Buildings in Gemayzeh (Credit: Sandrine Frem and Pao Ibrahim/L'Orient Today)
- The merger-acquisition between the Lebanese music streaming platform, Anghami, and the video streaming platform of the Emirati group Orbit Showtime Network (OSN), OSN+, was finalized on Tuesday.
The merger, which was initially announced in November 2023, creates a multimedia platform — the "first of its kind" — combining the product and service of the two companies, which are leaders in their respective fields in the Middle East, the Gulf and Maghreb.
- The Human Development Index (HDI) which measures economic and social development now ranks Lebanon as 109 out of 193 countries globally, according to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)’s latest report.
Lebanon’s HDI has declined by 0.27 percent to 0.723 in 2022 (the latest figures used by the UN), from 0.725 percent in 2021, continuing the trend of decline since the onset of Lebanon’s multidimensional economic crisis in 2019.
- The US Agency for International Development (USAID) announced that it had granted an additional $67 million in humanitarian aid to Lebanon, in a statement published on the website of the US Embassy in Beirut.
This announcement brings the total amount of aid given to Lebanon by the US since the fiscal year of 2023, to $157 million. The money, which is closely controlled by the US Congress, is intended to support the country's "vulnerable populations," both Lebanese and Syrian.
- Banque BEMO Saudi Fransi (BBSF), which is 22 percent owned by Lebanon's Banque BEMO, is in the process of acquiring the shares of Byblos Bank Syria, the Syrian subsidiary of Lebanon's Byblos Bank. This acquisition marks the departure of Byblos Bank from the Syrian market, after 19 years of activity in the country.
Having already obtained the approval of the Syrian Central Bank and the Syrian government, the closing of this transaction still depends on the finalization of administrative formalities, said Riad Obegi, CEO of Banque BEMO and member of the Board of Directors of BBSF, established in Syria in 2004 and listed on the Damascus Stock Exchange since 2009.
"Once the deal is closed, Byblos Bank Syria will change its name to Shahba Bank. We do not intend to merge the activities of these three banks [BBSF, Bank Audi and Shahba Bank]. Each will retain its autonomy and its own positioning on the Syrian market," Obegi emphasized.
- Fuel prices in Lebanon have increased, according to the Ministry of Energy. The price of domestic gas cylinders has remained unchanged, and all changes remain negligible.
Here are the new prices:
