Business

Mohammed Al Qubaisi of classifieds portal Wewez has global ambitions too

Wewez scored major breakthrough after listing jobs, including public sector ones

Abu Dhabi: A classified portal that launched in the UAE and expanded into the other Gulf markets is planning to go even wider across geographies. That’s what Mohammed Al Qubaisi, founder of wewez.com, is after, where he wants the platform to be the default choice for anyone wanting to buy, sell or exchange. Or find a job.

“Given the urgent demand for online services, a classifieds portal was the need of the hour when we launched in 2011,” he said. “We began listing a huge number of goods and services, including rental units, property, appliances, and household items.

“In recent times, it is our jobs section that has seen the greatest interest, as we list both public and private sector jobs. In fact, many local and federal authorities list positions with us, and this has been a major draw for many site visitors.”

Unlike many competitor portals, it also allows users to post free of charge. “Because our services are free, it promotes swapping and exchange of goods. This is, in my opinion, one of the site’s biggest differentiators.”

Al Qubasi hopes to soon launch a smartphone app for wewez.com. “Our aim is to put the power of marketing in your hands. This is why wewez.com makes it easy to create and post ads through the browser, and we do believe our processes are easier than many other platforms.”

What promoted this journey to launching Wewez?

In 2010, I had a car and I wanted to sell it as soon as possible because I was about to travel. I was in a hurry and at that time there was no website to make classified ads. In the midst of these, as I walked to the advertising office to place my ad, a police car passed by me and the siren was on. That was when the idea came to me that anyone wanting to sell or need a certain thing is in an emergency situation.

So, I thought of creating a website whose name would be similar to the sound of a police car or ambulance warning – ‘Wee Wee Wee Wee – and the name became Wewez. The beginning of any project is not easy, even if you have done a pre-launch study, have the plans and everything. The paths drawn on paper differ when they are applied to reality, so I have always relied on flexible plans that change according to circumstances.

How easy was the process to get the site up and gain visibility?

At that time, getting specialized companies to make websites was very difficult. Even if a specialized company was found, it required large amounts. One of the companies that I worked with disagreed on some technical issues. They deleted the whole site and it was a big problem as the site had just started.

I dealt with companies that do their work half-way and disappear. Same was the case with the freelancer who I found on some overseas sites.

I thought of giving up on this project, but I didn’t. The obstacles that I faced were never financial, but mainly operational and technical.

Will Wewez remain a UAE focussed platform?

The goal that I set at the beginning is to be everywhere in the world. We are in the Gulf countries and in Egypt and Jordan. We are still continuing and the work is stressful. In the future, after we finish our in the Middle East, our goal is Europe, and then America, and there will be languages other than English and Arabic.

The decision to list jobs seems to have worked well. Your thoughts?

I have a team that works on providing the latest updates on employment opportunities. Today, there are three basics – real estate, cars and employment, all of which are present in Wewez.

Companies can register on the site and place all their vacancies so that jobseekers can apply, and all these transactions will be on-site so that companies can inform them of the results of acceptance or non-acceptance and the reasons.

Candidates can upload their CV so that those who want to hire can search in Wewez and find those who can match their experiences with the job needs.

You have topped up the verticals on the platform – is the move paying off?

There is a section that does not exist in any of the current sites, which is for exchanges. This section has brought in many youngsters, who want to trade games and other collectibles. Car owners too have shown interest.

I am always asked this question about other classified sites and what that competition would mean. In the end, the goal is for Wewez to be the first choice for everyone.

gulf news

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.