The Fortune Arabia stable of business magazine hopes to cash in on the growing demand for regional content online.
Fortune UAE was launched in June last year in Dubai but Fortune Arabia does not expect to have its own website until the end of this year. Initially, it will probably be free.
"We delayed a Fortune Arabia website because we need to prove the investment in the physical medium first, considering that until now paper still enjoys the trust of the market," says Bilal Hijjawi, the monthly magazine's former managing editor. "This could be changing in the next 10 years."
The main source of revenue for Fortune Arabia, the Arabic versions of the US global business magazine, is advertising.
The print circulation for Fortune UAE, produced here,is 9,500 with 9,000 for Fortune Kuwait, produced in that country.
The relatively small online advertising spending in the region has a great deal to do with the low penetration of Arabic content on the internet, according to the Arab Media Report 2011-2015.
But that is not the only reason. A tradition of free online content, and low supply, has also contributed to the problem.
Less than 1 per cent of the content online globally is in Arabic, while Arabs make up 5 per cent of the world's population, a report by Deloitte and Touche highlighted.
About 30 per cent of the population in the Middle East and North Africa region used the internet at the end of last year, says a report from the International Telecommunications Union in Geneva.
"There is growth in online Arabic content but the penetration is low compared to the potential," says Santino Saguto, a partner and consultant at Deloitte and Touche Middle East, who contributed to the report. "It's a matter of monetisation; how to generate revenues out of the online content."
Media companies can only do this by providing quality content such as television series, movies, sports coverage and music for websites and mobile applications.
"When they create websites they shouldn't replicate the content of the paper," said Mr Saguto, referring to Arabic newspapers. "There must be additional content [for the online portal]."
The value of online advertising in the region is still small, accounting for only 4 per cent of the total ad spend last year.
"All it needs is further promotion of entrepreneurship, a push from the government sector, as in Qatar's digital content cluster, and increasing regional presence of international heavyweights such as Google and Yahoo," says Mr Saguto.
Free access to Arabic content in the region has also stifled growth as consumers are reluctant to pay to enter media sites, the Arab Media Report points out.
"A majority of the population takes free online content for granted," says Shadi Al Hasan, the managing director of Flagship Projects in Dubai that creates adverts and apps. But content creation in Arabic is growing. One of the apps Flagship Projects developed is called Rufoof, which serves as a gateway to the world of Arabic magazines and newspapers as well as books. Readers can access more than 5,000 publications on its virtual shelves.
The demand can be gauged from the 90,000 customers it has attracted since it launched in 2010, in large part because the app is free to download, along with 75 per cent of the content.
"That's because we want to build the client base," says Mr Al Hasan, referring to the free content. "And that's why we need massive investment."
Following its success, Rufoof was founded as a company last year but has yet to break even. "There is huge demand for Arabic content online but the supply is poor," says Mr Al Hasan.
Mr Hijjawi echoes that view.
"While expertise to create online content in Arabic is slowly growing, the content is not that great," he says.
"You see a fascination with football, cars and singers but no serious business or science writing."
ssahoo@thenational.ae
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Yemen's Bahais and the charges they often face
The Baha'i faith was made known in Yemen in the 19th century, first introduced by an Iranian man named Ali Muhammad Al Shirazi, considered the Herald of the Baha'i faith in 1844.
The Baha'i faith has had a growing number of followers in recent years despite persecution in Yemen and Iran.
Today, some 2,000 Baha'is reside in Yemen, according to Insaf.
"The 24 defendants represented by the House of Justice, which has intelligence outfits from the uS and the UK working to carry out an espionage scheme in Yemen under the guise of religion.. aimed to impant and found the Bahai sect on Yemeni soil by bringing foreign Bahais from abroad and homing them in Yemen," the charge sheet said.
Baha'Ullah, the founder of the Bahai faith, was exiled by the Ottoman Empire in 1868 from Iran to what is now Israel. Now, the Bahai faith's highest governing body, known as the Universal House of Justice, is based in the Israeli city of Haifa, which the Bahais turn towards during prayer.
The Houthis cite this as collective "evidence" of Bahai "links" to Israel - which the Houthis consider their enemy.
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Company%20profile
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Lamsa
Founder: Badr Ward
Launched: 2014
Employees: 60
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: EdTech
Funding to date: $15 million
TEACHERS' PAY - WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Pay varies significantly depending on the school, its rating and the curriculum. Here's a rough guide as of January 2021:
- top end schools tend to pay Dh16,000-17,000 a month - plus a monthly housing allowance of up to Dh6,000. These tend to be British curriculum schools rated 'outstanding' or 'very good', followed by American schools
- average salary across curriculums and skill levels is about Dh10,000, recruiters say
- it is becoming more common for schools to provide accommodation, sometimes in an apartment block with other teachers, rather than hand teachers a cash housing allowance
- some strong performing schools have cut back on salaries since the pandemic began, sometimes offering Dh16,000 including the housing allowance, which reflects the slump in rental costs, and sheer demand for jobs
- maths and science teachers are most in demand and some schools will pay up to Dh3,000 more than other teachers in recognition of their technical skills
- at the other end of the market, teachers in some Indian schools, where fees are lower and competition among applicants is intense, can be paid as low as Dh3,000 per month
- in Indian schools, it has also become common for teachers to share residential accommodation, living in a block with colleagues
Skoda Superb Specs
Engine: 2-litre TSI petrol
Power: 190hp
Torque: 320Nm
Price: From Dh147,000
Available: Now
Profile
Company: Justmop.com
Date started: December 2015
Founders: Kerem Kuyucu and Cagatay Ozcan
Sector: Technology and home services
Based: Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai
Size: 55 employees and 100,000 cleaning requests a month
Funding: The company’s investors include Collective Spark, Faith Capital Holding, Oak Capital, VentureFriends, and 500 Startups.
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
Tamkeen's offering
- Option 1: 70% in year 1, 50% in year 2, 30% in year 3
- Option 2: 50% across three years
- Option 3: 30% across five years
The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Company%20profile
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The President's Cake
Director: Hasan Hadi
Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
Rating: 4/5
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Fixtures:
Wed Aug 29 – Malaysia v Hong Kong, Nepal v Oman, UAE v Singapore
Thu Aug 30 - UAE v Nepal, Hong Kong v Singapore, Malaysia v Oman
Sat Sep 1 - UAE v Hong Kong, Oman v Singapore, Malaysia v Nepal
Sun Sep 2 – Hong Kong v Oman, Malaysia v UAE, Nepal v Singapore
Tue Sep 4 - Malaysia v Singapore, UAE v Oman, Nepal v Hong Kong
Thu Sep 6 – Final
Who was Alfred Nobel?
The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.
- In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
- Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
- Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
Tales of Yusuf Tadros
Adel Esmat (translated by Mandy McClure)
Hoopoe
