General Electric can help Lebanon, which has struggled for years with power shortages, revamp its utilities sector following a meeting with the country’s prime minister.
Lebanon's premier Saad Hariri met GE’s president and chief executive for the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey, Nabil Habayeb, as well as the multinational’s top executive in Iraq, to discuss strengthening the country’s power sector, which has been the Achilles heel of the government and caused the public debt of the country to swell over the years.
Among initiatives discussed, GE would help Lebanon’s transition to “clean, renewable energy” as well as help convert existing power plants from simple cycle to run on combined technologies, according to a statement released by Mr Hariri's office.
GE, which competes with Germany's Siemens in the Middle East, would help Lebanon "help set up efficient, flexible new power plants that can run on gas and liquid fuels,” the company said in the statement.
The meeting comes amid Lebanese cabinet plans to implement a reform programme to fix a flawed utilities sector and ensure the country enjoys electricity 24/7 with no interruptions. Implementing reform in the utilities sector is one of the key conditions set by international donors following their pledge of nearly $11 billion in subsidised loans for Lebanon last year. The government had hoped to attract multinationals such as Siemens and GE to invest in its electricity sector via tenders.
The country suffers daily cuts of between three and 12 hours a day, due to insufficient production capacity and ageing power plants. Lebanon can only produce 2,334 Megawatts despite peak demand reaching 3,562 MW, according to the energy ministry.
Power outages force Lebanon to depend on neighbouring Syria for electricity imports with the country’s state utility racking up massive debts, which reached $1.8 billion in 2018 and $30bn over the last 25 years. On average the electricity company costs the government more than $2bn a year in subsidies.
One of the key steps to structural reforms of Lebanon's economy and its recovery is to explore “serious revenue-enhancing measures”, accompanied by significant cuts in non-productive expenditures, according to the Institute of International Finanace. If structural reforms are not implemented, Lebanon’s debt-to-GDP ratio is forecast to surge to 180 per cent. It's public debt has increased 1.3 per cent in the first three months of the year to $86.2bn from the end of 2018.
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Men's football draw
Group A: UAE, Spain, South Africa, Jamaica
Group B: Bangladesh, Serbia, Korea
Group C: Bharat, Denmark, Kenya, USA
Group D: Oman, Austria, Rwanda
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
Brief scores:
Barcelona 3
Pique 38', Messi 51 (pen), Suarez 82'
Rayo Vallecano 1
De Tomas Gomez 24'
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Why it pays to compare
A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.
Route 1: bank transfer
The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.
Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount
Total received: €4,670.30
Route 2: online platform
The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.
Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction
Total received: €4,756
The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.
Scoreline
Swansea 2
Grimes 20' (pen), Celina, 29'
Man City 3
Silva 69', Nordfeldt 78' (og), Aguero 88'
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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RESULTS
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List of officials:
Referees: Chris Broad, David Boon, Jeff Crowe, Andy Pycroft, Ranjan Madugalle and Richie Richardson.
Umpires: Aleem Dar, Kumara Dharmasena, Marais Erasmus, Chris Gaffaney, Ian Gould, Richard Illingworth, Richard Kettleborough, Nigel Llong, Bruce Oxenford, Ruchira Palliyaguruge, Sundaram Ravi, Paul Reiffel, Rod Tucker, Michael Gough, Joel Wilson and Paul Wilson.
The National photo project
Chris Whiteoak, a photographer at The National, spent months taking some of Jacqui Allan's props around the UAE, positioning them perfectly in front of some of the country's most recognisable landmarks. He placed a pirate on Kite Beach, in front of the Burj Al Arab, the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland at the Burj Khalifa, and brought one of Allan's snails (Freddie, which represents her grandfather) to the Dubai Frame. In Abu Dhabi, a dinosaur went to Al Ain's Jebel Hafeet. And a flamingo was taken all the way to the Hatta Mountains. This special project suitably brings to life the quirky nature of Allan's prop shop (and Allan herself!).
Most sought after workplace benefits in the UAE
- Flexible work arrangements
- Pension support
- Mental well-being assistance
- Insurance coverage for optical, dental, alternative medicine, cancer screening
- Financial well-being incentives
yallacompare profile
Date of launch: 2014
Founder: Jon Richards, founder and chief executive; Samer Chebab, co-founder and chief operating officer, and Jonathan Rawlings, co-founder and chief financial officer
Based: Media City, Dubai
Sector: Financial services
Size: 120 employees
Investors: 2014: $500,000 in a seed round led by Mulverhill Associates; 2015: $3m in Series A funding led by STC Ventures (managed by Iris Capital), Wamda and Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority; 2019: $8m in Series B funding with the same investors as Series A along with Precinct Partners, Saned and Argo Ventures (the VC arm of multinational insurer Argo Group)
