GFH Bank announced the successful completion of the exit from its joint investment in “Sabre Power Investments”. The offering was designed to provide an improved balance between risks and returns for investors, as it combined a joint investment in the private investments of Saber Power Services with a portfolio of liquid assets that enhance the return.
During a short holding period, this combined investment structure tripled the capital invested and provided investors with cumulative net cash distributions of approximately $173.5 million, while GFH executed its co-investment in Cyber Power Services alongside Schroders Capital, and Greenbelt Capital Partners led the investment to expand the critical electric infrastructure services platform operating in the United States.
Cyber Power is an integrated platform that provides solutions that include engineering, design, construction, testing, commissioning and maintenance of critical electrical systems, and serves customers in the sectors of utilities, technology, industry, energy and data centres, in addition to renewable energy and battery energy storage systems.
Hammad Younis, CEO of GFH Equities and Chief Investment Officer at GFH, said: “We are proud of the success of this important exit from Saber Power Investment, which was achieved at a time when global markets are facing many macroeconomic and geopolitical challenges, including a slowdown in exit deal activity.”
He added: “This result reflects our disciplined approach to investing and enhancing value, as well as our ability to identify sectors and companies qualified to benefit from strong long-term trends. It also stresses the importance of cooperation with leading investment institutions such as Greenbelt and Schroders, in addition to distinguished management teams whose interests align with the interests of investors.”
The third edition of the Dubai Artificial Intelligence Festival, organized by Campus Dubai for Artificial Intelligence, affiliated with the Dubai International Financial Centre, will begin in Dubai next Monday, with the participation of government officials, leaders of technology companies, investors and experts from around the world, to discuss the rapid developments in artificial intelligence technologies and their implications for the global economy.
The festival will be held on October 26 and 27 at the Dubai World Trade Center, under the directives of Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, Chairman of the Executive Council of the Emirate of Dubai, and in cooperation with the Office of the Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications.
The third edition comes within the framework of Dubai's efforts to expand its presence in the technology sector and the digital economy, in light of the growing global investments in artificial intelligence and the increasing discussions regarding regulating its uses and economic and social impacts.
The festival, which is held under the slogan “Where intelligence meets opportunities,” focuses on the transformations taking place in economic sectors as a result of the expansion of artificial intelligence applications, in addition to the relationship between technological development, investment and regulatory policies.
Arif Amiri, CEO of the Dubai International Financial Center Authority, said that artificial intelligence is witnessing rapid development, making it one of the main engines of economic growth, competitiveness and productivity globally, noting that the festival aims to bring together policy makers, investors and companies developing these technologies to discuss governance frameworks and expand the scope of their applications.
The festival's program addresses a number of issues related to the future of artificial intelligence, including global governance, agentic artificial intelligence, institutional transformation, computing infrastructure and capabilities, investment trends, as well as ethical aspects and the future of the labor market.
The discussions also touch on the uses of artificial intelligence in the financial services, government, healthcare and industry sectors, and the challenges associated with developing the infrastructure necessary to operate advanced models, and securing the investments required to expand its use.
The festival is scheduled to attract representatives from more than 100 countries, with the participation of more than 150 speakers, 500 investors and 200 exhibitors, according to organizers, who expect the events to witness discussions on financing opportunities and partnerships between startups and major institutions.
The digital payments market in Saudi Arabia is moving toward a new phase, driven by the expansion of the use of artificial intelligence and changing consumer behavior, amid expectations that new technologies will gradually contribute to dispensing with entering bank card data and moving to payment systems that rely on biometric authentication and smart agents.
Saud Siwar, Regional Director of MasterCard in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Jordan and the Arab Levant countries, revealed that about half a million merchants currently benefit from the e-commerce services provided by the company’s portal in the Kingdom, indicating that investing in the local infrastructure for payments represents one of the main axes to support the growth of the digital economy, in conjunction with the company’s expansion in artificial intelligence and cybersecurity solutions.
Siwar explained that the MasterCard portal allows e-commerce transactions to be processed locally, and provides more than 30 payment methods, in addition to solutions for risk management and fraud detection and prevention. Last year, the company obtained accreditation to process electronic transactions through the new e-commerce payments interface of the Central Bank of Saudi Arabia.
He added that the localization of the technical infrastructure contributes to enhancing operational flexibility and providing the capabilities necessary for the growth of digital commerce, while protecting consumers depends on technologies that include coding, biometric identification, and secure 3D authentication.
Regarding the future of payments, Siwar expects that passkey and biometric authentication technologies will gradually eliminate the need to enter bank card numbers, allowing consumers to make payments through various digital channels, whether through internet browsers, voice assistants, or artificial intelligence agents.
He pointed out that the shift towards what is known as “agent commerce,” in which artificial intelligence agents carry out shopping and payment tasks on behalf of users, will constitute one of the most prominent changes in the digital commerce sector in the coming years.
