Saudi Arabia, Sweden to bolster trade relations with joint economic action plan 

RIYADH: Abu Dhabi state fund Mubadala Investment Co. and UAE-based conglomerate Alpha Dhabi plan to co-invest up to 9 billion dirhams ($2.5 billion) in credit markets through a new joint venture. 

The two companies plan to use Mubadala’s relationship with US asset manager Apollo “to access high-quality private credit investment opportunities,” they said in a joint statement with Apollo. 

Mubadala will hold 80 percent of the venture, which will be based in Abu Dhabi Global Market – the emirate’s financial freezone – while the remaining 20 percent will be held by Alpha Dhabi, the statement said.

Mubadala’s venture comes after Abu Dhabi’s Chimera Capital made a foray into the $1.4 trillion global private-credit market last year.

“The asset class provides further diversification to our portfolio and attractive risk adjusted returns,” Alpha Dhabi CEO Hamad Salem Al Ameri said in the statement.

Kezad joins hands with Dana Group to set up steel plant in Abu Dhabi 

Dana Steel, a subsidiary of Dubai-headquartered Dana Group, has signed a preliminary agreement with Khalifa Economic Zones Abu Dhabi to establish a new steel plant in Abu Dhabi as the emirate is set to boost its manufacturing sector.

As part of the agreement, Dana Steel will invest in a 50,000 square-meter hot and cold rolling steel complex in Kezad. 

The new complex will have 500,000 metric tonnes a year of rolling capacity and will facilitate backward integration of Dana Steel’s continuous galvanizing and continuous color coating lines. 

“This approach will help boost Dana Steel’s manufacturing capacity in the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) by replacing imported raw materials, such as cold rolled full hard coils, with a new ‘Made in UAE’ supply,” Kezad Group said in a statement. 

Along with manufacturing metal products in Kezad Group’s Metals Hub, the Dana Steel plant will also have capabilities to recover and recycle waste acid. 

In a future expansion phase, Dana Steel will install a continuous galvanizing line and color coating line in the same Kezad complex. 

Foodtech startup Nourish raises $400k in funding round 

Nourish, an inflight meal booking platform in the UAE, has secured $400,000 in an investment round that was led by investors from the US, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt. 

Founded in 2020, the foodtech startup will use the funding to develop a new information technology and logistics network for commercial aviation.

Nourish deployed an application that connects airlines to airport vendors and a branded cloud kitchen in the terminals. It also created a new business model for commercial aviation to change unacceptable food quality and choices on planes. 

It has also recently inked its first agreement with the Ras Al Khaimah airport in the UAE. 

Nourish also aims to widen its supply chain network across several airports in emerging markets and reinforce its platform by hiring new talents. 

“Now passengers will be able to get what they want on the plane…whether that’s sushi, McDonald’s, or even a protein shake…and it will be served to you by the flight attendants at your seat,” Tom Eliopoulos, founder of Nourish, said during the Future Airport Development and Investment Summit that was held in Riyadh during Nov. 7-8, 2022. 

(With input from Reuters)