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Al Balad Development Company partnership with Al Ittihad Club reaches platinum

The Al Balad Development Company’s partnership with Al Ittihad Club has moved to platinum sponsorship, a step that links a football club to the long effort to rebuild one of Saudi Arabia’s oldest urban districts. This Al Ittihad Club platinum sponsorship replaces the silver tier the two sides agreed in 2023. It shifts the relationship from media and marketing visibility toward a season-long program of activities connected to Historic Jeddah.

Al Balad Development Company, known as BDC, is wholly owned by the Public Investment Fund. It serves as the master developer of the Jeddah Historical District, the walled old town listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Al Ittihad Club, founded in Jeddah in 1927, is the oldest sports club in the country and carries a large regional following. Placing the two side by side puts heritage development next to one of the city’s most visible cultural assets.

What the agreement covers

Under the agreement, presented on their official website, both sides will draw on a range of media and marketing assets alongside community initiatives and events across the season. The activities will promote the cultural offerings of Historic Jeddah and BDC’s own projects. Shared content, supporter experiences, and district events form the core of the plan. The intent is to pull fans closer to the old town and to raise engagement with the district among younger residents.

Jamil Hassan Ghaznawi, CEO of Al Balad Development Company, said the partnership would help promote the company’s projects, attract visitors and investors, and support economic activity in the area. He noted the collaboration builds on the club’s long connection with Jeddah and its supporter base. The focus, he said, would fall on experiences that join sport, culture, and the historic district.

“We believe that reviving Historic Jeddah extends beyond urban regeneration to fostering sustainable connections between people and their environment. Partnering with Al Ittihad Club, backed by its massive fanbase is a pivotal step forward. It allows us to showcase our projects, attract visitors and investors, and drive regional economic activity.”, Jamil Hassan Ghaznawi said.

The Al Balad Development Company partnership and Vision 2030

The Al Balad Development Company partnership sits inside a wider structural shift. BDC works under the Public Investment Fund’s strategy and under Saudi Vision 2030, the plan to move the economy away from oil. Tourism, hospitality, and cultural sectors carry a defined role in that plan. A sponsorship that fills stadiums and feeds social channels becomes a route to an audience for a development brand that needs one.

Domingos Soares, CEO of Al Ittihad Club, said the club’s long relationship with Jeddah and its community gave the expanded partnership a firm base. He added the sponsorship would support work designed to bring supporters closer to the cultural and social life of the old district while adding value for fans and the city.

A club as a development tool

The reasoning is direct. BDC is developing roughly 2.5 million square meters of the historic core, with plans for homes, hotels, and commercial space, while keeping the district’s architectural character. A project on that scale needs footfall and attention. Al Ittihad supplies both.

The Al Balad Development Company partnership also shows how PIF-owned entities now work in concert. PIF holds a majority stake in Al Ittihad and full ownership of BDC. Sponsorship between the two keeps investment and messaging inside one portfolio. For the district, the return will show less in logo placement and more in whether the club’s supporters follow their team into Historic Jeddah’s streets, hotels, and cultural venues over the season ahead.

Photo Credit: The Al Balad Development Company

Dubai Duty Free now accepts crypto payments across DXB and online channels

Dubai Duty Free now accepts crypto payments, a step that puts one of the world’s largest single-airport retailers inside Dubai’s wider move toward digital money. The retailer has become the first airport operator in the Middle East to add Crypto.com Pay as a regulated digital payment option. Eligible customers can use it at Dubai International Airport (DXB), at Al Maktoum International Airport, and on the online store at dubaidutyfree.com.

The rollout completes a partnership the two companies signed in July 2025. Back then, Dubai Duty Free and Crypto.com agreed a memorandum of understanding to study blockchain-based payments and other digital commerce ideas. That study has now turned into a live service.

How the payment works

The system sits inside the checkout customers already use. In a store, the point-of-sale terminal creates a QR code showing the amount in UAE dirhams. The shopper scans it with the Crypto.com app and approves the payment from a digital wallet. Online, the same QR flow appears before the order goes through. Dubai Duty Free receives its settlement in UAE dirhams through Crypto.com’s regulated payment infrastructure, so the retailer never holds the digital asset itself.

Access is limited. Only eligible UAE residents with a Crypto.com account can use the service for now. Ramesh Cidambi, managing director of Dubai Duty Free, said the launch moves the July agreement into its roll-out phase and adds convenience for customers while supporting Dubai’s goal of leading global digital commerce. Eric Anziani, president and chief operating officer of Crypto.com, described the launch as another milestone in bringing regulated digital payments into everyday spending.

Why Dubai Duty Free now accepts crypto payments under central-bank rules

The service runs under the framework set by the Central Bank of the UAE. Crypto.com said it is the first Virtual Asset Service Provider in the country to receive a Stored Value Facilities licence from the central bank, which lets it offer regulated payment services. Because Dubai Duty Free now accepts crypto payments under that licence, each transaction stays inside central-bank supervision. That licence is the reason the offer counts as a regulated digital payment option rather than an informal crypto transfer.

This detail carries weight for the region. For years, crypto in the Gulf sat outside clear rules. A central-bank licence changes the footing, because it lets a large, cash-heavy retailer take digital-asset payments without stepping outside supervision.

Where this fits in Dubai’s plan

Dubai Duty Free now accepts crypto payments alongside Apple Pay, Alipay and TerraPay, its existing digital options. The addition feeds directly into the Dubai Cashless Strategy under the Dubai Economic Agenda, known as D33. That plan targets 90 percent of financial transactions across the public and private sectors to be cashless by the end of 2026.

Seen at scale, Dubai Duty Free crypto payments form one node in a much larger shift. Travel retail moves a high volume of transactions across many currencies and many nationalities. Adding a regulated crypto rail to that flow tests whether digital assets can work for routine buying rather than trading alone.

The wider signal is about method, not novelty. When Dubai Duty Free now accepts crypto payments through a licensed provider, it shows the emirate routing new payment types through its regulator instead of around it. For a city aiming to sit among the world’s top cashless economies, that route matters more than the technology on show.

Emirates NBD acquires HSBC Egypt retail arm in regional expansion push

Emirates NBD acquires HSBC Egypt’s retail banking business under a definitive agreement announced on Sunday, a plan that widens the Dubai lender’s consumer reach in the Arab world’s most populous market. The wholly owned Egyptian unit, Emirates NBD Egypt, will take on the portfolio once regulators sign off. Neither bank disclosed the price. Let’s see what the deal covers.

The transaction moves HSBC Egypt’s retail banking assets and liabilities to Emirates NBD Egypt. Retail banking covers everyday services for individual customers, such as accounts, deposits, loans and cards. Included in the sale are HSBC Egypt’s branches, its ATM network, its customer base and the employees who support the business. Customers of HSBC Egypt retail banking face no immediate change, and their products keep running as normal while the two sides prepare the handover.

Why does Emirates NBD acquire HSBC Egypt now?

Egypt sits near the center of Emirates NBD’s regional growth plan. The bank describes the country as a core market central to those ambitions. Emirates NBD entered the Egyptian market in 2013 and has expanded its branch network since. Adding the HSBC book builds scale in retail and premium banking, the service tier aimed at higher-income clients. This Emirates NBD acquisition also deepens ties along the UAE-Egypt banking corridor, the flow of trade, payments and investment between the two economies.

HSBC steps back from Egyptian retail

For HSBC, the sale trims a business the group no longer treats as core. The lender has operated in Egypt since 1982. This HSBC Egypt sale follows a strategic review announced in 2025, part of a wider effort to simplify the group and focus where it holds stronger positions. HSBC expects a pre-tax gain of about $300 million, which it plans to book mostly at completion. The group keeps its corporate and institutional banking arm in the country, so it narrows its presence rather than leaving.

Hesham Abdulla Al Qassim, Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Emirates NBD and Chairman of Emirates NBD Egypt, said the investment reflects the bank’s confidence in Egypt’s market and its long-term growth prospects. Group Chief Executive Shayne Nelson described the purchase as a step in the bank’s regional strategy and its plan to grow its customer base in the country. Both sides target the second half of 2027 for completion, subject to regulatory approvals, including clearance from the Central Bank of Egypt.

What it means for customers

As Emirates NBD acquires HSBC Egypt’s retail arm, customers keep their accounts, cards and services for now. No account will change hands until regulators approve the deal and the two banks complete the transfer. HSBC and Emirates NBD said they will work together on a smooth move for staff and customers. Anyone with an HSBC Egypt account can keep using it as usual in the meantime.

What comes next

Amr ElShafei, Chief Executive and Managing Director of Emirates NBD Egypt, said the bank looks forward to welcoming HSBC customers and offering digital services backed by the wider group. Once Emirates NBD acquires HSBC Egypt, the lender gains more current accounts, deposits and card relationships across a combined branch and digital network. The full effect on customers will depend on how the two banks manage the transfer through 2027.

Elon Musk’s X Money offers a 6% yield, but the paywall is the catch here

Elon Musk’s X Money went live in the US in late July, and the headline number is a 6% yield. The rate looks generous. Getting it is another matter. X selects who joins, limits the service to US residents, and sets an age floor of 18. You also need a paid X account before the door opens at all. The catch sits in the fine print. Premium+ subscribers qualify for the 6% APY through their tier. Anyone on Premium reaches the same rate only after a qualifying direct deposit, which means at least $1,000 landing in the account. X calls the rate variable and warns fees can eat into what you earn.

What you actually pay to earn 6%

Run the math, and the shine dulls. X Premium starts at $8 a month, or $84 a year on the annual plan. Premium+ costs $40 a month, or $395 a year. Those fees do not vanish. They come straight out of your interest. Say you pay $8 monthly. Over a year that is $96. A 6% return on $1,600 also comes to $96 before tax. Your yield and your subscription cancel out. On the annual $84 plan, you would need roughly $1,400 sitting in the account to break even. Premium+ raises the bar hard. Its $395 annual fee needs about $6,583 at 6% to cover the cost. Pay monthly, and the total climbs to $480, pushing the break-even balance near $8,000. If you already buy Premium for verification, ads, or Grok, that changes the sum. Someone who signed up only for the yield sees a much smaller net return.

How Elon Musk’s X Money is built

Underneath Elon Musk’s X Money sits a bank partnership. X Payments runs the front end, but it is not a bank. Cross River Bank holds the deposits and provides the regulated banking underneath. X also spreads eligible balances across partner banks through a cash sweep program. That structure lets the published terms advertise up to $10 million in aggregate FDIC coverage. Standard protection stays at $250,000 per depositor, per insured bank, per ownership category. X Payments itself carries no FDIC insurance. The product does more than pay interest. An X Money Visa debit card gives 3% cashback on eligible purchases, with no foreign transaction fees. X refunds ATM charges within three days. Because Visa accepts the card everywhere, you can spend outside the app. Peer-to-peer transfers, bill pay, wires, mailed checks, and early direct deposit round out the account.

Who gets in, and who waits

Elon Musk’s X Money eligibility comes down to three gates. First, an X Premium+ subscription or a qualifying Premium account. Second, an invitation from X. Third, for Premium members, the direct deposit condition. Free accounts get nothing yet. People outside the US stay locked out too. Invitation control lets X manage how many users flood in during the first phase, while Cross River handles deposits, payments, and compliance.

My read on the 6% hook

Here is my read. The 6% is a customer acquisition hook, and a sharp one. It pulls attention and gets people talking about Elon Musk’s X Money as a bank rival. But the number you see is not the number you keep. Premium+ users pay the most for direct access. Those on regular Premium pay less and work for it. Whether X holds this rate once the crowd arrives is the real question, and I would not bet on 6% lasting forever.

Midterms Hub by Kalshi Brings Live Election Odds Into One Map Dashboard

The Midterms Hub by Kalshi gives you one place to watch how traders expect the 2026 elections to end. Kalshi is a prediction market platform. A prediction market lets people buy and sell contracts tied to a real event, so the price reads like live odds. The company opened the hub on Wednesday.

What the Midterms Hub by Kalshi shows

Open the page, and you see a map of the country. Each race carries a number, the current 2026 midterm election odds from Kalshi’s traders. The map covers individual Senate and House contests, plus several governor races. All 435 House seats are on the ballot this November, along with 35 of the 100 Senate seats. You can also check polling averages next to the market odds, which lets you compare two very different ways of reading a race. The hub adds the latest federal fundraising reports for candidates and a feed of curated news and analysis.

Most of the traffic is not from bettors. Kalshi said about three-quarters of its visitors come only to check current odds and never trade. That is the audience the hub targets, readers who want the data without placing money. The Midterms Hub by Kalshi gives them a single, plain view of every race.

Why prediction markets, not polls

Kalshi’s pitch leans on a simple idea. When people risk real money, they tend to say what they think will happen, not what they hope will happen. CEO Tarek Mansour argued in a statement that prediction markets resist spin and partisanship, showing what the crowd believes when real money is on the line. “That kind of clarity is rare right now, and that’s what people are getting with the Midterms Hub,” Mansour said.

Mansour studied at MIT and worked as a trader at Citadel and an analyst at Goldman Sachs. His argument is that market prices resist political bias better than surveys. Polls capture one moment, while market prices move all day as news breaks. That claim is contested, and polls and markets often disagree, so the hub shows both side by side.

A bigger political push

The Midterms Hub by Kalshi is the newest step in the company’s move into politics before November. In May, Kalshi rolled out the American Power Index, which it called an “S&P 500” for politics. The index tracks which party is up and which is down. Kalshi runs as a federally regulated exchange in the United States, where insider trading and market manipulation are illegal.

Money already in play

Interest in these platforms tends to climb during big elections. Many observers expect the 2026 midterm season to bring another jump in prediction market volume, much like the 2024 presidential race did. The money is already moving. More than $30 million has been traded on contracts tied to Senate and House control for 2026.

If you want to compare sources, you have options. Some readers track Kalshi vs Polymarket odds to see whether two markets land on the same number. When both agree, the read tends to feel firmer. For now, the Midterms Hub by Kalshi keeps that election forecasting in a single spot, alongside the polling, money, and news around each race.

Dubai Airports launched new Smart Gates service to check eligibility before arrival

Dubai Airports launched a new Smart Gates service on Friday, letting travellers run a Smart Gates eligibility check before they reach passport control. Dubai Airports developed the tool with the General Directorate of Identity and Foreigners Affairs in Dubai. The operator calls it the Smart Gates Eligibility Pre-Check. Passengers reach it through the Pocket Flights app or by scanning QR codes placed across every terminal and gate.

A traveller scans a passport and gets an answer in seconds. Those who clear it can head straight for the automated lanes. Anyone who does not can plan for a staffed counter instead. Dubai Airports said the point of the change is “making the journey through the airport more seamless for our guests.”

GDRFA runs the gates themselves. Dubai International Airport biometric gates read facial and passport data at the barrier, so there is no stamp and no officer check. Eligible groups include UAE and GCC citizens, UAE residents, and visa-on-arrival guests with biometric passports. Many travellers are enrolled the first time they pass through immigration at DXB, which means some queue at the counters without knowing they already qualify. Anyone wanting a second confirmation can use the GDRFA Dubai smart gate registration inquiry on the directorate website, entering an Emirates ID, a file number, or a passport number with nationality.

Why Dubai Airports launched new Smart Gates services

Record volume explains why DXB launched new Smart Gates service now. Dubai International handled 95.2 million passengers in 2025, up 3.1 percent year on year, the highest annual international traffic recorded at any airport. The operator forecasts 99.5 million for 2026. By the end of last year, the airport connected to 291 destinations across 110 countries, served by 108 international airlines.

DXB passport control has held up so far. In 2025, 99.35 percent of departing passengers cleared it in under ten minutes, and 98.8 percent of arriving passengers were processed within 15 minutes. Paul Griffiths, chief executive of Dubai Airports, said in February that record traffic had become part of the airport’s operating reality rather than an exception.

What the pre-check is meant to solve

Passport control is one of the parts of an airport that cannot be widened quickly. Halls are fixed, gate counts are fixed, and staffing has limits. So the operator is working on how passengers sort themselves before they arrive at the hall. A traveller who knows the answer in advance picks the right lane the first time. Across close to 100 million journeys a year, small gains of that kind carry weight.

Capacity beyond DXB

The larger answer sits at Al Maktoum International, where Dubai is building a terminal project valued at about 35 billion dollars. First-phase capacity is expected by 2032, at 150 million passengers a year. Full build-out would take the site to 260 million. Until that capacity arrives, DXB has to find room inside the space it already uses.

DXB launched a new Smart Gates service as part of that pattern. The operator has spent recent years moving checks earlier in the journey and cutting the number of decisions a passenger makes inside the terminal. DXB launched the new Smart Gates service without changing the gates, the enrolment rules, or the biometric system behind them. It changed what the traveller knows before walking up to them.

Adnan Al-Jaziri covers the Gulf economy for ICN.live, with nearly a decade of reporting on finance and economic transformation across the region.

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Dubai Duty Free now accepts crypto payments
Emirates NBD acquires HSBC Egypt
Elon Musk's X Money

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  • Mohamed Salah

Besiktas’ offer for Mohamed Salah now rests on a single decision, with the Istanbul club setting a 24-hour window for the Egyptian forward to reply. The proposal runs across two seasons and reflects a level of spending rarely seen in the Turkish Super Lig. According to a report carried by beIN Sports, the club put forward a guaranteed annual salary of €15 million, along with performance bonuses of around €4 million. The agreement is also said to include clauses covering image rights. These figures come from Turkish media, and neither side has confirmed them in public.

What do the numbers show?

If every incentive triggers, Salah’s yearly income could climb to between €19 million and €20 million. Across the full term, that would take the total Mohamed Salah Besiktas contract commitment past €40 million. Reports describe the guaranteed figure as a net €15 million, a request Salah’s side raised early in the talks. The Salah salary on the table would place him among the highest earners in the league by a wide margin. Besiktas appears ready to absorb that cost to bring in a forward of his standing.

The Mohamed Salah Liverpool departure earlier in the summer sent one of the game’s most productive forwards onto the open market. His nine-year spell at Anfield brought more than 250 goals and a full set of domestic and European honors. That record explains the interest that followed his exit. Salah’s free agent status removed any transfer fee from the picture, which widened the field of possible destinations and shaped the terms now under review.

Rival interest in the background

Before the Turkish talks advanced, Salah drew interest from the Saudi Pro League and from clubs in Major League Soccer, according to widely reported accounts. Those options let the 34-year-old weigh location, level of competition, and long-term plans against the Istanbul proposal. For now, reports place Besiktas as the most concrete of the suitors. Besiktas’ offer for Mohamed Salah reaches a deadline.

After the financial package landed, attention shifted to Salah and his agent, Ramy Abbas, as Besiktas waited for a final answer. Journalist Sercan Dikme reported the two sides had moved forward on several points before the club asked for a clear response within 24 hours. Club president Serdal Adali framed the proposal as the club’s final offer and said Besiktas weighed each requested change against its own interests. Besiktas’ offer for Mohamed Salah carries a firm timeline, and Adali told Turkish media the decision now sits with the player. That deadline points to Monday evening.

What the Besiktas transfer means

For a club measuring itself against Galatasaray and Fenerbahce, adding Salah would signal clear intent. The latest Besiktas transfer news suggests the gap between the two sides narrowed through repeated rounds of talks. Besiktas has worked to build a stronger front line, and a forward with Salah’s output would change the club’s attacking shape. Whether Besiktas’ offer for Mohamed Salah closes will depend on how the forward reads the choice in front of him. A response is expected soon.

  • Tourism

Dubai is the most photographed city in the world, according to a new ranking of how often destinations appear on social media and in search results.

The study comes from Players Time, which built a scoring system it calls an Instagrammability Score. It combines hashtag counts on Instagram and TikTok with monthly Google search volume, then scales the result from 0 to 100.

Dubai scored a perfect 100. The city has been tagged 147 million times on Instagram and more than 43 million times on TikTok. It draws 3.43 million Google searches a month.

The Burj Khalifa took first place in the separate landmarks ranking. The tower has 10.1 million tagged posts and 1.1 million monthly searches. That puts it well ahead of the Grand Canyon at 696,000 searches and the Eiffel Tower at 662,000.

That result is worth sitting with. The Burj Khalifa opened in 2010. It is now photographed and searched more than monuments that have been standing for centuries. The Eiffel Tower came second with a score of 73.22. The Taj Mahal and Machu Picchu both landed in the top group, with search volumes between roughly 854,000 and 928,000 a month.

Europe holds 8 of the top 20 landmark places. The Sagrada Familia and the Colosseum sit in that group, with monthly searches running from about 313,000 to 737,000.

Some places are ranked for the experience, not the building

A few entries in the landmarks list are not really buildings at all.

Shibuya Scramble Crossing in Tokyo generated more than 6.57 million posts. Up to 3,000 people cross at once, and most of the photos are taken from inside the crowd rather than from a viewing point. Times Square in New York works the same way, with 5.82 million posts.

The oddest entry is the DUMBO viewpoint near the Brooklyn Bridge, which has passed 4 million Instagram posts on its own. Search demand for it is modest. People are not planning trips there. They walk past, take the photo, and the number keeps climbing.

London posts more, Barcelona searches more

Among cities, London and Paris follow Dubai. London recorded the highest raw hashtag volume in the study at 192.2 million posts. New York City reached 165.6 million and Istanbul 153.7 million.

Barcelona is the outlier. The city recorded 97 million tagged posts and 23 million monthly Google searches, which is close to seven times Dubai’s search volume.

That figure deserves a caveat the study does not offer. “Barcelona” is also the name of one of the most followed football clubs on the planet. A raw keyword count cannot tell a fan looking for match results apart from a traveller looking for a hotel. The same problem may explain why San Diego, Santiago and Kochi appear in a ranking of visual destinations despite far lower travel profiles.

Players Time has not published the weighting behind its score, so the gap between hashtag volume and search demand is difficult to check independently. Hashtag counts are also self-reported by the platforms and change constantly.

The Dubai finding survives those questions better than most. The city leads on both measures at once, and it does so against capitals that have had a hundred years’ head start on accumulating images. The Burj Khalifa did the same thing at landmark level in sixteen years.

  • Emirates

The latest Emirates Economy Class upgrade tackles a problem every long-haul traveller knows: falling asleep upright and waking with a sore neck. The company has announced that it has fitted a new headrest, called U-Dream, onto Economy seats. It supports your head and neck during sleep, and Emirates says you can leave the travel pillow at home.

What the U-Dream headrest does

The U-Dream headrest is a multi-way adjustable design. Padded leather side wings fold inward to cradle your head and neck. That keeps your head from dropping forward or tipping to the side while you sleep. It also moves up and down and tilts, so it lines up with passengers of different heights and body types.

The headrest is part of the Safran Seats Z400 Economy seat. It has been independently tested and certified to meet the safety standards of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency. Emirates says it is the first airline in the world to fit this technology at scale, bringing a level of support usually found in premium cabins.

Why this Emirates Economy Class upgrade matters for sleep

Standard Economy seats give little side support for the head. Many people pack a neck pillow to cope. This Emirates Economy Class upgrade announced by the company builds that support into the seat itself.

Sir Tim Clark, President of Emirates Airline, said:

‘Emirates never rests on its laurels when it comes to customer experience, and we have found a way to significantly improve the comfort for Economy Class passengers, especially those travelling long-haul. The U-Dream changes the game if the person wants to sleep – by supporting the neck in full. No more neck pillows needed. It’s another innovation that shows our commitment to customers and cements our Economy Class as the best.’

The leather surface wipes clean and is sanitised after every flight. Emirates says the headrest is easy to adjust, and cabin crew is trained to help passengers who need a hand.

Where and when you can use it

The U-Dream headrest already flies on three A350 aircraft. Emirates plans to fit every A350 in its fleet by the end of the year. The headrest will also come pre-installed on all 270 Boeing 777X jets the airline has on order.

From 2027, installation begins on retrofitted A380s and Boeing 777s. Over time, the feature reaches much of the long-haul fleet.

The move fits a wider pattern. This Emirates Economy Class upgrade lands during the airline’s multibillion-dollar fleet refurbishment, which has already refreshed cabins across its widebody aircraft. Premium cabins usually get the headlines, so a change aimed squarely at Economy passengers stands out.

For frequent flyers, the practical takeaway is simple. Before you book, check which aircraft runs your route. The seat you get may depend on whether that jet has been fitted yet.

  • Arab Fashion Council

Amina Taher is the new Chairwoman of the Arab Fashion Council, and the fit reads clean. The appointment took effect on 9 July 2026. Taher spent two decades leading brand and communications across aviation, fintech, media and sport. She earned an MBA from London Business School and a master’s from Harvard. Now she takes the top governance seat at a body that speaks for fashion across the 22 nations of the Arab League. Known in the UAE business scene, and her name is familiar. She served as Vice President of Marketing at Etihad Airways, where she helped shape the airline’s global identity. From there, she moved into fintech as Chief Marketing Officer of Wio Bank. That career sits at the crossroads of money, media and brand, which is close to where fashion is heading.

What the Arab Fashion Council built

The Arab Fashion Council spent the past decade turning a thin fashion scene into real infrastructure. It co-founded Dubai Fashion Week with Dubai Design District, and grew it into a platform buyers and press now track. That event sits on the international calendar next to New York, London, Milan and Paris. The Council also pushed Arab designers onto runways that once looked past them. Picture laying track before the trains arrive. The rails are down, and traffic is building. What matters now is speed and direction, and that is where the new leadership comes in.

The gap Taher steps into

Great institutions hit a ceiling when they lean on passion alone. What the Council needs next is weight: government backing, diplomatic reach, and partnerships measured in years rather than seasons. Taher has built that kind of trust across her career, working with public bodies and global brands alike. Founder and Chief Executive Officer Jacob Abrian called her arrival a sign of how far the Council has come, not a shift in course. “Amina Taher’s appointment is not a change of direction,” he said. His point was that the move reflects the standing the Council now holds, and a promise to hold it with more seriousness. That is the room Taher walks into.

What Amina Taher wants for Arab designers

Taher points her focus at the next wave of talent. She wants more room for young Arab designers to reach a global audience and build real businesses. “I am honoured to build on that strong foundation,” she said, crediting the institutions, partnerships and credibility built over the past decade. Her goal is a wider creative economy and more open doors for people entering the field. Amina Taher is the new Chairwoman at a moment when the region’s fashion voice carries serious reach, and she plans to push it further. Growth in the creative economy tends to follow the money and the platforms, and the Council now has both.

What comes next

Taher will present her vision at an invitation-only gala in September 2026. Until then, the plan stays in outline, with the full manifesto still to come. One thing is clear already. In choosing her, the Council made it official: Amina Taher is the new Chairwoman, and she builds for the present and what comes after.

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