A defining leap toward an AI-native economy, positioning Ras Al Khaimah and the UAE at the forefront of global innovation and delivering a key prerequisite for the nation’s agentic AI government revolution
UAE Innovation City Launches the World’s First Blockchain-Based Digital Business Identity, Powered by IOPn
RAS AL KHAIMAH, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES -May 4th, 2026: Today, Innovation City, the UAE’s premier AI-powered free zone in Ras Al Khaimah, announces the launch of the world’s first blockchain-based digital business identity system. Every company registered here now receives a sovereign, living, cryptographically verifiable identity powered by IOPn’s native layer on blockchain, OPN chain.
This is not an upgrade. This is a complete re-architecture of how businesses exist, prove themselves, and interact in the 21st century.
SAP Connect UAE to Examine How Business AI Is Delivering Measurable Impact Across Enterprises
SAP survey finds 81% of UAE organizations report AI initiatives meeting or exceeding expectations, with half investing in workforce upskilling
Marwan Zeineddine, Managing Director of SAP UAE
DUBAI, UAE — 4 May 2026 — SAP will bring together business and technology leaders at SAP Connect UAE this month to explore how artificial intelligence is delivering tangible business outcomes across operations, as organizations move from experimentation toward more structured, large-scale adoption.
Enda Tamweel and The Hashgraph Association launch Hedera-powered loyalty program for microfinance clients in Tunisia
May 4th, 2026: Enda Tamweel, a leading microfinance institution in Tunisia, and The Hashgraph Association, a Swiss-based non-profit advancing digital enablement, innovation, and education across the Hedera ecosystem, announced today the launch of a Hedera-powered loyalty program. The program rewards clients for timely loan repayments while also encouraging responsible microfinance best practices through an impact-based model that recognizes positive environmental and social behaviors.
Enda Tamweel’s Hedera-powered loyalty solution is among the first microfinance deployments of Hedera DLT in Africa and the Middle East. The solution integrates with Enda Tamweel’s systems via APIs, enabling a straightforward rollout while delivering a transparent, traceable, and scalable loyalty program, with key transactions recorded on the Hedera network.
Across Africa and the MENA region, microfinance is an essential lifeline for communities and individuals excluded from the traditional financial sector. It is particularly valuable for small businesses and people in rural areas. The microfinance market in Africa is a rapidly growing sector, projected to surpass $300 billion by 2026.
In Tunisia, microfinance is a fast-growing, well-regulated sector focused on financial inclusion, particularly for women and rural micro-entrepreneurs. Enda Tamweel is the country’s market leader, serving more than 544,000 clients and representing 79% of Tunisia’s microfinance market. The institution sought a loyalty solution that goes beyond traditional, purely transactional rewards to an impact-based model that recognizes positive environmental and social behaviors alongside repayment performance.
Kamal Youssefi, President of The Hashgraph Association, said: “Our efforts across Africa and the MENA region stem from our vision to empower societies to live in a more sustainable, efficient, innovative, and digitally inclusive way. Hedera DLT is an essential part of Web3 innovation. Supporting Enda Tamweel in building a loyalty solution that is simple and trusted—rather than opaque or frustrating—helps transform benefits into tangible, clearer rewards. This Hedera-powered solution can be scaled across other verticals on the African continent, making today an important milestone.”
Mohamed ZMANDAR, Chief Executive Officer of Enda Tamweel, added: “Our loyalty system is designed to recognize not only financially reliable clients, but also those demonstrating strong engagement in social and environmental impact. We believe sustainable financial inclusion goes beyond access to credit and requires fostering long-term customer relationships that drive meaningful outcomes. By embedding transparency at its core, this system strengthens trust and reinforces microfinance as a catalyst for inclusive and sustainable growth.”
Hedera’s DLT technology enables positive behavioral change through incentives delivered with transparency, trustworthiness and inclusion.
Today, Enda Tamweel’s 1.3 million beneficiaries, supported through 5.6 million loans with total disbursements of USD 4.2 billion, can benefit from a digital loyalty program designed to be both innovative and practical. Enda Tamweel expects the Hedera-powered loyalty solution to attract 120,000 new clients per year through a referral feature embedded in the program.
Jatual Abu Dhabi In Partner With Platinum Group to Reveal “Hessa” – The World’s Largest Fancy Vivid Pink Diamond at MIITE 2026, Platinum Group Booth
Abu Dhabi, UAE – May 2026
Jatual Abu Dhabi, a contemporary house of high jewelry, will participate in Make it in the Emirates 2026 (MIITE 2026), Platinum Group booth, taking place from May 4–7, 2026 at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC).
Abu Dhabi, UAE — May 4, 2026 — Sarwa, one of the GCC’s leading investment and personal finance platforms, has surpassed $1 billion in client assets under management (AUM), becoming the first homegrown UAE fintech to reach this milestone.
Reached amid ongoing global and regional uncertainty, the milestone signals both the resilience of the UAE and Abu Dhabi’s financial infrastructure as well as the growing confidence of individual investors. Underpinned by Abu Dhabi’s immense growth as a global financial centre and ADGM’s enabling business environment that supports innovation, investor protection, and sustainable growth, the achievement also reflects a broader shift underway in the UAE and beyond. It highlights how retail investors are playing an increasingly active role in shaping the future of the financial markets and the nation’s overall appetite for investments in various financial instruments.
UAE News 24/7 