https://arab.news/2dy6r

PARIS: Ukraine’s grain maize (corn) harvest is expected to fall 24 percent below last year and 5 percent below the five-year average to 32 million tons, the EU’s crop monitoring unit MARS said on Monday in updated estimates for the war-torn country.

For sunflower, of which Ukraine is one of the world’s largest exporters, the harvest is expected to drop 15 percent from a year ago to 13.9 million tons, 2 percent below the five-year average.

“Russia’s war against Ukraine has seen a decrease in the area under grain maize and sunflowers. Consequently, our production forecasts for both crops is below the 5-year average, despite fair yield outlooks,” it said in a report.

Some 4 percent of the grain maize, 10 percent of the sunflowers, and 7 percent of soybean production is in areas currently subject to hostilities, MARS said.

For winter crops, for which the harvest is over, the share is at 22 percent of total soft wheat production, 20 percent for barley and 13 percent for rapeseed.

Analysts have been wrestling with how much grain Ukraine, usually one of the world’s biggest suppliers, will be able to harvest and export this year as war with Russia continues.

MARS’ estimates are based its own yield estimates and on area data from the Ukrainian Farm Ministry, apart from those in the war zones of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia, which are based on remote sensing, it said.

CAIRO: The financial technology industry has been one of the most promising sectors globally, and Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 blueprint is fueling fintech development in the country.

The Saudi government has been pushing initiatives toward the sector like never before. It set up Fintech Saudi, an initiative of the central bank to boost financial technology in all subsectors. In June 2022, the Saudi Cabinet approved the Kingdom’s financial technology development strategy focused on nurturing fintech players from 90 in 2022 to 525 by 2030. But given the sector’s enormous potential, do the numbers add up? Some successful startup executives believe there is considerable scope for development in the fintech sector, and more players yield better services and growth. “If you look at Saudi Arabia today, there are a lot of financial services that require advancement and improvement in consumer experience,” Abdulaziz Saja, general manager of Tabby Saudi Arabia, a leading buy now, pay later platform, told Arab News. Saja said that increased fintech players would benefit the Kingdom if each company focuses on a specific service and creates value through specialization. The Kingdom is one of the largest economies in the Middle East and North Africa. However, compared to neighboring countries, the current number of fintech players would seem too low. For example, last year, the UAE and the UK had 136 and 2,047 fintech companies, respectively, compared with 82 in the Kingdom, according to industry figures. Indeed, with more fintech players, the sector will become more competitive. A founder of an 11-month-old Saudi fintech startup would see that as harmful for business, but Ali Alhazmi, CEO and founder of OXO E-Shops, believes otherwise. Alhazmi told Arab News that adding fintech players in the sector will drive competition, but it is necessary to boost growth. “Competition is a good thing for the market,” Alhazmi said, “adding new players will be healthy as it makes existing companies fight harder for their market share and deliver the right values for their customers, which will boost the economy.” The country has seen many entrepreneurs entering the market recently as the central bank granted two licenses in August, bringing the total number of licensed fintech companies to 19. Moreover, Djamel Mohand, chief operating officer of Foodics, a prominent fintech player in the Kingdom, stated that the growing number of licenses issued by the central bank indicates growth. “The fintech sector in Saudi Arabia is thriving at a light-speed pace. The two main factors are the booming number of  entrepreneurs wanting to disrupt the space and the exceptional support of the Saudi government from a regulatory, facilitation and access to capital perspective,” he told Arab News.  

RIYADH: International Business Machines Corp. will soon introduce remote-sensing technology in Saudi Arabia to track and measure carbon dioxide emissions and footprint, disclosed a top company official.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Global AI Summit in Riyadh, IBM’s chief technology officer for the Middle East and North Africa, Anthony Butler, told Arab News that the company will deploy artificial intelligence to achieve the Kingdom’s sustainability goals.

The American tech giant is partnering with the Saudi Authority for Data and Artificial Intelligence and the Ministry of Energy in driving AI in the industrial sector using some of their emerging technologies.

“Broadly, what we’ll be focusing on initially will be how we use artificial intelligence to address some of the challenges around sustainability,” Butler said.

Using multiple satellites and imaging technologies, the company will train an AI model to recognize and pinpoint various gas forms across the country. Doing so will help with earlier and better visibility of the problem, which is impossible with conventional measurement approaches.

Taking measurements of carbon emissions and installing sensors are costly, and sending people to monitor physically can also be time-consuming and expensive, he said.

Satellite technology, on the other hand, can identify hotspots in terms of greenhouse gas emissions in a city.

“Saudi Arabia has unique weather, and we will be testing the technology for the first time in these conditions. But we’re confident it will deliver value,” he added.

The technology, according to Butler, has been tested and even published in peer-reviewed journals. However, it will be introduced in the region for the first time.

IBM has delivered a lot of value to the oil and gas industry worldwide through its partnerships and its technology, said Butler.

He added that the company uses AI and other technologies to develop new materials that can store carbon dioxide, a paramount concern for the global oil and gas industry.

During US President Joe Biden’s visit to the Kingdom in July, IBM partnered with the Saudi information technology authority and committed to training 100,000 Saudis in advanced technologies, including AI.

RIYADH: The cloud computing association of Saudi Arabia will hold the Saudi Cloud Computing Conference from Dec. 5-6, said a senior official.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Global AI Summit in Riyadh, emerging tech adviser and expert at Saudi Cloud Computing Association Abdulaziz AlBatli told Arab News that the conference would be held annually, featuring global keynote speakers.

SCCC, set to debut by the end of 2022 in Riyadh, will showcase the latest advancements and breakthroughs in cloud computing, explore opportunities and define the industry’s outlook.

“We are inviting people from Europe and the US who are experts in such regard. We are also inviting local talent from Saudi and the region to deliver the lessons learned and success stories for cloud adoption,” AlBatli added.

He said SCCA is collaborating with several government entities to deliver the right message at the two-day forum. However, he did not confirm or deny whether deals could occur at the hybrid event.

The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology and the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development support the association, according to AlBatli.

“Through these two ministries, we run our programs and initiatives, not aiming for profit but to upskilling and rescaling the talents,” he added.

SCCA trains students and employees across the Kingdom on cloud computing and emerging tech and runs an awareness exercise to upskill people in general and specialists in particular about the types, risks and benefits of cloud computing.

He said the association has trained over 10,000 people in the past year and intends to double that number in the coming years, both in cloud computing and emerging technologies.

Besides the government affiliation, the association has also partnered with private entities.

“We have joined forces with other societies or associations to deliver the utmost programs to the beneficiaries,” he added.

When it comes to mindsets, the association’s role is to provide knowledge, know-how and change management.

SCCA also informs people that cloud computing has benefits beyond lowering costs, such as providing insight into how cloud computing ensures sustainability and data recovery in case of attacks and failures.

The association is also in charge of announcing programs and initiatives, accepting and enrolling beneficiaries, and preparing them for market enrollment.

The opening panel discussion, Saudi Vision 2030 for Digitalization and Data Storage Capacity Development, will explore the urgency to opt for cloud-based solutions and the Cloud-First Policy. It will also dwell on the Saudi public sector is migrating into the cloud.

RIYADH: Financial services company Lazard is set to hire Citigroup’s Saudi Arabia CEO Wassim Al-Khatib to support the boutique firm’s advisory operations across the Middle East and North African region.

Al-Khatib is expected to join Lazard as CEO for its MENA financial advisory business, Bloomberg reported citing people familiar with the matter.

Citigroup confirmed Al-Khatib's resignation and said that Carmen Haddad, vice chairperson for Citigroup Middle East and country officer in Saudi Arabia, will be taking over as acting CEO, as the bank seeks to replace him.

A representative for Lazard and Al Khatib couldn’t be immediately reached for comment.

Al Khatib joined the New York-based bank as CEO in Saudi Arabia in 2021 and was previously head of investment banking at NCB Capital for about 15 years.

The Saudi national was a leading figure in Saudi Aramco's initial public offering in 2019, the biggest ever share sale that raised almost $30 billion.

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia wants the EU to accept long-term contracts in green hydrogen investment opportunities, according to the European Council President.

Speaking on Friday, Charles Michel said the Kingdom offered to have the EU invest in its plans to develop green hydrogen as the bloc seeks to tackle the energy crisis.

He also said the UAE has proposed investment in its renewable projects.

“What they want to know is if we are ready to accept long-term contracts,” Michel said.

His comments came as he called on the EU to go beyond its current plans to tackle the energy crisis to make sure people can afford their energy bills.

“It’s good proposals, but more will be needed,” Michel told reporters, referring to the EU’s plans to bring down energy prices for the bloc’s citizens and businesses.

“On prices, there is a proposal on the table... it is good but is it enough? I don’t think so, I think it’s important to accelerate in terms of the electricity market,” he said, while highlighting the need to rework pricing mechanisms.

The EU executive has proposed raising more than €140 billion ($139.4 billion) to shield consumers from soaring energy prices by skimming off revenues from low-cost electricity generators and making fossil fuel firms share windfall profits.

EU energy ministers will discuss those proposals on Sept. 30 before national leaders of the 27 EU member countries meet a week later on the matter.

Michel, who chairs talks of the 27 national EU leaders, said the bloc needed to cut energy consumption as well as increase supply, a topic he discussed recently with Algeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. 

While he sealed no specific agreements, he said potential enhanced cooperation included increased energy supplies from Algeria to Spain, EU investment in upgrading gas links between Algeria and Italy, as well as a cable to carry electricity.

In Qatar, Michel said he discussed rerouting to Europe in the short term some LNG supplies earmarked for Asia.