The new website will be launched in Q4 2022, and will focus on Arabic speakers from all over the world.
International Media Investments (IMI) and CNN International Commercial have signed an agreement to launch CNN Business Arabic, a dedicated digital business platform from the Middle East and North Africa region for Arabic speakers all over the world.
Based in the Middle East, CNN Business Arabic will provide business, finance and economic news for Arabic speakers, offering audiences the latest business information and analysis.
The website will be launched in Q4 2022.
It will work with IMI’s Al Roeya news and will be a complementary platform to CNN Arabic, which is owned and operated by CNN and is now in its 20th year.
Established in Abu Dhabi Media Zone Authority, IMI is a privately owned investment company which aims to build a portfolio of quality media assets around the world.
Through the partnership with CNN, CNN Business Arabic will benefit from access to newsgathering capabilities and content from across the CNN Worldwide portfolio.
The new business platform will also have access to talent, as well as training and consultation.
Speaking about the launch, Nart Bouran, CEO of IMI, said: “There are estimated to be over 430m Arabs in the world yet there are very few quality, dedicated Arabic business news platforms in the MENA region. The recent Arab Youth Survey stated that 79% of Arab nationals between the ages of 18-24 get their news from social media.
“Given the importance of business news to interpret and analyse economic facts and how they impact the world economy, it is fundamental that we create a fact-based, dedicated quality business news source for the MENA region and the Arabic-speaking population. CNN Business Arabic will be a powerful partnership combining the digital-first knowledge within the IMI group with the brand recognition and newsgathering capabilities of CNN.”
Phil Nelson, Chief Operating Officer of CNN International Commercial, stated that CNN has a long history of working with partners worldwide to increase the access that audiences have to CNN’s unique brand of news and information. “The creation of CNN Business Arabic will be an important development that complements our existing CNN Arabic offering and increases our digital footprint amongst people who speak one of the world’s most widespread languages. We look forward to working with IMI to make this a reality.”
CNN Business joins a network of ten existing CNN-branded partners who operate under license in countries around the world including Brazil, Japan, Portugal, Philippines and Turkey.
