Author: Mahdeehassan

FHS Africa, Cape Town – African Hotel Development, the leading African lifestyle hotel group, real estate developer, and owner of the ONOMO brand, has entrusted Aleph Hospitality with the management of 26 ONOMO-branded hotels across 14 African countries. This strategic move is fully in line with African Hotel Development’s business realignment strategy. By appointing Dubai-based Aleph Hospitality as manager of its hotel portfolio, African Hotel Development reaffirms its ambition to sharpen its focus on brand development and asset management, while accelerating the expansion of ONOMO’s footprint, with the objective of doubling the brand’s scale within five years. This transaction represents a…

United Arab Emirates — xAI has selected Oracle to offer xAI’s Grok models via Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) Generative AI service for a wide range of use cases, including content creation, research, and business process automation. xAI will also leverage the scalability, performance, and cost efficiency of OCI’s leading AI infrastructure to train and run inferencing for its next-generation Grok models. “Grok 3 represents a leap forward in AI capabilities and Oracle’s advanced data platform will accelerate its impact on enterprises,” said Jimmy Ba, co-founder, xAI. “This collaboration between xAI and Oracle is set to redefine enterprise-grade AI.”  Founded in March 2023, xAI is at the…

Cairo: Bank NXT, a leading provider of integrated retail and corporate banking solutions in Egypt has announced the signing of a cooperation protocol with UiPath, a global leader in intelligent automation solutions, in a strategic step toward digital transformation. The partnership, executed in collaboration with BMB Egypt, a global solutions provider, innovator and advisor working with top rated technology partners to empower businesses and organizations, through the finest quality of custom-made IT solutions, aims to implement UiPath’s platform to accelerate automation, enhance operational efficiency, and elevate the quality of banking services. This collaboration reflects Bank NXT’s commitment to achieving the highest…

Dubai, United Arab Emirates: The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA), together with other members of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Sustainable Finance Working Group (SFWG), has today launched a public consultation on draft “Principles for Climate Transition Planning” (the Principles). This marks a further step in the SFWG’s ongoing efforts to enhance the UAE’s sustainable finance ecosystem. The draft Principles are designed to help financial institutions develop credible, transparent, and effective climate transition plans. These plans are forward-looking strategies that align an organisation’s objectives, governance, risk management, and operations with their climate goals. The draft Principles cover eight key areas: setting…

Doha, Qatar – Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB), Qatar’s leading digital bank, has been named Qatar’s Best Islamic Bank and Qatar’s Best Digital Bank for SMEs at the Euromoney Awards for Excellence 2025, reaffirming its market leadership and dedication to delivering innovative, Shari’a compliant digital financial solutions. This recognition from Euromoney, one of the world’s most respected financial publications, reflects QIB’s exceptional performance, strong market position, and strategic focus on digital transformation within the framework of Islamic banking principles. QIB’s sustained investment in technology and innovation, combined with its strong financial performance, has solidified its leader position. For the first quarter ended 31 March 2025, QIB…

Arab Bank recently received the “Best Bank in the Middle East 2025” award from New York-based Global Finance magazine, a testament to its leading position in the regional banking sector. This global recognition was made by the editors of Global Finance after extensive consultations with corporate financial executives, banking consultants, and analysts throughout the world. Global Finance considered several factors when selecting top banks, including asset growth, profitability, geographical coverage, strategic alliances, product innovation, and market expansion endeavors. The evaluation criteria also included the opinions of equity analysts, credit rating analysts, banking consultants, and industry participants. Global Finance Awards cover…

Dubai, UAE: The CEO of Union Coop, Mr. Mohamed Al Hashemi stated that the cooperative operates under a comprehensive plan to support local suppliers through operational, technical, and commercial facilitation. This includes exemptions from certain fees, simplified listing procedures, and discounts of up to 50% on display charges. Additionally, Union Coop provides logistical and marketing support within its outlets and organizes promotional events and field visits to local farms and factories, all of the efforts that help strengthen the relationship between producers and consumers. Mr. Al Hashemi emphasized Union Coop’s commitment to the ‘Make it in the Emirates’ initiative by highlighting…

Dubai, UAE: Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) of Dubai has hosted the graduation of the NOMU Al Ghurair Women in AI program, in collaboration with the Abdulla Al Ghurair Foundation (AGF) and the pioneering educational institution, ZAKA. The event recognised the achievements of 70 Emirati & Arab women who successfully completed the 20-week AI Certification program with ZAKA, which was established to increase the skills capacity in artificial intelligence and machine learning in the UAE. Organized by ZAKA Co-founder and Head of Partnerships, Larissa Abi Nakhle, the ceremony welcomed RIT Dubai President Dr. Yousef Al Assaf and Abdulla Al Ghurair Foundation CEO Dr.…

Abu Dhabi, UAE: Mubadala Investment Company PJSC (Mubadala), an Abu Dhabi sovereign investor, and the Abu Dhabi Projects and Infrastructure Centre (ADPIC) have signed a partnership agreement to foster collaborations in various areas which features a comprehensive framework for cooperation between the two organisations, aimed at advancing infrastructure initiatives crucial to Abu Dhabi’s development as a leading destination of choice. These include comprehensive feasibility studies, knowledge sharing, and assessments to evaluate the viability for proposed projects, as well as sharing insights to develop sustainable financing models. The agreement was signed on the first day of Abu Dhabi Infrastructure Summit (ADIS)…

Paris & Riyadh: Riyadh Air, the new national carrier of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, today signed a deal at the 55th Edition of Paris Air Show at Le Bourget with Rolls-Royce for 50 Trent XWB-97 engines to power its fleet of 50 Airbus A350-1000 an order that was announced yesterday. The agreement was signed by Adam Boukadida, Chief Financial Officer of Riyadh Air and Rob Watson, President of Civil Aerospace at Rolls-Royce in the presence of Tony Douglas, Riyadh Air’s Chief Executive Officer, and Tufan Erginbilgic, Rolls-Royce Chief Executive Officer. At the same time, a Memorandum of Understanding was also signed…