MENA Opportunities

Startups are literally a journey into the unknown and entrepreneurs need to be comfortable with taking on ambiguity, uncertainty and multiple challenges. Unfortunately, on average, 9 out of 10 startups will go out of business, and the remaining that are able to survive and succeed are the ones that capture the qualities outlined below. 1) Vision.  A well-defined vision is a skill or gift that every company leader needs in order to cross the finish line. It will be the major force behind an entrepreneur’s success and will serve as a compass in tough times. A startup needs to envision how to monetize from the very beginning. The first dollar counts, especially for potential investors. 2) Speed.  Getting things done in a quick manner is one of the many reasons why startups are able to reach their goals and milestones. It makes a difference when a startup is able to launch on time or when it’s able to move much faster than competitors. Successful startups never delay t...

Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts is to launch a new private jet service which will take guests on bespoke journeys, with stops its properties around the world. The branded aircraft, a completely retrofitted Boeing 757, will feature interiors and exterior design customized by the company’s team of design experts. From February 2015, the Four Seasons Jet will transport 52 guests on bespoke journeys, with in-flight staff, including a dedicated on-board concierge, coordinating with local Four Seasons concierges in each destination. Prices for the trips range from US $69,000 to US $119,000 per person. “Taking our legendary service to the skies is a natural extension of what we’ve been doing in our hotels for more than 50 years,” said Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts executive vice president marketing Susan Helstab. “The Four Seasons Jet showcases the unforgettable people and experiences that make Four Seasons unique. It speaks to our pioneering spirit and the aspirations of today’s modern...

Abdel-Magid Breish, the chairman of Libya’s $66 billion sovereign wealth fund, said it planned to hire external companies to manage about $11 billion of its assets under a restructuring plan. The Libyan Investment Authority, valued at about $66 billion by Deloitte LLP, will split its assets into three distinct funds starting as soon as next year, Breish said in an interview in London Thursday. “The LIA is preparing itself to come back to the international fold,” he said. “We will use best-of-breed fund managers, advisers and consultants,” he said, without specifying which companies would be invited to bid for the work. The fund, established under former Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, grew to be Africa’s second-largest sovereign wealth fund by the time he was deposed and killed in 2011. Some of the firm’s investments proved disastrous, leading to attempts to restructure deals, regulatory investigations and multibillion-dollar lawsuits. The LIA is suing Societe Generale SA and Goldma...

On March 19, Louis D. Brandeis Center President Kenneth Marcus keynoted a Washington DC panel organized by the hardline pro-Israel Endowment for Middle East Truth (EMET). It was titled “Politicizing Education: Title VI of the Higher Education Act.” Speaking from an ornate room in Washington DC’s Russell Senate Office Building, Marcus described the seminar as “the first public event inaugurating phase two of Title VI reform.” Sitting alongside him were Campus Watch Director Winfield Myers, National Review Online columnist Stanley Kurtz and Tammi Rossman Benjamin, Amcha Initiative co-founder and a member of the Brandeis Center Academic Advisory Board. The panel was introduced and moderated by Sarah Stern, founder and president of EMET and a member of the Islamophobic Clarion Fund’s advisory board. Using the seemingly benign terminology of “Title VI reform,” Marcus and his fellow panelists laid out the blueprint for a right-wing pro-Israel attack on federal funding for Middle Eastern ...

Codefish is an IT consulting and software development company headquartered in Lebanon with global delivery capabilities, providing custom software-consulting and development services. Codefish's mission is to continue to achieve a standard of excellence that inspires its customers to work with it simply because they value the company's work. In every project, the company will work with you, paying constant attention to your requirements to give you the most value for your investment. Codefish realizes that its team is its greatest asset. From creative designers to cutting edge developers, management consultants to geeky programmers, its people are experts at what they do and, most importantly, love what they do. Codefish is proud to serve a large customer base across several industries, giving it a wide experience in companies' needs & challenges. It strives to build long-lasting relationships by maintaining our client's total satisfaction each and every day ...

Arabian Construction Company (ACC) is a dynamic and progressive organization that has grown to become a leader in its industry. ACC has been operating since 1967, through a comprehensive regional network throughout the Middle East. From power generation and desalination plants, to factories, hotels, hospitals, and intricately sophisticated smart buildings, ACC's track record is a prestigious list of efficiently delivered projects. Established contacts in the region, a dedicated workforce and an exacting standard for completion have gained the company a competitive edge well recognized in the industry. ACC benefits from a working network in many areas in the Middle East which allows it to mobilize rapidly throughout the region. ACC's advantage also lies in its ability to bring solutions to the client's requirements in all phases of project planning and execution. ACC offers full contracting services and has the flexibility to assist the client by securing additional expe...

The value of announced merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions with any Middle Eastern involvement reached $5.7 billion during the first quarter of 2014, 15 percent less than the $6.8 billion witnessed during the same period last year, marking the lowest first quarter total in the region since 2004, Thomson Reuters said Tuesday in its quarterly investment banking analysis for the Middle East region. The low first quarter total was largely impacted by an 85 percent decline in domestic and inter-Middle Eastern M&A which totaled just $674 million, the lowest first quarter total since 2006. Nadim Najjar, Managing Director, Middle East, Africa, and Russia / CIS, said: “Outbound M&A drove activity, up 147 percent from this time last year to total $3.5 billion. Saudi Arabian overseas acquisitions accounted for 59 percent of Middle Eastern outbound M&A activity. Inbound M&A also increased, climbing 171 percent to $506 million.” The largest deal during the first quarter ...

Underpinned by rising oil production, war-ravaged Iraq’s economy is widely tipped to be one of the best performers in the Middle East this year. But amid the growing optimism, the International Monetary Fund reckons there’s still a few economic wrinkles that need to be ironed out. That was the conclusion of a staff visit to Amman earlier this week where an IMF team met with an Iraqi delegation that included the country’s acting minister of finance and acting central bank governor. The IMF predicts Iraq’s economy to grow by over 6% this year thanks largely to oil production of 3.2 million barrels per day (mbpd) and oil exports of 2.6 mbpd. That forecast looks modest given economists at Dubai-based EmiratesNBD are penciling economic expansion of well over 8% for 2014. But such rapid levels of growth can’t paper over the other economic challenges Iraq is facing. “In 2013, lower than expected oil revenues and increased spending pressures—largely arising from the difficult security si...

Editor’s note: Fadi Ghandour is the the Chairman of Wamda, the founder of Aramex, and board member of Endeavor, an international non-profit working to enable and empower entrepreneurs. This article is crossposted with Endeavor's Ecosystem Insights blog. Two-thirds of the Arab World's population is under the age of 29. The region is not only growing younger, but also becoming more literate. With rising levels of education, connectivity, and mobility, the biggest challenge remains: How do we create good jobs for the restless millions? Entrepreneurs are drivers of growth, innovation, and competitiveness. A recent World Bank report on small and medium sized companies (SMEs) shows that the highest contributors to employment are firms with less than 100 employees. And, not surprisingly, it is scalable businesses that generate the biggest share of economic opportunities. A study conducted by the World Economic Forum in collaboration with Stanford University and Endeavor in 201...

At the International Hotel Investment Forum in Berlin, the First Qatar Real Estate Development Company (“First Qatar”) signed a management agreement for its property on the Pearl Island with Hilton Worldwide. In the next few years, First Qatar will be investing up to $ 390 million in the new hotel, which will be located on the artificial island “The Pearl“ Qatar. “This is the most significant investment to date in Qatar for our group,” says Ala Ramdan, Vice President of First Qatar, emphasizing the importance of the project. “With its successful track record in attracting tourism and Major Sports events, Qatar remains a very attractive market for us. The recent increase in commitment at The Pearl, driven by the new management of the UDC, has been a decisive factor that has encouraged us to increase our investment at The Pearl Qatar“, says Ala Ramdan. With a share of 65 percent, business travelers shape the structure of tourism in Qatar. The MICE industry (Meetings, Incentives, Confer...

MENA Social ® is the leading online content aggregation platform focused on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. It allows users to follow the most talked about MENA online content all through one single user-friendly aggregation platform updated in real-time! Checking out many separate websites frequently can take a long time and rapidly become cumbersome. Aggregation technologies such as the one used by MENA Social help to consolidate many websites into one page that can show real-time information from many sites. MENA Social covers 30 MENA topics (Breaking News, Business, Communication, Computers, Economy, Education, Entertainment, Entrepreneurship, Fashion, Finance, Food, Funding, Gaming, Health, Humor, Investments, Lifestyle, Luxury, Management, Media, Money, Politics, Real Estate, Science, Social Media, Sports, Startups, Technology, Transportation and Travel) in over 50 languages from over 1,000 global leading media outlets. The platform also offers efficient and c...

“It started one day when I was walking in Ramallah,” Ashraf Alkiswani says. “I was stuck behind these two guys in their late thirties, and I overheard one of them talking about something he’d ordered from Egypt – a mineral that improves your sexual performance.” Inspired right then and there to open an online shop for such products for the Palestinian and regional markets, Alkiswani interrupted the men to make sure that nothing like this was available locally. If his was the first such online shop in the region, he reasoned, surely there was profit to be made. But in the two and a half years since the encounter, the extensive research he’s done personally (having spoken to over 70 pharmacists in Ramallah, Hebron, Nablus, and Bethlehem) and that which he’s collected from experts in the region, has led to a shift in his motivation. “After hearing shocking stories of the lack of knowledge and education” in the region, and how it’s affected marriages, families, and entire villages, his...

In light of many recent attempts to enhance online Arabic content, three Saudi entrepreneurs have launched Arinfographic.net to archive all Arabic infographics in one place, offering at the same time a customized infographic design service. The concept of the infographic is built on the idea of representing any type of data or information in the form of visual content. Why visual? Many believe that images, symbols, and drawings are the easiest and fastest ways to convey a message to readers. Infographics are often used in marketing, education, and summaries of studies and statistical findings. Having launched the website in December 2014 during the ArabNet Riyadh event to address “a lack of understanding on the part of the Arab user of what an infographic is and how it is designed,” founder and CEO Sami Al Mutairi hopes for Arinfographic to become the Wikipedia of Arabic infographics or the Arab world’s Visual.ly, a well-known website for infographic design. Since launch, Al Mutair...

Led by CEO Samer Halawi, Thuraya is a leading mobile satellite communications company that empowers people with tools to bring the organizations and communities they serve closer together. Thuraya was officially founded in April 1997. A group of eight founders raised a total capital amounting to US$500 million, paving the way for an agreement to be signed with Boeing to manufacture Thuraya’s first satellite.  16 years later, 2013 was a year led by strong product launches where the Thuraya IP+, two editions of the market-changing Thuraya SatSleeve and the Thuraya Maritime Broadband solution were announced. In addition, Thuraya kicked off highly successful service launches with SoftBank (Japan), Pivotel (Australia), Smart Communications (the Philippines), CMSCG/Armarda  (China) and ChungHwa Telecoms (Taiwan). The Thuraya SatSleeve also won the Innovation Award at Lloyd’s List Middle East and Indian Subcontinent 2013 Awards. The mobile satellite communications company offers ...

MENACOM Group is the largest Marketing and Media organization in the Middle East, managing reputable advertising agencies Young & Rubicam, Intermarkets and Partnership; public relations firms ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller, Raee and Polaris; direct marketing specialists Wunderman; media specialist firm Mediaedge:cia; and interactive firm Tattoo. This service industry is highly creative and young which creates an invigorating work environment. With the growth of business in the Middle East, our aim is to attract, retain best talent and ensure competitive edge business advantage. Over the last 20 years, MENACOM has built up its expertise and presence to be the largest Marketing Communication organization on the Middle East & North Africa. MENACOM is made up of advertising agencies, public relations agencies, direct marketing specialists, media specialists and interactive specialists. With over 1,200 employees in its network of 57 offices, MENACOM provides marketing communications s...

RAMCO is a full line real estate agency and consultancy based in Lebanon. Whether you are looking to buy, sell or rent an apartment in Lebanon, invest in an office or shop in Beirut or trying to market bigger real estate projects, their team of consultants stand ready to provide you with all the help and support required. The company's real estate services also include land acquisition & disposal, project marketing and placement, property valuation, as well as real estate advisory. It covers all of Lebanon for lands, but for apartments, offices and shops, its focus is Beirut. The company publishes periodic market reports on the real estate sector in Lebanon thus enabling our clients and partners to stay informed and up to date with the latest property news and developments in Lebanon and the region. RAMCO is a founding member of R.E.A.L. the Real Estate Association of Lebanon, an organization geared toward elevating the standards within the industry. RAMCO was founded 40 ye...

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Supposedly founded by Genny Ghanimeh, Pi Slice is a web based social platform which represents a new (?!) channel of funding for Micro Finance Institutions. Its framework is unique (says the company itself), a connecting system that links individuals and companies – who wish to invest - with MENA based MFIs - which in turn use the funds to provide micro-credit to their customers. Hmmm... Isn't that "unique" framework called... crowdfunding?! And last time we checked, everybody seemed to have a "unique" crowdfunding concept up their sleeve... As Genny Ghanimeh humbly puts it: "through this web based platform, motivated individuals and companies can help MFIs in the MENA region to build a sustainable future for micro-entrepreneurs, as well as a favorable ecosystem for development at the macro level. The MENA region is home to approximately 370 million inhabitants of which at least 26 percent are estimated to be living on less than USD $2 / day. Half of th...