- The Financial Times has a good overview of goings on in Egyptian telecoms, where Vodafone is preparing to say farewell to the market that has treated it very well over the years. Vodafone's new CEO, Vittorio Colao, is keen to reign in spending, cash out of certain investments, and generally tighten up the company's balance sheet after more than a decade of flat-out expansion. Telecom Egypt, its joint-venture partner, could offer up to US$4.7 billion for control of the Egypt operation, analysts say. That kind of cash is hard to turn down these days.
- Your mobile phone, that oasis of beautiful things that is always just a reach away when awkward conversations or boring people threaten your inner peace,
will soon be inundated with a universe of new advertising and promotions, Business 24-7 reports
, citing a bunch of studies that show every marketer and promoter in town is working how how to find their way into your pocket.
- The resolution of a bitter brotherly feud within India's richest family could mean a dramatic change in the lanscape of the African telecom market. The Ambani brothers, whose intense infighting led partially to the demise of a deal to merge South Africa's MTN with India's Reliance Telecommunications,
have kissed and made up
. MTN stock has risen sharply since the prominent "I love you, bro" moment,
with talk that the deal may again be on the cards.
- Etisalat have been talking up their impending entrance into the Iraqi telecom market since 2008, but it could happen in a way few expected. While all talk so far has been of a deal to buy a stake in Korek, the Kurdish operator, the company is now
one of many being said to be interested in buying Iraq's fourth mobile license
. The license, which was finally approved this week, should make a nice little earner for the Iraqi government, which will own a 35% stake in the fourth operator. The three current licenses went for $1.25 billion each. But before Etisalat can go dropping that kind of money, it will need to deal with the concerns of the UAE State Audit Institution, which is reportedly
unhappy with the free-spending culture of the company, according to an Emarat al Youm report summarised here by ITP
.
Name: Peter Dicce
Title: Assistant dean of students and director of athletics
Favourite sport: soccer
Favourite team: Bayern Munich
Favourite player: Franz Beckenbauer
Favourite activity in Abu Dhabi: scuba diving in the Northern Emirates
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Racecard:
6.30pm: Mazrat Al Ruwayah (PA) | Group 2 | US$55,000 (Dirt) | 1,600 metres
7.05pm: Meydan Sprint (TB) | Group 2 | $250,000 (Turf) | 1,000m
7.40pm: Firebreak Stakes | Group 3 | $200,000 (D) | 1,600m
8.15pm: Meydan Trophy | Conditions (TB) | $100,000 (T) | 1,900m
8.50pm: Balanchine | Group 2 (TB) | $250,000 (T) | 1,800m
9.25pm: Handicap (TB) | $135,000 (D) | 1,200m
10pm: Handicap (TB) | $175,000 (T) | 2,410m.
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
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AT4 Ultimate, as tested
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How will Gen Alpha invest?
Mark Chahwan, co-founder and chief executive of robo-advisory firm Sarwa, forecasts that Generation Alpha (born between 2010 and 2024) will start investing in their teenage years and therefore benefit from compound interest.
“Technology and education should be the main drivers to make this happen, whether it’s investing in a few clicks or their schools/parents stepping up their personal finance education skills,” he adds.
Mr Chahwan says younger generations have a higher capacity to take on risk, but for some their appetite can be more cautious because they are investing for the first time. “Schools still do not teach personal finance and stock market investing, so a lot of the learning journey can feel daunting and intimidating,” he says.
He advises millennials to not always start with an aggressive portfolio even if they can afford to take risks. “We always advise to work your way up to your risk capacity, that way you experience volatility and get used to it. Given the higher risk capacity for the younger generations, stocks are a favourite,” says Mr Chahwan.
Highlighting the role technology has played in encouraging millennials and Gen Z to invest, he says: “They were often excluded, but with lower account minimums ... a customer with $1,000 [Dh3,672] in their account has their money working for them just as hard as the portfolio of a high get-worth individual.”
The specs: 2019 BMW i8 Roadster
Price, base: Dh708,750
Engine: 1.5L three-cylinder petrol, plus 11.6 kWh lithium-ion battery
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
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