A view of Riyadh, as seen from 99th floor of The Kingdom tower. GSM plans to partner with regional governments to run schools. Getty Images
A view of Riyadh, as seen from 99th floor of The Kingdom tower. GSM plans to partner with regional governments to run schools. Getty Images
A view of Riyadh, as seen from 99th floor of The Kingdom tower. GSM plans to partner with regional governments to run schools. Getty Images
A view of Riyadh, as seen from 99th floor of The Kingdom tower. GSM plans to partner with regional governments to run schools. Getty Images

Safanad and Global School Management to invest $200m in Middle East education sector


Sarmad Khan
  • English
  • Arabic

US headquartered investment house Safanad and international education platform Global School Management are investing an initial $200 million in the Middle East to acquire education assets and have plans to significantly boost their investment as they expand their portfolio of schools in the region.

The partners will manage and develop several charter, online, early learning and K-12 private schools independently and in partnership with regional governments, the chief executives of both companies said on Wednesday in Riyadh on the sidelines of the Future Investment Initiative.

GSM is already finalising transactions to acquire several schools in Saudi Arabia, the biggest Arab economy, and in the UAE, where it runs iCademy Middle East, a K-12 American online school in Dubai.

These acquisitions would immediately add about 10,000 additional pupils on to the platform, the executives said without giving details.

GSM recently acquired BBD Education in Dubai, a premier provider of professional education services and management for the growing schools market in the GCC.

The platform was established in 2014, with Safanad as a founding investor. It has grown to become an international schools’ operator, serving more than 50,000 students across its 165 schools and early learning academies primarily in the US, Europe and Africa.

Investors are increasingly looking to invest in the education sector of the broader Mena region, particularly in the six-member GCC economic bloc, as governments encourage and incentivise private sector participation in the sector.

The size of the Middle East's education market size is expected to grow to $175 billion by 2027 at a compound annual rate of 8.5 per cent, according to a report by market analyst Industry Arc.

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Saudi Arabia's Future Investment Initiative 2022 - in pictures

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The K-12 sector is becoming a hotspot for international investments and providers as the segment booms and the policy landscape becomes more favourable for outside involvement, the report said.

“GSM will bring international best practice in education and leverage its innovative technologies and capabilities around school management and development to help expand capacity and enhance the quality of education available in this market,” said Safanad founder and chief executive Kamal Bahamdan.

The move is in line with the global investment house's broader strategy to establish a dedicated, regionally focused investment arm.

The company has set up Safanad Mena, through which it plans to invest across a number of priority sectors.

“This is the first of multiple platforms we plan in areas where we have built market leadership in the US and Europe, and can use our global know-how and network to replicate success and accelerate growth regionally,” he said.

Beyond education, Safanad plans to invest in health care and digital infrastructure, among others.

Investment in the education sector marks the “next phase of growth for Safanad and GSM” in the Mena region, Mr Bahamdan said.

GSM will invest through its subsidiary GSM Middle East and is edging closer to completing transactions in the region, which would “significantly grow our global student base”, said Ron Packard, chief executive of the international education platform.

“We see long-term opportunity for private international education in Mena, where there is strong demand from families for a high-calibre education and a commitment from governments to ensure these needs are met.”

Established in 2009, Safanad, which has offices in New York and the Dubai International Financial Centre, has carried out more than 40 transactions worth more than $10bn in education, health care, digital infrastructure and property in the US and Europe since inception.

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UPI facts

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List of officials:

Referees: Chris Broad, David Boon, Jeff Crowe, Andy Pycroft, Ranjan Madugalle and Richie Richardson.

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The biog

Age: 59

From: Giza Governorate, Egypt

Family: A daughter, two sons and wife

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Runner up favourite tree: Frankincense 

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Specs

Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request

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Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham

Rating: 3.5/5

The lowdown

Rating: 4/5

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THE BIO

Born: Mukalla, Yemen, 1979

Education: UAE University, Al Ain

Family: Married with two daughters: Asayel, 7, and Sara, 6

Favourite piece of music: Horse Dance by Naseer Shamma

Favourite book: Science and geology

Favourite place to travel to: Washington DC

Best advice you’ve ever been given: If you have a dream, you have to believe it, then you will see it.

Company profile

Name: Dukkantek 

Started: January 2021 

Founders: Sanad Yaghi, Ali Al Sayegh and Shadi Joulani 

Based: UAE 

Number of employees: 140 

Sector: B2B Vertical SaaS(software as a service) 

Investment: $5.2 million 

Funding stage: Seed round 

Investors: Global Founders Capital, Colle Capital Partners, Wamda Capital, Plug and Play, Comma Capital, Nowais Capital, Annex Investments and AMK Investment Office  

ESSENTIALS

The flights

Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.

The hotels

Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.

The tours

A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages. 

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Company profile

Name: Tharb

Started: December 2016

Founder: Eisa Alsubousi

Based: Abu Dhabi

Sector: Luxury leather goods

Initial investment: Dh150,000 from personal savings

 

How to get exposure to gold

Although you can buy gold easily on the Dubai markets, the problem with buying physical bars, coins or jewellery is that you then have storage, security and insurance issues.

A far easier option is to invest in a low-cost exchange traded fund (ETF) that invests in the precious metal instead, for example, ETFS Physical Gold (PHAU) and iShares Physical Gold (SGLN) both track physical gold. The VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF invests directly in mining companies.

Alternatively, BlackRock Gold & General seeks to achieve long-term capital growth primarily through an actively managed portfolio of gold mining, commodity and precious-metal related shares. Its largest portfolio holdings include gold miners Newcrest Mining, Barrick Gold Corp, Agnico Eagle Mines and the NewMont Goldcorp.

Brave investors could take on the added risk of buying individual gold mining stocks, many of which have performed wonderfully well lately.

London-listed Centamin is up more than 70 per cent in just three months, although in a sign of its volatility, it is down 5 per cent on two years ago. Trans-Siberian Gold, listed on London's alternative investment market (AIM) for small stocks, has seen its share price almost quadruple from 34p to 124p over the same period, but do not assume this kind of runaway growth can continue for long

However, buying individual equities like these is highly risky, as their share prices can crash just as quickly, which isn't what what you want from a supposedly safe haven.

The specs

Engine: 3.8-litre, twin-turbo V8

Transmission: eight-speed automatic

Power: 582bhp

Torque: 730Nm

Price: Dh649,000

On sale: now  

RedCrow Intelligence Company Profile

Started: 2016

Founders: Hussein Nasser Eddin, Laila Akel, Tayeb Akel 

Based: Ramallah, Palestine

Sector: Technology, Security

# of staff: 13

Investment: $745,000

Investors: Palestine’s Ibtikar Fund, Abu Dhabi’s Gothams and angel investors

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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EJames%20Gunn%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Chris%20Pratt%2C%20Zoe%20Saldana%2C%20Dave%20Bautista%2C%20Vin%20Diesel%2C%20Bradley%20Cooper%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs

Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel

Power: 579hp

Torque: 859Nm

Transmission: Single-speed automatic

Price: From Dh825,900

On sale: Now

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Director: Venkat Prabhu
Rating: 2/5
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The rules on fostering in the UAE

A foster couple or family must:

  • be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
  • not be younger than 25 years old
  • not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
  • be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
  • have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
  • undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
  • A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
The five pillars of Islam

1. Fasting

2. Prayer

3. Hajj

4. Shahada

5. Zakat 

Napoleon
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EMIRATES'S%20REVISED%20A350%20DEPLOYMENT%20SCHEDULE
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Specs

Engine: 51.5kW electric motor

Range: 400km

Power: 134bhp

Torque: 175Nm

Price: From Dh98,800

Available: Now

Essentials

The flights
Whether you trek after mountain gorillas in Rwanda, Uganda or the Congo, the most convenient international airport is in Rwanda’s capital city, Kigali. There are direct flights from Dubai a couple of days a week with RwandAir. Otherwise, an indirect route is available via Nairobi with Kenya Airways. Flydubai flies to Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo, via Entebbe in Uganda. Expect to pay from US$350 (Dh1,286) return, including taxes.
The tours
Superb ape-watching tours that take in all three gorilla countries mentioned above are run by Natural World Safaris. In September, the company will be operating a unique Ugandan ape safari guided by well-known primatologist Ben Garrod.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, local operator Kivu Travel can organise pretty much any kind of safari throughout the Virunga National Park and elsewhere in eastern Congo.

Tori Amos
Native Invader
Decca

Jiu-jitsu calendar of events for 2017-2018:

August 5:

Round-1 of the President’s Cup in Al Ain.

August 11-13:

Asian Championship in Vietnam.

September 8-9:

Ajman International.

September 16-17

Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games, Ashgabat.

September 22-24:

IJJF Balkan Junior Open, Montenegro.

September 23-24:

Grand Slam Los Angeles.

September 29:

Round-1 Mother of The Nation Cup.

October 13-14:

Al Ain U18 International.

September 20-21:

Al Ain International.

November 3:

Round-2 Mother of The National Cup.

November 4:

Round-2 President’s Cup.

November 10-12:

Grand Slam Rio de Janeiro.

November 24-26:

World Championship, Columbia.

November 30:

World Beach Championship, Columbia.

December 8-9:

Dubai International.

December 23:

Round-3 President’s Cup, Sharjah.

January 12-13:

Grand Slam Abu Dhabi.

January 26-27:

Fujairah International.

February 3:

Round-4 President’s Cup, Al Dhafra.

February 16-17:

Ras Al Khaimah International.

February 23-24:

The Challenge Championship.

March 10-11:

Grand Slam London.

March 16:

Final Round – Mother of The Nation.

March 17:

Final Round – President’s Cup.

Updated: October 26, 2022, 1:10 PM`