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As one of the world’s most influential business hubs, the Middle East requires expert attention. Business Extra provides those experts, as well as news and insights from The National’s esteemed team of business editors and reporters, who are on top of the markets, technology, the energy sector and more.
Episodes
Wednesday Dec 09, 2020
Wednesday Dec 09, 2020
Arabesque Partners chairman Georg Kell speaks to Kelsey Warner this week on the future of responsible investing, including the role of artificial intelligence to drive decisions. As the founding director of the United Nations Global Compact, Mr Kell was a pioneer in defining and assessing environmental, social and governance factors that can drive corporate strategy and investment decisions to improve the state of the world.
Since September 2016, Mr Kell has also chaired the Volkswagen Sustainability Council, an independent body that advises VW on issues of social responsibility and the future of mobility. The group was formed following the high-profile diesel emissions scandal. He jumped at the chance to serve on the council, and explains why coming out of the shadow of controversy, VW is now at a competitive advantage five years later.
Hosted by Mustafa Alrawi
In this episode:
Mustafa and Kelsey on ESG (0m 39s)
Where are we with sustainable finance? (2m 28s)
Arabesque and sustainable intelligence (7m 00s)
How to address biased machine learning (13m 52s)
The lessons learnt by Volkswagen (15m 15s)
Who gains and loses because of the ESG criteria (20m 06s)
Headlines (22m 29s)
Read more on our website:
• Airbnb and DoorDash IPOs may raise $6.2bn based on new price ranges
Since September 2016, Mr Kell has also chaired the Volkswagen Sustainability Council, an independent body that advises VW on issues of social responsibility and the future of mobility. The group was formed following the high-profile diesel emissions scandal. He jumped at the chance to serve on the council, and explains why coming out of the shadow of controversy, VW is now at a competitive advantage five years later.
Hosted by Mustafa Alrawi
In this episode:
Mustafa and Kelsey on ESG (0m 39s)
Where are we with sustainable finance? (2m 28s)
Arabesque and sustainable intelligence (7m 00s)
How to address biased machine learning (13m 52s)
The lessons learnt by Volkswagen (15m 15s)
Who gains and loses because of the ESG criteria (20m 06s)
Headlines (22m 29s)
Read more on our website:
• Airbnb and DoorDash IPOs may raise $6.2bn based on new price ranges
Tuesday Dec 01, 2020
Tuesday Dec 01, 2020
What do Toyota, Disney, IBM and Airbnb have in common? They were started during – or right after – a crisis. Whether the Great Depression, the Second World War or the 2007-2008 global financial crisis, major struggles have led visionary founders to build some of the world's biggest, most durable companies. So what will 2020 yield?
Host Kelsey Warner is joined this week by Noor Sweid, founder and general partner at UAE venture capital firm Global Ventures, to discuss how entrepreneurs can capitalise on opportunity even during times of uncertainty.
In this episode:
What is Global Ventures? (0m 50s)
Investor appetite in the UAE (1m 59s)
What tech will stay after 2020? (4m 57s)
The change in dynamic between the founder and the investor (7m 09s)
The path to liquidity (11m 33s)
Headlines (13m 25s)
Read more on our website:
• UK retailer Debenhams to close, putting 12,000 jobs at risk
In this episode:
What is Global Ventures? (0m 50s)
Investor appetite in the UAE (1m 59s)
What tech will stay after 2020? (4m 57s)
The change in dynamic between the founder and the investor (7m 09s)
The path to liquidity (11m 33s)
Headlines (13m 25s)
Read more on our website:
• UK retailer Debenhams to close, putting 12,000 jobs at risk
Wednesday Nov 25, 2020
Wednesday Nov 25, 2020
The changes to the UAE Commercial Companies' law, which were announced allowing almost all companies to be fully foreign owned, have been widely welcomed. The idea of further opening up the economy to foreign investment will have obvious potential benefits such as attracting more FDI and spurring business activity. This has been an evolution of a number of steps over the last 17 years or so, making doing business in the UAE easier for all nationalities.
The changes to the law will prove interesting in terms of how it will impact the well established ecosystem of onshore and offshore jurisdictions in the country and it will take some time after the amendments are in effect for the landscape to be fully realised.
Host Mustafa Alrawi discusses this landmark development with Omar Momany, partner and head of the corporate and commercial practice group at Baker McKenzie Habib Al Mulla, and another partner at the leading law firm, Hani Naja, who is also a corporate and commercial legal expert.
In this episode:
The commercial companies law (0m 32s)
The changes the new law would bring (2m 06s)
The onshore and offshore ecosystem (9m 10s)
Why does owning 100% of a company matter? (14m 08s)
What we don't know yet (20m 47s)
Headlines (25m 23s)
Read more on our website:
• Oil surges to an eight-month high on vaccine hopes
Wednesday Nov 18, 2020
Wednesday Nov 18, 2020
The nexus of technology has had a real impact in the way we work and live. What happens when the disruptors have to move even more quickly than they expected? This week, Richard Sikkel, chief executive of Massar Solutions, and Tino Waked, regional general manager of Middle East & Africa at Uber, join Mustafa Alrawi to talk about all things transportation.
In this episode:
What happens when the disruptor becomes disrupted? (0m 41s)
The changes the pandemic has brought (5m 28s)
How Uber moved fast to face the challenge (10m 15s)
The future prospects for Massar Solutions and Uber (11m 33s)
Headlines (15m 52s)
Read more on our website:
• Opec+ weighs options as markets hope for extension of production cuts
In this episode:
What happens when the disruptor becomes disrupted? (0m 41s)
The changes the pandemic has brought (5m 28s)
How Uber moved fast to face the challenge (10m 15s)
The future prospects for Massar Solutions and Uber (11m 33s)
Headlines (15m 52s)
Read more on our website:
• Opec+ weighs options as markets hope for extension of production cuts
Wednesday Nov 11, 2020
Wednesday Nov 11, 2020
Mustafa Alrawi and Kelsey Warner talk to Huawei's chief technology officer, Paul Scanlan, on the advantages of 5G and why it is better for the future of telecommunication.
In this episode:
Let's talk 5G! (0m 43s)
How is 5G different? (1m 55s)
Living with 5G (5m 32s)
Why is Huawei number one in 5G tech? (9m 24s)
Why is China ahead of the curve? (15m 00s)
Working under the Trump and the new administration (20m 13s)
Information security and Huawei 5G (21m 58s)
Headlines (25m 20s)
Read more on our website:
• Huawei to appeal Sweden’s ‘draconic’ 5G ban
In this episode:
Let's talk 5G! (0m 43s)
How is 5G different? (1m 55s)
Living with 5G (5m 32s)
Why is Huawei number one in 5G tech? (9m 24s)
Why is China ahead of the curve? (15m 00s)
Working under the Trump and the new administration (20m 13s)
Information security and Huawei 5G (21m 58s)
Headlines (25m 20s)
Read more on our website:
• Huawei to appeal Sweden’s ‘draconic’ 5G ban
Monday Nov 02, 2020
Monday Nov 02, 2020
Uncertainty in Pennsylvania is a potential “perfect storm” for a contested election that would send shockwaves through the markets, but investors are otherwise betting on a Joe Biden win.
“The market is a bit pre-positioned for the Democratic wave, unlike last time,” John Hardy, head of FX strategy at Saxo Bank, said, while adding that markets were in no way prepared for President Trump's victory in 2016. He joins co-hosts Mustafa Alrawi and Kelsey Warner this week to outline market scenarios depending on the election’s outcome.
In this episode:
How are the markets affected in the run up to the election? (1m 16s)
Biden win and blue wave scenario (4m 39s)
Where does coronavirus fit in? (7m 54s)
The power of Pennsylvania (9m 35s)
The possibility of a contested election (12m 03s)
The three scenarios (14m 06s)
Markets don't like uncertainty (17m 10s)
Headlines (20m 10s)
Read more on our website:
• Russia’s Sberbank seeks more partnerships with Middle Eastern sovereign investors
“The market is a bit pre-positioned for the Democratic wave, unlike last time,” John Hardy, head of FX strategy at Saxo Bank, said, while adding that markets were in no way prepared for President Trump's victory in 2016. He joins co-hosts Mustafa Alrawi and Kelsey Warner this week to outline market scenarios depending on the election’s outcome.
In this episode:
How are the markets affected in the run up to the election? (1m 16s)
Biden win and blue wave scenario (4m 39s)
Where does coronavirus fit in? (7m 54s)
The power of Pennsylvania (9m 35s)
The possibility of a contested election (12m 03s)
The three scenarios (14m 06s)
Markets don't like uncertainty (17m 10s)
Headlines (20m 10s)
Read more on our website:
• Russia’s Sberbank seeks more partnerships with Middle Eastern sovereign investors
Wednesday Oct 28, 2020
Wednesday Oct 28, 2020
"Last year, between Apple, Tencent and Google, their combined revenue in one year was hundreds of billions of dollars. But who got paid?"
Jennifer Zhu Scott, executive chairman of The Commons Project and a leading voice on technology and artificial intelligence, joins Mustafa Alrawi and Kelsey Warner to discuss her idea that Internet users be paid for the data they share with companies who are profiting from consumer insights.
In this episode:
Jennifer Zhu Scott, executive chairman of The Commons Project and a leading voice on technology and artificial intelligence, joins Mustafa Alrawi and Kelsey Warner to discuss her idea that Internet users be paid for the data they share with companies who are profiting from consumer insights.
In this episode:
Overview of US Dept of Justice case against Google (0m 38s)
Why users should get paid for their data (5m 08s)
What is The Commons Project? (9m 34s)
How to fix a 'broken' Internet (11m 45s)
How a data commodity market might work (16m 08s)
Headlines (19m 34s)
Wednesday Oct 21, 2020
Wednesday Oct 21, 2020
Ibrahim Ajami joins Kelsey Warner this week to talk about Mubadala's technology investment strategy in a year unlike any other. The head of ventures at Abu Dhabi’s strategic investment fund is looking at 25-year time horizons, longer than the typical private equity investor, and looking for ways to build bridges between Abu Dhabi and tech hubs around the world.
In this episode:
Mubadala and Silver Lake (0m 44s)
The 25-year Investment Strategy (6m 50s)
How was 2020 significant to Mubadala? (9m 00s)
Will the lessons we learnt from the pandemic stick? (14m 10s)
The UAE-Israel $3 billion Abraham Fund (16m 03s)
The Ajami Foundation for Beirut (17m 14s)
Read more on our website:
• Mubadala to invest $2bn in new technology partnership with Silver Lake
In this episode:
Mubadala and Silver Lake (0m 44s)
The 25-year Investment Strategy (6m 50s)
How was 2020 significant to Mubadala? (9m 00s)
Will the lessons we learnt from the pandemic stick? (14m 10s)
The UAE-Israel $3 billion Abraham Fund (16m 03s)
The Ajami Foundation for Beirut (17m 14s)
Read more on our website:
• Mubadala to invest $2bn in new technology partnership with Silver Lake
Tuesday Oct 13, 2020
Tuesday Oct 13, 2020
In the race to develop a Covid-19 vaccine, there has been unprecedented international cooperation, with the UAE a most recent example - jumping in to join the phase III trials of Russia's coronavirus vaccine, Sputnik V.
News editor Rory Reynolds, who has been overseeing The National's pandemic coverage, joins the podcast to discuss the role of a vaccine in economic recovery and the companies, investors and citizens who stand to gain and lose.
In this episode:
UAE is hosting the Russian vaccine trials (0m50s)
Why the UAE is ideal for vaccine trials (2m46s)
Is the vaccine a golden bullet? (5m)
When will we have a vaccine and who will get it? (7m50s)
The opposition to the vaccine (10m16s)
Global collaboration (11m35s)
Headlines (15m31s)
In this episode:
UAE is hosting the Russian vaccine trials (0m50s)
Why the UAE is ideal for vaccine trials (2m46s)
Is the vaccine a golden bullet? (5m)
When will we have a vaccine and who will get it? (7m50s)
The opposition to the vaccine (10m16s)
Global collaboration (11m35s)
Headlines (15m31s)
Read more on our website:
Wednesday Oct 07, 2020
Wednesday Oct 07, 2020
The pandemic is increasing demand for mental health services with uncertainty, isolation and loss of income triggering mental health conditions or exacerbating existing ones, the World Health Organisation said this week. “Covid-19 has interrupted essential mental health services around the world just when they’re needed most,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director general.
Paying close attention to this secondary crisis taking shape is Jerome Droesch, CEO of Cigna MEA. He joins co-hosts Mustafa Alrawi and Kelsey Warner this week to discuss the findings of an ongoing survey by the insurer on stress, burnout and how employers can cope.
In this episode:
The mental health crisis during Covid-19 (0m 34s)
The Cigna survey on mental health (1m 48s)
Lockdown madness (5m 26s)
Burnout and over-working (7m 06s)
Can Telehealth bridge the gap? (9m 59s)
How can SMEs keep up (12m 05s)
Cigna's balancing act (16m 12s)
Headlines (19m 08s)
Read more on our website:
• Anxiety and depression on rise even in countries with low Covid-19 rates
Paying close attention to this secondary crisis taking shape is Jerome Droesch, CEO of Cigna MEA. He joins co-hosts Mustafa Alrawi and Kelsey Warner this week to discuss the findings of an ongoing survey by the insurer on stress, burnout and how employers can cope.
In this episode:
The mental health crisis during Covid-19 (0m 34s)
The Cigna survey on mental health (1m 48s)
Lockdown madness (5m 26s)
Burnout and over-working (7m 06s)
Can Telehealth bridge the gap? (9m 59s)
How can SMEs keep up (12m 05s)
Cigna's balancing act (16m 12s)
Headlines (19m 08s)
Read more on our website:
• Anxiety and depression on rise even in countries with low Covid-19 rates