UAE: Unit 2 of Barakah nuclear energy plant starts commercial operations

Unit 2 adds a further 1,400MW of clean electricity to the national grid

District 2020’s entrepreneurship programme to welcome first cohort of 85 startups, small businesses

The Scale2Dubai programme attracted more than 3,200 applications from 129 countries

Alpha Dhabi invests Dhs367m in DEWA’s IPO

The investment has been made through its subsidiary Alpha Dhabi Partners Holding

Cybersecurity firm Dragos announces opening of Dubai office

The office houses industrial cybersecurity staff and training centre

Khalifa University first in UAE to make courses globally available on Coursera

The university joins top institutions in Saudi Arabia and Jordan to make relevant content accessible to online learners

Etihad Airways

Etihad: New co-branded credit card gives complimentary gold tier status

The Emirates NBD Etihad Guest Visa Credit Cards are available as Elevate and Inspire variants

UAE’s DEWA IPO subscription period opens today

The price range is set between Dhs2.25 and Dhs2.48 per share, implying a market capitalisation of between Dhs112.5bn and Dhs124bn

Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi to open Natural History Museum in 2025

The museum, currently under construction, is located in the Saadiyat Cultural District

Abu Dhabi’s ADQ, Turkey Wealth Fund launch $300m venture capital fund

The fund will invest in companies developing emerging technologies or improving existing ones in key sectors

Aramco and ACWA Power look to join Saudi carbon trading exchange

The kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund signed non-binding memorandums of understanding with five companies

KFC Operator

Middle East KFC operator starts early talks over listing

Discussions are ongoing, but no advisers have been hired

Dubai’s Shuaa Capital launches $250m venture debt fund

The fund claims to be the largest venture debt fund in the GCC

UAE reports 332 Covid-19 cases, 974 recoveries

The nationwide case count stands at 888,715

ADNOC

Abu Dhabi’s ADNOC signs agreements with German companies to collaborate on clean hydrogen

The partnerships build on ADNOC’s position in Asian clean hydrogen markets

Dubai’s Emirates to boost services to Melbourne

The carrier’s Australian operations will increase to 42 weekly flights

Museum of the Future signs partnerships with RTA, Emirates, Audi, among others

These partnerships support the museum’s role in enhancing Dubai and the world’s readiness for the future

Abu Dhabi Fund for Development opens five colleges in Jordan

The colleges were built with ADFD funding worth Dhs80.3m

Biggest Saudi listing since Aramco surges on trading debut

Nahdi’s IPO is the largest listing in the kingdom since Saudi Aramco raised almost $30bn in 2019

Flydubai

Flydubai to temporarily operate flights to 34 destinations from Dubai World Central

The Roads and Transport Authority will provide a complimentary bus service between all terminals at DXB and DWC every 30 minutes

UAE reports 316 Covid-19 cases, 958 recoveries

The nationwide case count stands at 888,383

Bahrain sees higher oil helping it beat budget balance target

The International Monetary Fund estimates Bahrain needs oil prices of around $107 a barrel to balance its budget

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank approves cash dividend equalling 48.5% of net profit for 2021

The bank’s shareholders also elected a new board of directors

Emirates Draw

UAE-based Dhs100m Emirates Draw to allow entries to be purchased using crypto

Emirates Draw has signed a partnership with YottaChain International Holding to allow the use of Tether to purchase entries

Dubai Airports to close DXB’s northern runway for 45 days

A number of flights will be redirected to Dubai World Central to limit the impact on service

International Fund for Agricultural Development

Investcorp’s investments into European real estate portfolio climbs to EUR1.1bn

The investments were spread across 80 properties in the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy and Belgium

UAE cabinet

UAE Cabinet approves strategy to regulate operators of crowdfunding platforms

The UAE Cabinet met at the Expo 2020 Dubai during which a number of initiatives and legislations were approved

Resecurity introduces dark web intelligence in Saudi Arabia

The US-based company recently exhibited their solutions and shared their expertise at the World Defense Show in the kingdom

UAE’s ADGM, FSRA look to amend capital markets framework

ADGM’s FSRA has published a paper proposing wide-ranging amendments covering virtual assets, securities, derivatives, commodities and benchmarks

UAE property rentals: short term versus long term

Looking to list your home as a short-term or long-term rental property, or planning to rent a property for a year or more? The CEO of Dubai-based property management firm, Frank Porter, shares the pros and cons