CAPE TOWN, South Africa — Former South African President Jacob Zuma on Thursday criticized the country’s highest court and his former allies in the ruling African National Congress over his disqualification from next week's election and said he would fight for his rights “in a disciplined way.”

Abu Dhabi: EFG Hermes, an EFG Holding company and the leading investment bank in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, announced today that its investment banking division successfully concluded a landmark USD 935 million Accelerated Equity Offering (AEO) for ADNOC Drilling Company PJSC ("ADNOC Drilling"), the biggest of its kind in the UAE. Placement constitutes a sale of 880 million shares priced at AED 3.90, representing 5.5% of ADNOC Drilling’s total share capital. EFG Hermes acted as a Joint Global Coordinator and Joint Bookrunner for the Offering. The AEO sets a new standard in the region due to its magnitude, reinforcing EFG Hermes's standing as the preferred advisor for significant landmark transactions. EFG Hermes, the leading investment bank in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), offers an extensive array of financial services, encompassing advisory, asset management, securities brokerage, research, and private equity.

CMA CGM announces ESS from the Middle East Gulf to worldwideShare This News Story:MARSEILLE : CMA CGM has announced an Emergency Space Surcharge (ESS/FRT59) effective from 5 June 2024, until further notice, applicable for shipments originating from the Middle East Gulf to North Europe (including Scandinavia, Baltic States, and Poland), the Mediterranean, and North Africa. This surcharge applies to Dry, OOG, and Paying empties cargo types, with a fee of US$250 per container.

NORTH ATTLEBORO, Mass. (WPRI) — Someone in Southern New England is holding onto a lottery ticket worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. The Massachusetts State Lottery announced Thursday that a Megabucks ticket sold at Pick ‘N Pay on South Washington Street in North Attleboro hit the $710,000 jackpot. A ticket worth $5.37 million was sold in Northborough in early May. The buyer of the North Attleboro ticket now has one year to claim their prize.

As more African countries choose to part ways with the US, the US military may be forced to fully withdraw from the Sahel region, fundamentally weakening its military presence there. Some high-ranking US military officials admitted that these withdrawals will significantly impact the overall US military layout in Africa. Following the upheavals in North Africa in 2011, terrorist organizations like ISIS took the opportunity to expand in the Sahel region. It is worth noting that the current US military layout in Africa includes various deployments, security cooperation, joint exercises and training, high-level military interactions, and other types of military exchanges. As the US shifts its strategic focus in Africa towards major power competition, its military layout in Africa will also be adjusted accordingly.

MENA Digest: Egyptian startup OneOrder, Saudi SaaS firm Merit lead fundingDealmaking in the Middle East and North Africa region during the week was propelled by high-value, growth-stage fundraises by tech-led startups across the UAE, Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. While Saudi Arabian SaaS startup Merit raised pre-Series B funding, Egyptian logistics player OneOrder secured Series A funding. MeritAdvertisementSaudi Arabian SaaS provider Merit raised $12 million in a pre-Series B funding round, led by Alistithmar Capital i-Cap to scale its operations and roll out new features. BirdnestBirdnest, an Egypt-based proptech startup raised pre-Series A funding of an undisclosed amount, led by Beltone Venture Capital and CI Venture Capital to geographically scale its business. According to Huspy, it raised funding at a higher valuation than the Series A round in 2022, when it raised $37 million.

The Gaza war poses several challenges for Egypt – from the prospect that Israeli military operations might end up pushing masses of Palestinians into the Sinai Peninsula to its repercussions for the already precarious Egyptian economy. In this video, Crisis Group’s Project Director for North Africa Riccardo Fabiani discusses how Cairo has turned the crisis somewhat to its advantage, leveraging Western fears that what is happening in Gaza could destabilise Egypt. But the risk of spillover remains, and the cash infusions Egypt has received could paper over economic problems whose solutions require structural change. Read the full briefing on the topic here.

The announcement came as Kenya's President William Ruto embarked on a historic state visit to the US to discuss with President Joe Biden the much-awaited deployment to the Caribbean nation and other bilateral issues. Kenya becomes just the fourth African nation to attain the status, and the first in sub-Saharan Africa, cementing Kenya’s status as one of the US’s closest allies on the continent. As a non-Nato ally, Kenya will have privileged access to sophisticated military equipment, training and loans to augment defence spending. The elevated security status could improve Kenya’s focus on intelligence gathering and strategic deployments. The non-Nato ally status remarkably upgraded the militaries of Tunisia, Morocco and Egypt.

These external pressures were gradually reflected in production costs and local products, and turned into internal pressures, exacerbated by internal supply shocks that affected certain foodstuffs due to the successive years of drought and water stress experienced by Morocco, added the Moroccan official. In this context, she noted, Bank Al-Maghrib (Morocco’s central bank) changed the orientation of its monetary policy for the first time in 14 years, starting in September 2022, by raising the key interest rate three times in a row by a total of 150 basis points to 3%. This restrictive approach to monetary policy, in line with the global trend among central banks, prevented inflation forecasts from worsening in order to facilitate their return to desired levels, she explained. Referring to the government’s fiscal policy, the official noted that in order to contain the negative effects of economic shocks, including inflationary pressures, emergency and targeted budgetary measures had been adopted to mitigate the effects of rising prices on families’ purchasing power. The government intervened at the very first signs of inflation with a series of urgent measures, notably through continuing to subsidize certain basic products by the Compensation Fund and granting exceptional support to professionals in the road transport sector, she recalled.

Japan and South Korea have announced separate sanctions packages targeting companies, vessels or individuals allegedly involved in supplying North Korean weapons to Russia for use in Ukraine, in violation of United Nations resolutions. Friday’s announcements come just days before the leaders of South Korea, Japan and China meet in Seoul for their first trilateral summit in nearly five years. The vessels were “carrying a large quantity of containers between Russia and North Korea transporting military supplies,” Seoul’s foreign ministry said in a statement. But North Korea recently bolstered ties with Moscow. Another was engaged in bringing diesel – a critical material for Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile development programmes – from Russia into North Korea, it added.

Moscow: Ukrainian military intelligence was directly involved in a deadly attack on a concert hall near Moscow in which over 140 people were killed, the head of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) Alexander Bortnikov said, TASS reported on Friday. Russia has made such allegations before. Bortnikov did not provide evidence to underpin his assertion. "The investigation is ongoing, but it is already safe to say that Ukrainian military intelligence is directly involved in this attack," the state news agency quoted Bortnikov as saying.

'Do not travel' and flood warnings as rain continuesHeavy rain has caused disruption in the North WestRail operators are urging people not to travel on services between the north west of England and Scotland due to flooding on the railway line. It comes after heavy rainfall on Wednesday, with a 24-hour amber weather warning remaining in place across north-west England until 12:00 BST. TransPennine Express and Avanti West Coast said services from Manchester, Liverpool, Preston and Oxenholme to Carlisle, Glasgow and Edinburgh were "significantly disrupted" and customers should find alternative arrangements. “The safety of our customers and colleagues is our priority and we are urging customers not to travel," a statement read. The Environment Agency has also issued a number of flood alerts across the North West.

The ETAA Committee North India is organising an international familiarisation trip to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, marking a significant moment for the association’s North India Chapter. With all 26 participating members enthusiastic and ready to embark on this journey, the excitement is palpable. Saurabh Tuteja, Chairperson, said, “With our hospitality partner The Sofitel Saigon Plaza, Ho Chi Minh City and event partners the Melia Beach Resort and The Grand Hotel at Ho Tram and our ground handlers DMC wale.com and Tourism LLC, the trip is packed with exploring new destinations and products to enrich the participating members’ expertise to sell the destination better in the Indian market. The three-night itinerary from May 24 to 27, 2024, promises a lot of learning, networking and fun activities for all.”Saurabh Tuteja, Chairperson of North India Chapter, along with Punit Bhasin, Senior Vice Chairman, Deepika Khanna, General Secretary, Praveen Ghai, Treasurer, Gaurav Arora, Joint Secretary, and Arush Mittal, Alliance Head, have been working hard to ensure the success of this FAM. Their dedication and efforts underscore the commitment of the ETAA Committee North India to providing valuable experiences for its members.

Egyptian startup OneOrder, a tech-enabled supplier and wholesale distributor for the food and beverage industry, is set to expand into the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region after raising a US$16 million Series A equity and debt round of funding. It banked a US$3 million seed round in December 2022, and has now raised a US$16 million Series A round led by previous investor Delivery Hero Ventures, with participation from Norrsken22, alongside existing investors Nclude and A15. The company will use the capital to expand into the GCC region, which includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), later this year. “Like many supply chains across Africa and the MENA region, HoReCa is extremely fragmented and relies on manual processes involving multiple stakeholders. “We are honoured to lead OneOrder’s Series A round and grow our investment as the company revolutionises the HORECA supply chain in the MENA region.

Political technology, or the professional engineering of politics, has been endemic to Russia since the Soviet era. And the political engineering industry goes well beyond mere online disinformation. In this week’s episode, Mark Leonard welcomes Andrew Wilson, senior policy fellow at ECFR and professor of Ukrainian studies at University College London, to discuss political technology and the globalisation of political manipulation. Where did the term political technology originate? This episode was recorded on 21 May 2024BookshelfPolitical Technology: The Globalisation of Political Manipulation, by Andrew WilsonHow to Steal a Presidential Election, by Lawrence Lessig and Matthew Seligman