Casablanca Finance City has signed up two Abu Dhabi investment firms as part of government-led efforts to create an investment gateway into north-west Africa and a new regional hub for finance.
AD Capital, an arm of Abu Dhabi's National Holding, and the asset management company InvestAD have established operations in the newly created business hub amid renewed investor interest in Africa.
Through a mix of tax incentives and a dedicated legal body, Casablanca is seeking to lure investment banks, asset managers and insurance firms to a 100-hectare business district it hopes will become a regional hub for finance.
"The opportunity isn't just a Moroccan opportunity but one in north-west Africa," said Said Ibrahimi, the chief executive of the Moroccan Financial Board. "There is a strong need for finance in this region." Casablanca Finance City, established in 2010, has so far attracted six companies, including the law firm Clifford Chance and the consultancy firms Boston Consulting Group and McKinsey.
The Moroccan Financial Board hopes the development will create about 15,000 jobs by the end of the decade, with a further 25,000 added by auxiliary businesses linked to the city.
With many developing markets starting to become saturated and returns dwindling in the United States and Europe, investors have been turning their attention to frontiers in Africa.
InvestAD is seeking to expand its African operations as it courts greater numbers of individuals looking to invest in the continent, said Nazem Fawwaz Al Kudsi, the firm's chief executive.
"Global institutional investors are looking to deploy more capital in Africa and want asset managers with on-the-ground expertise," he said.
Mr Ibrahimi said he hoped Casablanca Finance City would complement rather than compete with Dubai by targeting regional opportunities in Africa.
While investment hubs such as Johannesburg, Cairo and Nairobi cover many parts of Africa, Morocco is seeking to establish itself as a gateway to what it terms the "Greater North West Africa" - an area of the continent stretching as far afield as Libya in the east and the Democratic Republic of Congo in the south.
The Moroccan Financial Board estimates the economic output of this area is about US$800 billion (Dh2.93 trillion), equivalent in size to the economy of Turkey, and home to 500 million people.
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Three-day coronation
Royal purification
The entire coronation ceremony extends over three days from May 4-6, but Saturday is the one to watch. At the time of 10:09am the royal purification ceremony begins. Wearing a white robe, the king will enter a pavilion at the Grand Palace, where he will be doused in sacred water from five rivers and four ponds in Thailand. In the distant past water was collected from specific rivers in India, reflecting the influential blend of Hindu and Buddhist cosmology on the coronation. Hindu Brahmins and the country's most senior Buddhist monks will be present. Coronation practices can be traced back thousands of years to ancient India.
The crown
Not long after royal purification rites, the king proceeds to the Baisal Daksin Throne Hall where he receives sacred water from eight directions. Symbolically that means he has received legitimacy from all directions of the kingdom. He ascends the Bhadrapitha Throne, where in regal robes he sits under a Nine-Tiered Umbrella of State. Brahmins will hand the monarch the royal regalia, including a wooden sceptre inlaid with gold, a precious stone-encrusted sword believed to have been found in a lake in northern Cambodia, slippers, and a whisk made from yak's hair.
The Great Crown of Victory is the centrepiece. Tiered, gold and weighing 7.3 kilograms, it has a diamond from India at the top. Vajiralongkorn will personally place the crown on his own head and then issues his first royal command.
The audience
On Saturday afternoon, the newly-crowned king is set to grant a "grand audience" to members of the royal family, the privy council, the cabinet and senior officials. Two hours later the king will visit the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, the most sacred space in Thailand, which on normal days is thronged with tourists. He then symbolically moves into the Royal Residence.
The procession
The main element of Sunday's ceremonies, streets across Bangkok's historic heart have been blocked off in preparation for this moment. The king will sit on a royal palanquin carried by soldiers dressed in colourful traditional garb. A 21-gun salute will start the procession. Some 200,000 people are expected to line the seven-kilometre route around the city.
Meet the people
On the last day of the ceremony Rama X will appear on the balcony of Suddhaisavarya Prasad Hall in the Grand Palace at 4:30pm "to receive the good wishes of the people". An hour later, diplomats will be given an audience at the Grand Palace. This is the only time during the ceremony that representatives of foreign governments will greet the king.
Squid Game season two
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Stars: Lee Jung-jae, Wi Ha-joon and Lee Byung-hun
Rating: 4.5/5
The five pillars of Islam
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Cofe
Year started: 2018
Based: UAE
Employees: 80-100
Amount raised: $13m
Investors: KISP ventures, Cedar Mundi, Towell Holding International, Takamul Capital, Dividend Gate Capital, Nizar AlNusif Sons Holding, Arab Investment Company and Al Imtiaz Investment Group
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