UAE: Egyptian billionaire launches digital business news platform for Gen Z

Moniify will spotlight emerging markets with a focus on the industries driving the future – from tech and AI to crypto and space

Nasreen Abdulla

Published: Mon 25 Nov 2024, 10:27 PM

Last updated: Mon 25 Nov 2024, 10:34 PM

Egyptian billionaire and serial entrepreneur Naguib Sawiris has launched a new digital business platform for Gen Z.

Moniify aims to empower the next generation of entrepreneurs and investors to make smarter money moves by providing insights and analysis on high-potential regions and sectors.

Based in the UAE, Moniify will spotlight emerging markets with a focus on the industries driving the future – from tech and AI to crypto and space. Ahead of a press conference at Dubai International Financial Center, Sawaris explained that the UAE was chosen for a number of reasons. “It’s got a good central geographical location,” he said. “There is freedom to move around and you are safe. The ease of doing business in the UAE is unmatched. Everything is done digitally. It becomes very easy to do business.”

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Naguib Sawiris during the lunch of Moniify in Dubai. Photo: Muhammad Sajjad

He praised the vision of Dubai Ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. “[He] built the Dubai Media City twenty to thirty years ago and at the time it was unique,” he said.

A platform for Gen Z

Sawiris further explained why he began Moniify. “Young people today need more than traditional business and finance news,” he said. “[They] always ask me ‘what is the secret to success?’ - that is my motivation for MONIIFY, to be the formula for them to achieve their dreams.”

Dr Yaser Bishr, Advisor to the chairman, said their goal was to empower the younger generation. “Our goal really is to help young people become financially independent,” he said.

“We want to help the young generations to navigate this complex, evolving markets in key sectors that we believe the future is going to depend on like AI, decentralised finance and crypto, and space investments. So, we believe there are certain sectors that will define the next decade of the economy, and we believe that the younger generation will want to be part of that.”

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Michael Peters, CEO of Moniify, explained how they noticed a gap in the market. “The original idea was two-fold,” he said.

“There is no platform on finance and business that is capturing the millennials and Gen Z. Secondly, there if you look at traditional media right now, it's all Western view of what's happening in emerging markets. Our goal really is to have emerging markets tell the world a lot more stories.”

The platform ropes in content creators from all parts of the world including Malaysia, Singapore and India to create videos which will break down concepts for youngsters.

Creating content

One of the presenters for the platform, Ornella Hernandez will address space tech with her videos. “Our first video coming out this week will focus on how companies are manufacturing satellites in the region,” she said. “We are highlighting that this is a segment we should look into. We will also cover topics about crypto, AI and energy crisis.”

Another presenter, Uptin Saiidi, who hosts a daily show on the platform, said the challenge was to cater to all the target markets. “The challenge is going to be how does someone in Indonesia want their news about Saudi or UAE,” he said. “That is one thing we are constantly conscious of when framing our content. If some content is not relevant to someone in Singapore, how do we make sure it is. That is what we are focused on”

For brother-sister duo Sara and Aaron Wee, who create content as ‘The Weeblings’ on Instagram, this is a departure from their usual style of content. “Usually, we share our journey but on Moniify we will be talking about macroeconomics that meets everyday life,” said Aaron. “So, if you are going to buy a house, how will the interest rates be impacted and things like that.”

Sara added that the amount of research they do for every video is ongoing at all times. “It is a lot more research than our usual content,” she said. “These videos are very educational, so we make sure to do a lot of research.

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