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UAE’s e& Takes Majority Stake in ‘Careem's Super App’

The Careem Super App includes renting small vehicles, digital payment, and a range of fintech services and other services. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The Careem Super App includes renting small vehicles, digital payment, and a range of fintech services and other services. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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UAE’s e& Takes Majority Stake in ‘Careem's Super App’

The Careem Super App includes renting small vehicles, digital payment, and a range of fintech services and other services. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The Careem Super App includes renting small vehicles, digital payment, and a range of fintech services and other services. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The UAE telecom-tech giant e& is picking up a majority stake in Careem Super App through a binding agreement with Uber Technologies.

Careem’s ride-hailing business will remain fully owned by Uber Technologies and continue to be available with all other Careem services on the existing app for customers.

e& is investing $400 million to be majority shareholder in Careem's Super App alongside Uber and all of Careem's co-founders.

The application offers around 12 services.

The Careem Super App offers food and grocery delivery, micro-mobility, a digital wallet and assorted fintech services, and other services such as home cleaning, car rental, and laundry.

Careem is operational in 10 countries across the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia.

With the new investment, Careem plans to accelerate the realization of its ambitious vision to create the first 'everything app''. This will include expanding on the core food, grocery, and fintech services and the Careem Plus subscription program in the region while adding even more partner services to the app.

"Super apps have catalyzed the economic, social, and cultural growth of emerging markets today," said Hatem Dowidar, Group CEO of e&. "The popularity has come from the need to provide a unique and seamless customer experience."

"The mobile-first population has given rise to an ecosystem that has encouraged the use and also expanded the scope for super-apps with user expectations turned towards performing their daily activities on digital platforms."

"The Careem Super App, is a digital native that has built a rapidly growing payments, food, and grocery delivery network, and a platform for other digital businesses to scale from."

In a statement, Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber, said: "Careem helped revolutionize mobility across the greater Middle East while building an incredible brand. I am thrilled to partner with Careem, and welcome e&, as we grow the Careem super-app to deliver more services to millions of people in this fast-moving part of the world."

"All of us at Uber are excited about the impact the Careem platform will have on this region over the next decade and beyond."

Completion of the transaction remains subject to regulatory approvals, customary closing conditions, and administrative procedures.

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ECB's Lagarde Renews Integration Call as Trade War Looms

FILE PHOTO: European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and Governor of the Bank of Finland Olli Rehn arrive at the non-monetary policy meeting of the ECB's Governing Council in Inari, Finnish Lapland, Finland February 22, 2023. Lehtikuva/Tarmo Lehtosalo via REUTERS//File Photo
FILE PHOTO: European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and Governor of the Bank of Finland Olli Rehn arrive at the non-monetary policy meeting of the ECB's Governing Council in Inari, Finnish Lapland, Finland February 22, 2023. Lehtikuva/Tarmo Lehtosalo via REUTERS//File Photo
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ECB's Lagarde Renews Integration Call as Trade War Looms

FILE PHOTO: European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and Governor of the Bank of Finland Olli Rehn arrive at the non-monetary policy meeting of the ECB's Governing Council in Inari, Finnish Lapland, Finland February 22, 2023. Lehtikuva/Tarmo Lehtosalo via REUTERS//File Photo
FILE PHOTO: European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and Governor of the Bank of Finland Olli Rehn arrive at the non-monetary policy meeting of the ECB's Governing Council in Inari, Finnish Lapland, Finland February 22, 2023. Lehtikuva/Tarmo Lehtosalo via REUTERS//File Photo

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde renewed her call for economic integration across Europe on Friday, arguing that intensifying global trade tensions and a growing technology gap with the United States create fresh urgency for action.
US President-elect Donald Trump has promised to impose tariffs on most if not all imports and said Europe would pay a heavy price for having run a large trade surplus with the US for decades.
"The geopolitical environment has also become less favorable, with growing threats to free trade from all corners of the world," Lagarde said in a speech, without directly referring to Trump.
"The urgency to integrate our capital markets has risen."
While Europe has made some progress, EU members tend to water down most proposals to protect vested national interests to the detriment of the bloc as a whole, Reuters quoted Lagarde as saying.
But this is taking hundreds of billions if not trillions of euros out of the economy as households are holding 11.5 trillion euros in cash and deposits, and much of this is not making its way to the firms that need the funding.
"If EU households were to align their deposit-to-financial assets ratio with that of US households, a stock of up to 8 trillion euros could be redirected into long-term, market-based investments – or a flow of around 350 billion euros annually," Lagarde said.
When the cash actually enters the capital market, it often stays within national borders or leaves for the US in hope of better returns, Lagarde added.
Europe therefore needs to reduce the cost of investing in capital markets and must make the regulatory regime easier for cash to flow to places where it is needed the most.
A solution might be to create an EU-wide regulatory regime on top of the 27 national rules and certain issuers could then opt into this framework.
"To bypass the cumbersome process of regulatory harmonization, we could envisage a 28th regime for issuers of securities," Lagarde said. "They would benefit from a unified corporate and securities law, facilitating cross-border placement, holding and settlement."
Still, that would not solve the problem that few innovative companies set up shop in Europe, partly due to the lack of funding. So Europe must make it easier for investment to flow into venture capital and for banks to fund startups, she said.