial meeting announcing the launch of the Global Coalition to Address Synthetic Drug Threats. Deputy Minister for International Multilateral Affairs Dr. Abdulrahman Al-Rassi represented the Kingdom in the meeting on behalf of Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, the Saudi Foreign Ministry tweeted on Saturday.

  • Here Are 4 Notable MENA Tourism Startups

    MENA startups attracted $1.1 billion in funding in Q1 2023, according to Wamda, with the travel-tech sector accounting for $9 million. Here are four regional travel startups revitalizing the market.

  • Saudi women recruits detect negative phenomena in Hajj with the help of modern security devices

    They said they had the best security technologies to serve the pilgrims and preserve their safety. The security devices consisted of the "Wathiq" and "Wathiq Plus" programs. Wathiq Plus is a modern security device installed in patrol vehicles. The system consists of three cameras that monitor and record events and a screen. Female recruits can turn on the screens to read vehicles' plates. In the event of a criminal violation warranting arrest, a red icon will appear on the screen. In addition to Wathiq Plus, the women officers carried a bodycam that records all field events, including audio or video.

  • Chart: China Still Favored Over U.S. In MENA, But Losing Ground

    According to the survey, the share of people saying they wanted stronger economic relations with China has dropped in many of the countries since the same question was asked in 2018-19. Jordanians and Palestinians are now 20 percentage points less likely to want stronger economic ties with China than before, while Sudan saw a 14 percentage point decrease and Libya and Morocco a 13 percentage point decrease. In terms of the U.S. there has not been as widespread a decline since 2018-19. Only the Palestinian territories (-10 p.p.) and Jordan (-9 p.p.) have seen major declines while Sudan (-2 p.p.) and Morocco (-1 p.p.) saw smaller drops and Iraq (+11 p.p.), Tunisia (+9 p.p.) and Libya (+6 p.p.) saw increases.

  • MENA faces $994bn infrastructure funding gap between 2016 and 2040: report  

    The Middle East and North Africa region is confronting the largest infrastructure funding gap in the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, estimated to be about $993.9 billion between 2016 and 2040, according to the ICD-Refinitiv OIC Infrastructure Outlook 2023 report. The infrastructure funding gap is the difference between the funds required to develop and maintain infrastructure projects and the available financial resources to meet those needs. The study noted that the region faced a funding gap of $684.9 billion in the infrastructure development of roads, $110.8 billion in water, $47.3 billion in rail, $33.6 billion in ports and $24.7 million in airports during the 25 years.

  • Why technology is key to decarbonising the whole MENA region

    Based on this analysis, the optimal pathway to emissions reduction in MENA will differ from other regions. Its natural resources and climatic conditions require MENA countries to focus more on technology-based solutions. Emissions reduction is likely to cost significantly more in MENA than in other regions. For example, the optimal decarbonisation pathway for the North American/European country was afforestation, which has a 33% higher abatement potential per unit of investment than the optimal pathway in MENA (solar).

  • Why technology is key to decarbonising the whole MENA region

    Based on this analysis, the optimal pathway to emissions reduction in MENA will differ from other regions. Its natural resources and climatic conditions require MENA countries to focus more on technology-based solutions. Emissions reduction is likely to cost significantly more in MENA than in other regions. For example, the optimal decarbonisation pathway for the North American/European country was afforestation, which has a 33% higher abatement potential per unit of investment than the optimal pathway in MENA (solar).

  • Saudi Leads MENA Region in International Tourism

    The expected influx of travelers this summer will be a result of the Kingdom's decision to raise the cap on the number of pilgrims who can perform Hajj this year - the first time since the outbreak of the COVID-19. “The tourism industry in the MENA region is set to continue its strong recovery during the upcoming summer months thanks to a combination of a significant increase in travel intent,” said Olivier Ponti, Vice President of Insights at ForwardKeys.