BAHRAIN: Batelco Financial Services, a subsidiary of Batelco, has been granted a full operating license by the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB). Batelco is the first telecom company in the GCC to have received licenses for open banking (Account Information Service Provider, Payment Information Service Provider), as well as payment service provider and card processor,…
Thinkium to launch on GitHub
NEW YORK: Thinkium public chain announced to launch on GitHub, the world’s largest technology community, to realize partial open source of key functions. Thinkium concentrates on technology for five years, and has come up with a number of significant innovations. Crypto asset is often touted as an uncorrelated asset relative to conventional asset classes like…
CCL Industries buys Plum Paper LLC for $26 million
TORONTO: CCL Industries Inc. has acquired Plum Paper LLC, a privately owned, direct-to-consumer ecommerce business based in Oceanside, California. Founded in 2014, Plum Paper is a leading supplier of personalized planners, journals and related stickers. Sales for 2021 are forecasted to be approximately $11.5 million with an estimated 44% EBITDA margin. The debt free, all…
Brookfield Infrastructure sells North American District Energy Business for $4.1 Billion
BROOKFIELD: Brookfield Infrastructure has completed the sale of 100% of its North American district energy business, Enwave. The business has been divested through two separate transactions for total consideration of $4.1 billion on an enterprise value basis. Enwave’s Canadian business was acquired by Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board and IFM Investors on June 7, 2021,…
Pakistan witnesses highest ever electric power generation during FY21
§ Power generation is up by 8.1% YoY to 14,361 GWh (19,946 MW) during Jun’21, compared to 13,288 GWh (18,455 MW) during Jun’20. The rise in generation is witnessed due to higher generation on Nuclear, FO and Coal. § Major contributors during Jun’21 were Hydel (Share: 29%), RLNG (Share: 19%), Coal (Share: 18%), Nuclear (Share:…
Semiconductor shortage: Intel to acquire GlobalFoundaries in $30 billion deal
NEW YORK: Intel Corp is in talks to buy semiconductor manufacturer GlobalFoundries Inc for about $30 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported. A deal could help Intel ramp up production of chips at a time demand is at its peak and the company is looking to start producing chips for car makers that have struggled to keep operations running…
Pakistan receives 1.23 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan today received 1.236 million doses of COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca through COVAX. COVAX, co-led by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), Gavi (the Vaccines Alliance), and the World Health Organization, is a global initiative that works with governments and manufacturers to ensure COVID-19 vaccines are available worldwide to both higher-income and lower-income countries. Sameh Elfangary,…
Bank deposits up 10 percent, an all-time high
Banks Balance Sheets Fueled by Investment Book § Deposits of the banking sector have continued their upward trajectory, clocking in at PKR 19,795bn as at Jun’21, registering a 22% YoY jump while rising by a staggering 10% MoM. § Broad Money (M2) has seen an aggressive growth in tandem, posting a 13.7% YoY growth during FY21 while…
Armada Mercantile appoints Victor Cohen as CEO
VANCOUVER, B.C: Armada Mercantile Ltd. announced the appointment of Victor Cohen as Chief Executive Officer. Victor Cohen is a seasoned financier with excellent skills in evaluating business opportunities, risk, efficiency and profit potential. Mr. Cohen is a founder, funder and managing director who oversees a group of established finance companies such as Hardmoneymobile.com, a leader…
ALYI confirms order for 2,000 electric motorcycles
DALLAS, TEXAS: Alternet Systems Inc. (ALYI) today confirmed an order for 2,000 electric motorcycles. The order supports the planned rollout of a comprehensive Electric Vehicle (EV) Rideshare and rental solution in Africa beginning with electric motorcycles. ALYI has recently launched a comprehensive pilot bringing together a host of partners in Kenya to support a soup…
Cruz Cobalt acquires drill ready solar lithium project in Nevada
VANCOUVER, B.C: Cruz Cobalt Corp. has entered into a share purchase agreement to acquire a drill ready lithium project in Nevada consisting of 155 contiguous claims totaling 3,100 acres prospective for lithium. Cruz management plans to immediately apply for a drill permit and expects to be drilling this project as soon as possible. Nevada is…
Balanced agriculture policies, value chain investments needed to curb food inflation
KARACHI, PAKISTAN: The government needs to introduce balanced agriculture policies and modernize the value chain to control food inflation and manage strategic reserves of certain commodities in Pakistan, according to experts who participated in the Agri Webinar Series organized by Engro Fertilizers and Pakistan Agricultural Coalition. The session, titled “Rethinking Pakistan’s approach to managing food inflation and…