The Saudi start up ecosystem is “sprinting forward, really propelled by this combination of a compelling, deep, local market that’s hungry for tech-enabled solutions; along with a new fuel of venture funding that’s blossomed in the last year or two.”
-Muhammed Mekki, founding partner of AstroLabs, speaks with Nabila Rahal about the Saudi fintech sector. [Arabian Business]
“Many of my friends have told me about their attempts back in 2010 and 2012 to push for the creation of a female league but to no avail. I think this generation is the first of Saudi female soccer players.”
-Azza Jawdah, member of the Storm, a team set to participate in Saudi Arabia’s first female soccer league which will launch in October after it’s scheduled March debut was delayed by the pandemic. [Al-Monitor]
“The impact of oil prices has affected Saudi Arabia’s revenue and like any other country we have to adjust…The government is in continuous review of what is best for the people and the nation and its interests.”
-Dr. Majid Al-Qasabi, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Commerce, in an interview with Bloomberg TV that will be aired on Thursday. [Bloomberg]
“This is like a moment in time, if you will…The imagination really runs wild: What did these people look like? What were they doing? … Once all these lakes dried up, what happened to them? That really gets our curiosity going.”
-Michael Petraglia, a human evolution researcher at the Max Planck Institute, which discovered footprints that may date back nearly 115,000 years and reveal intriguing new information about human migration. [National Geographic]
“I want the guys in the trading floors to be as jumpy as possible. I’m going to make sure whoever gambles on this market will be ouching like hell.”
-Saudi Minister of Energy, Abdulaziz Bin Salman, discussing the oil market and OPEC’s intention to abide by production quotas. [Bloomberg]
“In fact, in many of the sectors in which Israel historically has expertise, the Gulf states have already made significant inroads, so much that the Gulf may be a source of innovation and new business for Israel.”
-Karen Young examines the potential for Israel-Gulf commerce following normalization agreements between Israel and the UAE and Bahrain. [Al-Monitor]
“Full compliance is not an act of charity. It is an integral part of our collective effort to maximize the interest and gains of every individual member of this group.”
-Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, Saudi Energy Minister, to members of a key OPEC+ panel on oil production compliance. [Reuters]
“Many investors have excess cash that would otherwise have been spent on foreign trips. As inflation climbs and bond yields drop, people are flocking to the stock market in order to protect wealth.”
-Mazen Al-Sudairi, head of research at Al Rajhi Capital, commenting on the spike in the number of retail investors in the kingdom buying small and medium-cap stocks, driving average daily turnover to levels more than double those of a year ago. [Bloomberg]
“Right now it’s the market that I’m seeing have the most exciting growth relatively. I think Dubai remains the epicentre in terms of number of deals, size of deals and the underlying maturity of the start-up ecosystem, but there’s no doubt that Saudi is sprinting forward, really propelled by this combination of a compelling, deep, local market that’s hungry for tech-enabled solutions; along with a new fuel of venture funding that’s blossomed in the last year or two.”
-Muhammed Mekki, founding partner of AstroLabs, which has been developing the digital ecosystem in the Middle East for the last seven years, discusses the Saudi fintech environment. [Arabian Business]
“I remain convinced that, despite the group’s very obvious shortcomings, oil markets have been a lot less volatile because of its existence over the past 60 years. A world without OPEC, or some similar group, would be far from paradise.”
-As OPEC turns 60 Julian Lee examines it’s longstanding ‘Whack-A-Mole’ problem with maintaining production discipline among members. [Bloomberg]
