UAE women entrepreneurs break the glass ceiling – Arab News

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DUBAI: Women entrepreneurs in the UAE are creating ripples in the economy, empowering other women, and breaking stigmas by building thriving businesses in a male-dominated world.
One of the leading lights of this movement is UAE-based woman entrepreneur, the CEO and founder of Tashas Group, Natasha Sideris. A psychology student and a culinary specialist, Sideris has been spicing up the UAE’s food scene since 2005 when she launched the company.
The company owns four restaurant brands: Tashas, Flamingo Room by Tashas, Avli by Tashas and Galaxy Bar. These brands are guided by three core principles: Beautiful food, stunning environments and engaging service.
Sideris’s journey was nothing short of a miracle because she had no track record or proof of concept to claim while she was setting up shop and the lenders were generally hesitant to release funds. She persevered for 23 years and reached a position that inspires many other women to follow.
“We now have 21 restaurants across South Africa and the United Arab Emirates,” said Sideris while adding that it’s not an easy path for young women interested in business because of the long hours. Still, the industry is rewarding if one could break the glass ceiling. Sideris will soon be widening her circle of influence by launching her restaurants in Saudi Arabia.
In fact, Sideris is not the only one. Among the scores of women in UAE who successfully lead businesses and realize the full potential of their entrepreneurial dreams is a cancer survivor and immensely confident woman: Emaan Abbass, the CEO and founder of Ketish, a leading feminine wellness brand.
The company offers luxurious products that educate women, help them understand their bodies, and give them a sense of awareness, motivating women to open up and normalize the conversation around feminine health.
“While undergoing cancer treatment, I vividly remember scouring the pharmacies and drug stores because that’s the only place you could find anything connected to intimate care,” said Abbass, a lady who has made a name for herself after battling cervical cancer and hormonal problems throughout her 20s.
Her vision is as clear as her personality. When asked the reason to launch Ketish, she said: “I wanted to create the brand I wished I had throughout my journey. I wanted to create something that women like me always needed but never existed in this way.”
But her fight hasn’t been alone. She had tremendous support from fellow women, especially the female founders’ community that may be small but powerful and incredibly supportive.
“I see how essential it is for us women to have a seat at the table, a voice, the ability to create change within spaces and take on the issues we find important. I’ve also seen how important it is to leave the door open for women coming through behind us,” said Abbass.
Her words of advice to young women aspiring to be entrepreneurs: “Keep going and never lose sight of your mission. It’s really important never to lose sight of what anchors us as to our brand or our company.”
A hopeful development for all these women is the winds of change in the region. Women in the UAE are already turning the tide in several businesses, including F&B, beauty, and health. And entrepreneurs such as Sideris and Abbass are driving this change and creating equitable spaces for both men and women.
DUBAI: The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority has developed several artificial intelligence-based innovations to improve the efficiency of operations, and monitor cyberattacks, leaks, and faults, the Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported.
The innovations aim to boost Dubai’s competitiveness, support DEWA’s efforts to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, and keep it ahead of major European and US utilities in several indicators.
According to WAM, water network losses in 2021 will be 5.3 percent, compared to 15 percent in North America, making it one of the lowest rates in the world.
DEWA managing director and CEO Saeed Mohammed Al-Tayer said the authority was working to reshape the concept of a utility through Digital DEWA to become the world’s first digital utility company with autonomous systems for renewable energy and storage, while also expanding the use of AI and digital services.
These efforts contributed to Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum’s Dubai 10X initiative.
“We seek to achieve the objectives of the UAE Water Security Strategy 2036,” Al-Tayer said. “We continue developing proactive solutions for the challenges of the next 50 years to make the UAE the world’s leading nation by its centennial in 2071. This is by using our advanced smart grid and the latest Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies, as well as effective governance practices to raise efficiency and develop unique experiences that make Dubai a global model for clean energy, water, and green economy.
“The state-of-the-art infrastructure of DEWA, adopting innovation and the latest tools for anticipating the future, as well as sound scientific planning, have helped it keep pace with the growing demand for water in Dubai according to the highest standards of availability, reliability, and efficiency.
“DEWA’s total production capacity has reached 490 million imperial gallons per day of desalinated water, including 63 MIGD using reverse osmosis.
“The full length of water transmission and distribution lines has reached 13,592 kilometers across Dubai by the end of 2021. This helps DEWA maintain its services for more than 3.5 million people who live in Dubai and millions of visitors.”
DEWA offers a high-water usage alert to assist customers under the Smart Response initiative, which sends a text in the event of an unusual increase in water consumption.
RIYADH: The Aramco Entrepreneurship Center, also known as Wa’ed, has already spent $60 million as venture capital investments for Saudi startups this year as the country steadily diversifies its economy, disclosed a top official.
Speaking on the sidelines of the second edition of the Fintech Accelerator Program in Riyadh, Fahad Alidi, the CEO of Aramco Entrepreneurship Center, said that Wa’ed had during the event granted seed funding of SR50,000 ($13,312) each to three fintech startup firms.
Alidi added that the organization had awarded at least SR150 million in venture capital to fintech firms over the past few years.
He further stated that Wa’ed had increased its ticket size from $5 million to $20 million to target later-stage funding rounds to partner with founders from the concept phase to the initial public offering.
According to him, Saudi Arabia’s fintech companies are growing at a very accelerated pace.

These fintech companies continue to innovate. They continue to ride on the ease of regulations. As a result, they make everyone’s life much easier.
Fahad Alidi, CEO of Aramco Entrepreneurship Center
“These fintech companies continue to innovate. They continue to ride on the ease of regulations. As a result, they make my life, your life and everyone’s life much easier,” he said.
During the interview, Alidi said that besides fintech, various other sectors had shown an appetite for considerable growth in the Kingdom.
“There are opportunities in some sectors that we believe should receive more attention. From our end, we have been investing in the Internet of Things. We are very interested in IoT,” Alidi told Arab News.
The official said the organization had awarded at least SR150 million in venture capital to fintech firms over the past few years.
He added: “We hope to see a pick up in sustainability, metaverse and Web 3.0 applications. We also hope to see more attention given to what we call underserved domains.”
Wa’ed is also keen on supporting startups entering the Saudi ecosystem to fuel growth in line with the Vision 2030 blueprint.
“We are with you from your first investment, from ideas throughout your growth journey until your IPO. So, we always present ourselves as your partner from the idea stage to the unicorn or the IPO,” he further added.
RIYADH: Almutlaq Real Estate Investment Co., the real estate subsidiary of the Al Mutlaq Group, has strong confidence in The Red Sea Project as it eyes further collaboration with The Red Sea Development Co., said a top official.
In an exclusive interview with Arab News, Abdullah Almazrou, CEO of AREIC, said that the group’s association with TRSP would benefit the firm and enrich the hospitality sector in Saudi Arabia.
On July 3, AREIC signed a joint venture agreement worth SR1.5 billion ($400 million) with TRSDC. Under the agreement, the two companies will develop the Jumeirah Red Sea, a 159-key luxury resort situated on the Red Sea destination’s hub island, Shoura, currently under construction and expected to open in early 2024. 
The strategic partnership also marked the first JV established by TRSDC.
“Our partnership with the Red Sea will not stop at that point. We have a strong belief in expanding more and more. I cannot be specific because our belief in such projects might go beyond expectations,” Almazrou told Arab News. 
Almazrou also lauded Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for turning the Kingdom into an investment-friendly nation and added that the TRSP was finalized after a thorough analysis.
“We look at opportunities. The vision of our crown prince to select that particular place went through a lot of analysis. As we all know, our country is rich in opportunities, from geographical to the environment, to locations, to the economy and human capabilities,” he further said.
When asked about the timeline to make a profit from the AREIC’s project in TRSP, he said: “For such projects, it will take a certain time because it is not only our project, it is the entire Red Sea Project. So, our belief in the Red Sea management and the decision-making being taken to being considered, we are confident that such a project will benefit us.” 
After signing the JV agreement, John Pagano, Group CEO of TRSDC, said that the investment “reinforces the private sector’s alignment with our commitment to regenerative tourism and sustainable development.”
Almazrou talked about the progress of AREIC’s project construction in TRSP and said: “Now they are almost on the final stage of the infrastructure. And definitely, the next will be the building itself. We expect it to be completed by the second half of 2024.”
TRSP, currently in the first phase of development, will comprise 11 luxury, premium and lifestyle hotels and resorts, residential units, a championship golf course, a 118-berth marina, and total retail, dining, and entertainment offering.
The CEO lauded Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for turning the Kingdom into an investment-friendly nation and said the TRSP was finalized after a thorough analysis.
During the interview, Almazrou noted that the real estate sector in the Kingdom has been growing very fast in the last two years.
“Huge investments are being made by international developers in the Kingdom. I don’t think these huge investments will be delivered without such strong belief and trust in our economy and future growth,” he added.  He further stated that Al Mutlaq Group has a portfolio of around 20 locations around the Kingdom, which includes a retail mall in the South of Riyadh. He noted that Al Mutlaq Group’s operations are diversified in the hospitality, retail, and housing sectors.
Almazrou also added that TRSP is training many Saudi Arabian talents. He made it clear that projects like TRSP are enriching the job opportunities in the Kingdom.
“We have a strong belief in the young Saudi generation who spend time on their education, from within the Kingdom or outside,” he noted.
RIYADH: Executives from Tullow Oil held talks with India’s ONGC Videsh Ltd. in Nairobi this week as the London-based firm seeks a strategic investor for its onshore oil project in Kenya, the company said on Saturday.
A senior official at Kenya’s ministry of petroleum and mines tweeted earlier this week that ministry officials had met the Indian High Commissioner to Kenya along with representatives of ONGC Videsh, the overseas investment arm of Oil and Natural Gas Corp, and Indian Oil Corporation Limited.
“The meeting was positive and the parties agreed to hold further discussions in the coming weeks,” Africa-focused Tullow said in a tweet about the meeting, adding that the talks had been hosted by the ministry of petroleum and mines.
Africa-focused Tullow said earlier in July it was confident it could make substantial progress to find an investor for its onshore oil project in the East African country in the second half of the year. 
India’s Yes Bank to raise $1.1bn via stake sale 
India’s Yes Bank said on Friday it will sell up to 10 percent stake to US private equity firms Carlyle Group Inc. and Advent International for $1.1 billion.
Yes Bank will raise the funds through a combination of about $640 million in shares and about $475 million in share warrants, the private lender said in a statement.
Yes Bank will offer 3.69 billion shares to affiliates of Carlyle Group and Advent for 13.78 Indian rupees ($0.1737) apiece.
The company will also issue 2.56 billion share warrants at a price of 14.82 Indian rupees per warrant to both investors.
Earlier this month, Yes Bank said it would seek to raise about $1 billion in this financial year as it exits a reconstruction plan after two years.
The company also selected an asset reconstruction firm belonging to private equity firm JC Flowers as the base bidder for the sale of bad loans worth 480 billion Indian rupees. 
Ola and Uber deny report of merger talks
Uber Technologies Inc. and its Indian rival Ola on Friday denied a media report that the ride-hailing firms were in talks for a merger.
An Economic Times report said that Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal had met top Uber executives in San Francisco, US, citing two sources.
“That report is inaccurate. We are not, nor have we been, in merger talks with Ola,” Uber said in a statement.
Ola’s Aggarwal tweeted, “Absolute rubbish. We’re very profitable and growing well. If some other companies want to exit their business from India they are welcome to! We will never merge.”
 
(With input from Reuters) 
RIYADH: China’s factory activity contracted unexpectedly in July after bouncing back from COVID-19 lockdowns the month before, as fresh virus flare-ups and a darkening global outlook weighed on demand, a survey showed on Sunday.
The official manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index fell to 49.0 in July from 50.2 in June, the National Bureau of Statistics said, below the 50-point mark that separates contraction from growth and the lowest in three months.
Analysts polled by Reuters had expected a reading of 50.4.

“The level of economic prosperity in China has fallen, the foundation for recovery still needs consolidation,” NBS senior statistician Zhao Qinghe said in a statement on the NBS website.

Continued contraction in the energy-intensive industries, such as petrol, coking coal and ferrous metals, contributed most to pulling down the July manufacturing PMI, he said.
British businesses turning away from China: industry group
British businesses are cutting ties with China due to concerns about political tensions, a shift that is likely to stoke inflationary pressures, the head of the Confederation of British Industry said in an interview published on Saturday.

“Every company that I speak to at the moment is engaged in rethinking their supply chains … because they anticipate that our politicians will inevitably accelerate toward a decoupled world from China,” CBI director-general Tony Danker was quoted as telling the Financial Times newspaper.

China was Britain’s biggest source of imported goods in 2021, accounting for 13 percent of the total, while it was the sixth largest destination for goods exports, according to Britain’s official trade statistics.

However, British security concerns have risen in recent years, fueled by disagreements with China over Hong Kong and other issues. Last week, the head of Britain’s foreign intelligence service, Richard Moore, said China was now his top priority, ahead of counter-terrorism work.

Britain has also increasingly blocked Chinese takeovers of companies on national security grounds. 
(With input from Reuters) 
 

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