National Geographic magazine to launch in Arabic



National Geographic is exploring a new territory: the Arabic language.

The magazine, which dates back to 1888, is launching a Middle East edition later this year, with the first issue of the monthly title expected to hit the newsstands on 1 October.

National Geographic Al Arabiya will be distributed across the GCC as well as in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Yemen, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia.

It will be published by the Abu Dhabi Media Company (ADMC), which also owns and publishes The National. ADMC also broadcasts the National Geographic Channel in Arabic across the Middle East.

The Arabic-language magazine will feature a mix of features on geography, archaeology and natural science, with more than 20 per cent of each issue generated locally.

"We believe our locally tailored offering will provide readers with a unique opportunity to engage with and learn about the region's rich geography, habitats and anthropology," Gavin Dickinson, ADMC's executive director of publishing, said in a statement.

National Geographic Al Arabiya is the latest of many international magazines to be published through partnerships with local firms. Late last year, ITP Consumer Publishing launched Esquire Middle East, and Forbes Middle East is set to relaunch in October, through a partnership with the Dubai-based Arab Publisher House. This is on top of homegrown versions of Hello!, Grazia and Men's Health.

One advantage of these localised versions is that they can engage readers with more relevant features. But another is the cover price: International editions of some magazines sell for up to Dh60, whereas locally published titles typically retail at Dh10-Dh15.

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Key changes

Commission caps

For life insurance products with a savings component, Peter Hodgins of Clyde & Co said different caps apply to the saving and protection elements:

• For the saving component, a cap of 4.5 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 90 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term). 

• On the protection component, there is a cap  of 10 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 160 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).

• Indemnity commission, the amount of commission that can be advanced to a product salesperson, can be 50 per cent of the annualised premium for the first year or 50 per cent of the total commissions on the policy calculated. 

• The remaining commission after deduction of the indemnity commission is paid equally over the premium payment term.

• For pure protection products, which only offer a life insurance component, the maximum commission will be 10 per cent of the annualised premium multiplied by the length of the policy in years.

Disclosure

Customers must now be provided with a full illustration of the product they are buying to ensure they understand the potential returns on savings products as well as the effects of any charges. There is also a “free-look” period of 30 days, where insurers must provide a full refund if the buyer wishes to cancel the policy.

“The illustration should provide for at least two scenarios to illustrate the performance of the product,” said Mr Hodgins. “All illustrations are required to be signed by the customer.”

Another illustration must outline surrender charges to ensure they understand the costs of exiting a fixed-term product early.

Illustrations must also be kept updatedand insurers must provide information on the top five investment funds available annually, including at least five years' performance data.

“This may be segregated based on the risk appetite of the customer (in which case, the top five funds for each segment must be provided),” said Mr Hodgins.

Product providers must also disclose the ratio of protection benefit to savings benefits. If a protection benefit ratio is less than 10 per cent "the product must carry a warning stating that it has limited or no protection benefit" Mr Hodgins added.

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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
 
Started: 2020
 
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
 
Based: Dubai, UAE
 
Sector: Entertainment 
 
Number of staff: 210 
 
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6

Developer: Treyarch, Raven Software
Publisher:  Activision
Console: PlayStation 4 & 5, Windows, Xbox One & Series X/S
Rating: 3.5/5

COMPANY PROFILE

Company: Bidzi

● Started: 2024

● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid

● Based: Dubai, UAE

● Industry: M&A

● Funding size: Bootstrapped

● No of employees: Nine

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Company%20profile
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