Business

High oil prices to power Gulf economies amid inflation risks

The Gulf Cooperation Council’s (GCC) economic growth will accelerate this year to a pace not seen in a decade, according to a Reuters poll of economists, who said high inflation and a slowing global economy were the biggest downside risks.

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Crude prices, a major driver for Gulf economies, shot up after Russia invaded Ukraine in February and have remained elevated, giving a major boost to economies in the oil and gas-rich region.

An April 12-22 Reuters poll predicted growth overall in the six GCC economies would average 5.9 percent this year, which would be the fastest since 2012.

“GCC economies have seen a relatively strong start to 2022. The hydrocarbons sectors have benefited from increased oil production so far this year, with crude oil production up 12 percent on Q1 2021 for the UAE and 19 percent over the same period for Saudi Arabia,” said Khtija Haque, chief economist at Emirates NBD.

“Survey data for the first quarter of the year point to a solid expansion in non-oil sectors as well, with strong growth in business activity and new work in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar.”

For Saudi Arabia, the region’s largest economy and world-leading exporter of crude oil, about 80 percent – or 17 of 22 contributors – upgraded their forecasts from the previous poll in January.

It was expected to grow 6.3 percent in 2022, up from the 5.7 percent forecast three months ago, before slowing to 3.2 percent growth next year. If that happens, 2022 growth would be the fastest since 2011, when oil averaged around $111 per barrel.

The expected growth in Kuwait at 6.4 percent, and in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at 5.6 percent, would be the fastest in around a decade. Qatar, Oman, and Bahrain are expected to grow around 4 percent, the fastest in several years.

However, when asked for the top two downside risks to GCC economies this year, 10 of 12 economists who answered an additional question said high inflation and a slowdown in the global economy.

Inflation in most of the GCC economies has risen in recent months against the backdrop of high food prices caused by the Russia-Ukraine war.

Although modest in comparison to many other countries, GCC inflation is expected to rise above 2 percent this year, with the highest median forecast for Qatar at 3.5 percent, and the lowest for Saudi Arabia at 2.5 percent.

“In the face of higher commodity and global food prices, we have revised our 2022 inflation forecast for the GCC region to be about 3.5 percent from around 2.5 percent,” noted Ilker Domac, regional head of economics at Citi.

“Since GCC countries import 85 percent of their food, a sustained upward pressure on international food prices could pose a challenge for policymakers in the region.”

Also, uncertainty caused by the conflict in Ukraine could have an adverse impact on a global economy just emerging from the ravages of the pandemic.

The International Monetary Fund last week slashed its 2022 global growth forecast, citing war impact and describing inflation as a “clear and present danger.”

The GCC, highly dependent on revenues from energy exports, would face weaker demand from an economic slowdown – especially in China, one of the world’s biggest oil and gas importers.

“From the regional perspective, global growth concerns become a worry if they hit oil prices. Price pressures are certainly being felt though on the assumption inflation eases into 2023, the present trends should not derail efforts to keep non-oil sector recoveries on track,” said Maya Senussi, senior economist at Oxford Economics.

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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.