A weekly round up of the top headlines from the digital sector in MENA, covering startups, corporate and the public sector.

In this week’s edition: A clarification on the “Further readings” section, and an announcement that you could for now join a whatsapp group (admin posting only) for the daily headlines – right here

Investments & Acquisitions

Rain, Bahraini crypto exchange, raises investment from Vision Ventures http://bit.ly/2EcsWir (Rain was incubated at the Central Bank of Bahrain)

Eunimart Multichannel, “AI-powered” cross-border e-commerce platform, raised bridge funding from UAE-based digital services company TMT Connekt http://bit.ly/2SoTP82 

Trella, Cairo trucking marketplace, raises $600k led by Algebra Ventures http://bit.ly/2SlBLvu 

ServiceMarket.com raises $4M from Emaar & AddVenture in Series B Funding http://bit.ly/2SkK5LL 

Nana Direct, Saudi grocery delivery startup, raises $6M from MEVP, Impact 46 and SVC (twitter) http://bit.ly/2Tm8lBM

JustClean, Kuwait’s on-demand laundry, raise $8M from Faith Capital http://bit.ly/2SoT9j0 

Jumla Club, Kuwait’s B2B F&B platform, “seven-figure pre-Series A” funding from GCC based individual investors http://bit.ly/2IyPIXh 

Emaar buys remaining 49% of website Namshi (previously acquired 51% before launching Noon.com) https://reut.rs/2GNjENq 

EMPG, parent company of Bayut, acquires Rocket Internet’s Lamdui Bangladesh http://bit.ly/2SZMe50 

Sector News (sectioned)

Investment Landscape

MEVP announces $125M regional fund (twitter) http://bit.ly/2H6Z3mT

Equinox Gold Announces $130 Million Strategic Investment by Mubadala Investment Company https://prn.to/2Srr5LA 

Speed@BDD, Beirut based accelerator, raised funding for the next three years of acceleration and decrease equity-stake from startups to 5% http://bit.ly/2T1fUhR 

Etihad Airways and the Department of Culture & Tourism – Abu Dhabi Partner with Plug and Play ADGM https://prn.to/2EiQHW4 

Fintech

Central Bank of Bahrain issues final rules on Crypto-asset services and Crypto-asset exchanges http://bit.ly/2VmOJLo 

Wahed Invest has received an associate membership approval from the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI), a global standard for sharia-compliant financial operations http://bit.ly/2BWRtYt 

Emaar denies that it will be accepting crypto-payment for real-estate http://bit.ly/2EvKTtJ 

According to SAMA “2.3B transactions over the last year alone (through SAMA supported payment gateways), with a total financial value exceeding SR50T” http://bit.ly/2BRwg2d

Al Rajhi Bank, Saudi-based Islamic bank, appoints Temenos to “power” digital transformation http://bit.ly/2ICZfwf

Telecom

Turkcell, Turkish Telecom, Introduces Blockchain ID Management Product http://bit.ly/2SumR5V 

Etisalat partners with Huawei to deploy Next Generation Modular Data Center http://bit.ly/2SwjLOO & with Ericsson for 5G network http://bit.ly/2ToRVZi (bridging China and the US)

Zain (KSA) partners with Huawei for new video streaming service http://bit.ly/2BYaytl 

Further Readings: The Bigger Economic Picture

This segment usually focuses on things beyond tech. As I’m seeing increasing big moves in the region that may help facilitate startup growth and economic stability

Warner Music Group is in talks to buy a large minority stake in Rotana Music (who invested in Deezer and empowered their growth into MENA) https://on.wsj.com/2T9AnBm

Abdul Latif Jameel Land and Al Muhaidib Group form JV facilities management company in Saudi http://bit.ly/2tJIo0Q

Jumeirah Group unveils new luxury hospitality project in China’s Zhujiang New Town Central Business District http://bit.ly/2Vlw3vc 

Acwa Power, Saudi-based and PIF backed, signed an agreement with the Egyptian Government for an electricity plant with capacity of 2,250MW in Luxor, with total investments estimated at $2.5B (the company will also finalize three projects, valued at $200M and with a total capacity of 160MW, at Benban Solar Park in Aswan by the end of June) http://bit.ly/2ExnpUQ 

BlackRock and KKR are acquiring a 40% stake in UAE’s ADNOC Oil pipelines http://bit.ly/2NqYYLG, ADNOC distribution also just inaugurated first service station in Saudi http://bit.ly/2Szu1Gf

Emirates NBD will complete the takeover of Turkey’s DenizBank in the first half of this year http://bit.ly/2tLF3OO

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