This week, Abu Dhabi’s local stock market hit the Dh1 trillion ($272.3 billion) mark for the first time. On Monday, the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange was the best performer in the Gulf and among the top gainers globally, up 33.8 per cent year to date.
The most recent driver of this trend was International Holdings Company, shares of which climbed higher on Sunday after the listing of its Alpha Dhabi unit. IHC became the most valuable company on the exchange in the process.
In the past year, it has become easier and cheaper to trade shares and the ADX has become a viable capital market better able to reflect the growth of the country and the region. There has also been a stunning level of activity recently among Abu Dhabi’s publicly listed companies.
A wave of consolidations has created potential regional champions in the consumer and tourism sectors, as well as among utilities and heavy industry. There has been the merger of Abu Dhabi National Energy Company, known as Taqa, with Abu Dhabi Power Corporation; National Marine Dredging Company and National Petroleum Construction Company have been combined; and food and beverage group Agthia acquired dates company Al Foah.
Meanwhile, Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company and Abu Dhabi National Hotels are set to merge. Emirates Steel will be bought by Arkan Building Materials. Additionally, Al Yah Satellite Communications, known as Yahsat, has an initial public offering scheduled for July 14, in what will be the first IPO since 2017 for the market.
A stock exchange once dominated by banks and a telecom company will now be far more representative of the diversity of Abu Dhabi's economy. That evolution might well be exciting investors in the UAE and the Gulf after the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic. The bigger picture is also bullish despite the pandemic.
Last October, Mohammed Al Shorafa, chairman of the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development, projected that the emirate’s economy would expand by six to eight per cent over the next two years, with the oil sector, financial services, government spending and foreign investment driving the growth.
Oil prices have also proved to be more buoyant than most expected, given where they were at points last year. The outlook for demand is strong. Added to these factors are that the UAE remains a stable environment and a trusted investment partner. The UAE was the world's 15th-biggest recipient of foreign direct investment last year, one place above the UK and seven places higher than 2019.
Updates to commercial and company laws and new rules allowing 100 per cent foreign ownership in most sectors has also boosted the business environment.
The main challenge for such an exciting growth story might actually be the pace of the changes to publicly listed companies. Speedy consolidation is desirable but this makes it harder to deliver high levels of transparency that investors increasingly expect. Over time this will be resolved as the track records of these potential champions will be evident. Until then these companies will have to work at highlighting corporate governance, and step up corporate communications and investor relations, particularly with audiences outside the region.
However, for companies, shareholders and the government, this is a rare window of opportunity. Neither is a thriving local stock exchange an end in itself. Rather it can be viewed as a snapshot of the wider economic diversification effort, which has been ongoing for a quarter-century but has picked up particularly effervescent momentum in the past 12 months.
The main challenge for such an exciting growth story might actually be the pace of the changes to publicly listed companies
The focus on health care, technology and innovation, particularly where the energy transition away from a reliance on fossil fuels is concerned, indicates the focus on a rapidly approaching future.
There is plenty of uncertainty amid technological shifts and the risk of more pandemics to come. Resilience and diversification go hand in hand. Directors, management and owners, as well as policymakers in the UAE seem to understand the urgency with which they need to act and are doing so.
Building up scale and breadth of investments, and all the time with an eye on further acquisitions both inside and outside the country, are part of the plans for these potential regional champions. The Abu Dhabi stock market is proving to be a good place to observe the execution of this vision and the strategy to keep the UAE competitive and prosperous in the decades to come.
So far, investors like what they are seeing, and the next phase over the coming few years could include significant levels of interest from institutional investors outside the Middle East, who could be drawn by the compelling economic and corporate story playing out in the UAE.
Mustafa Alrawi is an assistant editor-in-chief at The National
How Islam's view of posthumous transplant surgery changed
Transplants from the deceased have been carried out in hospitals across the globe for decades, but in some countries in the Middle East, including the UAE, the practise was banned until relatively recently.
Opinion has been divided as to whether organ donations from a deceased person is permissible in Islam.
The body is viewed as sacred, during and after death, thus prohibiting cremation and tattoos.
One school of thought viewed the removal of organs after death as equally impermissible.
That view has largely changed, and among scholars and indeed many in society, to be seen as permissible to save another life.
'Worse than a prison sentence'
Marie Byrne, a counsellor who volunteers at the UAE government's mental health crisis helpline, said the ordeal the crew had been through would take time to overcome.
“It was worse than a prison sentence, where at least someone can deal with a set amount of time incarcerated," she said.
“They were living in perpetual mystery as to how their futures would pan out, and what that would be.
“Because of coronavirus, the world is very different now to the one they left, that will also have an impact.
“It will not fully register until they are on dry land. Some have not seen their young children grow up while others will have to rebuild relationships.
“It will be a challenge mentally, and to find other work to support their families as they have been out of circulation for so long. Hopefully they will get the care they need when they get home.”
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
SPECS
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Credits
Produced by: Colour Yellow Productions and Eros Now
Director: Mudassar Aziz
Cast: Sonakshi Sinha, Jimmy Sheirgill, Jassi Gill, Piyush Mishra, Diana Penty, Aparshakti Khurrana
Star rating: 2.5/5
Section 375
Cast: Akshaye Khanna, Richa Chadha, Meera Chopra & Rahul Bhat
Director: Ajay Bahl
Producers: Kumar Mangat Pathak, Abhishek Pathak & SCIPL
Rating: 3.5/5
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
Takreem Awards winners 2021
Corporate Leadership: Carl Bistany (Lebanon)
Cultural Excellence: Hoor Al Qasimi (UAE)
Environmental Development and Sustainability: Bkerzay (Lebanon)
Environmental Development and Sustainability: Raya Ani (Iraq)
Humanitarian and Civic Services: Women’s Programs Association (Lebanon)
Humanitarian and Civic Services: Osamah Al Thini (Libya)
Excellence in Education: World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) (Qatar)
Outstanding Arab Woman: Balghis Badri (Sudan)
Scientific and Technological Achievement: Mohamed Slim Alouini (KSA)
Young Entrepreneur: Omar Itani (Lebanon)
Lifetime Achievement: Suad Al Amiry (Palestine)
I Care A Lot
Directed by: J Blakeson
Starring: Rosamund Pike, Peter Dinklage
3/5 stars
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
Mane points for safe home colouring
- Natural and grey hair takes colour differently than chemically treated hair
- Taking hair from a dark to a light colour should involve a slow transition through warmer stages of colour
- When choosing a colour (especially a lighter tone), allow for a natural lift of warmth
- Most modern hair colours are technique-based, in that they require a confident hand and taught skills
- If you decide to be brave and go for it, seek professional advice and use a semi-permanent colour
Yemen's Bahais and the charges they often face
The Baha'i faith was made known in Yemen in the 19th century, first introduced by an Iranian man named Ali Muhammad Al Shirazi, considered the Herald of the Baha'i faith in 1844.
The Baha'i faith has had a growing number of followers in recent years despite persecution in Yemen and Iran.
Today, some 2,000 Baha'is reside in Yemen, according to Insaf.
"The 24 defendants represented by the House of Justice, which has intelligence outfits from the uS and the UK working to carry out an espionage scheme in Yemen under the guise of religion.. aimed to impant and found the Bahai sect on Yemeni soil by bringing foreign Bahais from abroad and homing them in Yemen," the charge sheet said.
Baha'Ullah, the founder of the Bahai faith, was exiled by the Ottoman Empire in 1868 from Iran to what is now Israel. Now, the Bahai faith's highest governing body, known as the Universal House of Justice, is based in the Israeli city of Haifa, which the Bahais turn towards during prayer.
The Houthis cite this as collective "evidence" of Bahai "links" to Israel - which the Houthis consider their enemy.
The Equaliser 2
Director Antoine Fuqua
Starring: Denzel Washington, Bill Pullman, Melissa Leo, Ashton Sanders
Three stars
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