Monday, November 18, 2019

Getting To Know Mustafa Kheriba

Mustafa G. Kheriba

Opinion: The UAE's shift towards becoming a hub for financial innovation The country's financial sector shows how leading the pack leads to unprecedented value ....... The United Arab Emirates has emerged as a shining example of how a traditional oil powerhouse can diversify its sources of national revenues away from oil to other industries. ..... the banking sector in the UAE continues to be quite fragmented, with 23 domestic banks and 29 foreign institutions operating onshore, as well as a plethora of alternative finance companies that exist to serve SMEs and retail clients whom have exhausted traditional banking lines and offerings. ........ hydrocarbons sector will continue to be the compelling force behind anticipated growth for the near future ......... The UAE banking sector recently saw the merger of two dominant players, First Gulf Bank and National Bank of Abu Dhabi, creating one of the largest financial institutions regionally, with the breadth and scale to be competitive globally....... property markets across the emirates continuing to show softening trends in prices and depressed yields ....... Fintech is redefining modes of operation in the financial industry, and we are witnessing unprecedented levels of change and growth....... Fintech – which is now omnipresent in the industry – is providing the critical elements of swift action, more convenience and higher accessibility to the delivery of financial services. The influx is exceptionally transformational and continues to gain momentum........ The UAE has been at the forefront of such changes, with the introduction of e-banking, e-dirhams, online platforms and regulatory bodies such as the Abu Dhabi Global Markets and Dubai International Financial Centre serving as bright examples of how the country is becoming a hub for financial services innovations in the region. ........ as the country works towards a roadmap for the UAE’s centennial in 2071



THE GCC: OPPORTUNITY BORN FROM POSITIVE MOMENTUM Why the GCC is geared to become one of the most rewarding investment destinations in 2018 Sovereign wealth institutions in the region are among the wealthiest in the world, and the investment appetite for diversifying national sources of revenue has always been healthy. ....... we are seeing a fundamental change. The GCC is increasingly becoming a destination for capital deployment with ample opportunities for investment in various sectors such as hydrocarbons, healthcare, education and real estate to name a few. ........ The oil crisis has had a positive impact in allowing the regional regimes to explore new avenues of income. ...... A big theme I predict in 2018 is consolidation, as well as acquisitions outside of the region that will help with the diversification of funding sources and capital inflows. ...... the quiet before the storm of 2018. The region will see the best and fastest to come in the next few years........ The robust economies of the UAE and Saudi Arabia continue to lead the pack. ......... Saudi Arabia is in a positive momentum given the recent reforms implemented by HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Salman the Crown Prince. The fight against corruption surge that has been going on in the last few months has given great hope to the people and to the positive growth momentum of the economy in general. The initiatives are moving Saudi Arabia away from secular and rigid Islam, to more moderate and mainstream Islamic beliefs and practices.................... He has been named among the top 50 MENA Fund Managers in the 2015 and 2016 annual survey conducted by MENA FM. Mustafa holds a BA from the University of Toronto, and an MBA from Ohio Dominican University with Magna Cum Laude honours.


A LETTER FROM ABU DHABI On innovation and why Brexit does not represent erosion of value Abu Dhabi has been aspiring to be the Middle East and regional hub for everything from regulated financial services through setting up Abu Dhabi Global Market, to arts and culture and the highly anticipated opening of the Louvre Abu Dhabi. It is where we call home, and from where we aim at conquering the world........ Spending time in Riyadh at the Future Investment Initiative was both inspiring and aspirational. His Royal Highness Prince Mohammad bin Salman laid out what he sees as beyond the Vision 2030 to outline a new remarkable city, Neom, and a bright future for the Kingdom. ....... the adamancy that moderate Islam is the only way forward and the accepted path, while eradicating extremism was key .......... Today, and after only six years of launching the company out of Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi Financial Group (ADFG) has become synonymous with opportunistic investing and an astute deal making. Our platforms now expand across multiple geographies with a particular focus on public equities, private equity, real estate, debt and technology. Early in 2011 we launched the first secondary private equity fund that served to provide liquidity to an otherwise cash crunched microeconomic environment. The fund focused on limited partners who invested in regional funds. Good assets held by ailing investors was the key message that helped us realize handsome returns by acquiring these positions at significant discounts to their intrinsic value....... At over $5 billion of direct assets under management, ADFG is considered a serious contender and a market maker. One of our key calls to fame is our real estate development activities in the UAE and London. Today we stand as the largest private developer of new builds in prime central London with over £3 billion worth of projects underway.

The reality of real estate Real estate has always been the surest way to accumulate wealth – and is likely to remain so. Yet, the financial crisis of 2008 changed the game, and brought a healthy dose of reality back to the real estate sector. Today, as investors look at this asset class again with renewed optimism, we need to ask ourselves if we have truly learned the lessons of the past five years. ........ real estate has provided investors with a stronger and steadier return than any other investment option. It has an uncanny ability to bounce back after a downturn and outperform other asset classes......... The 2008 crisis was a case of the pursuit of profit crowding out sensible investment decision making. ....... Many lost vast sums of capital when property values plunged by half. ...... Abu Dhabi and Dubai real estate sales showed a significant upward trend from Q4 2011 to Q2 2012. Despite a slowdown during the third quarter, year-on-year activity was still higher, suggesting that Abu Dhabi and Dubai’s real estate market is well on the path to recover.......... and with the absence of property taxes and income tax, the value becomes extremely competitive, especially compared to other major cities around the world........ thanks to more people investing in completed projects rather than speculating on off-plan developments. ....... The UAE’s sophisticated regulatory milieu, highly developed financial infrastructure, and a legal system increasingly following rules of global best practices, provides a healthy investing environment for both home buyers and investors alike. In addition to the solid commercial infrastructure, the time is right to capitalise on the underlying value waiting to be unlocked in the UAE real estate sector.

























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Sunday, November 17, 2019

Vertical Forests










Africa is set to get its first vertical forest pollution-absorbing trees and plants in Egypt's New Administrative Capital, which is under construction in the desert east of Cairo ....... the trio of cube-shaped, seven-storey buildings ........ The buildings will have planted terraces containing 350 trees and 14,000 shrubs of more than 100 different species. One of the three buildings will be a hotel, while the other two will house apartment units........ The planned new capital will eventually host ministries, embassies, residential neighbourhoods and a financial district. It will replace the current capital, Cairo, which suffers from severe overcrowding, traffic congestion and air pollution........ Vertical forests pack thousands of square metres of greenery into just a few hundred square metres of urban space, providing shade and creating habitats for birds and insects ........ The trees, shrubs and plants absorb carbon dioxide, produce oxygen and filter dust from the air......... The concept took off in 2014, with Milan’s Bosco Verticale, a pair of residential 110- and 76 meter tower blocks, designed by Boeri, with around 900 trees and more than 20,000 smaller plants and shrubs........... The trees and plants in Liuzhou Forest City are expected to annually absorb 10,000 tonnes of CO2 and 57 tonnes of pollutants, while producing about 900 tonnes of oxygen.

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Friday, November 15, 2019

Apple, Android, And Ancient Greece






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Neil Sahota, Andrew Yang And The Creative Destruction Of Jobs By Robots And AI

Neil Sahota argues that, yes, jobs will be destroyed, but many more and higher quality jobs will be created. That jobs will be destroyed is much talked about. But that new jobs will be created is not much talked about. Neil's take is much-needed optimism in an otherwise gloom and doom mood swing.


Thanks To Robots, Humans Are Finally In Demand the most employable people in the future will be those who act like … well, people........ there is one area where A.I. is going to be very slow to surpass human intelligence: The Arts. That’s why we now talk about STEAM. ....... the importance of developing “soft skills” to thrive in a future in which robots can do tedious work once reserved for mankind. “We should be emphasizing problem-solving, leadership, creativity, collaboration, and, of course deploying emotional intelligence” ....... “We created an assembly-line system meant to churn out assembly-line workers” ...... “The bell rings, you move to where the schedule puts you, the bell rings again, you do as you’re told. Everyone gets processed in the same way, and at the end of the line you emerge with a certificate of quality.” ...... Automatons, while adept at taking orders, are not valued for their critical thinking abilities. ........ there are many robots capable of doing repetitive tasks, from stocking warehouses to dispensing prescriptions. ....... So, what can’t robots do? .... They cannot think. They cannot feel, dream, or imagine. And there are many theorists who suggest they never will...........

Unlike during the previous era, the coming automation age will prize human attributes like never before.

........ rather than being a zero-sum scourge upon the workforce, the rise of A.I. promises to tilt the nature of work in wonderfully positive, unprecedented ways....... we’re at the dawn of a new vocational reality. Today’s workforce stands to benefit not by taking orders or fulfilling rote tasks, but by doing what makes us uniquely human. .........

creativity is the most important skill for thriving in the 21st century



Andrew Yang: Yes, Robots Are Stealing Your Job Self-driving trucks will be great for the G.D.P. They’ll be terrible for millions of truck drivers.......... most factory job losses from 2000 to 2010 were caused by automation ........ 88 percent of factory job losses from 2000 to 2010 were caused by automation. ....... Automation doesn’t just affect millions of factory workers and truck drivers. Bookkeepers, journalists, retail and food service workers, office clerks, call center employees and even teachers also face the threat of being replaced by machines.......... 83 percent of jobs paying less than $20 per hour could have substantial parts of their work given over to automation....... Around five million manufacturing jobs have been lost since 2000, with automation being a main factor. Many of those jobs were in Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Iowa — states that swung to Donald Trump in 2016. ...... about half of the Michigan workers who left the labor force may have filed for disability and many might never get off it, as the rate at which people come off disability benefits is extremely low. We then saw surges in suicides and drug overdoses to the point where life expectancy has either declined or stayed flat for three years in a row, something that hasn’t happened since the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918......... ....stock market prices don’t mean much to the 78 percent of workers in this country who are living paycheck to paycheck or the 40 percent of workers who are a $400 bill away from financial crisis ........ Human-centered capitalism would ensure that people are more important than money and that markets exist to serve our common goals and values....... four in 10 people in the United States live with unhealthy air or that nearly three in five adults with mental illness do not get treated..........

Our G.D.P. is over $20 trillion, and yet the average American is struggling.

..... A millennial has only a 50-50 chance of doing better than their parents. For someone born in the 1940s, the likelihood was 90 percent. The American dream is dying by the numbers.


For Andrew Yang, New Hampshire is a "homecoming" and a big bet At the very top of every New Hampshire stump speech, presidential candidate Andrew Yang notes his somewhat tenuous connection to the state: "How many of you know I went to high school in New Hampshire?" ..... "When I first showed up here in New Hampshire, I was like, does that count?" Yang chuckled to college students at Plymouth State University. "They were like, 'Oh yeah, that counts.'" ...... While other 2020 contenders have slashed New Hampshire based staff and travel in favor of Iowa, Yang has spent more days campaigning in the Granite State than any other presidential candidate this year, with more than 70 appearances in 2019 alone. He placed a "mid-six figure" television ad buy in the state on Thursday, rolling out two new spots. ........ ....Last month, the political upstart rendered a bold declaration about his campaign to nearly one hundred witnesses in a packed coffeehouse: "If this does not come out of New Hampshire, it dies." ....... Conversations with half a dozen of Yang's high school friends reveal a rebellious teen, albeit the kind that still aces exams and arrives early to Glee Club. "Andy" was "low-key funny," wore a black trench coat, and openly hated school. ...... "James Dean was like a rebel without a cause, right? He didn't give a s***," high school friend and close confidant Fiona Singer says. "He's a rebel with a cause, for sure. The free-thinking kind." ...... Hat sales have raised $1.2 million for the campaign, accounting for approximately 8% of all fundraising revenue........ "To give you an order of magnitude, you're looking at something like 60,000 voters would put you in the top 2 or 3, in all likelihood, in New Hampshire," he said recently at a rally in Boston........ "If we get 60,000 people on board with our message in New Hampshire, then imagine the headlines in February of 2020."



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Thursday, November 14, 2019

The Real Burj Khalifa (In The Foreground)

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#Dubai 🦒

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