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Saudi Arabia to Soon Shift their Economic Focus to Financial Technology from Oil
  • Newsletter, Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia to Soon Shift their Economic Focus to Financial Technology from Oil

The production of crude oil in Saudi Arabia has slowed down significantly last year, from 10,643 BBL/D/1K in December 2018 to just 9,890 BBL/D/1K in November 2019. Continuous plunge in crude oil production could be attributed to various factors like the attendant impact on output, and also the attacks on the Saudi Arabia’s oil fields.

Many reports suggested that Saudi Arabia has been trying to coax other OPEC member countries to slash down production by 400,000 barrels per day. But the Saudi government has not agreed to this. OPEC, which is one of the world’s biggest energy-focused coalitions, has reduced its production by 1.2 million barrels (each day) since January last year, which is going to be extended till March 2020. OPEC member nations intend to maintain more stable oil prices by cutting down production.

Saudi Arabia’s economy was able to face the growing pressures in the global oil market because of its diversification policies. The Saudi Arabian Riyadh Bank, which is one of the largest financial institutions located in the Middle East, recently said that they had invested a whopping $26.7 million in a Fintech start-up investment program.

Riyadh Bank CEO Tariq Al Sadhan highlighted the requirement to update the country’s financial and technology infrastructure, particularly with the latest developments that are taking place in the global Fintech industry. The continuing growth and development of this fund is important to the research and development (R&D) work for local start-ups.

Saudi Arabia’s Monetary Authority (SAMA) has supposedly issued over a dozen Fintech licenses especially for this experimental program.

Saudi Arabia’s National Wealth Fund (the Public Investment Fund, or PIF) has now become the key growth engine of the country’s economy. The PIF fund has collaborated with Japan’s Softbank Group by setting up a $100 billion investment fund in the year 2016 specifically for the technology industry. The partnership is only the first step, as the PIF fund has an intended (estimated) investment value of $2 trillion.

The firm has been planning to get a capital of $100 billion via a public sale of a trivial stake in Saudi Aramco, the nation’s energy company.  The Saudi Arabian Aramco IPO was put on sale recently and spiked by almost 10% to $9.38, which moved the firm’s valuation to $1.88 trillion, and made it the world’s largest publicly listed company. The IPO was launched on the Saudi Arabian Tadawul, and it broke all previous records that were set by Chinese billionaire Jack Ma’s Alibaba IPO, which was valued at $25 billion in September of 2014.

The fund has now has an objective of supporting and enhancing the country’s economy, and even though it took almost 40 years to establish, the good part is that it has been growing very quickly.

The sovereign wealth fund had now grown to $300 billion in multiple assets (as of May 2019). Then, Saudi Arabia moved its focus to China for various promising business opportunities. Almost $50 billion has been invested in the American economy between 2018 and 2019, and now the country’s government is expecting stable growth and development because of these strategic investments.

Considerable investments in Saudi Arabia’s growing economy and international markets should enable the PIF fund to set up a commanding global presence with billions of dollars’ worth of planned and strategic deals done across the Middle East region, Europe, Asia, and North America.

The Public Investment Fund collaborated with Blackstone in the year 2017 for establishing a $100 billion investment in the space of US-based infrastructure. Approximately $20 billion in investments supposedly came from Saudi residents. But, Saudi Arabia’s alliance with SoftBank’s Vision Fund seems to have captured huger attention, as it’s aimed on Silicon Valley firms. The fund has apparently invested $3.5 billion in various Uber technologies in 2016.

So if you have a plan of doing business in Saudi Arabia and don’t know where to start or how to register a company in Saudi Arabia, do get in touch with us and we would be glad to assist you.

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Complete Foreign Ownership Is Now A Possibility In Omani Businesses
  • Newsletter, Oman

Complete Foreign Ownership Is Now A Possibility In Omani Businesses

100 percent or complete foreign ownership is now possible in majority of Omani companies as per the new Foreign Capital Investment Law that came into effect in the Sultanate starting January 7, 2020. However, there was an exception of a small number of trades and services, in which this won’t be applicable.

There are 37 types of commercial activities that are prohibited for complete or 100 percent foreign ownership including translation and photocopying services, laundry, tailoring, vehicle and automotive repairs, sale of drinking water, transportation, manpower and recruitment services, taxi operation, hairdressing and salon services, fishing, rehabilitation homes meant for the elderly, or disabled, and orphans.

Leaving aside this blacklist, signifying an important but relatively smaller fraction of the Omani economy, the new law broadcasted by Royal Decree 50/2019 (FCIL) opens the doors for assuring new sectors for doing business in Oman or going for 100 percent foreign investment, as per a Muscat-based legal expert.

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI) has taken some major steps in the new FCIL to enable a regulatory regime in Oman that is investment-friendly. They also plan to now permit 100 percent foreign ownership in most of the companies set up in Oman other than those conducting any activity out of the above-mentioned blacklist. This blacklist, which has 37 activities listed, currently does not include sectors which were earlier strict in their Omani ownership requirements like oil and gas, defence, and restaurants.

Emphasizing the significance of the new statute to Oman’s determination to foster foreign investment inflows, the FCIL is likely to place the Omani market in a more robust position to offer the foreign investors with a more welcoming, open, and vigorous regulatory framework in which they can conduct business.

If planning for foreign company registration in Oman, it is important to note that the FCIL does not specify a minimum share capital requirement. The MoCI has also relaxed its earlier practice of necessitating any company which has one or more foreign shareholders to begin with a minimum starting share capital of RO 150,000 (almost $390,000). Please note that the fee for registering such type of a company at the Ministry is higher than earlier and starts from RO 3,000 (almost equivalent to $7,800) and is subject to further increase depending on the anticipated share capital of the new company.

Any further clarity in terms of the specific provisions of this new law is likely to be available when the Executive Regulations would be issued later this year.

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Are the U.A.E. real estate deals set to go up in 2020
  • Newsletter, U.A.E

Are the U.A.E. real estate deals set to go up in 2020?

Enquiries for mortgage for lesser-priced properties in the U.A.E. has seen an increase by almost 59 percent between the year 2018 and 2019 because of lower property prices and also favourable interest rates. This trend is probably going to continue this year ensuing a potential upsurge in real estate transactions and a good time for doing business in U.A.E. in this sector.

“Marked by Dubai expo 2020 has the potential to become a very fruitful and interesting year with glaring achievements. Dubai will see a surge in tourist arrivals with almost 25 million expected to visit, increasing the investors’ appetite for the city’s real estate offerings,” Al Hammadi said.

As per the real estate visions and data platforms, Dubai has recorded a 20 percent rise in the volume of sales transactions of registered property in the year 2019 compared to 34,961 transactions recorded in 2018. There were over 45,000 units completed in 2019, which was the highest number of units that were completed in one year in the last five years.

“While we expect that the current supply will continue to put further pressure on prices, we will definitely witness a good year in terms of sales transactions,” he added.

Data also shows that there’s an 11 percent upsurge in the number of enquiries from clients who are earning a salary between 10,000 U.A.E. dirhams ($2,722) to about 12,000 U.A.E. dirhams per month between the year 2018 and 2019. The average property price that people in this income bracket consider is approximately 795,000 U.A.E. dirhams. Interest rate cuts in the year 2019 were surely a reassurance for probable real estate investors.

The U.A.E. Central Bank has slashed interest rates almost three times in the last year to be in tandem with the US Federal Reserve. In the year 2018, the average mortgage interest rate was about 3.99 percent. However, in last few months, it has decreased notably, with some rates going as low as 2.75 percent fixed for one year.

Therefore, when banks calculate affordability and perform stress tests today, those people who might not have passed these tests earlier, now have a better probability of doing so because a lower property prices and better interest rates result in lower monthly mortgage repayments.

This is definitely a buyers’ market because of the new real estate laws and regulations, and it’s good that some people who couldn’t buy previously have got a chance to invest in the property market and own their home now. So, if you are interested in buying your own home in the U.A.E. and can arrange for the down payment, then it is the best time to do so.

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India’s FM Assigns Rs. 900 Cr Debt-Funding for MSMEs
  • India, Newsletter

India’s FM Assigns Rs. 900 Cr Debt-Funding for MSMEs

India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2020 and announced an array of schemes and steps for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and for small businesses. Budget 2020 proposes to give a push to the manufacturing of electronic equipment, mobile phones, and semiconductor packaging. The FM also said that this could also be utilized for uplifting the manufacturing of medical devices.

In Jan this year, the Union MSME minister Nitin Gadkari had mentioned that his department had a plan to establish five parks for manufacturing low-cost medical devices in India. A National Technical Textiles Mission has also been announced in the Budget 2020, which would have a four-year execution period with an outlay of Rs 1,480 crore. The FM said that a National Logistics Policy would also be soon released to form a single window e-logistics market and ensure that the MSMEs become competent. In addition, for achieving a higher export credit, soon a new scheme would be launched to offer higher insurance cover and lessen the premium particularly for small exporters. It would also ease the process of claim settlements.

The FM also stressed on the goal to make every district as an export hub. For this, she announced the launch of the Nirvik scheme to enable export tax disbursement, which has an objective of making loans simpler to access for exporters and also ease the lending procedure.  The Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal announced Nirvik in September 2019, which is a New Export Credit Insurance Scheme (ECIS) by Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India (ECGC). The ECGC offers credit guarantee of almost up to 60 percent loss, however, under Nirvik scheme, the insurance cover which is guaranteed would cover almost up to 90 percent of the principal, including the interest of loans, and would also include pre and post-shipment credit. Another announcement was that a unified procurement system will be created on public procurement portal Government e-Marketplace.

This declaration is not completely new as the Commerce Ministry earlier launched GeM in August 2016 with the aim of developing an open and transparent platform of procurement for the government. In September 2019, it was said that GeM is working towards a series of steps like creating a mechanism to ensure timely payment to all the registered small businesses and MSMEs, and a process for rating buyers and sellers for promoting its growth. Now in the Budget 2020, the FM said that a digital platform would be established for seamless process of application and capturing of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR). But, it was not clear if she was talking about the website and mobile application Learn to Protect, Secure and Maximise Your Innovation on Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) that was launched in October 2019.

The website and app was developed by Cell for IPR Promotion and Management (CIPAM)-DPIIT in partnership with Qualcomm and National Law University (NLU), Delhi.

GST and Debt Funding

The FM also announced a scheme for subordinating the debt to MSMEs. She advised the banks to extend restructuring MSME NPAs for an additional year, which earlier had a timeline of March 2020.

She also said that an app-based product which will invoice financing loans would be launched to improve the challenge of delayed payments and also cash flow disparities for MSMEs. She assured that some amendments would be made to facilitate the NBFCs to offer invoice financing to MSMEs. In January 2019, the RBI had permitted the recasting of loans to MSMEs only under the pre-requisite that the total fund and the non-fund based exposure to the MSME borrowers is not exceeding the limit of Rs. 25 crore.

The FM also mentioned that the implementation of GST had helped MSMEs in a big way. However, leading up to Budget 2020, various MSMEs weren’t too happy with GST and voiced their expectations regarding GST. The streamlining of GST was one of the top challenges for the MSME sector, a section that is the backbone of the Indian economy as it contributes almost 29 percent of the nation’s GDP. MSMEs had anticipated the Union Budget 2020 to tackle the rationalising of GST slabs, enhancing the GST refunds system, and dealing with export issues caused due to GST. In Budget 2020, the FM allocated Rs 2.83 lakh crores particularly for agro and allied sectors comprising rural development, irrigation, and Panchayati Raj. The Agri credit target was proposed at Rs. 15 lakh crore.

The budget also recommended comprehensive action-plan and steps for water-stressed districts. Approximately 35 lakh farmers would be helped to set up their stand-alone solar pumps so that they can make a living even in their barren lands. The budget also concentrated on offering 152 million metric tonnes of warehousing facilities.

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Technology Transformation Brings About an Ocean of Opportunities in South East Asia
  • Newsletter, Singapore

Technology Transformation Brings About an Ocean of Opportunities in South East Asia

As more and more organizations are turning to technology to enhance their operational efficiency and serve their customers better, South-east Asia comes up with new opportunities for Singapore companies who are looking at expanding in the region or doing company formation in Singapore.

According to a recent survey, 76 percent of organizations who wanted to expand were wishing to enter in the Asean region. The top three destinations for doing business as per the survey were Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia. Meanwhile, another report showed that Singapore companies opted for Indonesia as the second most significant growth market globally (16 percent), after China, in the coming three to five years, whereas Malaysia (15 percent) ranked third.

Growing interest in the region can be seen amid fast technological advancement which is rapidly changing the way consumers behave.

In the last four years, the number of people using Internet in South-east Asia has gone up by 100 million — out of which most are aged 15 to 19. “As more of these young, digital-savvy and mobile-first South-east Asians come of age over the next 15 years, they will further fuel the growth of the region’s Internet economy,” stated a survey report in 2019.

The report also projected that the region’s Internet economy is going to triple by 2025, reaching almost US$300 billion, with Indonesia and Vietnam as top players.

Fostering digital transformation

Riding this trend, regional companies are driving digital transformation to further enhance their operational efficiency and serve digital-first customers in a better way.

“Companies in retail, e-commerce, logistics and transportation have really felt the push to provide the best online experience for customers in comparison to other alternative services, and that has been a great impetus for them to change,” said Evan Tan, chief of staff, Holistics Software.

Holistics offers a data analytics platform for firms to prepare and manage their databases, said that more than 50 percent of its existing customers are from South-east Asia. It has assisted an Indonesian Artificial Intelligence (AI) chatbot company to get access to internal big data sources without needing a technical team, and thus, improving the organization’s operational efficiency.

This keenness to try new technologies by regional firms was not common few years ago.

Indonesia in particular is quite open to try new technologies and also has improved digital infrastructure and huge e-commerce potential. Being the biggest in the region, Indonesia’s Internet economy was projected at US$40 billion at its gross merchandise value in 2019.  It is likely to further go up to US$133 billion in the year 2025.

“Singapore is a good place for us to do initial research and development, and prototyping,” ViSenze’s Mr Tan said. “But when you need to scale very quickly, you need big consumer markets.”

ViSenze announced a partnership with Samsung Electronics in February 2019 in South-east Asia and Oceania, which would enable Samsung consumers to find products online along with real-life images or current pictures via Bixby Vision Shopping.

Shobhit Shukla, who is the chief revenue officer and co-founder of Near, was quite surprised by the huge technological transformation in the region.

“South-east Asia actually completely skipped an entire generational development,” said Mr Shukla. “Connectivity by 4G and 5G and smartphones help them bypass the broadband (stage) into the smartphone (stage). Who would have thought that companies like Gojek would emerge in a developing economy?”

Near is a Singapore-based AI platform which is tasked with analyzing data to comprehend the real world behavior of consumers. Fascinatingly, though more brick and mortar firms in South-east Asia are beginning to start their journey into e-commerce, all established e-commerce players are also now building their offline capabilities.

These firms are eager to better gauge their consumers, and thus there is a growing requirement for data to join the dots between the consumers’ online and offline behaviour and to offer a 360 degree outlook of the consumers.

Available opportunities for logistics players

The logistics sector is also vigorously planning to utilize technology in its operations. Demand for new technology solutions have risen as Southeast Asia strives to enhance its connectivity to foster the mobility of manpower, other resources and technology, even as it is weighed down by an infrastructure gap.

Regional governments have also announced projects to enhance infrastructure and trade, for example, Thailand’s Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) and the China-led Southern Transport Corridor that connects China to Asean.

These initiatives offer golden opportunities for various Singapore’s investment and logistics firms to back new establishments and manufacturing activities in this region and go for Singapore company incorporation.

The Vietnamese government is also encouraging investors to offer their technical expertise and experience in project management particularly in infrastructure projects for helping to speed up their development.

Indeed, YCH, a Singapore-based logistics giant, mentioned that after a memorandum of understanding was signed in 2018, it is collaborating with T&T Group, a Vietnamese multi-industry conglomerate, for building Superports in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and may be also in the Philippines this year.

These Superports, which would be connected to all major rail, road, and freight networks, are likely to use new technology for coordinating cargo movements and to build an effective network for distribution inside the cities and beyond.

The Superport project by YCH and T&T would enable promoting infrastructure development and in addressing the requirement for a chain of distribution centers located in the Southern Transport Corridor.

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Foreign Civil Decrees Passed by U.A.E. Courts Are Now Enforceable in India
  • Newsletter, U.A.E

Foreign Civil Decrees Passed by U.A.E. Courts Are Now Enforceable in India

Foreign Civil Decrees Passed by U.A.E. Courts Are Now Enforceable in India The Indian Government has advised in a recent notification that foreign civil decrees which are passed by the courts in the UAE are allowed to now be executed in India.

For this purpose, the Central Government has given a notification that it accepts UAE as a reciprocating territory for enforcing any foreign civil decrees in India, in tandem with Section 44A of the Code of Civil Procedure (CPC).

“In exercise of the powers conferred by Explanation 1 to section 44A of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908), the Central Government hereby declares, United Arab Emirates to be a reciprocating territory for the purposes of the said section.”

Government Notification released on January 17, 2020

This implies that decrees which are passed by any courts in the UAE will now allowed to be executed in India, similarly in case if they were passed by any Indian civil courts.

The manner for bestowing such a status to any foreign civil decrees has been described in the Section 44A of the CPC, and it states,

“Execution of decrees passed by Courts in reciprocating territory. (1) Where a certified copy of decree of any of the superior Courts of any reciprocating territory has been filed in a District Court, the decree may be executed in India as if it had been passed by the District Court….”

The specification further stipulates the mode in which the foreign decree must be filed. In any cases where such a special recognition of foreign decrees is conferred only on the decrees which are passed by courts located in reciprocating territories, which had to be so announced by the Government Notification. Regarding this, the initial explanation to Section 44A, CPC, mentions,

“Reciprocating territory’ means any country or territory outside India which the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, declare to be a reciprocating territory for the purposes of this section; and “superior Courts”, with reference to any such territory, means such Courts as may be specified in the said notification.”

Therefore, the Central Government has advised that the civil decrees passed by any of the following UAE courts may be now executed in India, that is,


Federal Court
 

Federal Supreme Court;

Abu Dhabi Judicial Department;

All Dubai Courts;

Ras Al Khaimah Judicial Department;

Courts of Abu Dhabi Global Markets;

Courts of Dubai International Financial Center.

Federal, First Instance and Appeals Courts located in the Ajman, Emirates of Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Umm Al Quwain and Fujairah;

 
For more information, please contact us at [email protected] and one of our consultants shall get in touch with you. You can also visit our website at www.intuitconsultancy.com

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Cabinet Approved a Plan for Review of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Policy on Single Brand Retail Trading, Digital Media, Contract Manufacturing, and Coal Mining
  • India, Newsletter

Cabinet Approved a Plan for Review of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Policy on Single Brand Retail Trading, Digital Media, Contract Manufacturing, and Coal Mining

In 2019-20 Union Budget, the Finance Minister has recommended to further consolidate all the gains under FDI so as to make India a more appealing FDI destination. Going steady with its reform policy, the Union Cabinet has recently approved the plan for review of FDI Policy on various sectors on 28 August 2019.

The major highlights of the FDI Policy reform are as follows:

Single Brand Retail Trading (SBRT)
For offering enhanced flexibility and ease of operations in the SBRT sector, the below listed norms have been eased:
  • In case of SBRT firms with over 51% FDI, all procurements done from India by such SBRT firms for that single brand are going to be counted in the local sourcing of 30% bracket, regardless of whether the products obtained are sold in India or are exported outside. In addition, to give an push to exports, current limit of considering exports for five years only has been eliminated;
  • ‘Sourcing of goods from India for global operations’ could be done directly now by the firm conducting SBRT or its resident/non-resident group companies, or can be done indirectly by them via a third party with a legally-tenable agreement;
  • Additionally, complete sourcing from India for all the global operations would be considered for local sourcing requirement (with no incremental value);
  • Retail trading done through online trade could be undertaken before opening of brick and mortar stores, but this has a condition that the entity should open brick and mortar stores within two years beginning from the date of starting their online retail.

Contract Manufacturing
As of now, 100% FDI is allowed under automatic route in the manufacturing sector. There is no particular provision for contract manufacturing mentioned in the FDI Policy. To give more clarity on contract manufacturing, a decision has been taken to allow 100% FDI under automatic route in contract manufacturing. Now, manufacturing activities could be performed either by the investee firm or via contract manufacturing in India with a legally-tenable contract, whether on Principal to Principal basis or Principal to Agent basis.

Digital Media
Extant FDI policy offers for 49% FDI under the approval route in Up-linking of various ‘News &Current Affairs’ TV Channels. Currently, up to 26% FDI under government route is allowed for uploading and streaming of various News and Current Affairs using Digital Media, on similar lines of print media.

Coal Mining
Currently, 100% FDI under automatic route is permitted for coal mining, especially for captive consumption by several power projects, cement, and iron and steel units and also for coal processing plants with the pre-requisite that the processing units would not do coal mining or selling in open markets. It has now been decided to allow 100% FDI under automatic route especially for selling coal, performing coal mining activities, which might also include associated processing infrastructure. Associated Processing Infrastructure includes activities like coal washery, coal handling, crushing, and separation (magnetic and non-magnetic).

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Five Tips to Remember when Fundraising
  • Newsletter

Five Tips to Remember when Fundraising

Fund raising is on the wish list of every entrepreneur. With a maturing ecosystem, the capital supply is increasing; which in turn means that there are more opportunities for new entrepreneurs to get funds to set up or expand their start-up. So here the top points to remember while taking the plunge and for staying ahead in the game. If you are setting up a start-up in the region, then it will be at least an average of 5 to 10 years before you would think of exiting or closing your venture. And be it your first time or not, there are some factors that remain the same.

1. Concentrate on sustainable growth and prove the numbers

Which business set up doesn’t want to undergo exponential growth? However, there are hitches and pitfalls too, as we are noticing with Uber, WeWork, and many others – and due to this, the investors these days are vary of this. It is recommended to prepare a growth roadmap for at least 5-10 years, and have clear and well-defined goals and objectives for gauging your enterprise’s success.

Having said that, your business model should reflect accurate and convincing growth prospects, and your pitch should accurately display what steps you are planning to undertake for meeting your business goals. Ensure that they’re SMART goals, so that you can show growth year-on-year in terms of your anticipations and objectives.

2. Have clarity in your expecting from your investors and communicate that clearly

As an entrepreneur, you should first have an idea that you believe in, or have in-depth knowledge about. But there are many entrepreneurs who are open to taking ideas that investors want to give them. It is always better to have a clear idea but at the same time, be open to the advice of investors. If they think that a particular client would not be good, then ask why and handle the situation in a delicate manner, instead of pushing it further.

3. Confine your research to existing partners and their earlier deals

You could have a list of your priority investors as a starting point. As a next step, you should know about the earlier deals or investments made by them, and where their interest lies, where they were before, and if any of them is on their way out. This kind of information would help you in focusing your energies to target the right people at the right time.

Though, all the information is not easily available, you can collect some data from your network in the system.Therefore, it is very important to expand your network and remain in good terms with people around you.

4. The primary focus should be your relationship with the investor and not on his investment in your venture

Always remember that all the investors won’t say yes to you. Gracefully accept refusals, if any, so that while listening to their opinion, you can put your connection with them above the investment they are offering. This will help you earn respect from them and also keep your doors open for future prospects.

5. Respect the timelines and don’t lose your focus

Investors can be intimidating at times. But you should remember to design a strong business plan and have a strong mind. Maintain your confidence and don’t go under just because you want their investments. So first, you should get your business model perfect. This way, you’ll grow even without new investments, may be not that quickly though. While negotiating, stay in a position of power, but not in arrogance. And ensure to stick to your deadlines and communicate openly and professionally.

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Top Five Investment Prospects in Ghana
  • Africa, Newsletter

Top Five Investment Prospects in Ghana

The booming economy in Ghana can surely make you want to consider settling there and calling the place home. Ghana’s flourishing oil industry has also proven to be a huge additive to one of Africa’s most vigorous small and medium enterprise (SME) economies. It is also the continent’s most steady democracies, which is an added bonus. These are the reasons why Ghana has gradually become appealing to foreign investors.

Let’s take a look at some of the top opportunities this West African country has to offer for company formation in Ghana:

  • Telecommunications: Earlier in 2019, the mobile penetration rate in this country exceeded 100 percent. This does not essentially mean that every citizen has a mobile phone. While accounting for several sim cards or possession of multiple mobile phones, the country’s telecom insiders assess that the mobile phone ownership is reaching the 16 million mark. There is a huge opportunity for expanding the voice market, but tower managers along with telecom investors would notice the highest growth in data services.
  1. Financial Services: The Banking Act in 2007 began the steps towards change in the financial services industry. Since then, the financial services in Ghana have upgraded tremendously. A flourishing economy and increasing incomes usually emphasize the potential of the financial sector. But this country has proven to have more potential than other nations in the region. Let’s take Cameroon for example. Though it has a parallel level of income, but Ghana still has more than twice the number of ATMs per head of its adult population. Benin, which also has a similar level of income, has only one-third of the banks per head of its adult population when compared to Ghana. Though the services have improved in this country, the new integration of banking ATMs in the nine banks in this country, (example in Zenith Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, and Ecobank) enables customers to utilize their bank cards at ATMs which are serviced by banks other than the card provider.
  2. Real Estate: The real estate prices are blossoming in this country as the returns are good. However, the office or commercial sectors are inundated by poor management and also lack of capacity. Places like Downtown Accra and surrounding suburbs are realising an increase in construction as various developers perceive a rising influx of cash coming from foreign investors. Improvements in the areas like consumer financing and mortgages in the banking sector would also enhance the opportunity for commercial and residential real estate.
  3. Industrial: Ghana is an industrial hub of the continent as it is way more advanced as compared to many other African nations. However, it is still far from its full potential. Pipeline manufacturing particularly for the oil and gas sector is not able to meet the demand on time and with required quality. At times, you just need the basic things to be manufactured without any hassle, says one industry insider, “but it is the small things that can slow up many projects.” Nevertheless, such kind of lamenting should not dissuade the foreign investors. Similar type of grievances have been also thrown around about some other industries. Every time such a complaint comes up, some anxious entrepreneurs are ready to resolve it, which is one of the biggest positive points of Ghana’s entrepreneurial makeup. Imports in agro-chemicals sector and related agriculture goods would slow over time as new businesses work to produce agricultural inputs locally. But Ghana has huge potential in car manufacturing, perhaps even electric cars. The development potential of gas liquefaction is also the talk of the town as the gas stations have ever-increasing queues. The potential of the industrial sector as a whole in Ghana is incredible, but it can only be grasped with more availability of capital.
  4. Services: Ghana is in need of various services across the board, which is why this is also a good area for company formation in Africa. It requires several management-level education facilities such as nursing, finance, etc to be able to meet the rising demand in the nation’s private sector. The country’s medical services do not always provide high-quality care and that is why some foreigners and locals need to travel to other countries if they need specialized medical care. Information and communications technology (ICT) services are also not adequate to meet the intensifying demand and needs of private sector businesses, be it SME or big one like oil and gas. There has also been less investment in the above-mentioned sectors. However, great returns are possible, particularly if the investors can hook up investments to Ghana’s energy and mining boom.

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UAE Plans to Ready Itself for the Next 50 Years in 2020
  • Newsletter, U.A.E

UAE Plans to Ready Itself for the Next 50 Years in 2020

UAE Plans to Ready Itself for the Next 50 Years in 2020. UAE has announced 2020 as the year of preparing for the next 50 years. The Kingdom’s 50th anniversary also falls in the year 2021, marking 50 years from the historic union of the emirates.

In his tweets, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai announced and said: “Brothers and sisters. The UAE is approaching its fiftieth anniversary in 2021 and we want it to be the year of fresh-starts and new-beginnings. We will celebrate our country’s 50th anniversary and launch into another fifty. We will get ready for that in 2020. Next year will be the year of preparation for great strides”.

In yet another tweet, Sheikh Mohammed said, “Today, we announce 2020 to be the Year of Getting Ready for UAE’s 50th Anniversary. We will develop our plans, projects and thinking. 50 years ago, our founding fathers designed our lives today. So, we want next year to design the future of generations to come in the next fifty years”.

He mentioned that 2020 will be the year of getting ready and gaining momentum in the economic sector, infrastructure, education, health, and in the media sector. “In 2020, we will work together, Emiratis and residents, in all sectors… We are united and we can change the equations. We can raise expectations… We want 2020’s atmosphere to be similar to that of in 1970 when our founding fathers and their teams were preparing to embark on a new stage and new life” the Vice President said.

He further said, “I was there in 1970, the year of creating the union and will also be there in 2020, overseeing the team shaping the next fifty. There will be two committees. The first one will be chaired by Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed and will be tasked with mapping out the development plan of the next 50 years. The other committee will include Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed and Sheikha Mariam Bint Mohamed Bin Zayed to oversee the celebratory activities of the country’s Golden Jubilee”.

“We are one team working in one spirit. We are fully optimistic that we have a promising future ahead,” he concluded.

In the meantime, His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, also announced that 2020 will be the year of preparing and making great strides towards the country’s 50th anniversary and also prepare for the next 50 years.

Sheikh Mohamed tweeted: “Today, I launched with my brother Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid the biggest national strategy for next year 2020. It will be the year of getting ready for the UAE’s 50th anniversary. It will be a red-letter year, during which we will make great strides economically, socially and developmentally aiming to be the best in the world in fifty years”.

He further added: “In the next fifty years, we will prepare all sectors for the post-oil phase, build a real knowledge economy based on innovation, creativity and modern science, and leave our imprint on the human civilization march. We will lay solid foundations to sustain development for future generations”.

The 50-year development plan committee

Sheikh Mohammed also announced the formation of a committee for creating a development plan for the coming 50 years. The committee, which would be chaired by Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Mohammed Abdullah Al Gergawi as his deputy, would have main agenda of preparing a complete development plan across the UAE and advancing the government administrative system with an objective to make the UAE the quickest and most adaptable and flexible government to future amendments.

The committee is also responsible for involving various segments of the society in shaping their life in the UAE for the coming 50 years. It would create a new economic map for the UAE and designing exceptional projects, guidelines and policies to make massive leaps in the country’s economy. It would also work to cement the soft power of the Kingdom and establish latest media systems for sharing the country’s new story with the world, thus bringing economic and social yields that safeguard its profits and increase opportunities in the new economy.

The committee is also responsible for developing key sectors such as health, housing, education, transport, and food security in the country to enhance future readiness. The committee would also create a broad vision of the UAE society in the coming 50 years that adapts family life, cultural identity and demographics to a rapidly-changing world.

It is also responsible to foster the ethics of productivity and passion for growth to prepare the new generation for any challenges and goals of the country in the coming 50 years.

Golden Jubilee celebrations committee

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid also announced directives to form a committee which would oversee the Golden Jubilee preparations.

The committee, which would be chaired by Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan and deputy Sheikha Mariam bint Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, would organize and manage remarkable celebrations to mark the momentous milestone in UAE’s history.

The committee would have a goal to govern the Emirates’ Golden Jubilee celebrations, develop a broad preparation plan and also form teams to organize various events and activities to celebrate the country’s 50th anniversary next year in 2021. It is also supposed to involve all the segments of the society for preparing for the Golden Jubilee celebrations.

The committee would also involve the private sector in preparing and executing the exceptional celebrations towards the Golden Jubilee and develop new plans to reinforce the global outreach and effect of the Golden Jubilee celebrations.

The committee would also compile a report of the Kingdom’s achievements since the federation and preserve the same for future generations. It is also going to involve embassies across UAE in the preparations and implementation of the Golden Jubilee celebrations for promoting the UAE’s global image.

The committee’s key duties also involve setting broad mechanisms for coordinating events and activities during the Golden Jubilee celebrations on both the federal and local level, creating local and international-level media plans for sharing the country’s journey of 50 years and also invite regional and international media to participate in the Golden Jubilee celebrations.

With all these dynamic changes, if you plan Dubai company incorporation or new business setup in UAE, this is the right time. We, at IMC, can assist you in your entrepreneurial journey and help you register your business.

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