The U.S. economy expanded at a 2.9% annual pace from October through December, ending 2022 with momentum despite the pressure of high interest rates and widespread fears of a looming recession, AP reported.

Thursday’s estimate from the US Commerce Department showed that the nation’s gross domestic product — the broadest gauge of economic output — decelerated last quarter from the 3.2% annual growth rate it had posted from July through September.

Most economists think the economy will slow further in the current quarter and slide into at least a mild recession by midyear.

First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), the UAE’s largest bank and one of the world’s largest and safest financial institutions, has successfully issued a 5.25-year US$ 600 million bond at US Treasury +105 Basis Points (bps) which resulted in an all-in yield of 4.514 percent, on 19th January 2023.

This marks FAB’s second USD issuance in a space of ten days following the successful US$ 500 million RegS 5-year Sukuk issued on 9th January 2023. FAB has now become the only regional bank to have successfully accessed the debt capital markets twice this year.

The US$ 600 million bond issue was also the first USD conventional bond issuance from a Middle East and North Africa (MENA) FI issuer which also achieved the lowest spread (UST +105bps) by any bank globally for a fixed USD 5-year conventional bond in 2023.

The bond received orders of US$ 1.75 billion representing a nearly 3x oversubscription with 76 percent of the issue placed with high-quality investors outside the MENA region. Pricing represented a deeply negative new issue premium which is a phenomenal achievement when compared to global banks (including G-SIBs) paying an average 10bps new issue premium on their issuances.

Rula Al Qadi, Group Treasurer at FAB, commented, “We are delighted with the success of our second capital markets offering in January 2023. Having achieved a deeply negative new issue premium, especially when taking into account the intra-day movement in USTs, is a great result. This success reinforces FAB’s position as a ‘flight-to-quality’ for global investors. We have now updated our Senior curve in both Sukuk and Bond format this year, which will enable us to deploy a more efficient pricing strategy across our balance sheet.”

Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprise Development, Zambia.

As per the MoU, Khalifa Fund will provide US$15 million (equivalent to AED55 million) to the African nation to support their SME sector.

The MoU was signed in the presence of Sheikh Shakhboot bin Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of State: Alia Abdulla Al Mazrouei, CEO of Khalifa Fund; and Stanley K. Kakubo, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation for Zambia; to promote a culture of entrepreneurism, create new enterprises and jobs, and empower local youth and women for an economically robust Zambia.

The MoU will fund various sustainable projects and contribute to creating jobs for the youth and women in Zambia.

Al Mazrouei said, “This MoU signifies the exceptional ties between the UAE and Zambia through Khalifa Fund’s efforts in boosting a culture of entrepreneurism and is encouraging disruptive and innovative startups and SMEs to scale faster in Zambia. Through this, we aim to empower young people and women by providing the right opportunities and jobs, and overall making it easier for small and medium-sized enterprises to grow with the right capital investments.”

For his part, Kakubo expressed his gratitude for Khalifa Fund’s incredible support, which will enable the development and growth of the Zambian economy and society as a whole. He also highlighted the strong and friendly ties between the two countries.

‘’This support will enable us to recognise and offer the right support to mission-driven, innovative companies and offer support to more young people and women so they can come forward and play their role in transforming Zambia for the better,” he added.

AD Ports Group has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Tosyalı, one of Türkiye’s largest private steel producers, which has operations in three continents.

The MoU looks to establish the framework for AD Ports Group to collaborate with Tosyalı on a broad range of shipping, logistics, ports, and freight forwarding services, including potentially jointly investing in new port facilities to support its export operations.

With 30 manufacturing plants, including associates and joint ventures in Türkiye, Algeria and Angola, Tosyalı has an annual manufacturing capacity of more than 10 million tonnes of steel, with significant volumes shipped to markets around the world.

The company operates an organised industrial site at Iskenderun Port, Türkiye, and is involved in developing the new Erzin Port.

AD Ports Group expanded its shipping fleet and logistics operations in 2022 through strategic acquisitions and joint ventures, positioning the company as an ideal partner for the fast-growing steel producer.

Executives are confident that the collaboration will contribute to the developing trade relationship between the UAE and Türkiye, which saw non-oil trade between the two countries grow by 54 percent year-on-year in 2021 to AED50.4 billion.

Capt. Mohamed Juma Al Shamisi, Managing Director and Group CEO, of AD Ports Group, said, “AD Ports Group is pleased to sign this agreement with Tosyalı, which is the leading steel company in Türkiye and the biggest steel producer in Africa. Our integrated business offering enables us to provide a full suite of shipping, logistics and port services for customers like Tosyalı, supported by innovative digital technology. We are grateful for the support and guidance of the UAE’s leadership that enables us to pursue global agreements of this nature.”

Fuat Tosyalı, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Tosyalı Holding Co., said, “We aim to deploy shipping and logistics facilities that can bring our products to market quickly and efficiently and contribute to the growth of our nation’s exports. We believe we have found a strong partner in AD Ports Group, which matches our international ambitions and provides a wide range of services and expertise supported by a world-class fleet.”