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Hussain Al Nowais and Egypt PM Discuss Desalination and Green Hydrogen Projects

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Last Sunday Hussain al Nowais, Chairman of the Emirati Company, had the pleasure of sitting down with Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly. The two leaders discussed water desalination and green hydrogen projects.

Hussain Al Nowais was tasked with examining different proposed water desalination and green hydrogen projects that will be established in Egypt. His vision will be implemented with the cooperation of several specialized international companies.

As the leader of UAE-based AlNowais Investments, Hussain Al Nowais is leading the efforts to donate $1 billion over the next few years into renewable energy plants in Egypt. These efforts will be the latest in investments into renewable energy by AlNowais Investments. Other projects include solar and energy plants in 15 countries across the globe. These countries include Jordan, Tunisia, Morocco, Togo, Mauritania, and Egypt.

Egypt has shown a strong interest in different eco-friendly investments. The Prime Minister has worked to take different steps to invest in updating infrastructure to help lessen the country’s carbon footprint. Hussain Al Nowais has been an investor in Egyptian infrastructure since the middle of the 1980s. He notes that the country has shown great progress in recent years as they join several other countries in leading the fight against climate change. Meeting with the Egyptian Prime Minister allowed Al Nowais the opportunity to discuss the next wave of investments that will only further strengthen the progress being made.

Prime Minister Madbouly was interested in learning more about the technical aspects of the plans as Egypt places particular importance on water desalination and hydrogen projects. These efforts will be highlighted when the country hosts the upcoming Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27).

Currently, about 20 percent of the energy mix for Egypt or either new or renewable energy sources. The investments made by Hussain Al Nowais will go a long way towards helping the country reach its goal of raising this percentage to 42 percent by 2035.

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Al Nowais Investments invests $1 Billion in Egyptian solar and wind projects

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UAE-based Al Nowais Investments is putting $1 billion in two renewable energy plants in Egypt via its energy company AMEA Power. The plants will be ready in 2 to 3 years, the firm’s Chairman Hussain Al Nowais revealed.

The first project consists of a solar plant in Southern Egypt, and the second consists of a wind farm on the Red Sea. Both have a capacity of 500 MW each, he told Asharq, on the sidelines of an Economic Forum held in Cairo.

The company is currently in primary *discussions* with the Egyptian government regarding investments to establish desalination plants in the country, Al Nowais added.

He also showed interest in investing in the green hydrogen sector in the African country.

Hussain Al Nowais declared that his company is currently arranging a consortium, including German, Japanese and Italian companies, to produce green ammonia that could be used as a clean fuel source, he said.

Egypt plans to increase its renewable energy to 10,000 in the second half of 2023, Minister of Electricity Mohamed Shaker said.

The country can produce 90 GW of electricity from wind and solar currently. More than 7,600 unused square kilometers have been allocated to renewable energy, he said.

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New Program Can Help Martyr’s Families

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When it comes to economical help, martyr’s families don’t have many opportunities available for financial assistance but with the launch of a new program, many families may be able to see stable ground. The Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development launched the “Awnak” financing program specifically geared for families of martyrs. This program will help financially support these families to enable them to find stable sources of income through Awnak resources.

The launch of the program occurred just as the UAE announced November 30th will be marked as Martyr’s Day, which is to commemorate the UAE’s fallen heroes. Martyr’s Day is already recognized and honored in other countries which spurred the President to decree the national day to honor all those who gave their lives in civil, military and humanitarian fields. The term is of a religious origin that predates Islam and historically speaking, one of the first martyrs is to be Jesus, also known as Issa in Islam.

At any rate, this new program is said to be a part of Khalifa Fund’s efforts to return the favor of those who sacrificed their lives for the country according to chairman Hussain Al Nowais. It’s aimed to enable the children and families of martyr’s to have sources of income and a push to contribute to the economic development in the UAE.

Awnak will provide numerous financial facilities, resources and a series of services that’ll give applicants an exemption from payments that are included in various programs offered by the fund. Additionally, the beneficiaries of the program will be exempted from bank fees, fees from paid training and consultation sessions that will be covered by the Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development. Some of those trainings mentioned will include sessions that cover accounting and budget preparation, which will help those in the program learn responsible money managing skills.

Those in the program will also continue to receive support from Al Nowais throughout the steps of financing and until the project is fully launched so they have an understanding of how it works.

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The Khalifa Fund of the UAE Steps Up to the Plate to Help Egypt

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The recent turmoil in Egypt since the Arab Spring has left thousands if not millions in poverty and created economic instability in the country.  After several trying elections the country is beginning to show progress, but is still suffering from rolling power blackouts and a lack of funding in order to help develop various sectors of its economy rebuild, so that they  can once again contribute to the economy.  Fortunately for Egypt, it has neighbors who care about its economic development and stability.  You may have ready about the recent proposed agreements for funding of clean coal power plants in Egypt, but that isn’t all that’s happening.

Hussain Al Nowais, Chairman of the Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development has recently announced that the Fund has come to a loan agreement with the Egyptian Ministry of International Cooperation and the Egyptian Social Fund for Development.  The signing of the loan happened in November of last year and agreed to a total of 200 million USD being invested in the microfinance and development sector of Egypt.  Hussain Al Nowais believes this agreement shows both the intelligence and forward thinking of the leaders in both countries, and also the importance of deepening economic and political ties between the two countries.

The breakdown of the Khalifa Fund’s breakdown goes like this.  In the coming six years the goals of the loan is to create more than 200 thousand enterprises and provide over 200 thousand job opportunities.  The loan will focus heavily on promoting women and their development and empowerment in the economy.  By promoting women and focusing on the unemployed in the country the idea is poverty will be combatted and the national economy will begin to rebuild.

The focus on the microenterprises sector will target, “The remote areas and the disadvantaged groups and the need to intensify efforts to promote comprehensive developmental efforts towards upgrading the economically and socially, and providing a safety net of continuum towards achieving the developmental benefits” said Hussain Al Nowais.  By raising more people out of poverty in Egypt and being able to create meaningful employment they will reduce poverty.  This reduction in poverty will reduce people’s dependence on the state and reduce welfare.  The focus on women and those under the age of 35 also shows a critical acknowledgement by those in power of the importance that these groups currently play in Egyptian society and the role they will play in the future.

 

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Egypt Seeks to Revive Its Energy Infrastructure

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Energy independence and security are central to every nation in the world these days. Almost everything we do during our daily lives requires power, whether it’s cooking or doing our job. Without reliable power an entire country’s economy can be crippled and people who need medical care can face dire situations. Since the Arab Spring happened in Egypt and Hosni Mubarak’s ouster the country has suffered from power outages. During the summer of 2014 they grew more frequent and lasted even longer. This has made Egypt’s efforts to recover and become a fully functioning nation rather difficult.

In order to help Egypt recover, Abu Dhabi based Al Nowais Investments Group signed a $4.5 billion agreement with Egyptian Electricity Holding Company to build Egypt’s first coal-fired power plant in the Suez region. This will hopefully be the just the first in a series of new power plants that will help bring energy security back to Egypt thereby stabilizing its economy and ending the waves of blackouts that users are experiencing. Hussain Al Nowais, chairman of Al Nowais Investments Group signed the deal with Gabr el-Desouky, chairman of the Egyptian Electricity Holding Company.

“The environmentally friendly power plant, producing 2,460MW of energy, will not only sustain economic development but will also position Egypt as one of the global leading countries in the field of renewable energy,” according to Electricity and Renewable Energy Minister Mohamed Shaker. Soon following the announcement of the Suez region power plant was the creation of another deal by Chairman of the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company Ahmed Al-Hanafy. He has agreed to a $1.5 billion deal to build a coal-fired plant in the Delta governorate of Kafr el-Sheikh.

The deals didn’t stop there either though. At recent conferences the Egyptian Energy Minister has signed another 21.2 billion in deals. One of the deals signed is with Siemens from Germany for $10 billion. The project will develop four MoUs with production capacity of 6.6 GW. This deal and more will lead to the construction of power plants in Qena, Southern Cairo, Sedi Kirir and Kafr el-Dawwar. This massive shift in providing funding and making an effort to bring Egypt’s power infrastructure online will be a boon to the country and the world. Country’s where economic stability can be found are generally safer and are able to provide the world with goods. Egypt has had a tumultuous few years, but it appears as though it is beginning to climb back up as a fully functioning country.

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Abu Dhabi Investment Firm Hits Record Profits

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Waha Capital, an investment company in Abu Dhabi, reached an annual record profit recently. The investment firm benefited from dividends stemming from its holding in the New York-listed AerCap, an airline leasing company. Waha Capital had a net profit increase in 2014 that rose 465 percent to Dh1.73 billion, compared to 2013 where the net profit was Dh306.4 million. Analysts welcomed a strategic move by board members from Waha Capital that set a cash dividend of 25 fils per share, making it a 100 percent increase on the 2013 dividends.

This new record profit was the largest contribution of the earnings for Waha Capital that resulted from AerCap but the capital markets division in the firm was also responsible for above-market returns on their credit and equities portfolio. The stellar performance permitted a 51 percent return on equity for the year according to the chairman of Waha Capital, Hussain al Nowais.

Due to the monumental profit gains for Waha Capital, the firm plans to seek investment opportunities in emerging markets like the Middle East and Northern African regions. Hussain al Nowais, chairman of the firm, also is planning to invest Dh3.2 billion to develop a stronger infrastructure, energy and healthcare portfolio in the short term. All parties involved should be able to benefit from the investment resulting in growth and positive returns.

Additionally, the firm has already established a new unit in May that aims to drive future investments in the energy sector across the MENA region. Waha Capital invested Dh274 million in National Petroleum Services, a Dubai-based oil and gas company, with a 20.15 percent stake. This investment is one of the many that Waha Capital plans to continue and ended the year with a large customer base totaling 164,600 clients. As sectors emerge in the MENA region, Waha Capital will be on the lookout for profitable investments.

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SMEs Thriving In Ras Al Khaimah

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Large financial institutions in the United Arab Emirates have been making it difficult for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to obtain the finances they need to operate. Typically, the large banks focus on the bigger industries and turn a blind eye to SME operators. This practice has created some challenges to those in smaller industries and hasn’t helped the emirate’s economy as a whole. However, with recent support from the Khalifa Fund, local business in Ras Al Khaimah, a northern region member of the UAE, have received financial funding to stimulate the emirate economy.

The ruler of Ras Al Khaimah, Sheikh Saud Bin Saqr, has applauded the chairman of Khalifa Fund, Hussain al Nowais, because the funding has played a pivotal role in the economic turnaround for Enterprise Development. The investments from the Khalifa Fund have already begun to produce positive results by fueling the creation of numerous SMEs around the region.

Continued growth and encouragement in the SME sector will help boost local economic development that will eventually begin to contribute to the national economy. Chairman and organization leader, Hussain al Nowais, set up more than 24 training programs in Ras Al Khaimah that helped enhance the local SME development where 450 UAE men and women participated.

It’s extremely important to fuel the Enterprise Development in the UAE because local entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to provide their services and products to the community. This will lead to an increase in jobs for Emiratis which will be a positive rippling effect. With more people working, money will be circulated back into the economy, setting up for a brighter future. One of the greatest benefits from the Khalifa Fund is the ongoing support that will help SMEs recognize successful business strategies and how to avoid failures.