Saudi Arabia may boost World Cup bid hopes with African Super League sponsorship.
Saudi Arabia is in talks over a $200m sponsorship deal for a new African Super League football competition, according to reports by UK news outlet the Guardian.
The new football tournament is part of plans to raise interest and revenue for football in the region and is part of Confederation of African Football (CAF) development plans.
Supported by FIFA and its president Gianni Infantino, CAF has mulled a 24-team tournament.
Saudi African Super League plans
Super League plans have been in discussion for five years and any future competitions could be lucrative for both clubs and football development in the continent.
When first announcing the tournament in 2022, Infantino said that an African Super League would generate revenues of $100m, making it among the top ten leagues in the world.
He also planned an appeal to raise $1bn in order to give every African country a football stadium that complies with the specifications of FIFA.
According to the Guardian report a competition could launch as early as the 2024-25 season, with Saudi Arabia sponsoring a simplified eight-team tournament at launch.
Last week CAF signed a five-year deal with the Saudi Arabian Football Federation to “foster growth opportunities for African and Saudi Arabian football”.
CAF president Patrice Motsepe said: “CAF is excited to work together and partner with the Saudi Arabian Football Federation to develop and grow football on our continent and globally.
“There are also specific areas for mutually beneficial partnerships that we are discussing and announcements will be made in due course.”
The strengthening of ties between Saudi Football authorities and the games governors in Africa could boost a long-planned bid for the Kingdom to host the FIFA World Cup.
Last year Saudi Arabia’s Sports Minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Faisal says Saudi Arabia would love to host a future World Cup.
Prince Abdulaziz confirmed Saudi Arabia is interested in hosting a future World Cup bid.
“Why not? Who wouldn’t want to host the World Cup?,” he said. “We host a lot of events in the region.
“Any country in the world would love to host the World Cup. It’s an amazing tournament and it’s good for every country to host such an event.
The 2026 World Cup will be hosted in North America, with Canada, Mexico and the US sharing duties. The soonest the Kingdom could host the tournament is 2030 and no official host nation has yet been named.
Art Dubai exhibition delivers $39m boost, creates 23,500 hotel bookings.
Art Dubai has announced that the five-day event, held March 1 to 5 2023, delivered a direct economic impact of AED143m ($39m) to the city.
New figures revealed in an economic impact study by leading independent market research consultancy IPSOS also showed that the renowned art fair attracted 23,500 hotel nights bookings to the city.
The recently announced figures demonstrate a significant rise in economic impact, surpassing the most recent comparable data by more than 55 per cent (compared to AED92m in 2019).
Art Dubai economic impact
The increase reflects Dubai’s progress as a burgeoning cultural and creative hub and highlights its unprecedented growth as a global destination.
Held under the patronage of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, the 2023 edition was Art Dubai’s most successful to date, featuring over 130 contemporary and modern exhibitors from more than 40 countries and the strongest-ever participation of regional and international institutional representatives.
Hala Badri, Director General of the city Culture and Arts Authority, said the emirate is experiencing a comprehensive creative and cultural movement, which is playing a pivotal role in realising Dubai’s cultural vision of establishing the emirate as a global centre for culture, an incubator for creativity and a thriving hub for talent.
They said: “At Dubai Culture, we are keen on supporting the cultural and arts sector in the emirate by adopting innovative methods capable of attracting talent and art enthusiasts, in addition to providing creative platforms that allow artists to express their ideas and expand their creative contributions that enrich Dubai’s art scene.
“The remarkable successes achieved by the 16th edition of the Art Dubai exhibition reflect Dubai’s global position as a vital hub for artistic and creative events.
“Art Dubai has matured and developed into a unique moment in the international art calendar, convening Dubai’s brightest and best cultural and artistic minds each year.
“The figures announced in the economic impact report further underline the importance of world-class cultural programming in attracting people worldwide to this unique city.”
Benedetta Ghione, Executive Director, said: “The published economic impact data serves to underscore Dubai’s continued growth and development as one of the major cultural centres of the art world and the cultural capital of the Global South.
“2023 was Art Dubai’s most successful to date, and our 2024 edition will continue to build on the reputation we have nurtured over the past two decades, reinforcing our unique position in the art market and continuing to push the boundaries of what an art fair can do.”
The major art event is the premier platform to see and buy art from the Global South. Across contemporary, modern and digital gallery sections, annual artist commissions and year-round collector and education programmes, it champions art and artists.
It has established itself as a regional cultural hub and an increasingly important meeting point for the Global South’s art world.
The city has experienced rapid growth over the past 10 years, and the fair now welcomes top collecting and institutional audiences from the UAE, the region and internationally.
The event, held in partnership with A.R.M. Holding, has gained sponsorship from Julius Baer, a Swiss Wealth Management Group.
The fair has also garnered support from HUNA, a culturally-rich developer and partner. The Culture and Arts Authority serves as the fair’s strategic partner, and Madinat Jumeirah provides a stunning venue for the event.
The 2024 edition will take place at Madinat Jumeirah from March 1 to 3, with previews on 28 and 29 February.
Dubai is at the heart of everything FinTech, providing one of the world’s best ecosystems to foster innovation, attracting record investments and growth at an accelerated pace.
With the success of Dubai Fintech Summit in providing a truly global platform for the world’s Fintech community, the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) – home to the largest financial ecosystem in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia (MEASA) region – is reaffirming its position as one of the world’s top fintech hubs, attracting record investments and growing at an accelerated pace, with new company registrations surpassing 1,000 for the first time in history to reach total number of active registered companies of 4,377.
Organised on May 8 and 9, the DIFC’s Dubai Fintech Summit served as the platform for more than 5,000 experts, policymakers, industry leaders, thought leaders, and decisionmakers to come together and share ideas, knowledge and perspectives that can help unlock a new phase of exponential growth for the global financial sector. DIFC leveraged the Dubai Fintech Summit platform to bring together banks, fintech startups, and regulators from across the world to further stimulate the digital advancement of the financial sector and shape the future of finance.
“The financial centre has been expanding five-fold faster than the emirate’s average gross domestic product growth over the past 10 years, contributing about 6 per cent to its GDP,” said H.E. Essa Kazim, DIFC Governor, during his keynote address.
He further added that “a key growth driver over the past three years has been fintech and innovation companies contributing over 27 per cent to the centre’s overall client growth.” Proactive approach taken by policymakers and measures taken to provide the right ecosystem to enable innovation, investing, investment, and growth have all contributed to the rapid growth of the fintech sector, he added.
Fintech and innovation, in particular, has been a strong growth area for DIFC in 2022, with the hub now home to over 686 fintech companies that include startups and global unicorns. DIFC is also working towards identifying, enabling, and growing 10 high-calibre fintech startups, based in both India and the UAE, into unicorns by 2025, as part of the partnership it entered into with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) LEAD to launch the India-UAE Startup Corridor.
“There is no denying the fact that UAE is one of the most attractive countries for investment. The business environment here has always been conducive to the needs of major global companies. What’s most amazing is how the UAE and the Middle East have always stayed ahead of the curve and embraced the best of new and emerging technologies. With business-friendly environment, we believe that the region will see exponential growth when it comes to becoming a hub for startups and entrepreneurship,” Kush Mehra, President and Chief Business Officer of Indian fintech major Pine Labs told.
Earlier this year, leading merchant commerce omnichannel platform Pine Labs, which recently forayed into the UAE market, said it will partner with local banks and financial institutions in the UAE to help them serve their merchant partners better. Banks in the UAE will benefit from a simple and easy-to-use technology stack that Pine Labs offers to build innovative products into consumer journeys. Local incumbent banks in the UAE will get seamless tech integrations that Pine Labs is known to deliver the speed and scale.
Going forward too, experts believe the focus on tech and innovation, digital transformation, and foreign trade, among other transformational projects, will drive an increase in foreign direct investment to over 650 billion dirhams over the next decade and an annual 100 billion dirhams in contributions from digital transformation. This, in turn, will enable the emirate to cement its position among the top three global financial centres and meet its ambitious 10-year D33 economic targets by 2033.
Hydrocarbons will remain an integral part of energy mix for the foreseeable future, says Haitham Al Ghais.
Underinvestment in the oil and gas industry could lead to increased oil market volatility, Opec secretary general Haitham Al Ghais said on Monday as he urged the industry to ensure that the energy transition is inclusive.
“Investment is urgent to account for an annual decline rate in production … and despite the urgent need for investment, we have heard disheartening calls to divest from hydrocarbons,” Mr Al Ghais told attendees at the Middle East Petroleum and Gas Conference in Dubai.
The Opec chief said lack of investment in the sector would “endanger” energy security and economic growth.
The oil producers group estimates that the world needs $12.1 trillion in investment to meet rising oil demand by 2045.
Demand for oil as a primary fuel is expected to increase to 101 million barrels equivalent a day in 2045 from 88 million barrels equivalent a day in 2021, Opec said in its World Oil Outlook last year.
“The reality … is that oil and gas will continue to be an integral part of the energy mix for the foreseeable future,” said Mr Al Ghais.
With global oil demand growing at 8 million barrels per day, the world could face a supply crunch due to western sanctions on Russian crude exports, Fereidun Fesharaki, chairman of FGE Consultancy, told delegates.
Russia can maintain production at about 10 to 11 million bpd, but 2 million bpd of future growth is unlikely to materialize amid price caps, he said.
China, the world’s second-largest economy and top crude importer, reopened its borders in January after enforcing a strict zero-Covid policy for about three years.
The Asian country, which is aiming for gross domestic product growth of 5 per cent this year, is set to be a big driver of crude demand this year.
“China’s fundamentals are shaky, but strong enough to take us through … its oil demand will peak by 2027 or 2028,” said Mr Fesharaki.
Brent, the benchmark for two thirds of the world’s oil, has lost more than 12 per cent of its value since the beginning of the year amid demand concerns and a regional banking crisis in the US, which rattled financial markets
There are a lot of “negative signals” in the US, but unemployment is low, Mr Fesharaki said.
“Until the unemployment situation changes in a big way in the US, there is no signal that there is a recession.”
Brent was trading 0.34 per cent lower at $75.56 a barrel at 01.07pm UAE time on Monday. West Texas Intermediate, the benchmark for US crude, was down 0.66 per cent at $71.45 a barrel.
Last month, Opec+ members Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman and Algeria announced voluntary output cuts of 1.16 million bpd.
The cuts, which will be in place from May until the end of the year, are meant to ensure oil market stability, the producers said at the time.
The oil market has been “more at ease” with the current supply and demand outlook, Mike Muller, head of Vitol Asia, said at the event.
This is in part due to the “elimination” of the risk premium arising from sanctions on Russian crude, he said.
“There was a real concern that Russian oil would not come into the market because players would not be able to cope with the impact of sanctions,” he said.
The Vitol executive said he expected crude demand to rise by 2 million bpd in the second half of the year, compared with current levels, thanks to higher consumption in Asia.
“This is primarily the winter effect in Asia … but also a strong view that we still have that pre-Covid demand yet to come,” said Mr Muller.
Abu Dhabi’s clean energy company will also develop 500 megawatt-hours of battery storage at sites across the country.
Abu Dhabi’s clean energy company Masdar has signed a joint development agreement with Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Energy and Ministry of Investments, Industry and Trade to develop more than 2 gigawatts of solar and wind projects in the Central Asian country.
The company will also develop 500 megawatt hours of battery energy storage at multiple sites across the country, Masdar said on Friday.
The deal is part of Uzbekistan’s push to generate 25 per cent of its energy from renewables, comprising 7 gigawatts of solar and 5 gigawatts of wind capacity by the end of the decade.
“The UAE is fully committed to supporting countries to decarbonise,” said Dr Sultan Al Jaber, Cop28 President-designate, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and chairman of Masdar.
“Uzbekistan is a key strategic partner, and we continue to work together to deliver renewable energy projects that power homes and businesses, while crucially cutting emissions. The world needs to triple global renewable energy capacity by 2030 to reach the goals set out in the Paris Agreement.”
Investment in renewable energy technology globally hit a record of $1.3 trillion last year.
However, that figure must rise to about $5 trillion annually by 2030 to meet the key Paris accord target of limiting temperature increases to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, Abu Dhabi-based International Renewable Energy Agency said in its World Energy Transitions Outlook 2023 preview in March.
Renewable capacity must grow from about 3,000 gigawatts currently to more than 10,000 gigawatts in 2030, an average of 1,000 gigawatts annually, it said.
“As we prepare to host Cop28 in the UAE, we believe ambitious partnerships with countries like Uzbekistan are vital in helping to meet this target,” Dr Al Jaber said.
Masdar, which nearly doubled its clean energy capacity to 20 gigawatts in two years, has been active in Uzbekistan since 2019, with the 100-megawatt Nur Navoi solar project — the nation’s first successfully financed independent solar project. The plant has been operational since 2021.
The company’s growing portfolio in the country also includes the 500-megawatt capacity Zarafshan plant, the largest wind farm in Central Asia as well as three solar projects in Jizzakh, Samarkand and Sherabad,which have a combined capacity of about 900 megawatts.
Once fully operational, the planned projects will generate enough electricity to power over one million homes, while displacing around one million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually, according to Masdar.
The new agreement “marks an exciting new chapter in Masdar and Uzbekistan’s shared journey”, said Mohamed Al Ramahi, chief executive of Masdar.
Masdar is active in more than 40 countries and has invested or committed to invest in projects worth more than $30 billion.
The company, which is jointly owned by Adnoc, Mubadala Investment Company and Abu Dhabi National Energy Company, better known as Taqa, is targeting a renewable energy capacity of at least 100 gigawatts and an annual green hydrogen production capacity of up to one million tonnes by 2030.
Abu Dhabi investment arm received nearly $29bn in proceeds during the year by monetising assets at strong valuations as assets swelled to $276bn.
Mubadala Investment Company, Abu Dhabi’s strategic investment arm, said it invested Dh107 billion ($29.13 billion) last year across sectors and received proceeds of Dh106 billion ($29 billion) by monetising assets at strong valuations.
The investments were made in sectors including life sciences, renewable energy and digital infrastructure, in line with the company’s strategy to invest in industries shaping the future, Mubadala said on Friday.
Assets under management across the group stood at Dh1.01 trillion ($276 billion).
Growth was supported by a strong performance in real estate, infrastructure and alternative investments, including private equity and private credit, Mubadala said.
The company did not, however, disclose its total comprehensive income for 2022, but that figure stood at Dh122 billion in 2021.
“Despite global headwinds affecting financial markets and investor sentiment, we outperformed benchmarks, staying the course with our long-term strategy of investing in key markets and sectors,” said Khaldoon Al Mubarak, Mubadala’s managing director and group chief executive.
“Although the macroeconomic environment remains uncertain we are focused on investing for the long-term based on our convictions.”
He added that Mubadala sees significant investment potential in Asia in sectors including technology, digital infrastructure and energy transition.
The company “will continue its active monetisation programme to recycle capital into high-potential sectors and geographies”, Mr Al Mubarak said.
Mubadala, which invests on behalf of the Abu Dhabi government, is at the heart of the emirate’s efforts to diversify its revenue base and generate income from sources other than oil.
The sovereign fund’s investment portfolio spans six continents. It has interests in multiple sectors and asset classes, including aerospace, information and communications technology, semiconductors, metals and mining, renewable energy, oil and gas and petrochemicals.
“We continue to focus on our capital deployments in line with our strategy, supported by prudent management of our finances, underlining the strength of our business and investment approach,” said group chief financial officer Carlos Obeid.
Last year, Mubadala backed two of the 10 biggest deals in health care, investing alongside EQT in Envirotainer, a provider of cold chain solutions for the pharmaceuticals industry and, together with Warburg Pincus, in the $2.6 billion purchase of Informa Pharma Intelligence — a data and software company for clinical trials and drug development.
Last year, Mubadala backed two of the 10 biggest deals in health care.
In renewable energy, Mubadala said it invested $525 million together with BlackRock Real Assets in Tata Power Renewables, one of the largest renewable energy companies in India, supporting the growth of Mubadala’s clean energy portfolio.
Along with co-investors including Global Infrastructure Partners Mubadala also acquired a 100 per cent interest in Skyborn Renewables, the world’s largest private offshore wind developer.
The investment included a stake in GIP’s 50 per cent interest in Bluepoint Wind, a 1.6 gigawatt project off the coast of New Jersey and New York.
Mubadala last year also invested in sectors providing stable financial returns, such as real estate and hard infrastructure, according to Mr Al Mubarak.
“We increased our exposure to other alternative investments, including private equity and private credit, to help weather the disruption to traditional asset classes,” he said.
Khaldoon Al Mubarak, Mubadala’s managing director and group chief executive.
This included starting to deploy capital into European real estate credit via a new joint venture with Ares, an alternative investment company.
A $2.1 billion private equity partnership transaction was also carried out by Mubadala’s wholly owned asset management subsidiary, Mubadala Capital, with France’s Ardian.
There was also a partnership with KKR to jointly invest across performing private credit opportunities in the Asia-Pacific region.
During the year, Mubadala invested heavily in digital infrastructure, with $350 million investment into Princeton Digital Group, a pan-Asia data centre company focused on expanding world-class data centre services to meet increasing demand across Asia. Mubadala also invested £800 million ($997.23 million) in CityFibre, the UK’s largest independent full-fibre platform.
Earlier this month, Mubadala said it was investing $500 million in US-based broadband and telecoms services company Brightspeed, alongside investment funds managed by affiliates of New York-listed Apollo Global Management.
Meanwhile, Mubadala’s proceeds in 2022 included the sale of a 24.9 per cent stake in Borealis, the Austrian market leader in base chemicals and fertilisers.
The group and global commodity trader Trafigura completed the sale of Minas de Aguas Tenidas (Matsa) for $1.87 billion.
Mubadala also sold its remaining shares in Glencore, it said.
Three themes outlined in Knowledge Fund Establishment’s Strategic Plan 2023-2025.
The Knowledge Fund Establishment in Dubai today launched its Strategic Plan 2023-2025 focused on further enhancing the emirate’s status as a leading hub for knowledge investments in the region.
The Plan revolves around three main themes: investment portfolio sustainability, educational asset allocation and educational initiatives management.
Under the first theme of investment portfolio sustainability, the Establishment aims to develop an investment portfolio that helps enhance the sustainability and diversification of investment sources. The investment portfolio will support educational initiatives in the emirate and help develop its educational system.
Under the second theme of educational asset allocation, the Establishment seeks to enhance investment opportunities in the education and knowledge sector and further attract investors from around the world. The Establishment seeks to create a compelling value proposition for investments in the emirate’s educational assets, including lands and facilities designated by the government to meet the education sector’s needs and achieve the emirate’s strategic objectives.
Under the third theme of the new strategy of educational initiatives management, the Establishment seeks to establish a competitive educational environment that encourages creativity and innovation and enables various segments of the community – including students, parents, and teaching staff – to benefit from the unmatched opportunities offered through the educational initiatives and projects that the Establishment is a part of, including Dubai Schools and the Mohammed Bin Rashid Distinguished Students Programme.
The Establishment will play a pivotal role in strengthening the emirate’s attractiveness for education service providers by making it easier for them to take advantage of the government’s initiatives.
Avenues for growth
Ahmed Abdul Karim Julfar
Ahmed Abdul Karim Julfar, Chairman of the Knowledge Fund Establishment, said: “The Knowledge Fund Establishment’s new strategy is in line with the vision and aspirations of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and the directives of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai, to further enhance the emirate’s educational sector and boost its competitiveness.
He added: “To achieve this, we strive to enhance knowledge and educational investment opportunities, develop a sustainable investment portfolio, and harness its revenues to support the growth of the education sector in the emirate.”
Abdulla Mohammed Al Awar
Abdulla Mohammed Al Awar, CEO of the Knowledge Fund Establishment, said: “Since its establishment in 2007, the Knowledge Fund Establishment has worked to fulfil the goals of the leadership to create a robust educational environment that supports the growth of the knowledge economy. With the launch of our new Strategic Plan, we will collaborate with our partners in the government and private sectors to enhance the positive impact of educational initiatives and projects designed to raise the capabilities of all segments of Dubai’s.
He added: “Based on our participatory approach, we are keen to involve all stakeholders in the process of developing the new strategy and designing initiatives and projects. We firmly believe in the importance of engaging these parties, who are a central part of the new Strategic Plan. We look forward to working with all of our partners to implement its objectives.”
India’s JV Ventures latest to confirm interest, plans $300m spend to buy existing schools.
Schools in the UAE are back at being hot investment choices, with new entrants lining up massive funds to build or acquire existing assets.
India’s JV Ventures is the latest to get into this space, with a top official recently confirming plans to spend up to $1 billion to buy between ’12-15 schools’ in the UAE and the region.
“About 30 per cent of the investment exposure would be for the UAE,” said Vishal Goel, the co-founder of JV Ventures. “We are in the advanced stages of discussion with some schools and will likely close it soon.”
The company’s portfolio includes the Jain Group of Institutions in Bengaluru and Sancta Maria International Schools in Hyderabad.
Investment model
The company is eyeing schools offering international curriculums with a fee structure ranging between Dh44,000-Dh90,000 a year. As part of the company’s investment model, JV Ventures will acquire the infrastructure from the current owner and lease it back to them.
The operation of the school is then entrusted to experienced school operators. “This approach allows schools to allocate more resources to educational initiatives by relieving the burden of infrastructure management from the school operator,” said Goel.
The UAE, and Dubai in particular, has one of the best private education regulators in the world. They have created a very healthy ecosystem for education, making it easy for parents to choose schools for their children.
– Vishal Goel, Co-Founder, JV Ventures
On the likely RoI, Goel said, “We are not investing in education; we are investing in real estate assets. Currently, global interest rates are very high, and since the dirham is pegged to the dollar, we are looking at a yield of 7 per cent on school assets.”
Investors are attracted by opportunities in the UAE education value chain, right from early childhood learning to enrolling for higher academic credentials.
With multiple new school openings already and many more in the pipeline, the sector is seeing investment inflows in the region of $500 million, said Ashwin Assomull, Partner at UK-based LEK Consulting and Head of its Global Education Practice.
More new schools
This year, the sector is preparing for the launch of at least six new schools, some of which could open as early in the 2023-24 academic year itself. Sources at Dubai’s Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) indicated that more school openings are on the horizon, with additional announcements expected in the coming months.
The new schools are – Noya British School, Cranleigh Abu Dhabi, Arcadia Global School, Nord Anglia International School Abu Dhabi, Rashid and Latifa, and a possible one from GEMS.
Earlier this month, Taaleem officially announced the opening date of Dubai British School – Jumeira Campus. The facility will open in August 2024 and cater for up to 1,650 students.
ENROLLMENT NUMBERS, SCHOOLS SKYROCKET IN DUBAI
2019- 2020 – 295,148 students in 208 schools
2020 – 2021 – 279,191 students in 210 schools
2021 – 2022 – 289,019 students in 215 schools
2022- 2023 – 302,262 students in 215 schools
2022- 2023 (Fall) – 326,001 students in 216 schools
Enrolment rates are skyrocketing. Dubai’s private school enrolment grew 4.5 per cent, admitting 326,001 students compared to 311,910 the previous year. The new institutions will add thousands of new seats nationwide.
“There have been several operators who have been waiting and watching to see how the UAE grows,” said Shweta Wahi, Director, Operations and People and Culture at Transnational Academic Group Middle East and at Curtin University Dubai. “A lot of the people on the fence are now making moves to enter the market.”
Multiple factors for success
Assomull said that by population growth alone (expected to surge to nearly six million in 20 years), UAE schools would organically see more enrolments.
The UAE’s high GDP per capita and the financial resources available to residents contribute to a strong demand for education services throughout the value chain. And there is a very strong correlation between enrollment in private schools and GDP.
– Ashwin Assomull, Partner LEK Consulting and Head of Global Education Practice
“With the situation around Russia and Ukraine, the wealthiest people (from there) have decamped to Dubai. From India, there is a continuous migration of folks. As taxes increase on European citizens, many UK and European expatriates are considering moving to Dubai.”
Assomull said all these present plenty of opportunities for new schools. “It’s a combination of local home-grown operators and new investors. Private equity investors are looking at investing in local platforms.
“For example, the global K-12 provider Cognita Education witnessed impressive growth in a short time in the UAE.”
Stiff competition
Shools offering unique concepts, innovative curricula, and disruptive products will be the winners, said Dr. Adil Al Zarooni, CEO of Al Zarooni Emirates Investments and founder of Citizen School.
The school was launched last academic year and has already exceeded 50 per cent of targeted enrolment rates, and more campuses are on the horizon. While existing curricula are highly effective, the need is for a unique ‘Dubai curriculum’, said Dr. Al Zarooni.
Entrepreneurship is no longer a privilege. It is survival. For the last 200 years, the education system has created ideal employees. That needs to change. We need to educate children to have entrepreneurship skills right from the get-go.
– Dr. Adil Al Zarooni, Founder, Citizen School
“One that trains students to become entrepreneurs, instead of workers, from the early years. Now is the time to ensure children develop skillsets that AI wouldn’t easily take on in the future. That is going to be a keyword in the education sector.”
“Irrespective of the target audience, demography, location, and price point, most schools today lack a clear focus on what their offering to the parents and students are.”
UK curriculum schools in Dubai performed best, followed by IB curriculum and Indian schools.
Dubai private schools have been ranked sixth in the world for reading and literacy skills.
The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) assessment, which is done every five years to measure the reading and literacy skills of grade four pupils worldwide, found that private schools in Dubai scored 566 points in the 2021 study – significantly higher than the global average of 500 points.
The latest results show Dubai schools, which feature in the top 10 for the first time, have increased their score by 76 points since 2011. In 2016, when the previous study was carried out, Dubai schools scored 527.
Schools rated Outstanding scored 631 points, while Very Good and Good schools scored 588 points and 564 points respectively.
UK curriculum schools in Dubai performed best in the assessment, scoring 588 points, followed by IB curriculum schools with 583 points and Indian schools with 567.
“These results are significant not just because they exemplify the world-class teaching and learning happening across our schools every day,” said Dr Abdulla Al Karam, KHDA director general.
“They are also an acknowledgement of how our school community worked together to overcome the restrictions in place at the time PIRLS was conducted.”
The PIRLS assessment found 27 per cent of pupils in Dubai private schools achieved the Advanced International Benchmark of 625 points, compared with 12 per cent in 2016.
A questionnaire in the study found that 87 per cent of Dubai private school pupils are confident in reading.
“The results from the latest PIRLS assessments reflect the performance of the school inspections, with Outstanding and Very Good schools outperforming global averages,” said Fatma Belrehif, chief executive at Dubai Schools Inspection Bureau.
“We are proud of our school community’s dedicated approach to supporting students through the pandemic and continuing to offer high-quality education during challenging times.”
The PIRLS assessment, which has been running since 2001, requires nine and 10-year-olds from grade four or year five to complete comprehension tests.
It provides internationally comparative data on how well children read by assessing students’ reading achievement in different countries.
PIRLS, which is run by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) in Amsterdam and Boston College in the US, assessed about 400,000 pupils in 57 countries.
On Sunday, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, praised the success of the UAE’s annual Arab Reading Challenge, which he said has become the largest such event in the world.
Sheikh Mohammed said 24.8 million school pupils from 46 countries had taken part in this year’s competition, the finals of which are expected to be held towards the end of the year.
The annual challenge, launched by Sheikh Mohammed in 2015, aims to encourage a million young people to read at least 50 books in a year.
The Arab Reading champion is selected based on the pupil’s ability to articulate general knowledge, critical thinking and communication skills, plus the diversity of books they have selected.
Blogger and sari influencer Kamal Kapur, on introducing the sari into our daily lives and the changing trajectory of the garment.
The sari has done it. It finally made its way to the global Met Gala red carpet as supermodel Naomi Campbell flaunted a sari-inspired gown from Chanel’s spring/summer 2010 couture collection. A silky salmon flowy fabric draped in visual cadence, covered by silver metallic embellishments for the blouse, the beauty icon gave hope that the sari may now be an international redcarpet staple, as argued by a wknd. cover story a few weeks ago. The sari also made an appearance recently at King Charles III’s coronation concert at the Windsor Castle as businesswoman Natasha Poonawalla wore a sheer nude sari and a bodysuit in a fusion twist.
But the sari has had a more robust legacy than what we see on stage and red carpets around the world. Just think of women with toddlers on their backs as they worked in fields and factories as well as homes. Their saris were laced in dyes, extracted from indigo, lac, red madder and turmeric. These are women who we now see painted across cave walls, ancient scriptures, and who became the muses of poetry, fables, and doe-eyed characters in black-and-white films. Kamal Kapur, an expat living in Dubai since 2001, likes to call the sari a working garment, and believes the traditional rigidity must be removed from the garment and should be embraced in diverse settings — be it daily life errands or parties. The blogger, who goes by the username ‘desibychoice’ on Instagram, has around 29.2k followers and is on a mission to normalise the sari within the desi community while removing the so-called traditional or ‘reserved for a Diwali function’ aspect from it. She goes on to tell wknd. about this dynamic relationship she has with the six-yards of elegance.
Journey along the drapes
Originally hailing from Chandigarh, India, when Kamal landed in Dubai, she went through the same dilemma that many expats do. What clothes to keep here? And the dawning realisation that many of her Banarasi and Jamdani saris would be collecting dust behind the closet’s doors. Every time she would go back home, bidding her saris farewell would be a downhearted affair. But it just so happened that in one of her social gatherings, she noticed how every Indian woman was wearing a gown and realised she wanted to break that system. From that day onwards, she made a conscious effort to wear saris in all her events and garnered some raised eyebrows and amused attention. “People would ask if I was dressing up for a fancy show, but later I realised they all started following me, saying, ‘Oh Kamal is going to be there, so I can wear a sari now, or wear a sharara. She is coming, I’m sure there will be some company’,” says Kamal. The power of a community has had a great impact on strengthening her purpose. “We downplay our tradition. Once we stand up for ourselves, the entire community will follow.”
On Kamal’s Instagram, one can see her donning saris in different locations, taking us back to Sridevi’s yellow chiffon sari moment as she ran amongst the green meadows in the Swiss Alps in Bollywood film Chandni. The blogger has also made a travelling sari, which has been to places like Switzerland, Scotland, Georgia, Banaras, and South Africa with her. “My first time was in Switzerland, and it was freezing cold, but I wanted to drape a sari. I wore a jacket and went, and then removed it once we reached the spot.”
Sari in the 21st century
“In ancient India, women were breaking bricks while wearing a sari and holding a child on their backs. We have complicated it in today’s world and reserved it for traditional occasions,” says Kamal, who believes in the modern world, a sari can be draped in any way, and infused with different cultures and styles to make it adaptable. “It is especially important for today’s young generation to embrace the sari. Just because mum told you to wear it a certain way and without showing your ankles, doesn’t mean it has to be worn that way. It is a fluid garment with drapes, do not restrict it,” says the influencer, who is often seen pairing a shirt with a sari, making it a modern fit for the workplace. Kamal doesn’t believe in stitching up a sari, as it ruins the concept at its core, and rather prefers to wear it in a drape. For a red-carpet sort of event, she prefers gown-like glamorous drapes, whereas for a causal lunch, she opts to wear an airy cotton sari. “I pick up whatever reflects my mood. All my saris are inspired by traditional and rural drapes.”
With the NMACC red carpet, where global stars like Gigi Hadid and Zendaya walked the soft baby pink ‘red’ carpet in sparkling saris, the spotlight shifted onto this versatile drape and now the trajectory of sari seems to be shifting. “Big stars wearing saris gives a comfort factor that what I have been wearing was right. People call me crazy sometimes, with the way I center my drapes and how different they can be.”
Overhyping of ‘empowerment’
To Kamal, empowerment is what comes from within, rather than external means. “When you start believing in yourself, that is when empowerment comes, and you become comfortable in your own skin. Being an expat here, we are so confused as to what we do or do not want,” says Kamal. The blogger often organises desibychoice meetups, where all the women turn up wearing saris, sometimes with a certain theme from a state of India. With the community that she has built, the women who were once hesitant to meet up in a mall with her wearing saris, can now be found in nightclubs and evening dinners draped in different styles of saris. “I call myself desi by choice because I am not desi by root because of my mother who is Indian. It’s because I want to be desi and have empowered myself to say that with the stamp. We do not want a reason to be this.”
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