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Amira Khalil

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Amira Khalil writes for ICN.live since early 2024 and covers Health, AI trends, and global markets, with contributions to Finance Magnates, The National Business, and DailyMoney. Her writing reflects a strong interest in cultural change within digital economies. She studied Broadcast Journalism at Cairo University.
NBQ's 2026 half-year profit

NBQ’s 2026 half-year profit came in at AED271 million for the six months to 30 June. Behind that figure sit the depositors, borrowers and staff who keep the lender running. The National Bank of Umm Al Qaiwain results point to steady footing at a small bank that families and businesses in the northern emirates lean on for everyday needs.

What NBQ’s 2026 half-year profit shows

The bank credited its first-half showing to a wider mix of income and a broader balance sheet, paired with tight cost control. Total interest income reached AED503 million over the period. Net interest income held about flat at AED310 million, against AED309 million a year earlier. That flat line matters more than it looks. Interest rates fell over the year, so keeping core income steady took real work on both pricing and funding.

For a customer, this shows up in small ways. Your deposit stays safe. Loan terms stay predictable. A bank that earns steadily can keep the lights on for the people who bank with it.

Balance sheet growth and deposits

NBQ total assets rose to AED24.1 billion by the end of June, up 5 percent from December and 20 percent from a year earlier. Customer deposits did much of the heavy lifting. They climbed 29 percent to AED17.1 billion, a sign that more people trusted the bank with their money. Net loans and advances grew 4 percent over the year to AED8.7 billion. Shareholders’ equity reached AED6.4 billion, up 3 percent from June 2025.

Deposit growth on that scale tells a human story. When savers move money into a bank, they place a bet on its stability. That trust gives the lender room to fund loans for homes, shops and small firms across the emirate.

Capital strength and asset quality

The capital adequacy ratio stood at 31 percent, well above the floor the Central Bank of the UAE sets under Basel III rules. Put simply, the bank holds a thick cushion against shocks. The non-performing loans ratio came in at 0.4 percent, up slightly from 0.3 percent at the end of 2025 but far below the 2.2 percent seen a year earlier. Fewer bad loans mean fewer customers in distress and a cleaner book. NBQ net profit after tax landed at AED271 million on the back of these numbers.

Adnan Al Awadhi, Chief Executive Officer of NBQ, said the bank delivered solid results despite geopolitical uncertainty and lower interest rates. He pointed to a diversified model, careful balance sheet management and a focus on lasting growth. Al Awadhi said the bank kept strong capital and liquidity while supporting customers and the wider economy through prudent risk management and better asset quality.

He added that NBQ kept investing in digital tools to improve the customer experience and to make its platforms safer and more reliable. Partnerships would widen its services further, he said. Al Awadhi also restated the bank’s pledge to Emiratisation, leadership development, sustainability and community work.

Why NBQ’s 2026 half-year profit matters to customers

Numbers like these can feel far from daily life. Yet a stable bank shapes real choices for real people. NBQ’s 2026 half-year profit gives the lender the means to keep lending, keep hiring and keep serving the towns it calls home. For anyone who banks there, that steadiness is the point.

AI literacy in MENA by TikTok

AI literacy in MENA by TikTok now sits at the center of how the platform plans to help people tell real content from synthetic. TikTok said this week it will bring new AI literacy tools to users in the Middle East and North Africa, alongside trials of tougher systems that flag synthetic spam. The move lands as platforms face rising pressure to police AI-generated content. In a statement, the company kept its aim simple. “As artificial intelligence continues to transform the way people create and discover content, TikTok is expanding its efforts to ensure users can confidently navigate AI-powered experiences,” it said.

What TikTok is rolling out

The updates fall into three parts. First come literacy resources built with outside experts, including a new AI literacy guide developed with the National Association for Media Literacy Education and AI specialist Henry Ajder. Second is stronger AI spam detection aimed at accounts that mass-produce synthetic posts. Third are wider partnerships meant to improve transparency across the industry. TikTok said it removed more than 86 million fake accounts in the first quarter of 2026. Beyond that, it labeled more than 3 billion AI-generated videos using Content Credentials, creator disclosure tools, and invisible watermarking.

AI literacy in MENA by TikTok, and who it reaches

Education sits at the heart of AI literacy in MENA by TikTok. The company said creators across the region increasingly use AI for storytelling, teaching, and creative work. To support that, TikTok pledged $4 million toward literacy and responsible-use programs, working with groups such as No Filtr and Raspberry Pi. The point is practical. People who can recognize a synthetic clip get to decide for themselves what to trust. That skill matters most for younger users, who spend the most time inside these feeds.

AI spam detection and the trust problem

Not every use of AI is harmless. TikTok said it will begin testing enhanced detection systems built to spot accounts dedicated to posting AI-generated spam. The first focus is content that can shape public trust or well-being, meaning politics and current events, financial advice, and medical information. Those areas carry the highest risk when false posts spread fast. Better AI spam detection, the company suggests, shields real creators whose work can get buried under machine-made noise. The rollout of AI literacy in MENA by TikTok pairs this enforcement with education. On the transparency side, TikTok joined the steering committee of the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity, a cross-industry effort on content provenance that helps people trace where a piece of media came from.

AI influencers and the disclosure question

The regional picture explains the urgency. According to GroupM’s 2026 analysis, the number of verified AI influencers on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube grew by more than 40 percent in 2025. That figure could reach about 15 percent of all influencer-marketing spend by the end of 2026. PwC Middle East reported in January 2026 that most Gen Z consumers in Riyadh and Dubai follow at least one AI influencer, with round-the-clock engagement named as a key driver. The message reads clearly for the region. Audiences here welcome AI-generated content, yet they still expect to be told when it is synthetic. That expectation is what AI literacy in MENA by TikTok is meant to serve.

UAE longevity sector

UAE longevity sector growth now pushes many wealthy residents toward one urgent personal question. Before you fund a peptide plan, you want to know your real internal health. Founders, senior executives and family office principals across the country ask this same thing first. What is happening inside your body right now, before any protocol or programme begins? Echelon Health, a Harley Street preventive diagnostics provider, built its Dubai service to answer this. Analysts expect the wider market to reach 32 billion dollars by the end of 2026. Growth of this size makes a wrong or missed diagnosis far more costly for you.

Why the UAE longevity sector starts with a clinical baseline

Ahmed Elbarkouki, the Echelon Health CEO, draws a sharp line around most routine checks. Standard tests only place you in a risk category built from wider population data. They tell you almost nothing about your own body as a single, specific person. To see you clearly, doctors must look inside using the right scan for each disease. Specialist radiologists in the UK then review every image from head to toe carefully. Elbarkouki compares weak testing to slow transport when both speed and real accuracy matter. He framed the goal simply, saying, “Any activity you do to improve your health is welcome.” A baseline, in his view, must come before any protocol earns your time or money.

Why hidden risk stays the real danger

Cardiovascular disease still causes about 45 per cent of all deaths across the GCC today. Imperial College London research links half of deaths under 70 in the Gulf to it. Most of these cases stay preventable when a scan finds the problem early enough. Many Echelon clients feel well and fit, yet a quiet risk sometimes hides inside them. One clear finding, caught with zero symptoms, can change or even save a person’s life. Echelon’s Platinum Plus assessment runs in five and a half hours across your whole body. This preventive health assessment combines 3 Tesla MRI, CT, ultrasound, and over 40 blood parameters. Specialist UK radiologists read the scans before a Harley Street physician meets you in person. Detection rates reach 92 per cent for men and 95 per cent for women.

How the UAE longevity sector fits a bigger plan

The wider longevity market in the UAE now moves fast, with new clinics and protocols each month. Dubai Longevity Authority rules, created by Law No. 17 of 2026, now guide operators. Its work supports healthy ageing UAE goals and gives serious investors more regulatory certainty. Imaging for Echelon runs at The Doctors Center in Jumeirah 3, a Canon reference site. From my standpoint, a clinical baseline turns every later longevity choice into an informed one. Strong preventive diagnostics Dubai services now make every other longevity choice rational and personal. The UAE longevity sector rewards people who start with facts about their own bodies. You fix sleep, nutrition, and stress once a real baseline shows you where you stand. After a baseline, cryotherapy or NAD drips make sense because your numbers now guide them.