Business

Homegrown UAE hospitality brand LEVA Hotels announce ambitious GCC, Africa expansion drive

The revamped properties in KSA, Ethiopia, Uganda and Nigeria will provide customer-centric service with vibrant living options at affordable price points

news of emirates: Established in 2019, LEVA Hotels, is steadily making inroads in the regional and international hospitality scene and cutting a unique niche in the underserved affordable luxury segment. With impressive accolades under its belt, the homegrown brand is poised to make a meaningful contribution to the overall growth of the Middle East and Africa hospitality industry by transforming and scaling up the region’s hidden gems.

Anchoring its hospitality offering and service delivery on ‘fresh and innovative’ the new properties are part of an ongoing ambitious expansion exercise that will see the dynamic lifestyle hotel brand modernize and manage a total of eight properties spanning Middle East and Africa by the end of 2023.

“We are thrilled to be announcing the opening of six new distinct properties across key regions that we not only consider to be strategic to the overall growth of the company but also crucial to a growing segment in the hospitality sector that’s increasingly demanding for affordable yet comfortable experiences,” said J.S. Anand, founder and CEO, LEVA Hotels and Resorts.

Properties under LEVA’s management

In KSA, LEVA Hotels has inked two strategic Hotel Management Agreements with Jeddah-based EKONO by Leva Al Shati and three-star EKONO by Leva Jeddah Airport Hotel, respectively. As part of the deal, LEVA Hotels will be responsible for overseeing the two properties’ service offering transformation which is in line with KSA’s Vision 2030, which aims to attract 100 million visitors by 2030.

Besides, both these properties are located at less than an hour’s travel distance from Mecca, and therefore are perfect for UMRA travellers looking for comfortable and convenient hotel accommodations during their pilgrimage.

In Nigeria, which has mostly lacked luxury hotels, LEVA Hotels will be responsible for the transformation and management of Reiz Continental Hotel by Leva – a project under construction in partnership with Kostarget Projects LTD developers and owned by REIZ Continental Hotels LTD. As part of the partnership, the Lagos-based hotel will be positioned as an “Upscale Five-Star Luxury Lifestyle Hotel” with unique, contemporary, and cost-effective aesthetics including a total of five distinct food and beverage concepts and Leva’s F&B partner, Sven’s Baker’s Kitchen.

Once fully operational, the new property will also offer a unique opportunity of serving as a key business and leisure destination.

In Uganda, LEVA Hotels has taken over the management of the Kampala’s first boutique hotel, Emin Pasha Leva Hotel to ultimately position the property as a top choice for guests on vacation as well as business trips. Owned by The Emin Pasha Ltd., this property is now under renovation and will include LEVA’s design language infused with the region’s aesthetics, two important metrics that will further boost the hotel’s booking significantly.

LEVA Hotel’s foray into Africa’s hospitality industry will be crowned by its debut in Ethiopia with two strategic partnerships with LEVA Afrotsion Semera Resort and Harsade Harbour Resort by LEVA. As its first luxury resort in Ethiopia’s Semera region, LEVA Afrotsion Semera Resort is now poised to offer a refreshed and diverse hospitality experience. Ethiopia is globally known for its natural scenery including some of Africa’s lesser-known wildlife – an attribute that attracts scores of tourists to the region.

The 60-key Harsade Harbour Resort will incorporate LEVA Hotels’ key brand design elements and include five restaurants and three well-equipped conference halls. Set to launch this year, the property is set to offer a fresh, vibrant, and innovative service in the country.

Region-by-region growth plans

As part of its long-term growth plans, LEVA Hotels is also keen on tapping notable emerging markets in the Middle East and Africa, which are largely untapped. Eyeing countries such as Morocco, Egypt, Sri Lanka, KSA, and Qatar, the hotel chain is strategically positioning itself to ultimately become the hotel management partner of choice, especially for hotels and resorts that are looking to boost their competitive advantage in their respective markets.

Considered key growth frontiers for the brand, the property owners will benefit immensely from LEVA’s strategic business model and growing expertise in offering personalized and memorable hospitality experiences.

Business

Almarai signs multiple agreements to localize jobs through training and recruitment programs

Almarai signed a cooperation memorandum with the Food Industries Polytechnic, the
Transport General Authority, and the Saudi Logistics Academy to localize jobs in the
food and beverages sector through training and rehabilitation programs ending in
employment. This came within the first international conference on the labor market,
organized by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development on 13 – 14
December 2023 at the King Abdulaziz Convention Center in Riyadh.

‘These agreements are part of Almarai’s corporate program for the social responsibility
to achieve localization in the food industry sector, which is one of the top priorities of the
comprehensive strategic plans in Almarai, especially since the company is one of the
largest working environments in the kingdom, with more than 9,000 Saudi employees,
including more than 900 Saudi female employees.”Fahad Aldrees, Chief Human
Resources Officer of Almarai, said.

He added that the agreements signed to train and qualify young people are part of the
integrated initiatives and training and rehabilitation programs for national human
resources in Almarai. He pointed out that the company provided about half a million
employee training hours during 2022, raising its retention rate to 90% during 2022.

It is worth mentioning that Almarai is the world’s largest vertically integrated dairy
company, and the largest food and beverage producer and distributor in the Middle
East. Almarai was ranked among LinkedIn’s top 15 Saudi companies for professional
career development for 2022.

Business

SEBA Bank rebrands to AMINA Bank and continues to write its success story

a fully licensed Swiss crypto bank, announced today its new brand identity: AMINA Bank AG. The group operates
globally from its regulated hubs in Zug, Abu Dhabi and Hong Kong, offering its clients traditional and crypto banking services.
SEBA Bank made history in 2019 by becoming one of the first FINMA-regulated institutions to provide crypto banking services. This rebrand marks a new chapter for the company, which has proudly been in operation for more than four years. AMINA Bank is inspired by the same trailblazing ambition to lead the way for its clients and to write its own future as a Swiss-
regulated crypto bank offering services to its traditional and crypto savvy clients around the globe. The name ‘AMINA’ stems from the term ‘transAMINAtion’, meaning transference of one compound to another. AMINA is a brand driven by perpetual change, bringing together the various ‘compounds’ of traditional, digital, and crypto banking to unlock new potential and
growth for our clients. This vision of change represents the transformation of our clients’ financial future. Franz Bergmueller, CEO of AMINA, said: “We are delighted to introduce the world to our new brand identity. While we say goodbye to the SEBA name, we remain forever proud of the achievements made by the group under the former brand. “Our brand signifies a new era in the company’s growth and strategy; we are a key player in crypto banking and are here to define the future of finance. With our client-focused approach, our years of traversing traditional and crypto finance, we offer a platform for investors to build
wealth safely and under the highest regulatory standards.” “We are grateful to be encouraged by our supportive and committed investors who have been very helpful, supporting the growth of the company. We thank our employees in all the regions
for their dedication and client focus. As we look forward to 2024, our ambition is to accelerate the growth of our strategic hubs in Switzerland, Hong Kong, and Abu Dhabi, and to continue our global expansion, building on all the successes we have laid down over the past years.” Current clients of AMINA Bank (formerly SEBA Bank) will be unaffected by the rebrand other than encountering the new name; all operations will be business as usual across the board. The branch office based in Abu Dhabi and the subsidiaries in Hong Kong and Singapore will subsequently apply for a name change to align with the head office in Zug.

Business

Uptime Appoints Mustapha Louni Chief Business Officer

Uptime Institute is pleased to announce the appointment of Mustapha Louni to the position of Chief Business Officer, a role specifically created to drive strategic leadership and client success. In this new role, Mr. Louni will assume responsibility for the global Uptime sales and marketing organizations and drive overall business value for all Uptime clients. He will retain his existing responsibilities overseeing operations in the Middle East, India, Africa, and the Asia Pacific regions. In this elevated capacity, Mr. Louni is poised to play a pivotal role in driving Uptime’s next phase of global expansion through strategic initiatives to enhance market awareness of the dramatically expanding global service lines and delivery capabilities of Uptime that uniquely support the global data center industry in its pursuit of ever higher performance through elevated availability, resiliency, sustainability, and cyber-security of digital infrastructure. Louni’s appointment renews and expands Uptime

Institute 39;s 30-year commitment to advancing excellence in the data center sector on a global scale. “Today we are experiencing the next phase of the one-time, planetary transformation from analog to digital. This unprecedented, once-in-a-generation growth in data center demand is primarily driven by continuing cloud adoption, the new promise of AI, and the demonstrable fact
that hybrid digital infrastructure is here to stay for the foreseeable future,” said Martin McCarthy, CEO, Uptime Institute. “These complex and nuanced market demands require a visionary talent like Mustapha Louni. He is someone who cannot only deftly manage specific aspects of the business but also remain ahead of accelerating changes and trends. He continues to earn client
trust and respect by timely delivery on demanding commitments while he also inspires and energizes colleagues and clients alike. I am delighted to announce Mr. Louni’s new position and know that he will continue to expand the impact that he has already brought to Uptime since his arrival.” In 2014, Mr. Louni joined the Uptime organization in the United Arab Emirates, leveraging his extensive experience from roles at Panduit and Schneider Electric in Paris and Dubai. As the company’s first commercial resource in the Middle East and Africa region, Mr. Louni played a pivotal role in expanding Uptime’s presence. Within a year, he successfully established what became and remains Uptime’s fastest growing regional office. Under his leadership, Uptime has
extended his impressive trajectory of growth in MEA to the Asia-Pacific regions, augmenting the Uptime workforce with dedicated team members spanning more than a dozen countries across these regions. A new Uptime office has been inaugurated in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) this year, further fortifying the company’s ability to meet its commitment to sustained
growth and excellence and serve clients in critical, accelerating markets for digital infrastructure.

Uptime Institute began development of its proprietary and now globally recognized Tier Standards and its Tier Certifications 30 years ago to ensure that the mission critical computing needs of all organizations could be met with confidence and understood by executive management. Since that time, Uptime Tier Certification as well as other Uptime offerings including assessments and awards in digital infrastructure for ensuring business performance in areas of management and operations, risk and resilience, sustainability, and more recently cyber- security have gained global adoption. Uptime’s expanding success is based on delivering a
unique business service that is based upon unparalleled engineering excellence and technical mastery, while remaining vendor independent and technology agnostic.