Business Extra

Amazon’s Ronaldo Mouchawar on charting growth in a crisis

Can there be winners in a global pandemic? For people, certainly not. But businesses can tell a different story - and Amazon is certainly one. With more customers at home and shopping online, Amazon’s e-commerce sales are booming. Remote work has also boosted demand for its cloud computing services - which accounted for three-quarters of its operating profit in the first quarter, with AWS holding about a third of global market share, trouncing its nearest competitor, Microsoft.

Host Kelsey Warner is joined this week by Ronaldo Mouchawar, VP of Amazon Mena, to talk about navigating the Covid-19 pandemic amid record demand.

In this episode:
Will Coronavirus make Jeff Bezos a trillionaire? (0m 07s)
Ronaldo Mouchawar on demand during Covid-19 (1m 12s)
Headlines (17m 52s)

Read more on our website:
• Amazon Mena increases workforce by 30% to meet demand

• Adnoc CFO says previous pipelines deal served as springboard for record $20bn valuation

• Record $20.7bn investment deal for Adnoc's gas pipelines

• Adnoc's $10 billion windfall shows 'UAE attractive as top FDI destination amid pandemic'

• Former Abraaj executive Vettivetpillai consents to US extradition

Business Extra special: Adnoc CFO on record $20bn foreign investment

Six of the world’s leading investors, a total deal value of $20.7 billion, upfront proceeds of $10 billion. The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company has secured the biggest ever energy infrastructure deal in the region. Also one of the largest foreign direct investments in recent years, all amid a global pandemic.

This week on a special edition of Business Extra, Mustafa Alrawi talks to Ahmed Al Zaabi, CFO at Adnoc.

Read more on our website:
• Record $20.7bn investment deal for Adnoc's gas pipelines

• Adnoc's $10 billion windfall shows 'UAE attractive as top FDI destination amid pandemic'

• Adnoc CFO says previous pipelines deal served as springboard for record $20bn valuation

UAE’s energy minister on the transformation after coronavirus

The new reality for the world’s biggest oil producing countries and companies is being formed as the coronavirus pandemic alters projections for demand and consumption trends change. As UAE Energy Minister Suhail Al Mazrouei alluded to this week no one could have predicted the future would arrive so quickly for the industry. 

Mustafa Alrawi and Kelsey Warner talks to The National's energy correspondent, Jennifer Gnana, about UAE's energy Minister Suhail Al Mazrouei statements and the future of the energy industry.

In this episode:
The aftermath of the coronavirus and Suhail Al Mazrouei (0m 41s)
The changes in the energy industry (2m 42s)
How are drones going to help during coronavirus? (14m 35s)
Headlines (18m 06s)

Read more on our website:
• UAE oil output capacity reached 4.2m bpd in April, energy minister says

• BP to write off up to $17.5bn as it lowers long-term oil price projections

• Apicorp slashes five-year regional energy investment outlook by 18%

• Will drones be ready for last-mile Covid-19 vaccine delivery?

• Careem sees signs of recovery from Covid-19 hit as $50m Super App set to lift earnings

• India’s economy set to make robust recovery in next fiscal year, S&P says

• Abraaj former CEO stole $385m from the firm, liquidators say

LinkedIn on in-demand jobs and first signs of optimism for labour market

One of the biggest casualties of the Covid-19 pandemic has been jobs. Lockdowns and travel bans have put unprecedented pressure on the global labour market, with tens of millions of people affected. With a front-row seat to the life of the white collar worker, is LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional networking platform. In the UAE, about half of adults - 4 million people - are members of the site. LinkedIn crunched the numbers on job postings and new hires. It says there are reasons for cautious optimism as we enter a new normal.

This week, Mustafa Alrawi and Kelsey Warner talk to Ali Matar, LinkedIn's head of Europe, Middle East and Africa emerging markets.

In this episode:
LinkedIn on emerging markets, job postings and hiring after the Covid hit (01m 00s)
What has changed in Q2 compared to last year? (07m 26s)
Headlines (13m 52s)

Read more on our website:
• Dubai among five best global cities to find a job in 2020

• UAE employee productivity stays on track amid home working shift

• Dubai and Abu Dhabi deflation makes cities cheaper in global ranking

• Abu Dhabi Investment Authority takes Dh2.76bn stake in Reliance Industries' Jio Platforms

• Dubai's non-oil private sector economy starts to recover in May as restrictions ease

Mubadala and Nabta Health on healthtech innovation after coronavirus

Covid-19 has forced rapid transformation for healthcare providers and their patients. Host Kelsey Warner, future editor at The National is joined by Omar Fikree, the acting CEO of Abu Dhabi Telemedicine Centre and a VP at Mubadala Health Care as well as Sophie Smith, founder and CEO of Nabta Health in Sharjah, a healthcare platform for women, that provides personalised care using machine learning. They will discuss the future of healthcare, the way Covid-19 has given telemedicine a new lease of life and how AI can personalise healthcare as well as streamline costs.

In this epsiode:
Mubadala's Omar Fikree on telemedicine services (1m 01s)
Sophie Smith on investment trends and health tech(2m 56s)
The learning curve (5m 05s)
Women's Healthcare and patient triage (9m 30s)
Headlines (18m 36s)

Read more on our website:
• Coronavirus: hundreds of Covid-19 patients in Abu Dhabi receive home care as part of online scheme

• Mubadala looks to boost investment in medical technology and life sciences

• Robots reduce risk for Rwandan medical workers

• WHO fears 'silent' virus epidemic unless Africa prioritises testing

Adnoc and Microsoft on the shift to remote working

With the public health crisis has come huge shifts in how we live, work and interact. Some form of remote working is likely to become a fixture for many companies even as we take tentative steps towards easing restrictions.   

Co-hosts Mustafa Alrawi and Kelsey Warner are joined by Ali Al Sayegh, vice president of internal communications & employee engagement at the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) to talk about the massive shift and its affect on productivity and employee morale at one of the UAE’s biggest employers.

To tackle the implications for technology - the enabler of our WFH migration - Naim Yazbeck, a director for Microsoft UAE, also joins the conversation.

In this episode:
WFH (0m 39s)
ADNOC and Microsoft on how the workplace has evolved (2m 21s)
Headlines (22m 40s)

Read more on our website:
• Adnoc CEO Dr Sultan Al Jaber on lessons learned amid the pandemic

• Working from home will be the ‘new norm’, Dubai Future Foundation predicts

• Coronavirus: Abu Dhabi issues guidelines for people returning to work

• US oil futures rise above $30 for the first time in two months

• US government drawing up anti-trust lawsuit against Google

• Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund invests billions of dollars in Boeing, Disney and Facebook shares

Dining during coronavirus: Can UAE’s restaurant industry survive the pandemic?

The restaurant sector has for the most part been simmering on an upward curve this past decade in the UAE. The realities of the pandemic may have put a lid on this trend. 

Co-hosts Mustafa Alrawi and Kelsey Warner are joined by Alexis Marcoux-Varvatsoulis, a former chef and Foodservice Lead for MENA at property consultants JLL, and Ian Ohan, founder and CEO of restaurant operator Krush Brands, to talk about the future of the industry.

In this episode:
Kelsey on the F&B industry before Covid-19 (0m 36s)
Alexis and Ian on how the restaurant industry is coping (1m 35s)
Will we ever dine again? (16m 50s)
Headlines (21m 34s)

Read more on our website:
• What is RadYes? Platform helps UAE residents order through a restaurant’s social media
• Oil rises as Saudi Arabia pledges to cut another 1 million bpd

• Emirates taking 'aggressive' measures to tackle Covid-19 impact after annual profit surges 21%

• Elon Musk says 'arrest me' as he restarts Tesla operations in US against local orders

Dubai Future Foundation's top researcher on life after Covid-19

As the world awaits a vaccine, technology is stepping in to help us cope in the meantime. To take steps to return to a new normal, health care tech, artificial intelligence and remote work tools are all being turned to and tested like never before. After years of hype over tech’s potential to take care of us - such as wearable health monitors and apps - has its moment in health care finally arrived? And to what end? 

Patrick Noack, an executive director at the Dubai Future Foundation, joins co-hosts Kelsey Warner and Mustafa Alrawi to discuss the foundation’s work on a series of reports titled ‘Life After Covid’. They also dig into the future of manufacturing, where the new health technologies may lead and what other trends may be accelerated in life after the pandemic.

In this episode:
How do contact tracing apps work? (0m 49s)
Dr. Shirley Yu on China's response (4m 11s)
Patrick Noack on tech trends and 'Life After Covid' (6m 37s)
Headlines (24m 34s)

Read more on our website:
• Working from home will be the ‘new norm’, Dubai Future Foundation predicts

• Coronavirus: Doctors urge public to help track Covid-19 cases with tracing app

• Emirates' Tim Clark: Coronavirus is a black swan event for the airline industry

• Adnoc unlocks $1bn in value from digital hub as Covid-19 crisis accelerates roll-out of technology

• Power of AI has limits in fight against Covid-19, experts caution
• Dubai's Careem cuts 536 jobs as lockdowns hit ride-hailing across Middle East

The World Economic Forum on blockchain

As manufacturing and trade is disrupted by physical distancing rules and quarantine orders across the world, the resilience of supply chains for pharmaceutical and medical supplies, food and industrial and consumer products is in focus.

Deploying blockchain technology could be the answer, according to the World Economic Forum.

Co-hosts Mustafa Alrawi and Kelsey Warner are joined by Nadia Hewett, blockchain and digital currency project lead at the World Economic Forum to talk about the new toolkit the organisation rolled out on Tuesday.

In this episode:
Blockchain technology and Covid-19 (0m 38s)
Nadia Hewett on the blockchain 'toolkit' (1m 24s)
Headlines (18m 11s)

Read more on our website:
• Blockchain could be a solution to supply chain problems

• NMC Health seeks delisting of shares from London Stock Exchange

• US crude futures fall further triggering fears of slide into negative territory

• China takes steps to become first cashless society after Covid-19

What do negative oil prices mean and how is Abu Dhabi coping with Covid-19?

For the first time in history this week, the US oil price turned negative on Monday, plunging below zero as output exceeded storage capacity and subdued demand due to the coronavirus pandemic grinds the world economy to a halt. What does this mean and where do energy producers go from here?

Mustafa Alrawi, assistant editor in chief, and future editor Kelsey Warner are joined by The National’s energy columnist and chief executive of Qamar Energy, Robin Mills to discuss. Later in the episode, the chief executive of Draper & Dash, Orlando Agrippa, on helping Abu Dhabi with its Covid-19 response through its AI platform, and the next six weeks for the country.

In this episoide:
Robin Mills on the negative oil prices (0m 34s)
How is Abu Dhabi responding to Covid-19? (11m 58s)
Headlines (17m 05s)

Read more on our website:
• How US oil prices tanked into negative territory

• UAE Federal and emirate governments have launched 100 economic incentives in 45 days

• UAE Central Bank says lenders have used 30% of Covid-19 support fund

• Deutsche Bank sets up sustainable finance team to meet demand for ESG products