Etihad Credit Insurance (ECI), the UAE’s federal export credit agency, has joined forces with the Abu Dhabi Export Office to drive the technology sector in Angola by supporting UAE companies to launch new projects in the West African nation.
The collaboration between the two entities aims to secure funding for projects awarded to UAE-based companies in Angola, ECI said in a statement on Sunday.
Presight AI, a unit of Abu Dhabi's G42 group focused on data analytics and artificial intelligence, secured funding from Adex backed by ECI for the implementation of a project in Angola.
“This collaboration not only enables companies like Presight to expand beyond the UAE’s borders, but it also fuels our mission to enhance the national economy and solidify the Emirates’ position as a global business hub," Mohamed Al Suwaidi, director general of Abu Dhabi Fund for Development and chairman of the exports executive committee of Adex, said.
Set up in 2019, Adex offers financing solutions to exporters to help increase the UAE’s trade volumes and promote its export business in global markets.
The entity provides credit facilities to overseas buyers and importers through direct and indirect loans and guarantees.
The latest announcement follows Adex signing two green finance agreements in February with the government of Angola to support the country’s IT sector and infrastructure projects.
One agreement, worth Dh330 million ($90 million), relates to the acquisition of an analytical platform, main data centre, backup data centre, and national cloud platform to strengthen the Angolan IT sector. The project will be carried out by Presight, Adex said at the time.
The other agreement, valued at Dh115 million, will allow Mark Cables, a UAE company specialising in manufacturing cables, lighting, water and electrification projects, to install and maintain street lights in the cities of Luanda, Malanje, N’dalatando and Uíge.
Established in 2018, ECI provides export guarantees and trade insurance for UAE companies to minimise payment risks associated with exporting.
It has partnerships with local and international banks that offer loans to UAE companies to fund exports to overseas buyers, with ECI providing insurance.
ECI said on Sunday it recently formalised three preliminary agreements with top banks and insurance companies in Ethiopia, to "unlock a multitude of trade and investment possibilities" and position "UAE enterprises at the forefront of global market growth".
"These partnerships underscore ECI's focus on nurturing economic alliances, enriching trade, and catalysing sustainable business expansion across Africa," it said.
Raja Al Mazrouei, chief executive of ECI, said the collaboration with UAE industry champions helps to "empower UAE-based companies for global prominence".
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Draw for Europa League last-16
Istanbul Basaksehir v Copenhagen; Olympiakos Piraeus v Wolverhampton Wanderers
Rangers v Bayer Leverkusen; VfL Wolfsburg v Shakhtar Donetsk; Inter Milan v Getafe
Sevilla v AS Roma; Eintracht Frankfurt or Salzburg v Basel; LASK v Manchester United
The Scale for Clinical Actionability of Molecular Targets
One-off T20 International: UAE v Australia
When: Monday, October 22, 2pm start
Where: Abu Dhabi Cricket, Oval 1
Tickets: Admission is free
Australia squad: Aaron Finch (captain), Mitch Marsh, Alex Carey, Ashton Agar, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Chris Lynn, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Ben McDermott, Darcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Mitchell Starc, Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa, Peter Siddle
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Producer: Matchbox Pictures, Viacom18
Cast: Ayushmann Khurrana, Tabu, Radhika Apte, Anil Dhawan
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Date of launch: November 2018
Founder: Monark Modi
Based: Business Bay, Dubai
Sector: Financial services
Size: Eight employees
Investors: Self-funded to date with $1m of personal savings
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Iraq negotiating over Iran sanctions impact
- US sanctions on Iran’s energy industry and exports took effect on Monday, November 5.
- Washington issued formal waivers to eight buyers of Iranian oil, allowing them to continue limited imports. Iraq did not receive a waiver.
- Iraq’s government is cooperating with the US to contain Iranian influence in the country, and increased Iraqi oil production is helping to make up for Iranian crude that sanctions are blocking from markets, US officials say.
- Iraq, the second-biggest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, pumped last month at a record 4.78 million barrels a day, former Oil Minister Jabbar Al-Luaibi said on Oct. 20. Iraq exported 3.83 million barrels a day last month, according to tanker tracking and data from port agents.
- Iraq has been working to restore production at its northern Kirkuk oil field. Kirkuk could add 200,000 barrels a day of oil to Iraq’s total output, Hook said.
- The country stopped trucking Kirkuk oil to Iran about three weeks ago, in line with U.S. sanctions, according to four people with knowledge of the matter who asked not to be identified because they aren’t allowed to speak to media.
- Oil exports from Iran, OPEC’s third-largest supplier, have slumped since President Donald Trump announced in May that he’d reimpose sanctions. Iran shipped about 1.76 million barrels a day in October out of 3.42 million in total production, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
- Benchmark Brent crude fell 47 cents to $72.70 a barrel in London trading at 7:26 a.m. local time. U.S. West Texas Intermediate was 25 cents lower at $62.85 a barrel in New York. WTI held near the lowest level in seven months as concerns of a tightening market eased after the U.S. granted its waivers to buyers of Iranian crude.
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
About Seez
Company name/date started: Seez, set up in September 2015 and the app was released in August 2017
Founder/CEO name(s): Tarek Kabrit, co-founder and chief executive, and Andrew Kabrit, co-founder and chief operating officer
Based in: Dubai, with operations also in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon
Sector: Search engine for car buying, selling and leasing
Size: (employees/revenue): 11; undisclosed
Stage of funding: $1.8 million in seed funding; followed by another $1.5m bridge round - in the process of closing Series A
Investors: Wamda Capital, B&Y and Phoenician Funds
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Rating: 4/5