Amira Khalil, Author at icnlive

Digital Payments

Yalla payment services approval brings the UAE closer to cashless finance

The Yalla payment services approval moves a growing fintech one step closer to serving customers across the UAE. On Monday, Yalla Financial Solutions said the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) had granted it an In-Principle Approval for a Retail Payment Services Category II License. The nod falls under the CBUAE Retail Payment Services and Card Schemes Regulation. This is not the final license yet. It signals the company has cleared an early, serious gate.

What the Yalla payment services approval means for you

For anyone who taps a phone to pay for coffee or sends money home at the end of the month, licensing like this matters more than it sounds. A Category II License lets a firm handle regulated payment activity under close supervision. Behind the paperwork sits a simple promise. Your money should move safely, and someone should answer for it if something goes wrong.

The Yalla payment services approval signals that the company met the CBUAE’s early conditions. Full authorisation still depends on finishing the remaining requirements. Once that happens, Yalla can build out its payment capabilities inside one of the most active digital finance markets anywhere.

A milestone in Yalla’s journey

Waleed Sadek, CEO and Founder of Yalla Financial Solutions, framed the moment plainly. He said receiving the In-Principle Approval reflects the company’s commitment to building trusted, secure, and innovative payment infrastructure in one of the world’s most advanced digital economies. Sadek added that the UAE has become a global hub for financial innovation through a forward-looking regulatory environment and a clear vision for digital transformation.

“We are proud to be part of this journey and look forward to working closely with the Central Bank of the UAE to complete the remaining regulatory requirements and obtain the final Retail Payment Services Category II License,” Sadek said.

Why the timing fits

The Yalla payment services approval lands as the country pushes hard toward cashless living. Dubai’s Cashless Strategy targets 90 percent of transactions going digital, according to Digital Dubai, and analysts at Mordor Intelligence value the UAE fintech market at about 52 billion dollars in 2026. Numbers like these describe a shift you can feel at the checkout counter, in the taxi, at the corner shop.

More UAE digital payments flow through licensed players each year. That growth pulls in global names and homegrown firms alike. Earlier this year, Revolut secured its own In-Principle Approval for the same Category II license, a sign of how crowded and serious this space has become.

What comes next for Yalla

The road from In-Principle Approval to a live service runs through compliance, testing, and final sign-off. As a payment service provider, Yalla must satisfy the CBUAE on safeguards for customer funds, risk controls, and reporting. None of that is quick. All of it protects the person on the other side of the transaction.

The Yalla payment services approval is a beginning, not a finish line. If the company clears the final steps, everyday users could gain another trusted way to pay, send, and receive. For a market racing toward a cashless future, one more supervised option is welcome news.

By Amira Khalil
3 min read

Ajman

Ajman Arbitration Centre and Higher Institute for Legal Training signed MoU

The Ajman Arbitration Centre at the Ajman Chamber has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Emirates Association for Lawyers and Legal Professionals and its training arm, the Higher Institute for Legal Training, to foster scientific and professional cooperation in legal fields, enhance joint efforts in developing the arbitration system and alternative Dispute Resolution methods, promote legal awareness, and qualify national competencies in the fields of arbitration.

The MoU was signed by Eng. Abdullah bin Mohammed Al Muwaiji, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Ajman Chamber, and Counsellor Zayed Saeed Al Shamsi, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Emirates Association for Lawyers and Legal Professionals, at the chamber’s headquarters.

The signing ceremony was attended by Mahmoud Othman Abu Al Shawareb, Member of the Board of Directors of the Ajman Chamber; Hindi Obaid Al Matrooshi, Secretary-General of the Ajman Arbitration Centre; and Dr. Salam Al Issa, Director General of the Higher Institute for Legal Training.

Al Muwaiji commended the efforts of arbitrators and legal professionals in bolstering the competitiveness of the national economy. He also praised their pioneering role in delivering effective legal and arbitral solutions that accelerate commercial Dispute Resolution, thereby instilling confidence within the business community and fostering a secure and stable investment environment.

He emphasised that the Ajman Arbitration Centre is committed to broadening its partnerships and enhancing cooperation with various entities. This aims to reinforce its role as a sustainable and reliable arbitration platform for commercial and economic Dispute Resolution, keeping pace with the rapid growth across various economic sectors in accordance with the latest arbitration practices.

He commended the existing partnership between the Ajman Arbitration Centre and the Emirates Association for Lawyers and Legal Professionals, which contributes to raising awareness of the importance of arbitration and promoting its culture as an effective tool for facilitating business operations and Dispute Resolution with efficiency and flexibility.

Counsellor Al Shamsi provided an overview of the efforts and services of the Emirates Association for Lawyers and Legal Professionals, and the entities affiliated with the Association, including “the Higher Institute for Legal Training, the Emirates Centre for Legal Studies, the Emirates Centre for Human Rights Studies, and the Media Centre.”

The MoU stipulated enhancing joint cooperation between the two parties in legal training and qualification, and arbitration; cooperating in developing the professional capacities of legal professionals; enhancing awareness of relevant local and international best practices and standards; organising specialised legal conferences, seminars, and forums; preparing and implementing qualification programmes for arbitrators and experts; and exchanging scientific and practical expertise in the legal and arbitration fields.

The partnership will also introduce professional and specialised arbitration diploma programmes, qualification courses for arbitrators and experts, specialised workshops, and legal conferences and seminars. These programmes will target lawyers, legal advisers, arbitrators, experts, employees in the public and private sectors, academics, researchers, law students and others interested in arbitration and alternative dispute resolution.

The two sides exchanged commemorative shields following the signing ceremony.

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By Amira Khalil
4 min read

Syria tourism growth accelerates as Arab and foreign visitors head back

Syria tourism growth picked up sharply in the first half of 2026, and behind the figures are people choosing to come back. Arab visitors to Syria doubled between January and June, reaching 664,000 from 320,000 a year earlier, the tourism ministry said. Jordan sent the most travelers. Lebanon and Iraq followed close behind. Arrivals from Gulf countries kept rising too, though the ministry gave no separate count for them.

Foreign arrivals climb off a low base

Syria’s foreign tourist arrivals grew even faster. International visitors reached 719,000, up from 131,000 during the same months in 2025. Turkey led the source markets. Germany, Sweden, the United States, the Netherlands, Canada and the United Kingdom came next, a spread that reaches far past Syria’s neighbors. These Syria visitor arrivals 2026 now stretch across Europe and North America, a change from the years when few outsiders came at all. Newer government data adds weight to the trend. Counting Syrian expatriates as well, total visitors hit 3.52 million in the first half, up 111 percent on last year. Expatriate trips alone came to 2.13 million, and the ministry calls that group key to rebuilding trust in the country abroad.

What Syria tourism growth means on the ground

Numbers like these describe more than a spreadsheet. Each arrival is a hotel shift filled, a fare paid, a restaurant table turned. For many people working in tourism, Syria tourism growth shows up as more work after long uncertainty. Mazen Al-Salhani, the tourism minister, has called tourism a driver of jobs across transport, hospitality and small businesses. He said the sector is entering a new phase, supported by rising demand from regional and international markets. Under a five-year plan, the ministry wants tourism to lift its share of the economy and add tens of thousands of jobs by the end of the decade. In coastal Tartus, officials opened the summer season this year with an eye on Mediterranean visitors. The rising movement of people, the ministry said, shows the need to expand hotel capacity and improve services.

Investment follows the visitors

Syria tourism investment has started to track the arrivals. Al-Salhani said last September the country signed investment contracts worth $1.5 billion to revive the sector. That deal came a month after the government agreed $14 billion in infrastructure, transport and real estate. He said renewed interest in Syria as a destination is opening fresh chances for investors in hotels, hospitality and services. The Syria tourism sector still carries the weight of long war years, and rebuilding hotels and heritage sites will take time and money.

A wider economic reset

The tourism push sits inside a larger reset. Neil Quilliam, a fellow in the Middle East and North Africa programme at Chatham House, wrote for AGBI that Syria is beginning to draw investment across several sectors, which could position it as a new growth zone in the regional economy. President Ahmed Al-Sharaa has set the 2026 budget at $10.5 billion, close to triple last year’s level. Whether Syria tourism growth holds through the second half of the year could depend on air links, hotel supply and the pace of new projects. For now, the people arriving are the clearest sign of change. Each doubled figure is a person who decided the time was right to return.

By Amira Khalil
3 min read

Amira Khalil