Business Extra

IFC on boosting women-led startups

A potential economic windfall awaits the Middle East and North Africa region if countries can close the gender gap and help more women into business. The International Finance Corporation's "She Wins Arabia" supports female-led start-ups across the Middle East and North Africa with finance and mentorship.

The second round of the initiative was launched last month and it is expanding to support 100 additional women-led startups and over 30 additional fund managers across Mena. The number of countries included in the IFC initiative has also grown to over 20 and will now also cover Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Syria, and other countries in the region.

Sammar Essmat, Gender Lead, Middle East, Central Asia and Turkey at the IFC, talks to Mustafa Alrawi about the importance of providing such opportunities.

In this episode:

The IFC's role in creating gender balance in the economy (0m 09s)

Resolving the gender gap in the region (3m 41s)

Helping women take the risk (9m 38s)

The hopes for women led startups in 2023 (15m 51s)

 

Read more on our website:

• The Middle East needs a female Elon Musk

• Human behaviour and economic policy with NYUAD - Business Extra

• Deepak Chopra's factors for success - Business Extra

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Tech Mahindra’s Manish Vyas on 5G

From making the metaverse happen to improving the sustainability of networks, 5G mobile communications technology underpins the critical infrastructure needed to deliver the applications and solutions of the future.

Manish Vyas, President of the Communications, Media & Entertainment Business and CEO of Networks Services at Indian IT services company Tech Mahindra, speaks to host Mustafa Alrawi about the role of 5G in our lives.

In this episode:

The future of telecommunications and the vision for 5G (0m 09s)

The role of 5G in sustainability (8m 37s)

Will 5G help handle future crises better? (12m 49s)

Tech Mahindra's path towards sustainability (15m 09s)

 

Read more on our website:

• Takeo Kanade on rise of robots: 'Business Extra'

• Dubai's metaverse strategy: 'Business Extra'

• Zada Haj on future of Middle East food security: Business Extra

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Deepak Chopra’s factors for success

Deepak Chopra, founder of health company Chopra Global and the Chopra Foundation, is a doctor, entrepreneur and philanthropist with more than 30 years on the front lines of well-being.

He talks to host Mustafa Alrawi about how the metaverse can close the global health gap, what business leaders need to know to succeed today and how to handle the critics.

In this episode:

Deepak Chopra on success (0m 11s)

What is the meaning of leadership? (6m 00s)

The effects of technology and money (10m 37s)

Ensuring future technologies are inclusive and accessible (16m 56s)

 

Read more on our website:

• Human behaviour and economic policy with NYUAD - Business Extra

• Binance CEO: I did not expect to hear of FTX insolvency in call with Sam Bankman-Fried

• Disruption is the new normal – Business Extra

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Human behaviour and economic policy with NYUAD

In the aftermath of the financial crisis, technological shifts, the Covid-19 pandemic and climate change, governments have been working to deliver more effective economic policies and looking to understand how to best implement them.

 

The study of human behaviour has, as a result, become more critical in areas such as education, health and jobs.

 

Nikos Nikiforakis, professor of economics and co-director of the Centre for Behavioral Institutional Design (C-BID) at NYU Abu Dhabi, talks to host Mustafa Alrawi ahead of the centre's Behavioral Policy Design Conference in the capital in November.

 

Experts and policymakers will gather at the event to discuss how what we know about human behaviour is increasingly influencing how policy is being set.

 

In this episode:

What is behavioural social science? (48s)

The link between human behaviour and economic policy (1m 42s)

How is this implemented? (3m 24s)

Helping policy-makers make better judgements (6m 29)

How are theories tested? (10m 13s)

The role of economists (14m 58s)

 

Read more on our website:

• What does it take to ensure a green-energy future?

• Liz Truss's downfall and the problem with markets dictating government policy

• Disruption is the new normal

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US energy envoy Amos Hochstein at Adipec

Amos Hochstein, the US special envoy and presidential co-ordinator for international energy affairs on Tuesday signed in Abu Dhabi — on behalf of the US — a strategic partnership with the UAE to invest $100 billion to produce 100 gigawatts of clean energy by 2035.

At the oil and gas conference and exhibition Adipec, Mr Hochstein spoke to Business Extra host Mustafa Alrawi about the energy transition, how countries such as his can shape the future and also how he has been working for the past decade to make energy a tool of diplomatic co-operation and not conflict.

In this episode:

Amos Hochstein at ADIPEC on the Israel-Lebanon maritime deal (0m 09s)

What energy can do for countries and the US-UAE partnership (2m 39s)

Thinking medium and long term (8m 21s)

Moving forward from Europe's energy crisis (12m 32s)

 

Read more on our website:

• 'Energy transition must put society first to help avoid inequality'

• Why the UK is facing an energy price crisis: Business Extra

• IMF's Azour: Gulf economies must defend against global headwinds

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IMF’s 2023 outlook for Gulf and Middle East

The global picture is one of high energy prices, rising interest rates and an impending economic slowdown. Despite all of this, the Middle East North Africa region has proven resilient in 2022, according to the International Monetary Fund. However, the impact of taming inflation will be felt as we enter 2023.

Jihad Azour, the IMF Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department, talks to host Mustafa Alrawi about the many risks to the outlook and what economies in the Gulf and wider Mena region can do to protect themselves.

In this episode:

The IMF's outlook for the Middle East and Central Asia (0m 09s)

How the region faired in 2022 (3m 00s)

The issues that might drag onto 2023 and the impact of inflation (6m 26s)

The outlook for Lebanon and the Gulf (9m 08s)

 

Read more on our website:

• Global action needed to prevent food crisis in Middle East and North Africa, warns IMF
• Mena region faces a ‘turning point’ and needs to press on with reforms as it recovers from pandemic, IMF says

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Can Rishi Sunak tame the UK economy?

New British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak must tackle what he has called a “profound economic crisis”. He vowed the priority of the government would be to “reduce inflation", describing it as “indeed the enemy”.

 

Under Mr Sunak's predecessor Liz Truss, the UK government attempted to prioritise populist measures such as tax cuts without reducing spending. This triggered a violent reaction from the bond market. It resulted in Ms Truss stepping down and a third leader for the country this year.

 

Investors remain nervous about the shape of UK fiscal and economic policy. Will Mr Sunak settle these concerns down and put the country back on a more steady footing, facing down both the energy and cost-of-living crises? Or will circumstances prove beyond his control?

 

London deputy bureau chief Paul Carey discusses the uncertain outlook with host Mustafa Alrawi.

 

In this episode:

Has the UK political scene stabilised now? (1m 10s)

UK budget statement delayed (4m)

Challenges facing Rishi Sunak and lowering expectations (6m 18s)

UK’s cost of living problem (7m 29s)

Is the UK public tiring of politicians and politics? (9m 21s)

What’s the outlook for the UK’s economic future? (11m 13s)

 

Read more on our website:

• Why the UK is facing an energy price crisis

• Liz Truss's downfall and the problem with markets dictating government policy

• Pound sterling rallies as markets react to Liz Truss's resignation

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What is driving energy markets

Brent crude prices are above $90 a barrel as recession worries and the impact on oil demand weigh against other factors, including US policy moves.

 

Following friction between the Biden administration and Opec+ producers over their decision to reduce output, politics has taken over the discourse around energy markets.

 

With the Ukraine conflict still without a solution and climate action critical, how will shorter-term considerations play out over the weeks and months to come?

 

Regular The National contributor Robin Mills, chief executive of Qamar Energy, talks to host Mustafa Alrawi about the uncertainty.

 

In this episode:

The main factors dominating the discussions around energy and crude oil (1m)

Does Ukraine remain a major factor? (3m 17s)

Political fallout effecting the energy markets (7m 5s)

Climate change and obtaining the right energy mix is not front and centre (10m 9s)

How much does the energy markets really serve us? (14m 35s)

 

Read more on our website:

• Opec+ decision to cut output 'technical' and 'right' measure, UAE energy minister says

• IEA cuts oil demand growth forecast as recession risks loom

• Disruption is the new normal

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What the IMF’s forecasts mean for the Middle East

The head of the IMF, Kristalina Georgieva, this week starkly warned of the possibility of a global recession during the organisation’s annual meeting in Washington DC.

 

“We cannot possibly allow inflation to become a runaway train - it’s bad for growth and bad for people,” she said. “Bad especially for poor people.”

 

The National's Editor-in-Chief Mina Al-Oraibi and US correspondent Willy Lowry discuss the IMF's reduced growth projections for the year ahead - and ask: what does it mean for the Middle East?

 

Read more on our website:

• IMF cuts 2023 growth forecast and warns 'worst is yet to come'
• US inflation hits 40-year high
• IMF chief warns of risks of 'runaway' inflation

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Disruption is the new normal

Alix Partners, the global consulting firm, has launched a Middle East Disruption Index to examine the impact of trends such as climate change, technological advances and geopolitics on businesses and trade in the region.

The survey showed 78 per cent of chief executives in the UAE and Saudi Arabia are confident in their company’s ability to withstand disruptive forces. However, there is also a lot of uncertainty with two thirds afraid that the disruption will ultimately displace them. Concerns over finding the right talent and also making effective investments in technology also cloud the outlook.

Rob Hornby, Head of EMEA, AlixPartners and Gabriel Chahine, Middle East AlixPartners Lead speak to host Mustafa Alrawi about how disruption has become a new normal for organisations and companies.

In this episode:

The disruptive forces in the Mena region (0m 08s)

The role of the executives in disruption (5m 03s)

Climate change being a part of executive decisions and investing in the right talent (8m 30s)

Are we in control of disruption? (14m 54s)

 

Read more on our website:

• Economic recovery ‘like no other’: IMF, McKinsey, OECD experts tell PCR podcast series
• PCR podcast: two faces to the recovery in the Middle East and North Africa
• PCR podcast: how to manage the energy crisis

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