Regional News

  Bloomberg Qatar is considering investing in the $100 billion global technology fund formed by SoftBank Group Corp. and Saudi Arabia, according to people familiar with the matter. SoftBank Chairman Masayoshi Son has visited Doha and other parts of the Gulf region in recent months to discuss investments with global investors, one of the people said, asking not to be ...

  DUBAI / Reuters Saudi Arabia’s two biggest telecom operators reported weaker third-quarter earnings on Wednesday, as the cost of implementing a government initiative to register fingerprints with phone numbers weighed on both providers. A 7.5 percent drop in profit at market leader Saudi Telecom Co’s (STC) represented a continuation of an earnings slump which has now seen it report ...

  Reuters Egypt’s economy is likely to grow 3.5 percent in the 2016/17 fiscal year, missing the government’s target of around 5 percent and falling below last year’s growth rate, a Reuters poll showed. The poll, which surveyed 17 analysts, found growth would pick up only slightly to reach 3.7 percent the following fiscal year. Egypt has been struggling to ...

  Bloomberg Saudi Arabia is repaying debts to contractors after long delays that squeezed company finances and hurt investor sentiment. Finance Minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf said in a televised interview on MBC Wednesday that payments have been “regularized and will rise in the coming period.” While he didn’t offer details, three people familiar with the matter said the government has started ...

  RIYADH / Reuters Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) has combined its chemicals and polymers businesses and will spin off its steel unit as part of its restructuring efforts to counter the depressed oil market and weak product prices. Chief Executive Yousef Abdullah al-Benyan was speaking after the firm, one of the world’s largest petrochemicals groups, on Wednesday reported a ...

  Bloomberg Middle Eastern TV giant BeIN Media Group, owned by Al Jazeera, has signed a multi-year deal with Warner Bros. International Television Distribution securing content from the Hollywood major. Starting this year, under the deal, BeIN will have access to such hit series as Arrow, Gotham and Originals and will also get the exclusive second pay window rights to ...

  CAIRO / Reuters A draft of a new investment law will be sent to the Egyptian cabinet next month, Investment Minister Dalia Khorshid said in a talk show on the local television channel CBC late on Tuesday. The new law will focus on the diversification of incentives and guarantees for investors, Khorshid said. It has been in the works ...

  Reuters Egypt is unlikely to see a jump in inflation from measures to ease a foreign-exchange shortage because import prices already reflect the black market rate, a senior International Monetary Fund official said. Egyptian officials are widely expected to devalue the pound and cut energy subsidies to secure a $12 billion IMF loan, needed to fund an economic overhaul ...

  Bloomberg Egyptian Finance Minister Amr El Garhy said his country would gather an additional $6 billion in bilateral funding required to secure a $12 billion International Monetary Fund loan within one or two weeks. The IMF in August agreed in principle to grant Egypt a $12 billion, three-year loan facility to support a government reform programme aimed at plugging ...

  Reuters Vodafone has agreed a partnership with Iranian internet firm HiWeb to help modernise its network, the companies said on Tuesday, making the British company the latest Western firm to enter Iran after sanctions were lifted. Vodafone, the world’s second-largest mobile phone company, said the agreement to help modernise HiWEB’s network and IT infrastructure would also benefit its multinational ...