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By the time we reach 2020, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is working on a group of giant projects in the areas of entertainment, culture and technology throughout the country, by investing billions of dollars that have been placed in these projects, where it is expected to be ready during the next ten years, which will pay Implementing the Kingdom’s 2030 vision forward.Another company in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia made significant progress in 2019, when the Red Sea Development Company (TRSDC), the developer of the Red Sea project, announced its approval of the master plan of the project, which was designed by WATG in the United States, and “Boro Happold” from the Kingdom United, in January 2019.
The company is a wholly owned entity of the Public Investment Fund that oversees the development of the multi-stage Red Sea project.
The first phase of the plan is scheduled to be completed in 2022 and includes 14 luxurious and luxurious hotels with 3,000 rooms, all over the five islands and two indoor resorts. TRSDC said its master plan maintains 75% of the islands of the tourist region, and 9 islands have been designated as sites of significant environmental value. The construction of the masterplan required several redesigns to avoid the potential disruption of indigenous threatened species in the area.
City of Neom
The NEOM project, a hub of the Saudi ecosystem and a program for economic diversification in Vision 2030, has a cost of about $ 500 billion (1.9 trillion Saudi riyals) and is one of the most well-known projects in the Kingdom at the present time.
The development of NEOM recorded significant progress in 2019. In January, the first flight landed on the site, when Saudi Arabian Airlines landed there with two Airbus A320 aircraft carrying 130 project personnel to the NEOM airport.
The trip to Nayum followed the approval of the master plan for “Nayum Bay” by the Nayoum Founding Council headed by Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman bin Abdulaziz. “New Bay” will be the first urban area to be developed within the project boundaries. Construction began in the first quarter of 2019. This was followed by the formation of a private joint stock company called Neom to lead the development of the project.
Amala is a new project launched by the Saudi Public Investment Fund in the framework of its endeavor to expand its investment portfolio to more than 400 billion dollars by 2020, which is a tourist front on the Red Sea coast for recovery, health and treatment.
And «Amala» is located on the coast of the Red Sea, specifically within the Prince Mohammed bin Salman Nature Reserve in the northwest of the Kingdom, and extends over an area of 3800 square kilometers, and its site is mediated by the city of “Neum” and the Red Sea Tourist Project
Amala will be developed in 3 locations within the Prince Mohammed bin Salman Nature Reserve on the northwest coast of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the area of the project will exceed 3800 square kilometers.
By 2028, the project aims to create 2,500 luxurious rooms and suites, 700 villas and apartments, in addition to 200 high-end stores, a collection of distinguished exhibitions and galleries.
Jeddah Tower
When the Jeddah tower is completed in 2020, it will be the tallest in the world, leaving Burj Khalifa at number two. This elevated project will reach a height of 1 km and include more than 40 shareholders in the project.
The building will include 200 floors, more than 750 residential units, and permanent-serviced apartments, in addition to 3,190 car parks, and nearly 60 elevators.
Kadiyya
Qiddiyah is an important part of the changes currently taking place in the Kingdom.
As it is a catalyst for the national transformation, and contributes to enriching the lives of citizens, while stimulating innovation in the sectors of creativity, hospitality and entertainment.
Al-Qudiah Investment Company revealed the projects that will be implemented in the first phase of Al-Qidiya, which amount to more than 45 projects and more than 300 activities across the sectors of creativity, hospitality, entertainment and sports, and assigning 20 architectural firms to design 12 milestones of the facade and some other important milestones, in addition to A team of more than 500 professionals of 30 nationalities in cooperation with the Danish company, “BIARK ENGAGLES GROUP”, which is currently building projects of all sizes, from high towers to creative facilities, culture and sports facilities.
The Qiddiya project is located 45 km from the city of Riyadh, where it will be developed on an area of 334 sq km with a development area that constitutes 30% of the total area, so that the remaining area of the project land remains for natural features. Qiddiya will create economic opportunities, and the project will create thousands of new jobs that will stimulate the development of new sectors to contribute to promoting a diversified economy and combining an active and healthy lifestyle.
Red Sea Project
Another company in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia made significant progress in 2019, when the Red Sea Development Company (TRSDC), the developer of the Red Sea project, announced its approval of the master plan of the project, which was designed by WATG in the United States, and “Boro Happold” from the Kingdom United, in January 2019.
The company is a wholly owned entity of the Public Investment Fund that oversees the development of the multi-stage Red Sea project.
The first phase of the plan is scheduled to be completed in 2022 and includes 14 luxurious and luxurious hotels with 3,000 rooms, all over the five islands and two indoor resorts. TRSDC said its master plan maintains 75% of the islands of the tourist region, and 9 islands have been designated as sites of significant environmental value.
The construction of the masterplan required several redesigns to avoid the potential disruption of indigenous threatened species in the area.
source: news1
Small-business victims were involved in 43 percent of data breaches over the course of a year, according to a recent report.
It was March 2, 2016, and Melissa Marchand’s day on Cape Cod started out like any other. She drove to her job at Hyannis Whale Watcher Cruises in her mid-size sedan, picked up a latte with 1 percent milk at her local coffee shop and sat down at her desk to check her email. Then, Marchand got the call no website manager ever wants to receive: The site was down, and no one knew how to fix it.
After she dialed up the web hosting provider, the news went from bad to worse: Whales.net had been hacked and, to her horror, all visitors were being redirected to porn sites. Google had even flagged the company’s search results, warning potential customers that the site may be hacked.
“It was a total nightmare -- I had no idea that something like this could happen,” Marchand said in an interview with Entrepreneur. “I’d say 75 to 80 percent of our bookings are done online, so when our site is down, we’re just dead in the water.”
At the provider’s suggestion, Marchand called SiteLock, a website security company, and granted its representatives site access. SiteLock discovered the hackers had exploited a security hole in a Wordpress plugin, which gave them the access they needed to redirect visitors to racy websites.
By the end of the work day, Marchand sat in her car in her gym’s parking lot, speaking on the phone with a SiteLock representative to review the plan of action. She finally felt like things were going to be OK.
Within three days, Whales.net was back up and running, though it took another three weeks for Google to remove the blacklist warning from the company’s search results.
The hack hit about a month before the whale-watching season began in mid-April, and though it wasn’t peak season, the company still missed out on pre-booking tour groups from schools and camps. Marchand estimated the attack lost the company about 10 percent of its March and April business.
A risk for small businesses everywhere
Small-business owners were victims in 43 percent of data breaches tracked between Nov. 1, 2017, and Oct. 31, 2018, according to a 2019 Verizon report. The report tracked security incidents across all industries, but the most vulnerable sectors this year were retail, accommodation and healthcare.
What does the issue look like on a national scale? If we take the sample size of infected sites SiteLock said they found in 2018 -- approximately 47,244 out of 6,056,969 checked -- and apply that percentage to the country’s estimated 30.2 million small-businesses websites, minus the estimated 36 percent that don’t have one, then we can loosely estimate the amount of infected small-business websites to be around 150,757.
As a small-business owner, you may not believe anyone would target your website, but that’s just it -- bad actors are likely not seeking out your site specifically, said Mark Risher, head of account security at Google.
“Sometimes, we talk about the distinction between targets of choice and targets of chance,” Risher said. “Targets of chance is when the attacker is just trying anything -- they’re walking through the parking lot seeing if any of the car doors unlocked. Target of choice is when they’ve zeroed in on that one shiny, flashy car, and that’s the one they want to break into -- and they’ll try the windows, the doors … the moon roof. I think for small businesses, there’s this temptation to assume, ‘No one would ever choose me; therefore I’ll just kind of skate by anonymously.’ But the problem is they’re not factoring in the degree of automation that attackers are using.”
Even the least-trafficked websites still average 62 attacks per day, according to SiteLock research. “These cybercriminals are really running businesses now,” said Neill Feather, president of the company. “With the increasing ease of automation of attacks, it’s just as lucrative to compromise a 1,000 small websites as it is to invest your time and try to compromise one large one.”
John Loveland, a cybersecurity head at Verizon and one of the data breach report’s authors, said that since the report was first published 12 years ago, he’s seen a definite uptick in attacks at small and medium-sized businesses.
As malware, phishing and other attacks have become “more commoditized and more readily accessible to lesser-skilled hackers,” he said, “you see the aperture open … for types of targets that could be valuable.”
So what are the hackers getting out of the deal? It’s not just about potentially lucrative customer information and transaction histories. There’s also the opportunity to weaponize your website’s reputation. By hosting malware on a formerly trustworthy website, a hacker can increase an attack’s spread -- and amplify the consequences -- by boosting the malware’s search engine optimization (SEO). They can infect site visitors who search for the site organically or who access it via links from newsletters, articles or other businesses, Risher said.
Even if you outsource aspects of your business -- say, time and expense reporting, human resources, customer data storage or financial transactions -- there’s still no guarantee that that information is safe when your own website is compromised. Loveland said he saw an uptick in email phishing specifically designed to capture user credentials for web-based email accounts, online CRM tools and other platforms -- and reports of credential compromise have increased 280 percent since 2016, according to an annual survey from software company Proofpoint.
How to protect yourself and your customers
How can small-business owners protect themselves -- and their customers? Since a great deal of cyberattacks can be attributed to automation, putting basic protections in place against phishing, malware and more can help your site stay off the path of least resistance.
Here are five ways to boost your small-business’s cybersecurity.
1. Use a password manager.
There’s an exhaustive amount of password advice floating around in the ether, but the most important is this, Risher said: Don’t reuse the same password on multiple sites. It’s a difficult rule to stick to for convenience’s sake -- especially since 86 percent of internet users report keeping track of their passwords via memorization -- but cybersecurity experts recommend password managers as efficient and secure workarounds. Free password manager options include LastPass, Myki and LogMeOnce.
2. Set up email account recovery methods to protect against phishing attacks.
Phishing attacks are an enduring cybersecurity problem for large and small businesses alike: 83 percent of respondents to Proofpoint’s annual phishing survey reported experiencing phishing attacks in 2018, an increase from 76 percent the year before. Embracing a more cyber-aware culture -- including staying vigilant about identifying potential phishing attacks, suspicious links and bogus senders -- is key to email safety.
If you’re a Gmail user, recent company research suggests that adding a recovery phone number to your account could block up to 100 percent of cyberattacks from automated bots, 99 percent of bulk phishing attacks and 66 percent of targeted attacks. It’s helpful because in the event of an unknown or suspicious sign-in, your phone will receive either an SMS code or an on-device prompt for verification. Without a recovery phone number, Google will rely on weaker challenges such as recalling last sign-in location -- and while that still stops most automated attacks, effectiveness against phishing drops to 10 percent.
3. Back up your data to protect against ransomware.
Ransomware -- a cyberattack in which a hacker holds your computer access and/or data for ransom -- has kicked off a “frenzy of cybercrime-related activities focused on small and medium businesses,” Loveland said.
In fact, it’s the second leading malware action variety in 2019, according to the Verizon report, and accounted for 24 percent of security incidents. Hackers generally view it as a potentially low-risk, high-reward option, so it’s important to have protections in place for such an attack -- namely, have your data backed up in its entirety so that you aren’t at the hacker’s mercy.
Tools such as Google Drive and Dropbox can help, as well as automatic backup programs such as Code42 (all charge a monthly fee). You can also purchase a high-storage external hard drive to back everything up yourself.
4. Enlist a dedicated DNS security tool to block suspicious sites.
Since computers can only communicate using numbers, the Domain Name System (DNS) is part of the internet’s foundation in that it acts as a “translator” between a domain name you enter and a resulting IP address. DNS wasn’t originally designed with top-level security in mind, so using a DNSSEC (DNS Security Extension) can help protect against suspicious websites and redirects resulting from malware, phishing attacks and more.
The tools verify the validity of a site multiple times during your domain lookup process. And though internet service providers generally provide some level of DNS security, experts say using a dedicated DNSSEC tool is more effective -- and free options include OpenDNS and Quad9 DNS. “[It’s] a low-cost, no-brainer move that can prevent folks from going to bad IP addresses,” Loveland said.
5. Consider signing up with a website security company.
Paying a monthly subscription to a website security company may not be ideal, but it could end up paying for itself in terms of lost business due to a site hack. Decreasing attack vulnerability means installing security patches and updates for all of your online tools as promptly as possible, which can be tough for a small-business owner’s schedule.
“It’s tempting for a small-business owner to say, ‘I’m pretty handy -- I can do this myself,’” Risher said. “But the reality is that even if you’re very technical, you might not be working around the clock, and … you’re taking on 24/7 maintenance and monitoring. It’s certainly money well spent to have a large organization doing this for you.”
source: entrepreneur
نمت في السنوات القليلة الماضية حجم الاستثمارات فيما يعرف برأس المال المخاطر او رأس المال الجريء والتي يقصد بها عادة تلك الاستثمارات التي تذهب باتجاه الشركات الناشئة وفي مشاريع تكون مبتكرة وتعتمد على تكنولوجيا حديثة وغير مختبرة وبالتالي ترتفع فيها نسبة المخاطرة ولقد ازدادت حماسة الكثير من المستثمرين والشركات الكبرى للاستثمار في هذا النوع من المشاريع في المنطقة العربية بسبب الأرباح الكبيرة التي يمكن تحقيقها عبر تمويل الشركات الناشئة، لكن الاستعداد للخوض في تلك المخاطر يحتاج أيضا الى معرفة معلومات دقيقة وموثوقة وتحليلات علمية لمعرفة اتجاهات الاستثمار والبيئة الاستثمارية المتوفرة.
في هذا المقال نقدم قراءة سريعة لتقرير "وضع الاستثمارات الرقميّة في منطقة الشرق الأوسط وشمال أفريقيا 2013-2017" الصادر عن مؤسسة "عرب نت" بالشراكة مع "مؤسسة محمد بن راشد لتنمية المشاريع الصغيرة والمتوسطة".
تمويل رأس المال المخاطر على صعيد عالمي
شهد مستوى الاستثمار عبر راس المال المخاطر نموا مطردا منذ العام 2010 فرغم التراجع الطفيف الذي شهده عام 2016 إلا ان معدلات النمو عادت الى الارتفاع في عام 2016 لتصل الى 150 مليار دولار وهو اعلى مبلغ تصله استثمارات رؤوس الأموال المخاطرة منذ عشر سنوات، بالمقابل سجلت عدد الصفقات هبوطا مقارنة بعام 2015 الذي وصلت فيه عدد الصفقات الى 19 ألف صفقة.
متوسط حجم الصفقات عالمياً
يكشف التقرير عن ازدياد اعتماد الشركات الناشئة في مرحلتها الأخير على جهات استثمارية خاصة لتحقيق النمو، حيث ارتفعت الاستثمارات بدرجة (+D) من 20.5 مليون دولار في عام 2016 الى 40 مليون دولار في عام 2017. كما تظهر زيادة في متوسط حجم التمويل في صفقات المستثمرين الملائكة، وفي مراحل التأسيس بمقدار 1.3 مليون دولار.
المستثمرون في منطقة الشرق الأوسط وشمال افريقيا
بلغ معدل النمو السنوي المركب لأعداد المستثمرين في قطاع التقنية في منطقة الشرق الأوسط وشمال افريقيا 31% في الفترة الممتدة بين 2012 و2017، وقد شهدت البيئة الحاضنة إطلاق نحو 40 صندوقا جديدا في السنة بين 2015 و2016 ونحو 30 صندوقا جديدا في 2017/2018، تقع نحو ثلث هذه المؤسسات التمويلية الثلاثين الجديدة في الامارات العربية المتحدة، وفي الفترة التي يغطيها التقرير هناك سبعة صناديق فقط لم تعد ناشطة/توقفت عن العمل.
المستثمرين في الشرق الأوسط وشمال افريقيا من حيث حجم الاستثمارات والتوزع الجغرافي
من الناحية الجغرافية يتركز المستثمرون في أربعة بلدان أساسية تساهم بما نسبته 70% من مجموع المستثمرين، وتأتي الامارات العربية المتحدة بالمرتبة الأولى بنسبة 32% يليها السعودية بنسبة 17% ثم لبنان بنسبة 13% وأخيرا مصر ب10%، مع الإشارة الى ان المملكة العربية السعودية ومنذ اطلاق "رؤية 2030" بدأت تستحوذ بصورة مطردة على اهتمام اعداد كبيرة من المستثمرين. اما من ناحية اعداد المستثمرين نسبةً الى حجم الاستثمار فقد جاءت متوزعة بالتساوي بين تمويل المراحل المبكرة (47%) وصناديق النمو (53%) الامر الذي يشير الى ان البيئة الحاضنة في منطقة الشرق الأوسط وشمال افريقيا مازالت في طور النضوج.
التوزع الجغرافي للاستثمارات في الشرق الأوسط وشمال افريقيا
يظهر ترتيب الأسواق بحسب عدد الصفقات استمرار تصدر كل من الامارات العربية المتحدة والبنان والاردن والمملكة العربية السعودية في المراتب الأربعة الاولى، لكن تظهر المعطيات أيضا ان الميل العام ينحو باتجاه تقلص الفوارق في عدد الصفقات بين الدول، فمثلا في عام 2013 كانت عدد الصفقات في الامارات ضعفي عدد الصفقات الموجودة في لبنان اما في عام 2017 فقد تقلص الفارق الى صفقتين فقط، كذلك الحال بين كل من تونس التي تأتي في المرتبة الخامسة ب19 صفقة ومصر في المرتبة السادسة ب16 صفقة، بالمقابل ظل الفارق واسعا في قيمة الصفقات إذ لاتزال الامارات العربية المتحدة متصدرة وبفارق شاسع في قيمة الصفقات، والتي تبلغ نحو عشرة اضعاف قيمة الصفقات في السوق اللبنانية التي تأتي في المرتبة الثانية.
من الجدير بالذكر ان كل من تونس والسعودية تظهر استقطباً متزايدا لرأس المال المخاطر، كما يشار أيضا في هذا الصدد الى ان الاستثمار الذي وظفته باي تابس (PayTabs) شكل محركاً بارزا في تحسن ترتيب كل من تونس والسعودية حيث تقدر الاستثمارات التي وظفتها الشركة ب 20 مليون دولار.
الاستثمارات في منطقة الشرق الأوسط وشمال افريقيا بحسب نموذج عمل الشركات الناشئة
من خلال تحليل الاستثمارات بحسب نموذج العمل يظهر التقرير انه من عام 2013 وحتى عام 2017 كانت للشركات الناشئة المستندة الى التعاملات هي صاحبة الحصة الأكبر بنحو 40% من اجمالي الاستثمارات، فيما تستحوذ كل من نماذج الاعمال في قطاعات الاعلام (الإعلانات) والتقنية، والبرمجيات كخدمة، على نحو 20% لكل منها. اما بالنسبة لحجم الاستثمارات نسبةً الى نموذج الاعمال فقد جاءت أيضا نماذج التعاملات في الصدارة وبنحو 70% من اجمالي قيمة الاستثمارات، فيما جاءت كل من نموذج الاعمال لقطاع الاعلام والتقنية بالمرتبة الثانية وبنسبة 11%و12% على توالي.
وادي الموت
نظرا الى ارتفاع المخاطر الاستثمارية المقترنة بتمويل الشركات الناشئة فإن عدد من تلك الشركات تصيبها خسائر الامر الذي يضطرها للتوقف عن النشاط، وهو ما يشار اليها بوادي الموت. وفي هذا الصدد واستنادا الى المعايير التي وضعها التقرير لقياس اعداد الشركات الناشئة الممولة العاملة مقابل تلك المغلقة في منطقة الشرق الأوسط وشمال افريقيا، فإن 12% فقط من مجمل الشركات الناشئة في منطقة الشرق الأوسط وشمال افريقيا أغلقت أبوابها خلال الفترة الممتدة ما بين عامي 2013 و2017 وهي نسبة منخفضة جدا إذ ما قورنت بنسبة الشركات الناشئة التي تفشل في العالم والتي قد تصل لأكثر من 50% بحسب الكثير من التقديرات، ويعود السبب في انخفاض نسبة اخفاق الشركات بحسب التقرير الى العديد من العوامل المختلفة، ومنها المبادرات الكثيرة في القطاعين الخاص والعام لدعم الشركات الناشئة وتمويلها، وتردد المستثمرين في وقف الدعم للشركات التابعة لحفاظاتهم، ووصمة العار المصاحبة للفشل، كما يضع التقرير احتمالا اخر وهو ان حجم الصفقات كان مرتفع في عامي 2016 و2017 أي ان الفرصة لم تتسن بعد للشركات الناشئة الممولة حديثا من اجل اختبار قدرتها على الاستمرارية واستكمال دورة حياتها، بجميع الأحوال تكون نسبة فشل الشركات الناشئة مرتفعا جدا في ال18 شهر الأول لانطلاقها، أي ان تجاوز الشركات لتلك المرحلة يشير الى ان إمكانية استمرارها مازالت اكبر مقارنةً باحتمالية فشلها.
النساء المؤسسات في الشركات الناشئة الممولة
يشغل موضوع التنوع الجندري مساحة واسعة من النقاشات الدائرة على صعيد العالمي والإقليمي، إذ يعد واحد من اكثر الموضوعات اثارة للجدل، وفي هذا الشأن تسعى حكومات الشرق الأوسط وشمال افريقيا الى تعزيز مشاركة المرأة في القوة العاملة وتحديدا في مجالات العلوم والتقنية والهندسة والرياضيات. يظهر تحليل نسبة النساء المؤسسات في منطقة الشرق الأوسط وشمال افريقيا ككل، ان نسبة اجمالي عدد النساء المؤسسات مقابل اجمالي عدد الرجال المؤسسين تساوي ال14% فقط وهي نسبة تكاد تكون ثابتة منذ العام 2013 وحتى عام 2017. ومن ناحية التوزع الجغرافي تقع كل من الأردن وفلسطين ولبنان في المرتبة الأولى من حيث عدد النساء المؤسسات نسبة الى اجمالي اعدد المؤسسين، حيث وصلت نسبة النساء المؤسسات في الأردن 20% وفي فلسطين 19% اما في لبنان فجاءت النسبة ب18% اما اقل النسب فجاءت في كل من تونس بنسبة 11% ومصر ب9% وعمان ب7%.
مستثمرو رأس المال المخاطر التابعون للشركات الكبرى في منطقة الشرق الأوسط وشمال افريقيا
يسلط التقرير في محوره الأخير الضوء على أوضاع مستثمري راس المال المخاطر التابعين للشركات الكبرى، حيث يظهر ازياد اعداد هذا النوع من المستثمرين في منطقة الشرق الأوسط وشمال افريقيا، والتنافس الكبير بين الشركات على البيئة الحاضنة للشركات الناشئة. فقد ساهمت المبادرات الاستثمارية التابعة لشركات كبرى (الصناديق المستقلة او استغلال فرص الاستثمار) بنسبة 18% من مجموع المستثمرين بالمقارنة مع 14% في عام 2016، اما من ناحية التوزع الجغرافي فيتركز اكثر من نصف مستثمري راس المال المخاطر التابعين للشركات الكبرى في بلدان مجلس التعاون الخليجي، وتتصدر الامارات العربية المتحدة القائمة بنسبة 39% تليها المملكة العربية السعودية ب19%، بالمقابل أظهرت مصر نموا سريعا لنسبة المستثمرين التابعين لشركات كبرى حيث ارتفعت نسبتهم من 4% في عام 2016 الى 18% في عام 2017.
Although it can be the most time-consuming and all-encompassing job you've ever had, running a small business offers significant benefits.
If you’ve taken the entrepreneurial leap, you will know it’s not without challenges. Yes, it can be incredibly fulfilling to set your own agenda and make a genuine impact, but it can also fill you with self-doubt and cause many sleepless nights.
Globally, the top three challenges of running a small business are: cash flow, emotional and mental health, and time management
Let’s look at these challenges and how you can overcome them.
Challenge 1: Maintaining cash flow
If you are an entrepreneur or small business owner, chances are you have worried about money. At least 59% of small business owners experience cash flow issues which have a significant financial impact. No matter how well your company is doing, the amount of cash you have in the bank will always be linked to your future success.
Just because your company looks solid on paper doesn’t mean it can’t take a turn for the worst if clients stop paying on time or your outgoings far outreach your income.
As a small business owner, you have to plan for things not to go as planned.
How to overcome cash flow concerns: It can’t be stressed enough that building up savings before starting a business is essential. Even once your company is up and running, try to save as much of your income as possible.
Consider setting up a separate account for this money. Your client relationships can also affect cash flow, therefore (1) make sure your payment terms and conditions are clearly defined and communicated to your clients from day one since it will cover you legally if a client refuses to pay, and (2) consider asking for a percentage of your fee up front to minimize risk.
Challenge 2: Sustaining your emotional well-being and mental health
Outside of the cash flow impact that financial challenges can create, they also affect small business owners emotionally.
In fact, 56% of entrepreneurs claim financial issues have a significant impact on their emotional well-being.
It’s not just money worries that affect emotional and mental health either. As a leader, work could potentially consume every hour of your life. Keep in mind that CEOs of major multinational companies learn to set limits on their working time so they can maintain their health and relationships.
How to protect your emotional well-being: Having a leadership role is intense, and therefore your body needs to train just as athletes do.
Keeping your body healthy will help to keep your mind positive. In your downtime, prioritize these three things: (1) rest, (2) health, and (3) fitness
Top CEOs on average spend six hours per day awake and not working. Of this, about half is spent with family. The remaining half is divided into one-third exercising and two-thirds relaxing. Spending time in nature can also help.
Just two hours per week in some sort of green space can result in greater feelings of health and well-being. Even a 20-minute daily walk through a park can be enough to produce these positive feelings.
Challenge 3: Managing your time
With entrepreneurship comes a constant pressure to achieve and grow the business. Not to mention the sheer number of things that need to be done.
Small business owners also often fear taking time away from the business, so will put holiday on hold– sometimes for years.
If you try to do everything yourself, you will never get it all done.
Too many hours working and a lack of time off brings on fatigue, and with it comes rash or poor decision-making. And your relationships, health, and life outside of work will also suffer.
It is essential to learn how to achieve a work/life balance and manage your time, so the most important things get done well.
How to achieve a work/life balance: Prioritize. This is critical. You must learn what matters to the business and make sure that’s done first.
After this, you need to delegate. Business owners often struggle with this because they fear a loss in quality. But keep in mind this sacrifice should only be temporary. There may be a slight quality dip while the team member gets up to speed, but if you’ve hired the right person it should recover quickly.
With effective time management of work in place, make sure to schedule time for yourself for thinking and learning. You are not expected to know everything about owning and running a small business, so you need to grow into your leadership role. ‘Thinking’ time is crucial.
Consider that Warren Buffett says: ‘I insist on a lot of time being spent, almost every day, to just sit and think.’
As the strategic leader of the company, you are the guide. Force yourself to spend significant stretches of time thinking, with no interruptions. Do this regularly. Put together questions to guide your thinking time so you use it efficiently.
You can even combine ideas and schedule your thinking and planning time when you’re outdoors in green space.
Other ideas for achieving a healthy work/life balance include:
- Block time in your calendar for things that are important to you and/or your family.
- Try setting an alarm on your phone to tell you it’s time for bed.
- Don’t take your electronics to bed with you; keep your bedroom a place of calm and serenity to unwind at the end of the day.
Remember that sleep is so important to your daytime function– getting adequate, quality sleep will improve your concentration, productivity and cognitive function.
Although it can be the most time-consuming and all-encompassing job you’ve ever had, running a small business offers significant benefits. In fact, 97% of self-employed professionals say they would never return to traditional employment.
Take these ideas to make the great challenge of running a startup just a little more manageable.
source: entrepreneur
DentaCarts, an Egyptian one-stop dental marketplace, raises $450,000 in a seed investment round led by Egypt’s AUC Angels, Saudi’s Wadi Makkah, Japan’s AAIC, and US-based global startup empowerment firm 500 Startups.
“We are in a mission to help the dentists in our region by providing them the widest range of authentic products, a premium shopping experience, and the data that can enhance their performance and profitability,” says DentaCarts' CEO, Ahmed Yahia. “The seed is a step in our journey to lead the dental eCommerce in the Middle East and Africa” he added.
Established in 2017 by Yahia and his co-founder Saad Saleh, the startup offers the widest range of authentic and high-quality dental products via authorised dealers in the region. The innovative startup did not specify how this investment with be used, but it has declared its intention to become the leader of dental eCommerce in the Middle East and Africa.
Enabling its strong efforts to disrupt the ecosystem was the Misk500 accelerator programme, where the startup participated in the programme’s first cohort. The startup aims to provide innovative solutions and overcome challenges in the industry, such as access to the market’s limited choice, over-inflated prices, and fake products that cause risk to patents’ health and safety.
The startup claims that, so far, they have served over 1,500 authorised dental clinics, and made over 10,000 delivery orders to Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Kenya, and Ghana. DentaCarts consists of a variety of over 10,000 items on the platform, from monthly supplies to clinic furnishing, and it has over 100 authorized dealers onboard as suppliers.
source: thestartupscene
The transformation towards the digital economy in Bahrain is conducive to economic growth, higher GDP, and higher GDP per capita for Bahrainis, says Bahraini businessman Yacoub Al-Awadhi.
He stressed that digital transformation may have a positive impact on financial and social inclusion and increase access to quality health care and education services.
Al Awadi, CEO of NGN, a global information systems company, stressed the importance of increasing “venture capital” to finance startups in Bahrain.
This, he said, would enhance the presence of Bahraini cadres in jobs and digital industries, as well as increase the number of patent applications in Bahrain, while enhancing infrastructure development to improve the supply of ICT products and services.
He said that Bahrain possesses all the elements of the knowledge economy, namely the existence of a supportive community infrastructure, broadband connectivity, Internet access, a learning society, knowledge workers and knowledge makers with the ability to question and connect, and an effective research and development system.
Al-Awadhi stressed that all Bahrainis are in one way or another connected to the national plan for the transformation to the digital economy. In Bahrain, the use of smartphones exceeds 170%, and most Bahrainis have an account on one or more social media; these rates exceed even those in the United States.
In addition most Bahrainis display a readiness to embrace new digital products.
On the other hand, Al-Awadhi considered that Bahrain's early transformation towards the digital economy makes it better able to face the challenges of this type of economy. These challenges inevitably come, including the control of multinational companies on global production, open markets and the removal of barriers will facilitate the control of large companies with their networks.
"When we look at American or Chinese technology companies such as Facebook, Google and Alibaba, they are profitable from everywhere in the world, and this has led to an increase in the unimpeded displacement of funds to the United States and China.
"Hence the importance of accelerating the transformation towards the digital economy in Bahrain and achieving a balance between exports and imports of digital goods."
In this regard, Al Awadi stressed the importance of accelerating the development of the education system in Bahrain in order to ensure the qualification of graduates to fill the jobs arising from this transformation to the digital economy, saying that the digital economy will provide new job opportunities, but will abolish many of the traditional jobs that we see in existence today.
These could well include the job of a school-teacher, bus driver, customer service officer, auditor or bank teller.
source: tradearabia
Leadership determined to scale new heights by boosting all sectors
UAE - Rapid economic diversification underpinned by a string of bold reforms and a series of government stimulus measures are set to drive UAE growth at a steady pace as its gross domestic product (GDP) remains on track to surpass the $500 billion mark over the next few years.
The latest projections by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) show that the UAE's non-oil sector, pivotal to this all-round growth, will surge from 1.3 per cent in 2018 to 1.6 per cent in 2019 and 3 per cent in 2020.
As a result, oil GDP growth is forecast to slow down from 2.8 per cent in 2018 to 1.5 per cent this year and 1.4 per cent next year when non-oil sectors such as tourism, aviation, retail, hospitality, real estate and construction will spur the expansion as the World Expo gives an added momentum to the pace of growth.
According to the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), Expo 2020 Dubai and the government's Dh50 billion fiscal stimulus would be quite pivotal to the rebound that is expected to boost the country's non-oil GDP growth to about 2.8 per cent.
In its Economic Update: Middle East Q4 2019, produced in partnership with Oxford Economics, the ICAEW says Expo 2020, which is anticipated to attract 25 million visitors - 14 million from overseas - is forecast to contribute up to 1.5 per cent of the UAE's overall GDP in 2020.
According to economists, the expansion in non-oil activity is slowly beginning to translate into stronger job creation, although at a modest rate. Total employment in the private sector increased by one per cent year-on-year in the second quarter 2019, up from just 0.1 per cent year on year in first quarter.
Although the legacy of Expo 2020 is hard to estimate, the investment climate remains positive with infrastructure upgrades.
In 2019, the UAE has attracted $12.7 billion in foreign direct investment in the first half, an increase of 135 per cent year-on-year, while tourist arrivals rose 3 per cent in the same period to reach 8.4 million.
The IMF predicts that the UAE's oil output will continue to increase from 3.02 million barrels per day (bpd) last year to 3.10 million bpd in 2019 and 3.17 million bpd next year.
Jihad Azour, director for the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the IMF, said in the current context, the encouraging signs is that despite the volatility in crude prices, non-oil growth is growing steadily but it has not reached the level of first five years of this decade.
"We expect non-hydrocarbon real GDP growth to pick up to 1.7 per cent in 2019 and 2.2 per cent in 2020, supported by Abu Dhabi's three-year stimulus package and Dubai's spending linked to Expo 2020," said Garbis Iradian, chief economist for the Middle East and North Africa at the Institute of International Finance (IIF).
With a GDP of $414 billion in 2018, the UAE has been successfully diversifying away from oil, which accounted for more than 85 per cent of the economy in 2009.
The UAE Ministry of Economy has predicted that the share of the non-oil sector in the GDP to rise to 80 per cent by 2021, compared to 70 per cent in 2017.
A massive construction boom, an expanding manufacturing base and a thriving services sector are helping the UAE diversify its economy while tourism continues to be a key non-oil source of revenue with some of the world's most luxurious hotels being based in the UAE.
Nationwide, there is currently $350 billion worth of active construction projects underway.
The IMF has also predicted that a negative inflation in UAE this year at minus-1.1 per cent and 2.2 per cent for 2020.
While the Emirates' nominal GDP is expected to slip from $414.2 billion in 2018 to $405.8 billion this year, it will recover again next year to $414 billion in 2020 on the back of non-oil sector growth.
Another growth driver of the UAE economy is the aviation market that is poised to grow 170 per cent by 2037 while supporting 1.4 million jobs and contribute $128 billion to the nation's economy, according to the International Air Transport Association, or Iata, said on Tuesday.
In its latest study on the importance of air transport to the UAE, the International Air Transport Association said the domestic aviation industry at present supports nearly 800,000 jobs and contributes $47.4 billion to the economy, accounting for 13.3 per cent of the UAE's GDP.
However, given the ongoing prioritisation of aviation by the UAE government as a key strategic asset, the sector could generate an additional 620,000 jobs and an extra $80 billion in GDP for the nation's economy by 2037, the trade body of 290 airlines across the world said.
According to Suhail bin Mohammed Faraj Faris Al Mazrouei, UAE Minister of Energy and Industry, the UAE is reviewing a new strategy that seeks to raise the industrial sector's contribution to GDP and boost economic growth.
The goal is to build a diversified and sustainable knowledge-based economy in which the industrial sector plays a pivotal role led by qualified national cadres, according to Al Mazrouei.
The new national strategy aims to achieve sustainable development through several pillars, including supporting innovation, efforts to reduce carbon emissions, stress on small and medium enterprises, adoption of Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) technologies, sustainable manufacturing, developing advanced skills and establishing partnerships to integrate local businesses into global value chains in order to increase our export prospects, the minister said.
Already, the UAE's economy is moving towards greater diversification and a future-based on leadership in non-oil sectors. Currently, the contribution of the industrial sector to the UAE's GDP is around 9 per cent and is poised to grow further.
Industrial activity, which increased by 4.8 per cent during 2017 alone, is certainly one of the main engines of our economic development and plays a pivotal role in boosting the country's GDP.
The steady growth witnessed over the past five years demonstrates the success of the state in establishing a strong manufacturing base and its contribution to economic diversification.
According to figures revealed by the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Authority, the manufacturing sector's contribution to the UAE's non-oil GDP grew 2.5 per cent to Dh122 billion in real prices in 2018 from Dh119.7 billion in 2017.
The fast diversifying and innovation-driven industrial sector, a key driver of economic growth, is expected to account for 20 per cent of the nation's gross domestic product by 2030.
The UAE's advancement in economic diversification has been demonstrated by a number of international indicators. The nation has advanced 13 places in eight years on the Unido's Industrial Competitiveness Index.
The UAE ranked 41st on the Index in 2018, compared to 54th in 2010. The UAE also ranked first regionally and fifth globally among the most competitive countries in the world in the IMD World Competitiveness ranking 2019 report. And the UAE is ranked third globally in the Economic Diversity Index in the same report.
The UAE Centennial 2071 project stresses the importance of building an economy equipped to compete with the world's best as the nation sustains efforts to establish itself as a global platform and open laboratory for the applications of 4IR, given that the Arab world's second-largest economy has made the adoption of innovative technologies central to its economic development through the UAE Strategy for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
According to analysts, achieving this objective will involve raising the level of productivity in the national economy, supporting national companies to gain access to international markets, investing in research and development in important sectors, focusing on innovation and entrepreneurship, and improving the professional level of Emiratis and providing them with a new working culture.
The outlook for the industrial sector in the UAE is very bright indeed, especially considering the success of some of its national industrial companies in establishing themselves as major contributors to global value chains in a variety of advanced industrial sectors, such as aviation and defence, aluminium and other leading industries.
Over the next 10 years, UAE's specialised industrial zones are on track to play an important role in attracting local and international capital to invest in the industrial sector. The UAE also seeks to attract international companies to launch pioneering projects in this country and to develop strong partnerships with industrial companies at both the local and international level.
Adding to this, the UAE is giving strong emphasis to the SME sector, expect them to enter the advanced industrial sector and contribute to global value chains. The government also expects homegrown companies to eventually play a major role in driving innovation and employing new technologies within the national industrial sector.
The federal government has stressed that education will remain a priority and the nation's path to the future. The new year's federal budget has allocated a large proportion to funding federal schools and development projects. The UAE views Emiratisation as a true measure for success.
The Cabinet has approved a national fund to support and train Emirati jobseekers and made legal amendments to ensure Emiratis in the private sector receive a pension as they would in the public sector.
The Emiratisation plan includes issuing regulations and setting new targets to provide 20,000 job opportunities for Emiratis in strategic sectors over the next three years, with an average of 6,700 jobs annually.
Under the plan, a Dh300 million fund will be established to create specialised training programmes for Emiratis as well as a new system will be adopted to train 8,000 Emirati graduates annually in government, semi-government and private entities for 6-12 months.
A string of recent reforms and new liberal rules will see that the UAE sustain its growth momentum to become a $500 billion economy in the not too distant future. The government's move to allow up to 100 per cent foreign ownership of some companies operating in 13 sectors is one of such bold recent initiatives, according to analysts.
KPMG's 2019 Growth Promise Indicators (GPI) report said the UAE offers the best growth prospects among the Arab countries, even better than bigger economies such as China, India and South Korea. The country has jumped three places to 22nd position among 180 countries, thanks to infrastructure development, particularly in transport and human development.
source: zawya
Total Saudi non-oil exports to GCC reached $1.01bln in October
Non-oil exports from Saudi Arabia to member countries of the Arabian Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) increased by SAR 133 million ($35.5 million) or 5.2% year-on-year (YoY) during October 2019.
Saudi exports of national origin to GCC countries recorded SAR 2.7 billion ($721 million) last October, compared with SAR 2.57 billion ($686 million) in October 2018, according to a Mubasher survey, based on the data of the Saudi General Authority for Statistics (GaStat).
Saudi non-oil re-exported goods to GCC member countries decreased by 18.2% to SAR 1.12 billion ($298 million). Accordingly, total non-oil exports reached SAR 3.82 billion in October.
Meanwhile, Saudi imports from GCC countries decreased to SAR 3.9 billion ($1.04 billion), with a trade balance deficit of SAR 83 million ($22.13 million).
source: zawya
The banking sector’s exposure to real estate has been contained at 17% of total credit to the private sector as of mid-year 2019
Like other real estate markets in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Saudi Arabia’s property sector has been under a fair amount of pressure with falling property prices and rents in recent years.
Hydrocarbon production quotas, subdued global oil and gas prices and geopolitical tensions have all hindered the country’s economic growth. A series of social and economic reforms has been adopted by the Kingdom to attract foreign investment under a diversification drive. Alongside these measures, we expect a rebound in economic growth to 2.3 percent on average over 2020-2022 to support the real estate market.
The banking sector’s exposure to real estate has been contained at 17 percent of total credit to the private sector as of mid-year 2019. Although Saudi banks seems to have written off a significant portion of their problematic contractor exposures, we do not rule out some volatility in the asset-quality metrics.
Mortgage portfolios have been expanding rapidly over the past two years, fueled by government-subsidized programs and regulatory incentives introduced by Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA). They remain mostly salary assigned, so banks are exposed to unemployment risk, rather than asset-pricing risk. Yet, the cost of risk on mortgages has been negligible so far.
Nevertheless, government efforts to promote housing affordability, including lower regulatory requirements for mortgage exposures through loans could mean a build-up of risks in the long term.
Currently, the risks are still well-reflected in their ratings.
The general market trend is of weakening prices and rents across various segments, making the sector sensitive to unexpected changes in economic growth. The residential performance has been soft in Riyadh and Jeddah as residential sale prices and rents have declined. While supply is slated to increase slowly, we believe the segment is expected to remain under pressure mainly due to the exit of foreign workers, which has followed new and increasing taxes applying to expats.
We expect government initiatives, such as those incentivizing developers to build affordable homes, or encouraging banks to introduce more home financing options, to increase home ownership rates among Saudi citizens. Saudi Arabia has recently approved a program that offers permanent residency to some foreigners to attract investments, which could also boost prices. In addition, we forecast improving regulation to promote transparency and investment in the sector.
The commercial market is quite fragmented, with limited new supply in the pipeline. There is good demand for Grade A office space in part due to demand from newly created government companies under Vision 2030. The rest of the market however continues to experience rental decline. In Jeddah, the trend is negative too, with vacancy rates as high as 21 percent.
The retail market is competitive and unorganized, especially outside of the cities. Lacklustre economic growth means a soft retail environment, one that has negatively affected retail rents. Rents in Riyadh and Jeddah, especially for regional and
community malls, have declined by 5 percent year on year and are trending downward as more supply is expected over next 2 years.
A key difference between Saudi Arabia and neighboring countries is the size of the local population and demographics. Compared to the UAE population of approximately 9.5 million with 10-15 percent citizens, Saudi Arabia’s population is over 33 million of which 60-65 percent are citizens.
Due to the current over supply in residential sector we believe the Dubai market will remain under pressure in 2019-2020, with no meaningful recovery in the near term. Dubai Expo 2020, which is expected to attract millions of visitors to the emirate, may have a positive effect on market sentiment. Since the decline in prices has been gradual, relative to the previous cycle, we believe any meaningful recovery will take longer.
In contrast, Saudi Arabia has the opportunity to better manage property supply than its neighbors, with a key strength being its growing population and rapidly changing demographics.
Its youthful population has increasing disposable income, a taste for a better quality of life, and a preference for urban centers.
Meanwhile, the increased participation of women in the workforce will result in higher household spending power.
Under the Saudi Housing Vision Realization Program, the government aims to increase home ownership rates among Saudi nationals by 10 percent year on year. To achieve this, an increase in the availability of private sector funding for real estate and a boost to middle- and low-income housing stock, while also establishing cooperative social housing programs is needed to increase supply.
The country can also proactively plan for new concepts that are disrupting traditional brick-and-mortar real estate elsewhere such as co-working spaces, co-living developments, and online shopping.
Saudi population trends, combined with government reforms and potential economic growth, are supportive of a sustainable real estate market in the medium term and could see Saudi Arabia outperform neighboring countries.
source: zawya
Egypt, with a GDP growth of around 6%, continues to lead growth in the Middle East and North African (MENA) region in 2020, according to the Institute of International Finance (IIF) expectations for 2020.
As the new year is approaching, the IIF’s economic experts revealed their 2020 outlook for Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa (CEEMEA) regions.
Regarding the MENA region, Garbis Iradian, chief economist for MENA, stated that given the projected lower oil prices of an average of $60/pb in 2020, the region’s authorities will need to strike the right balance between resuming fiscal consolidation and sustaining the current modest non-oil growth.
Fortunately, he mentioned, the monetary policy in the region is easing as the Fed is expected to reduce further US interest rates, which would support private credit and non-oil growth.
He noted that Egypt continues to lead growth in the MENA region, while in other oil importers, progress from recent reforms and de-escalation of conflicts in the region may support a gradual recovery. However, the pace of growth will still be insufficient to significantly reduce the high unemployment rates.
“The MENA medium-term outlook hinges on sustained reform implementation and de-escalation of tensions in the region to create an enabling environment for higher private investment and growth,” he stated.
He assured that some progress has been made, but the region needs to pursue deeper reforms to strengthen the business climate, improve competitiveness, and foster diversification and job creation.
Moreover, Ugras Ulku, head of CEEMEA Research, stated that for Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), the key theme for 2020 will be a growth slowdown.
He added that weakness in the German manufacturing sector, if sustained, will feed through supply chain links into weaker industrial activity in the CEE region (and has already started to do so).
“Additionally, uncertainty related to trade tensions between the US and the EU, especially with regard to the automotive sector, and to Brexit will continue to weigh on business sentiment in CEE. However, growth in the region will remain robust and allow for further convergence,” Ulku continued.
Regarding South Africa, he expected that the key theme for 2020 will be public debt sustainability.
He explained that the government has to present a credible plan in the February 2020 budget to reduce the fiscal deficit in order to stabilize debt, which is the key determinant of whether or not Moody’s downgrades South Africa to sub-investment grade, triggering increased volatility in the prices of South African assets.
“It remains to be seen if political will emerges and if the government is able to convince large public sector labour unions to agree to reduce the public sector wage bill, given that this is the key determinant as of potential debt stabilisation,” he further explained.
“For Turkey, the key theme for 2020 will be the authorities’ ability to use the credit channel to boost growth without intensifying Turkey’s macro vulnerabilities. Further credit impulse could lead to a sharp reversal of current account surplus in 2019 to a sizable deficit in 2020 and intensify demand pressures on inflation dynamics,” head of CEEMEA Research, forecasted.
source: dailynewssegypt
