Bahrain Singapore Gulf Bank to offer digital asset custody services

Bahrain Singapore Gulf Bank to offer digital asset custody services

Operating under full regulatory approval from the Central Bank of Bahrain, Singapore Gulf Bank (SGB) has launched in Bahrain to offer comprehensive digital banking services to corporate customers in the digital economy to manage their traditional financial and digital assets on a single platform.

Global clients can onboard through Singapore Gulf Bank’s remote digital on-boarding solutions. SGB will extend its digital banking services to individual clients by the end of the year.

In addition to regular corporate banking services, SGB will provide a real-time settlement network, digital assets custody and intuitive trading solutions, all underpinned by robust AML/KYC measures. As per the announcement this enables businesses to manage their finances flexibly, whether they are traditional or digital assets – facilitating their participation in the digital economy.

Edmund Lee, Founding Chairman of the Board of SGB, stated, “We’re building the foundation for a new era of global finance where traditional and digital worlds converge to enable businesses to operate anytime and anywhere.”

H.E. Noor bint Ali Alkhulaif, Minister of Sustainable Development, Chief Executive of Bahrain Economic Development Board, said, “The launch of SGB marks a pivotal moment in deepening financial connectivity between MENA and Asian markets through Bahrain. As the digital economy continues to grow, our kingdom will serve as a gateway connecting Asian enterprises with opportunities across traditional and digital financial markets. SGB is a testament to Bahrain’s pro-innovation environment and our ability to attract and anchor ambitious global enterprises.”

H.E. Khalid Humaidan, Governor of the Central Bank of Bahrain, commented: “SGB’s launch demonstrates Bahrain’s commitment to fostering innovation in financial services while upholding the highest regulatory standards. With SGB, Bahrain will serve as a crucial nexus that connects businesses around the world and bridges traditional and digital financial services.”

SGB is pioneering a new era of banking where everyone can easily access and manage digital assets alongside traditional assets within one integrated network. Underpinned by its compliance-first approach, SGB will serve as a vital link between mainstream financial services and the rapidly advancing digital asset economy, empowering the next billion users with access to the future of finance.

In early October SINGAPORE Gulf Bank (SGB) appointed former Goldman Sachs executive Ali AlShamma as chief financial officer and ex-Sygnum executive Elaine Leong as chief operating officer. These two hires reinforce the mission of SGB to provide frictionless interaction between digital and traditional finance, said the digital bank.

Crypto.com and Bahrain BENEFIT explore digital asset payment integration

Crypto.com and Bahrain BENEFIT explore digital asset payment integration

Crypto.com and Bahrain based BENEFIT, a FinTech and electronic financial transactions services have signed an MOU ( Memorandum of Understanding) which aims at discussing combining their expertise and help expand the digital assets and fintech ecosystem in Bahrain including areas such as payment integration and prepaid card capabilities.

The companies signed an MOU at the Fintech Forward event in Bahrain on October 3, 2024.

“BENEFIT’s innovative work to develop the electronic payments space in Bahrain is impressive and we’re excited at the prospect of partnering with a company that is forward-thinking and eager to support the growth of the digital assets industry,” said Eric Anziani, President and COO of Crypto.com. “Bahrain has created an innovation friendly environment and we’re looking forward to expanding our services here.”

“We are pleased to explore this collaboration with Crypto.com as it aligns with our mission to continuously drive innovation in Bahrain’s financial services sector,” said Abdulwahed AlJanahi, Chief Executive of BENEFIT. “By leveraging our expertise in electronic financial transactions and Crypto.com’s cutting-edge capabilities in the realm of cryptocurrency, we are confident this partnership can bring added value to Bahrain’s evolving fintech landscape and support the growth of digital assets in the Kingdom.”

This comes after Crypto.com Crypto.com, the 13th largest global crypto exchange according to CoinMarketCap, received a crypto payment service provider license from the Central Bank of Bahrain allowing it to offer e-money and fiat based payment services regionally, including prepaid cards.

Revolut hires Ambareen Musa as CEO of UAE entity

Revolut hires Ambareen Musa as CEO of UAE entity

After news that Revolut whose global mission is for every person and business to do all things money — spending, saving, investing, borrowing, managing, and more — in just a few taps, had applied to the UAE’s central bank for an electronic-money institution license to offer remittance services, with the ultimate goal of securing a full banking license, similar to the one it recently obtained in the UK, and of Mubadala’s investment in Revolut, Revolut has appointed its CEO for UAE.

Ambareen Musa announced on Linkedin, that she is now the CEO of Revolut UAE. She noted, “Very excited to share that I am taking on the role of Chief Executive Officer – UAE at Revolut!” Ambareen was previously the Founder and CEO of Souqalmal, which was the first regional online comparison site for financial and non-financial consumer products.
This is not the first appointment for Revolut in UAE, the company has been hiring key roles in finance, legal, compliance, crypto, engineering, and product development in Dubai.

Founded in 2015, Revolut began as a multi-currency prepaid card and app, evolving into a financial super-app offering services from international transfers to stock trading. It now serves over 45 million personal and 500k business customers globally.

Revolut also offers its users crypto services in its mix of offerings, trading, transferring and others. It offers 210+ carefully vetted tokens
All tokens as per the website pass stringent checks before being listed. Revolut crypto offers allows users to move BTC, ETH, USDT and 30+ other tokens between their wallets.

Revolut first entered the UAE in 2022, establishing a team of 140 at the Dubai International Financial Centre. CEO Nik Storonsky has long aimed to enter the Gulf market, though licensing challenges have previously restricted UAE residents from opening accounts.

Alongside its UAE ambitions, Revolut is also eyeing neighbouring Saudi Arabia as a growth market.

Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala sovereign wealth fund is expected to help Revolut secure regulatory approvals, aiding in its pursuit of a full banking license in the UAE.

Revolut has seen its valuation rise to $45bn after Mubadala, Abu Dhabi-based sovereign wealth fund acquired a stake in the company. According to the Financial Times, the deal will see Revolut founder Nik Storonsky collect a minimum of $200m.

Revolut employees sold $500m worth of shares in August with Storonsky accounting for around half of the share sale.

Mubadala was one of the investors to purchase the shares, along with DI Capital Partners, Tiger Global and Coatue, although it is not clear how many shares Mubadala purchased or the size of its stake.

UAE First Abu Dhabi Bank completes Blockchain JPM Coin pilot for second time

UAE First Abu Dhabi Bank completes Blockchain JPM Coin pilot for second time

UAE First Abu Dhabi Bank has successfully completed a pilot for J.P Morgan Blockchain based JPM Coin System for programmable payments. The announcement interestingly has been made for the second time.

FAB has become one of the first financial institution to complete the programmable payment pilot with JPM Coin, enabling payments to be triggered at specific times or events.

This successful pilot opens up the possibility of a dynamic and automated funding and settlement solution to FAB and J.P. Morgan’s mutual clients. This solution will enable clients to benefit from Onyx’s real-time and/or event-based programmable capabilities. As part of the pilot, FAB successfully completed time-based and threshold balance-based account funding into deposit accounts to execute a payment obligation.

Unlike traditional cash concentration structures, which often lack real-time features or event-based configuration controlled by a bank, this innovation delivers more forward-looking possibilities where programmability can be used to provide flexibility to the client. Conditions for payment initiation and execution can be replicated on the bank’s side, resulting in improved execution response times with finality and traceability. Banks, with their rich transaction data, are in a better position to build a wide range of programmable scenarios, including instructions within payments and obligation-linked payments that are settled in an all-or-none manner.

With programmable payments, treasurers can transition from cash forecasting to dynamic or just-in-time (JIT) funding 24/7, maximising yields on surplus cash and minimising fees and opportunity costs. Unexpected payment failures or drawing on credit lines can be minimised. The successful pilot will also pave the way for more use cases, such as automated and conditional invoice payments, margin funding, and settlement solutions.

“One of our foremost objectives has been to bring new and innovative digital solutions to our clients and the industry at large. We are delighted to work with the FAB to extend our programmable payment offerings to multi-bank use cases. We believe that digital programmable ledgers will form the foundations for the finternet in the coming years,” said Naveen Mallela, Co-Head of Onyx by J.P. Morgan.

FAB is at the forefront of providing cutting-edge technologies to create a future-ready bank that delivers smarter and more agile solutions to serve its clients’ needs, as underscored by this innovative pilot in collaboration with J.P. Morgan.

In 2023 UAE FAB bank, (First Abu Dhabi Bank), made the same announcement.

Bahrain’s ABC Bank was the first bank to actually go live with Coin System built on Onyx by J.P Morgan, after two years of piloting.

UAE Fintech firm Xalts partners with Avalanche for tokenization of RWAs

UAE Fintech firm Xalts partners with Avalanche for tokenization of RWAs

Xalts, a UAE based Fintech firm specializing in tokenization, has announced its collaboration with Avalanche to bring more enterprise-grade real world asset tokenization solutions for institutions. Xalts has also recently joined the Qatar Financial Center’s digital assets lab for tokenizing real world assets.

As per the press release, this will provide out-of-the-box solutions to enable financial services, governments, and other enterprise developers looking to build digital asset platforms for implementing blockchain, tokenization, and smart contract applications for different use cases such as the tokenization of funds, securities, commodities and trade finance assets, digital currencies, and CDBCs.

Xalts works with financial services and businesses to provide connectivity by leveraging a modern technology stack, including APIs, Blockchains, and Orchestration layers. Its product suite includes solutions such as the RWA Cloud platform, which enables large institutions such as financial services and governments to quickly build complex solutions on blockchains.

RWA Cloud addresses challenges enterprises and regulators face while implementing blockchain, such as retaining complex rules, workflows, processes, and user compliances mandated by internal or regulatory governance.

With this collaboration, financial institutions can deploy custom blockchain networks that meet specific financial requirements and comply with local regulations using Avalanche’s L1 technology, orchestrate and automate their on-chain processes, tokenize digital assets and liabilities on the blockchain via smart workflows using Xalts’ RWA Cloud.

“Our collaboration with Xalts enables us to jointly offer RWA tokenization technology infrastructure and solutions to financial services institutions, including banks, asset managers, and fintechs alike”, said Morgan Krupetsky, Head of Institutions & Capital Markets at Ava Labs.

Xalts recently joined the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) Authority Digital Assets Lab to test and commercialize use cases in real-world asset tokenization.

“We are very excited to partner with Avalanche. This will make the development of blockchain and smart contract solutions much more accessible and accelerate enterprise use cases”, said Ashutosh Goel, Chief Executive Officer, Xalts.

“We have an exciting roadmap ahead of us with Xalts as we jointly enable financial institutions across markets in their RWA tokenization journey!”, said Devika Mittal, Regional Head at Ava Labs.

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UAE Al Fardan Exchange and Dubai AI Web3 Festival to drive AI integration in Finance

UAE Al Fardan Exchange and Dubai AI Web3 Festival to drive AI integration in Finance

Al Fardan Exchange has partnered with the Dubai AI & Web3 Festival 2024, following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between both parties to drive forward AI integration within the financial sector.


Hasan Fardan Al Fardan, Chief Executive Officer of Al Fardan Exchange and a member of the festival’s advisory committee, highlighted the transformative impact of this partnership. He called the collaboration with the Dubai AI & Web3 Festival 2024 a pivotal opportunity to drive AI advancements in the financial sector. In his role on the advisory committee, Hasan Fardan Al Fardan is dedicated to championing the UAE’s ambition to become a global leader in digital finance. This partnership reflects Al Fardan Exchange’s commitment to shaping a future where AI enhances both financial services and customer experiences.


AI has the potential to revolutionize customer interactions within the financial sector. Recent studies highlight that businesses adopting AI in customer service report a 40% reduction in response times and a 38% increase in customer satisfaction. According to McKinsey, financial institutions implementing AI can see a 20% increase in operational efficiency and a 10-15% reduction in costs. Al Fardan Exchange is committed to utilizing AI to provide these enhanced experiences, ensuring every customer interaction is seamless and effective.


Additionally, AI plays a pivotal role in advancing financial inclusion, making financial services accessible to a wider audience. The World Bank estimates that AI-driven solutions could bring financial services to over 1.7 billion unbanked individuals globally, bridging this gap and providing essential financial services to underserved populations. This initiative aligns with Al Fardan Exchange’s mission to foster global financial inclusion.


“Our partnership with the Dubai AI and Web3 Festival 2024 is aimed at advancing AI integration within the financial sector. As a member of the advisory committee, I am committed to supporting the UAE’s vision of a digitally advanced financial landscape,” said Hasan Fardan Al Fardan. He continued, “AI holds significant promise in enriching customer experiences, advancing financial inclusion, and strengthening the financial ecosystem. This partnership reaffirms our commitment at Al Fardan Exchange to deliver technology-driven financial solutions whilst ensuring an effortless customer journey.”

In 2024 UAE Fuze, digital assets infrastructure provider, which recently received a license from Dubai’s regulator, signed an MOU with UAE Fardan Exchange to allow the exchange to offer digital asset products such as buying, selling and transfer.

SurferMonkey partners with NYALA to bring privacy to tokenized assets

SurferMonkey partners with NYALA to bring privacy to tokenized assets

UAE registered SurferMonkey, has partnered with NYALA to revolutionize financial privacy and compliance within blockchain technology.

As per the announcement, the traditional financial systems often grapple with inefficiencies that drive up costs and cause delays. Blockchain protocol promises to streamline processes across primary and secondary markets, yet its inherent transparency poses challenges such as privacy concerns and confidential data exposure to competitors.

NYALA, tokenization platform is converting real world assets into digital twins. NYALA ensures seamless, compliant asset management, setting new benchmarks in efficiency, while SurferMonkey aims to complement NYALA’s platform by introducing regulatory privacy to the ecosystem.

SurferMonkey’s solution safeguards transactional privacy while adhering to regulatory standards including the Travel Rule. Their pioneering ZKP Mixing technology shields sensitive transaction data from competitors, ensuring robust data protection and compliance with regulatory frameworks such as MiCa or the German Electronic Securities Act (eWpG).

This strategic collaboration explores diverse use cases, including Asset Minting, DvP (Delivery versus Payment) for bonds using stablecoin EURe (Monerium), and more. Institutions can confidently tokenize and manage assets with the assurance that their data remains secure, private, and regulatorily compliant.

“We are huge believers in public chain infrastructure, says NYALA Co-CEO Johannes Schmitt. “However, this infrastructure needs to be complemented with applications and tools that allow for selective confidentiality. This is why we are excited about partnering with SurferMonkey ”.

Miguel Diaz Montiel, CEO of SurgerMonkey, “We believe in the potential of blockchain asset tokenization; however we know that many user cases cannot be exposed to anyone outside theinstitution sending them and regulators. Critical data cannot be exposed to prying eyes. Our collaboration with NYALA highlights how tokenized assets can be privatized on public blockchains.”

Speaking to Lara on the Block, Al Amin Al Bakry, Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer at Surfermonkey noted, “We are registered in the ADGM UAE and in the FCA in the United Kingdom. We continuously work with ADGM discussing our technology and how it can be applied to other companies within the ADGM that need to privatize certain transactional flows on the blockchain.”

SurferMonkey employs Zero-Knowledge Proof technology to ensure secure, confidential, and compliant blockchain interactions.

Currently these solutions are being tested in the sandbox in ADGM.

Central Bank of UAE and Seychelles cross border settlement’s MOU will extend to CBDCs

Central Bank of UAE and Seychelles cross border settlement’s MOU will extend to CBDCs

The Central Bank of UAE, and the Central Bank of Seychelles have signed two MOUs (Memorandum of Understanding), to utilize local currencies in settling cross border financial and commercial transactions, with the aim of extending this to CBDCs (Central Bank Digital Currencies).

As per the press release, His Excellency Khaled Mohamed Balama, Governor of the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE), and Ms. Caroline Abel, Governor of the Central Bank of Seychelles (CBS), signed today in Abu Dhabi two Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) regarding enhancing the use of local currencies in settling cross-border financial and commercial transactions, and interlinking payment and messaging systems between the two countries.

The first MoU aims to establish a framework to promote the use of local currencies in settling bilateral commercial transactions, developing the exchange market and to facilitate bilateral trade and direct investment, remittance settlement, and financial market development.

Under the second MoU, both parties will consolidate cooperation and mutual benefit from the services of instant payment platforms, electronic switches and messaging systems, by directly linking them in accordance with the regulatory requirements in the two countries.

This includes interlinking the Instant Payments Platform (IPP), which the CBUAE is developing within the Financial Infrastructure Transformation Program, and the similar platform in the Republic of Seychelles, and between systems and electronic switches to facilitate mutual acceptance of local cards and processing their transactions, in addition to exploring the possibility of linking messaging systems and cooperation in the field of FinTech and Central Bank Digital Currencies.

His Excellency Khaled Mohamed Balama, Governor of the CBUAE, commented, “The signing of the Memorandums of Understanding reflects the Central Bank’s keenness to expand its relations with regional and international counterparts, to enhance UAE’s economic and commercial partnerships globally. The use of the two countries’ currencies for cross-border financial and commercial transactions reflects the growing trade, investment, and financial cooperation and contributes to reducing costs and saving time in settling transactions. This helps in developing the foreign exchange market in the UAE dirham and the Seychellois rupee, leading to enhancing trade exchanges, investments, and remittance between the two countries”.

Ms. Caroline Abel, Governor of the CBS, added “For small open island economies like Seychelles, the importance of an effective and efficient financial system to facilitate trade cannot be overemphasised. The agreement to develop and gradually implement the necessary framework to promote the use of our respective national currencies, the UAE Dirhams and the Seychelles Rupees, in cross-border transactions can further facilitate trade relations between stakeholders across the two jurisdictions. With the Central Bank of Seychelles spearheading efforts to modernise and develop the Seychelles national payment system, in line with the Government’s digital economy agenda, the opportunity to collaborate on interlinking our payment and messaging systems will facilitate the processing and settlement of cross-border financial transactions between the two countries. We look forward to learning from the experiences and expertise of the Central Bank of the UAE as we endeavour to keep pace with developments within the global payment landscape and further leverage technology and innovation for more seamless processing and settlement of payments, including cross-border payments.” 

This comes a day after, the CBUAE and the Central Bank of Indonesia signed an MOU to establish a framework to enhance bilateral cooperation in the area of payment systems.

 His Excellency Khaled Mohamed Balama, Governor of the CBUAE, said: “This MoU embodies the growing economic partnership between the UAE and Indonesia. It is an important pillar which seeks to support bilateral relations in the fields of trade and investment and enhance the UAE’s role in global trade. Today, we are presented with an important opportunity to bolster our cooperation with Bank Indonesia across all financial and banking fields, including financial technology, innovation, and digital payments. This reinforces our wider efforts to support the UAE’s objective of becoming a leading global hub for financial technology and digital and cross-border payment solutions.”

Saudi Central Bank hosts 24 Fintech conference in KSA

Saudi Central Bank hosts 24 Fintech conference in KSA

The Saudi Central Bank, Saudi Capital Market, and Financial sector Development Programme (FSDP) will be hosting 24 Fintech conference and exhibition in Riyadh KSA. The co organizer Fintech Saudi and Tahaluf aim to elevate Riyadh’s fintech ambitions. The event will be held at Riyadh Front exhibition and Conference center from September 3-5 2024.

Tahaluf, the strategic collaborative venture between Informa PLC, the Saudi Federation for Cybersecurity, Programming and Drones (SAFCSP), and the Events Investment Fund (EIF), created 24 Fintech to showcase a collective commitment towards unlocking business and networking opportunities, embracing change, and leading innovation. The three-day event will combine an exhibition and summit – featuring 175 hours of expert-led content – with a host of satellite events, including industry gatherings and brand activations, running throughout the week, from September 1-6.

With the goal of establishing the Kingdom as a tech-driven global financial powerhouse, and Riyadh as an international fintech hub, Tahaluf has set ambitious objectives for 24 Fintech. The event aims to become the most influential, and impactful fintech business event, platform, and community anywhere in Asia, Europe, Middle East and North Africa.

Bolstered by an international summit that will unite regulators, financial services professionals, policy makers, investors, technologists, and academics, 24 Fintech will provide a platform for global industry stakeholders to shape, foster, and spur a collaborative fintech transformation.

Initial Tahaluf estimations project the inaugural 24 Fintech will attract upwards of 25,000 attendees, 300 exhibitors, 200 investors and 80 fintech startups. The show will host more than 200 expert speakers to address pressing finance industry issues as the show looks to navigate the immense technological changes impacting operations, from infrastructure provision to client servicing. Targeted attendees include central bank governors, regulators, policy makers, financial and non-financial institutions, big tech providers, investors and venture capitalists, academics, researchers, as well as professional and industry associations.

“Our vision is to drive forward finance by bringing together essential stakeholders and propelling practical, worldwide transformation in alignment with the economic development agenda laid out in Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030,” said Annabelle Mander, Senior Vice President of Tahaluf.

The inaugural edition of 24 Fintech will feature four stages hosting three days of programming including keynotes, panel discussions, and industry announcements, with dedicated areas for investment and startups, technology, and academia. Across the various stages, experts will probe a host of themes including governance, regulations, interoperability, investment and reimagining the financial services landscape.

In addition to the main and feature stages, the show will host special initiatives – including the Regulators’ Village, a dedicated zone connecting regulators and fintech who aspire to set up in the Kingdom. The inaugural 24 Fintech will also offer a dedicated investor program with an exclusive stage and lounge, as well as Venturescape, pre-show initiative that will bring together 200+ global investors and 100+ fintech for a series of workshops, mentorship and pitch practice.

A specific startup zone will spotlight 80 of the top global fintech companies, across all major fintech verticals including, but not limited to, payments, lending, insurtech, regtech, capital markets, compliance and open banking. Aspiring startups can take advantage of tailored mentorship and matchmaking sessions as well as a 24 Fintech pitch competition. The top startups will battle it out in timed pitch heats, culminating in a grand finale with more than SAR 900,000 (US$250,000+) in equity free awards.

Qatar Fintech Hub to support women entrepreneurs in Qatar and Kuwait

Qatar Fintech Hub to support women entrepreneurs in Qatar and Kuwait

The Qatar Fintech Hub, developed by Qatar Development Bank, has partnered with The International Trade Centre’s (ITC) SheTrades Initiative, and Visa, a leader in digital payments, and Qatar Fintech Hub (QFTH) to support youth and women entrepreneurs in Kuwait and Qatar.

As per the press release, the program ” Small Steps to Success” will have a curriculum for entrepreneurial development, digitalization, innovation and soft skills tailored to women. It will also offer Peer to peer sessions, and empower female entrepreneurs by engaging with financial instituations.

Youth and women-led small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play an increasingly important role in the economy of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region, as 53% of young Arabs in the region plan to start their own business within the next five years, as revealed in results of the 15th ASDA’A BCW Arab Youth Survey. And in 2020, McKinsey forecasted that within a decade, the proportion of women in the Middle East in professional and technical roles will more than double due to digitalization and entrepreneurship.

In this context, ITC SheTrades and Visa are scaling their efforts in Qatar and Kuwait to position youth and women entrepreneurs at the forefront of economic growth and innovation in the GCC. 

In Qatar, Visa and ITC will be collaborating with the Qatar Fintech Hub (QFTH), the specialized FinTech Incubator and Accelerator program by Qatar Development Bank to empower early-stage entrepreneurs and FinTech startups.

Dr. Hamad Salem Mejegheer, Qatar Development Bank, Executive Director​ of Advisory & Incubation, said the initiative falls in line with the bank’s longtime efforts to propel entrepreneurs to success. “This initiative is in line with QDB’s vision of fostering innovation and developing a collaborative ecosystem that nurtures creative ventures to position Qatar as a leading global and regional fintech hub. Through the cultivation of a robust digital economy, we contribute to advancing the objectives of the Third National Development Strategy and Qatar’s economic diversification efforts.”

Shashank Singh, Visa’s VP and General Manager for Qatar and Kuwait stated: “Through this partnership, we will help equip more women and young entrepreneurs in Qatar and Kuwait the skills and network they need thrive in the digital economy. Our collaborative efforts with ITC and QDB are an embodiment of our belief in the transformative power of digital inclusion and its potential to create a ripple effect of growth and opportunity for everyone, everywhere.”

ITC Executive Director Pamela Coke-Hamilton said: “We’re strengthening our partnership with Visa to see more women and youth drive innovation and sustainability in Qatar and Kuwait. From online business courses to networking and financing opportunities, we’re taking a holistic and tailored approach to delivering the support they need.”

Applications are now open. Selected participants will receive support in identifying key challenges and opportunities to grow their business and will gain access to an e-learning package covering topics such as e-commerce strategies, sustainable business practices and financial readiness. These courses are designed to lay a foundation for entrepreneurs to further develop their businesses.