#UAE's Phoenix Group plans to launch IPO on #AbuDhabi Securities Exchange

UAE's Phoenix Group plans to launch IPO on Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange

Phoenix Group, the Abu Dhabi-based blockchain and crypto solutions company, on Friday said it would go public as it aims to expand and boost its offerings.

Founded in 2017, Phoenix aims to float its initial public offering on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange. It has not specified the timeline or size of the IPO.

Phoenix said it would be the first privately owned crypto and blockchain entity to be listed on a Middle East stock market.

“The impending IPO will not only be a testament to our past achievements but a clear signal of our ambitions,” Phoenix’s co-founders Bijan Alizadeh and Munaf Ali said.

IMF Urges Middle East’s States to Roll Back Grip on Economies - Bloomberg

IMF Urges Middle East’s States to Roll Back Grip on Economies - Bloomberg

The International Monetary Fund called on states across the Middle East and North Africa to curb their dominance over their local economies, one of a brace of proposals it said would boost the region’s sluggish growth.

“Leveling the playing field between public and private firms is a key priority,” Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said Sunday in a statement. She also urged more efficient and targeted social assistance, as well as a revamp of education and training systems to meet the needs of an estimated 100 million youth coming of working age in the next decade.

“Many countries in the region are still struggling to ensure greater and fairer opportunities for all,” Georgieva said as IMF and World Bank meetings in Marrakech, Morocco — the first on the African continent in 50 years — neared a close.

The IMF has revised down this year’s economic growth estimate for the Mideast and North Africa to 2% from 3.1%, citing oil production cuts that have taken a toll on the region’s largest economies such as Saudi Arabia.

Georgieva also called for greater participation of women in the workforce and using green investments as an engine of job creation. The region’s tax systems may also need redesigned to widen their bases and “reduce distortions,” she said.

“By working together, we can tackle old and new challenges and build a future for the region grounded in a more sustainable and inclusive model of development,” the IMF chief said.

Global markets brace for fallout as Middle East tensions rise | Reuters

Global markets brace for fallout as Middle East tensions rise | Reuters


The Israeli-Hamas war has sharpened focus on rising geopolitical risks for financial markets, as investors wait to see if the conflict draws in other countries with the potential to drive up oil prices further and deal a fresh blow to the world economy.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Sunday to "demolish Hamas" as his military prepared ground operations in Gaza to root out the militant group, whose deadly rampage through Israeli border towns stunned the nation.

Oil prices leapt nearly 6% on Friday, as investors priced in the possibility of a wider Middle East conflict. The first indicator of reaction to weekend developments will likely come when oil starts trading in Asia later on Sunday.

"It looks like we’re headed for a massive ground invasion of Gaza and a large-scale loss of life," said Ben Cahill, senior fellow in the Energy Security and Climate Change Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). "Anytime you have a conflict of this scale, you will have a market reaction."