Business

BRUSSELS — The European Union reached a deal Thursday to almost double the share of renewables in the 27-nation bloc's energy consumption by 2030 amid efforts to become carbon neutral and ditch Russian fossil fuels.

The provisional political agreement, which was reached after nightlong negotiations between the EU parliament and states, seeks to raise the share of renewable energy to 42.5 per cent, from 22 per cent today.

The EU has set an ambitious target to become a "climate neutral" economy by 2050, with net-zero greenhouse gas emissions.

The move also comes as it has sought to slash dependence on Russian fossil fuels after Moscow cut gas supplies last year and the bloc placed bans on seaborne crude and other petroleum products from the country.

"Renewable energy will... contribute to our energy sovereignty by reducing fossil fuel imports," European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans said, adding it would also mean cheaper energy for consumers and business.

But environmental groups criticised the agreement, saying it did not go far enough.

"A mandatory 45 per cent target would already be weak and outdated... anything lower than 45 per cent simply shows European disunity and lack of ambition," said Cosimo Tansini, policy officer for renewable energy at the European Environmental Bureau.

Cutting red tape 

The deal is a compromise between the 45 per cent share for renewables that was sought by EU lawmakers and the European Commission, the EU's executive branch, and the 40 per cent preferred by the states.

The previous target for 2030 had been set at 32 per cent.

The deal says member states should, however, make every effort to achieve 45 per cent.

The proposed directive also seeks cutting red tape for renewable energy projects.

The goal is to "fast-track the deployment of renewable energies" as part of the EU's plan "to become independent from Russian fossil fuels, after Russia's invasion of Ukraine", said a statement from the Council of the EU which represents the bloc's governments.

Companies have complained that red tape has slowed the development of such infrastructure.

Nuclear debate 

The agreement includes hydrogen, nuclear power and biomass on the list of sources of renewable energy along with solar and wind technology.

Biomass derives from organic material such as trees, plants and urban waste, and includes the burning of wood to produce electricity.

Scandinavian countries defend the practice, but it is criticised by environmental groups over concerns about its impact on forests.

Pascal Canfin, chairman of the European Parliament's environment committee, said the agreement sets strict rules on using biomass.

"The use of biomass is better regulated even if the parliament wanted to go further," Canfin, of the centrist Renew political group, said.

Markus Pieper, of the right-wing European People's Party, said the agreement makes biomass "100 per cent green".

Canfin said the deal also "recognises the specific role of nuclear [energy] which is neither green nor a fossil fuel".

The inclusion of nuclear power was hotly debated in recent weeks.

Major nuclear energy producer France and its allies wanted "low-carbon hydrogen", which is made using nuclear energy, to have the same status as hydrogen made from renewables such as solar and wind power.

A group led by Germany had been opposed to including hydrogen produced from nuclear power over concerns it would slow investments in renewables.

A deal was finally reached after Sweden, which holds the rotating EU presidency, proposed a compromise.

Canfin said the deal means that France will be able to use nuclear energy and not be forced to build renewables infrastructure to produce hydrogen for industry and transport.

"It was an absolute condition for France to support the final agreement," Canfin said.

AMMAN — The board of directors of Orange Jordan, represented by Shabib Ammari, invited several ministers, key figures, and media representatives to an iftar banquet to celebrate Orange Jordan’s achievements, led by Thierry Marigny, the company’s CEO who is leaving after five years, according to a statement from the company. 

The board also welcomed the new CEO, Philippe Mansour, who will join officially on April 1.

During the iftar banquet, Ammari thanked Thierry Marigny for his contributions to Orange Jordan and its vital role in driving progress in the Kingdom.

Ammari highlighted some of the company’s most notable achievements under Thierry’s leadership, such as digital transformation, the agreement with the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission to pave the way for 5G, the Orange Solar Farms project, and the company’s active role during the COVID pandemic.

Orange Jordan’s corporate social responsibility strategy witnessed “massive developments” over the past years, including the launch of the Orange Digital Village in Amman, Aqaba, and other governorates. 

The company’s free digital programmes expanded to more than 50 locations across Jordan to empower youth for the job market and entrepreneurship.

Marigny thanked Orange Jordan’s board of directors, executive committee, partners and guests. “I am happy with Orange’s achievement and positive impact in Jordan, digitally and socially, and I am certain that the company will continue to move forward under the new CEO," he said.

As the Chief Strategy Officer of the Orange Group and Chief of Staff to the Group CEO, Mansour has significant expertise in the telecom market. He holds a master’s degree in engineering from the Ecole Polytechnique and hold the title of Engineer in Chief of the French Corps des Mines.

Mansour occupied several roles in the industrial, telecommunications and energy sectors, and in high-level public administrations, such as the Budget Directorate, the Treasury and the Permanent Mission of France to the United Nations in New York before joining the Orange Group in 2018.

RIYADH — Undeterred by a crowded Gulf market, Saudi Arabia is going all in on an aggressive aviation expansion, with a massive jet order and the launch of a new national carrier.

The project aligns with a bid to remake the once closed-off kingdom as a business and tourism magnet, but analysts say that even with official backing, its path to success is complicated.

This month Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, unveiled Riyadh Air, the new airline which is intended to transform the capital into "a gateway to the world", according to state media.

Two days later, officials said Riyadh Air and Saudia, the kingdom's existing flag-carrier based in Jeddah, would purchase 78 Boeing 787 Dreamliner jets.

The deal, which the White House valued at "nearly $37 billion" with options for up to 121 planes, constitutes the fifth largest by commercial value in Boeing's history.

Riyadh Air's chief executive, Tony Douglas, told AFP that the airline would serve the international, regional and domestic markets — putting it in direct competition with Gulf heavyweights Emirates and Qatar Airways.

That raises hard questions about how Riyadh Air will grab market share, especially at a time when long-haul non-stop flights that avoid the Middle East altogether are on the rise, said independent aviation analyst Alex Macheras.

"Replicating and then building on the successful business models of Gulf airline neighbours is going to be tricky in a crowded market where passengers are spoilt for choice," Macheras said.

New role for Riyadh 

Saudia, also known as Saudi Arabian Airlines, was founded in 1945, receiving its first jet as a gift from US president Franklin Roosevelt.

At the time, instead of Riyadh, foreigners were more likely to enter the kingdom via Jeddah on the Red Sea coast, which remains the "Gateway to Mecca", welcoming millions of Muslims performing the hajj and umrah pilgrimages each year.

Foreign embassies did not relocate to Riyadh, in central Saudi Arabia, until the 1980s.

These days, however, Riyadh is at the heart of Prince Mohammed's "Vision 2030" reform agenda intended to help transition the world's biggest crude oil exporter away from fossil fuels.

Officials talk it up as a rival to Gulf business hub Dubai, predicting that its current population of 8 million will balloon to 15-20 million by 2030.

Last November, officials announced plans for a new airport in Riyadh that is set to accommodate 120 million travellers per year by 2030, up from roughly 35 million today.

The projected growth makes Saudia's current model — in which it effectively has two hubs, Jeddah and Riyadh — untenable, Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed Al Jadaan told AFP.

"Jeddah alone needs one airline to concentrate on it with the hajj and umrah... So you need an airline that is focused on Riyadh," Jadaan said.

The new airline and airport reflect a mentality of "if you build it, they will come", said Robert Mogielnicki of the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington.

"The question of what the demand side of this equation looks like has yet to be settled, but the Saudis must be pretty confident to push ahead with such a massive aircraft order," he said.

'Late to the party' 

The convenient location of airports in the Middle East — well-placed for flights to Europe, Asia and Africa — has helped fuel their rise as major hubs.

The trade group Airports Council International predicts the region's airports will see 1.1 billion passengers by 2040, up from 405 million in 2019.

Apart from Riyadh Air, Saudi Arabia is also launching NEOM Airlines, to be based in the planned $500 billion futuristic megacity of the same name.

Klaus Goersch, the airline's CEO, wrote in a recent blog post that it "will be operational at the end of 2024" and that NEOM itself could eventually become "a global aviation hub".

Saudi Arabia's expansion strategy hinges partly on tapping its roughly 35 million-strong population, which officials see as a major advantage over less-populated rivals like the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

But according to analyst Macheras, the Boeing order suggests Riyadh Air's vision is "long-haul driven, which is consistent with its goals of operating as a transit hub carrier".

Competitors are taking note.

"Riyadh Air will certainly eat up part of the market share in the region and the Asian markets in particular," said an official at Qatar Airways, requesting anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media.

"We are poised to face a tycoon-to-be."

Perhaps Riyadh Air's biggest advantage is its owner — the deep-pocketed Saudi sovereign wealth fund, which Macheras said will "cushion what will inevitably be an incredibly capital-heavy first phase" ahead of inaugural flights in early 2025.

"It's clear the airline, although late to the party, thinks there is room for one more at the table," he said.

MANAMA — With a multibillion dollar economic revamp in full swing, tiny Bahrain is vying to keep pace with its Gulf neighbours after more than a decade beset by political unrest.

It's a difficult path for the island nation that is a neighbour to gas-rich Qatar and connected by a causeway to Saudi Arabia, a key ally and the world's biggest oil exporter.

The United Arab Emirates, another regional powerhouse with well-developed trade, tourism and financial industries alongside its large oil sector, is just a short flight away.

Bahrain has witnessed turbulence since the crushing of an uprising in 2011 but has since begun a modernising facelift, instigating economic and fiscal reforms.

Extensive land reclamations are literally changing the shape of the country, while a host of gleaming new buildings dot the skyline and cranes work above nascent housing developments.

The small, non-OPEC oil producer, is seeking to decrease its reliance on its oil sector which accounts for 80 per cent of revenues, much of that from refining.

"The principles are clear: We want to grow. We want to grow faster than the world," Khalid Ibrahim Humaidan, head of the government's Economic Development Board, told reporters this month in Manama, the capital.

An unexpected boost could come from the announcement of diplomatic ties between Saudi Arabia and Shiite-majority Iran, which Bahrain accused of stoking unrest during the 2011 protests.

"In an optimistic scenario, the Saudi-Iran rapprochement would gather pace and create a more conducive environment for political conciliation within Bahrain which in turn could derisk the economy," Gulf Economist Justin Alexander, director of consultancy group Khalij Economics, told AFP.

Building spree 

Bahrain, a monarchy whose Cabinet is appointed by the king, boasts a rich commercial tradition dating back to its days as a flourishing pearling centre.

Consisting of one large island and about 30 smaller ones, it was a British protectorate until 1971, becoming a financial hub that initially led its neighbours in terms of economic diversification.

Increased regional competition, mainly from Dubai and Doha, but also political instability and economic challenges, especially after global oil prices plunged in 2014, have all hurt Bahrain.

The 2011 uprising, inspired by revolutions sweeping the region, ended in a crackdown against demonstrators who had demanded an elected government.

Sunni-ruled Bahrain, assailing the movement as a plot by Shiite theocracy Iran, banned opposition parties and jailed political opponents, drawing harsh international criticism.

In 2018, wealthier Gulf countries agreed to support Bahrain's economic goals with $10 billion in loans, giving rise to the current building spree.

As well as land reclamations for new housing projects and skyscrapers around Manama, Bahrain is building diving centres including an underwater park.

A new $1 billion passenger terminal at its international airport opened last year, doubling annual capacity to 14 million passengers.

Bahrain has also built one of the region's biggest conference centres, aiming to attract international events and visitors.

Investors' concern 

The country's financial planners aim to balance the national budget by next year, with its Economic Vision 2030 focused on reducing reliance on oil and gas and developing finance, logistics and tourism.

Many visitors to Bahrain stream across the 25 kilometre King Fahd Causeway from Saudi Arabia where alcohol is banned, unlike its more laid-back neighbour.

Manama wants tourism to contribute 11.4 per cent of GDP by 2026, up from around seven percent currently.

Last year, real GDP increased 4.9 per cent, the kingdom's highest growth since 2013, the finance ministry said on Monday.

"We're confident that we will continue going down that path and achieve the results that we desire," said Humaidan, who spoke as Bahrain hosted its annual Formula One Grand Prix, an event it has held since 2004.

With a footprint the size of New York City, Bahrain is a Western ally and hosts the US Navy's Fifth Fleet and a smaller British base.

The kingdom of 1.4 million, half of whom are foreigners, enjoys a strategic location along shipping routes — making it an important logistics hub, but also placing it at the heart of regional conflicts.

"Bahrain has tried to develop new sectors, such as fintech... However, since the 2011 protests and crackdown, the tensions in Bahrain's society have become a concern for investors," said Alexander.

But after the Chinese-brokered deal to end Iran and Saudi Arabia's seven-year rift, Tehran said it would also welcome restoring ties with Manama.

At the same time, Bahrain's Crown Prince Salman Bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, 53, who was appointed prime minister in 2020, is among a new generation of Western-educated Gulf leaders positioning themselves as a force for change.

BEIJING — Alibaba announced Tuesday that it would split into six business groups in one of the most significant overhauls of a leading Chinese tech firm to date.

The Hangzhou-based firm is one of China's most prominent tech giants, with business operations spanning cloud computing, e-commerce, logistics, media and entertainment, and artificial intelligence.

Daniel Zhang, the company's chairman and CEO, said in a statement that the restructuring would enable each separate business to pursue its own fundraising and public listing plans.

Alibaba claimed the moves were intended to "unlock shareholder value and foster market competitiveness".

Under the new arrangement, each of the six newly established units will be managed by its own CEO and board of directors.

A key exception to the restructuring is Taobao Tmall Commerce Group — the operator of one of China's top online purchasing platforms — which will remain wholly owned by Alibaba Group.

Zhang will remain in his post as CEO of the company, although day-to-day operations of the individual business units will be ceded to the new management bodies.

The company said the new structure would bring greater market visibility to the value of its diverse business operations.

These changes will not affect Alibaba shares currently listed in New York and Hong Kong, the firm said.

Aiming for a more "nimble structure", the reorganisation will also involve cuts to the firm's middle and back office functions.

Recent years have seen the Internet giant face unprecedented headwinds as Beijing has imposed tighter restrictions on the domestic tech industry.

Combined revenue at China's internet companies shrank by just over 1 per cent to 1.46 trillion yuan ($212 billion) in 2022, the first contraction in almost a decade, according to data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

Alibaba founder Jack Ma has kept a low profile since late 2020, when a speech he made attacking Chinese regulators was followed by Beijing pulling the plug on Alibaba affiliate Ant Group's planned IPO.

Having ballooned into a sprawling corporate behemoth since its founding in 1999, the company has been seeking new ways to drive growth and reinvigorate its development.

Referring to the plan as a "transformation", Zhang said in the statement that it would make Alibaba "more agile, enhance decision-making, and enable faster responses to market changes".

Ma has been spotted around the world over the past two years, but made a rare public appearance in China on Monday after his fall from grace.

The celebrity entrepreneur has recently emphasised the need for Alibaba to embrace artificial intelligence technology, as new tools such as ChatGPT appear poised to reshape the global industry.

RIYADH — The chairman of Saudi National Bank (SNB), the main shareholder of troubled lender Credit Suisse which was bought out this month, has resigned, a statement said on Monday.

The Saudi bank's board of directors "accepted the resignation" of Ammar Al Khudairy "due to personal reasons", said the statement published on the Saudi stock exchange.

Credit Suisse's shares plummeted on March 15 after Al Khudairy said the Saudi bank would not raise its stake from 9.8 per cent due to regulatory constraints.

The following day, Credit Suisse rallied on the stock market after grabbing a $54 billion central bank lifeline in a bid to restore investor confidence.

But fears about the health of the broader financial sector led to its takeover by domestic rival UBS on March 19.

In the aftermath of his comments, Al Khudairy tried to minimise what he described as a "panic". 

"If you look at how the entire banking sector has dropped, unfortunately, a lot of people were just looking for excuses," he told CNBC television.

"It's panic, a little bit of panic. I believe completely unwarranted, whether it be for Credit Suisse or for the entire market."

The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Saudi National Bank's $1.5 billion investment in Credit Suisse was made at the behest of the kingdom's de facto ruler, Mohammed Bin Salman.

It said that some officials at the Saudi sovereign wealth fund thought the move "was too risky... raising legal issues and the potential for large future losses".

'Multiple failures' 

In an interview with AFP following Al Khudairy's comments, Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed Al Jadaan did not comment on specific financial institutions but said "multiple failures" including on the regulatory front had fuelled troubles in the banking sector — "whether it is supervisory, whether it is management, whether it is concentration, whether it is mismatch of asset liability".

He added that he did not believe those risks applied to Saudi Arabia. 

"Just focusing on Saudi, you will go back to history, and you will hear a lot of comments that the two regulators in Saudi Arabia are quite conservative. And that's what we then benefit from in a situation of distress," he said. 

A media report on Sunday said the Swiss financial regulator Finma was probing how to hold bosses at Credit Suisse to account following its emergency takeover by UBS. 

"We are not a penal authority but we are exploring the corresponding possibilities," Finma chair Marlene Amstad was quoted as saying in an interview with NZZ am Sonntag weekly. 

Saeed Mohammed Al Ghamdi, who had been serving as Saudi National Bank's CEO, will replace Al Khudairy as chair, Monday's statement said. 

Talal Ahmed Al Khereiji has been appointed acting CEO, it said.

NEW YORK — Elon Musk has put the current value of Twitter at $20 billion, less than half the $44 billion he paid for the social media platform just five months ago, according to an internal e-mail seen by American news media.

The e-mail to employees referred to a new stock compensation programme in the San Francisco-based company and the allocation of shares to employees of X Holdings, Twitter's umbrella company since Musk purchased it in late October.

The compensation plan values the platform at $20 billion, slightly more than Snapchat's parent company Snap ($18.2 billion) or Pinterest ($18.7 billion), both of which are publicly traded, unlike Twitter. 

Musk, who is also the chief executive of Tesla Inc. and aerospace group SpaceX, said that Twitter would allow its employees to cash in shares every six months. 

A query from AFP emailed to Twitter's communications department generated an automatic response in the form of a poop emoji.

In the internal email, Musk describes the brutal contraction in Twitter's value. He says the platform faced such grave financial difficulties that at one point it was on the verge of bankruptcy.

"Twitter was trending to lose ~$3B/year," Musk said in a message posted Saturday on the platform.

He cited a revenue drop of $1.5 billion a year and a debt-servicing burden of the same amount — leaving it with "only 4 months of money".

Musk, Twitter's majority shareholder, added simply: "Extremely dire situation".

But he then said that "It looks like we will break even" in the second quarter of the year, with advertisers — many of whom fled the platform after the mercurial billionaire bought it — now beginning to return.

Since taking control, Musk has sharply cut the group's payroll from 7,500 employees to fewer than 2,000.

He said in the email that he sees a "clear but difficult path" to a valuation of $250 billion, without specifying how long that might take.

However, in another setback for the company, fragments of Twitter's source code were published on the development platform GitHub, the latter told AFP on Sunday, confirming a report by The New York Times.

GitHub removed the files from its site at Twitter's request, but their brief exposure could allow hackers to identify flaws in Twitter's original software.

AMMAN — Arab Jordan Investment Bank (AJIB) and Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) entered into an agreement on Sunday for the acquisition of Standard Chartered’s business in the Kingdom, following the Central Bank of Jordan's approval, according to a statement from AJIB.  

Under the agreement, the Corporate, Commercial & Institutional Banking, and Consumer, Private & Business Banking businesses of Standard Chartered in Jordan will be migrated to AJIB. Additionally, all SCB Jordan’s employees will be transferred to AJIB. The two banks will work closely in the coming months to provide a seamless transition for its their clients and staff.

According to Sunil Kaushal, the regional chief executive officer of Standard Chartered Bank in Africa & the Middle East, the agreement with AJIB for the sale of the bank’s business in Jordan is aligned with its global strategy to deliver efficiencies, reduce complexities and redirect resources within the AME region to areas with the greatest potential to drive scale, grow and better support clients. 

“Our agreement with AJIB will allow us to accelerate our strategy and leverage on their record of previous acquisitions to meet the financial needs of our clients. We will work closely with AJIB to service the needs of our global clients in Jordan. While we will be selling our local business, we will continue to facilitate and be a bridge for international capital flows into Jordan,” Sunil said. 

Commenting on the agreement, Hani Al Qadi, chairman of the board of directors of Arab Jordan investment Bank, said: “We are pleased to sign this agreement today and to have been selected by Standard Chartered Bank as the preferred buyer. Standard Chartered Bank is a leading regional and international bank with more than 160 years of experience, and has been present in Jordan for more than 98 years." 

"We are also pleased to announce that this agreement has already been approved by the regulatory authorities. We look forward to working closely with Standard Chartered’s team over the coming few months towards achieving a successful conclusion to this transaction without any impact on clients and employees.”

This purchase falls within AJIB’s strategy to grow its banking business market share in Jordan, which continues to expand following the bank’s series of landmark acquisitions of HSBC's banking business in Jordan in 2014, and the National Bank of Kuwait’s banking business in Jordan in 2022. Signing this agreement further enhances AJIB’s presence in the Jordanian banking sector, according to the statement.