Good morning, wonderful people. We hope you’ve all stayed safe during the storm, which has caused the heaviest rainfall the country has seen in 75 years, with a year’s worth of rain falling over the country in a single day.

** DID YOU EXPERIENCE POWER OUTAGES OR FLOODING? Many have reported damage and flooding inside their homes, while others have reported power outages because of the storm. Several reports on X have also shown flooding and other instances of property damage from the torrential rain — including one viral video of patio furniture flying out of a building (watch, runtime: 0:05) and intense flooding and damage inside Mall of the Emirates and a conference in festival city.

Plenty of photos and videos also showed severe road damage, including a road in Al Ain that collapsed due to the rain (watch, runtime: 0:44).

Dubai International Airport had to suspend operations for 25 minutes yesterday after flooding affected runways (see: another viral video). More than 50 flights were canceled yesterday, with all inbound travel diverted until weather conditions improve, according to France24..

The National Meteorological Office issued a red alert and warned of “hazardous weather events of exceptional severity,” on X yesterday.

Is cloud seeding to blame? Bloomberg also has coverage of the impact of the storm, noting that it is linked in part to recent cloud seeding operations, with seeding planes sent from Al Ain airport to exploit convective cloud formations. Seeding planes flew seven missions over the past two days, special meteorologist Ahmed Habib told the business information service.

“For any cloud that’s suitable over the UAE you make the operation,” he said.

SOUND SMART-Cloud seeding is infusing clouds with substances that help water molecules stick together (like silver iodide) either by spraying it from a plane or shooting it up from the ground.

The storm also hit Oman, where 18 people died due to the adverse weather conditions, with people missing, France24 reports. It is also set to hit Saudi Arabia today.

The Asian Football Confederation postponed the first leg of the Asian Champions League semifinal between Al Ain and Al Hilal to today due to the downpour. The game is now scheduled for Wednesday at 8pm local time at Abu Dhabi’s Hazza bin Zayed Stadium. The second leg will take place next Tuesday as scheduled. The Associated Press and Reuters picked up the story.

Also postponed: The Middle East Energy Exhibition, which was set to kick off yesterday, but will instead start today and run until Friday, 19 April due to adverse weather conditions, the organizers said on LinkedIn. The event, organized by the Energy and Infrastructure Ministry, will feature over 1.5k exhibitors focused on energy security and sustainability solutions.

It’s not over yet, so stay safe and stay home if you can: We’re still in for more rain today, along with another wave of thunderstorms and a chance of hail in some areas, the National Center for Meteorology forecasts, cautioning residents to stay home today and avoid rainfall areas. The Emirates School Education Foundation has directed all schools across the country to switch to remote learning today due to the unstable weather. Dubai government employees will also continue working remotely as the government has extended the remote working period for today.

Despite the country basically halting to a standstill, the news cycle remained healthy as ever, with massive news on the AI front leading the morning’s news well: Microsoft is investing USD 1.5 bn in state AI company G42.

Also worth your time this morning: Spinneys is moving forward with an IPO of a 25% stake on the DFM; the IMF revised downwards its forecast for the UAE’s GDP growth this year; and Abu Dhabi wealth fund ADQ is set to acquire a 49% stake in Alpha Dhabi’s construction unit.

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTS-

You will now be able to access all Abu Dhabi Housing Authority services through the newly launched Iskan Abu Dhabi smart app, Wam reports. The platform allows access to housing services, including loans, grants, land exchanges, and purchases, eliminating the need for physical visits to service centers.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1-Masdar City has projects worth a combined AED 3-4 bn currently in the design phase, CEO Ahmed Baghoum said at the World Energy Summit, Wam reports. These initiatives target critical sectors such as energy, artificial intelligence, space, life sciences, and agriculture. The total value of projects under construction currently, including the Masdar City Complex and “The Link,” stands at approximately AED 1 bn, according to Baghoum.

#2- Johnson talks up UAE-UK cooperation on climate tech: The UAE and UK have plenty of space to cooperate on battery technology, AI, and nuclear energy, former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said during his speech at Masdar’s Green Hydrogen Summit, The National reports. “Innovation requires countries like the UAE and the UK to work ever more closely together,” Johnson is quoted as saying.

The two countries can also cooperate on small modular reactors (SMRs), “like the type made by Rolls-Royce.” SMRs offer one third the capacity of traditional reactors with reduced upfront costs and flexible siting options.

HAPPENING TODAY-

#1-It’s day two of the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi. The three-day summit aims to discuss solutions for development in the transformation of future energy systems, and features discussions on recycling, waste-to-energy, and air-to-water trends and progressions.

#3- The 2024 spring meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) continue today and run until Saturday, 20 April, in Washington, DC. You can check out today’s schedule here.

Minister of State for Financial Affairs Mohamed bin Hadi Al Hussaini is leading the UAE’s delegation at the meetings, according to a ministry statement. The delegation also includes other officials from the Finance Ministry and the Central Bank of the UAE, Al Arabiya reports

#4- The government-organized AI summit Machines Can See kicks off today at the Museum of the Future in Dubai. The one-day event will discuss the use of AI to transform urban systems and services, outlook on AI investments, and explore the risks of AI. Speakers include AI Minister Omar Al Olama, and heads of AI departments at companies ranging from Core42 to Nvidia, IBM, Oracle, and Google Cloud.

HAPPENING TOMORROW-

Token2049 is taking place tomorrow and Friday at Madinat Jumeirah in Dubai. The event is set to bring together over 10k attendees from more than 5k companies, featuring over 200 speakers and more than 150 exhibitors. Flare Network’s co-founder and CEO of Flare Labs, Hugo Philio is set to speak at the event on 18 April, according to a statement posted on X.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

Strap yourselves in, folks: It’s shaping up to be a very busy day for business news in our region and around the world.

#1- Are we in the “Tepid Twenties”? That was the warning from IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva to officials and businesses around the world as we headed into this week’s IMF and World Bank spring meetings. It’s only by driving growth, harnessing AI, and dealing with climate change that we can turn them into the “Transformational Twenties,” she said.

Her caution runs through the latest update to the IMF’s World Economic Outlook, which shares top billing on this morning’s front pages (Bloomberg | CNBC) with Jay Powell’s remarks on interest rates (below).

The global economy will grow by 3.2% in this year and next — on par with last year — the IMF writes in the WEO. That’s essentially the midpoint between the really slow growth we saw in the 2010s and the rapid growth we saw in the early years of this decade during the freemoney era. (We have more on the WEO’s outlook for the UAE in this morning’s news well, below.)

The tent poles: The US economy will grow at a 2.7% clip, faster than most advanced economies, while China’s GDP will expand at a 4.6% clip, unchanged from last year.

A flashing red light: “Progress toward inflation targets has somewhat stalled since the beginning of the year,” IMF chief economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas said at a news conference on the WEO yesterday.

#2- Enter Jay Powell, who “dialed back expectations of a [US] rate cut” in remarks that “called into question whether the Federal Reserve will be able to lower interest rates this year without signs of an unexpected economic slowdown,” the Wall Street Journal reports. His worry: Inflation in the first quarter was higher than he’d have liked. Powell’s remarks also lead the front page of the Financial Times.

ALSO MAKING HEADLINES THIS MORNING:

#3- In geopolitics: We’re still waiting for Israel’s next move on Iran after Tel Aviv’s war cabinet yesterday postponed its meeting to today.

The hope in Western policymaking circles: That a basket of new sanctions on Iran might convince Israel not to retaliate for Iran’s drone and missile attack overnight Sunday (itself retaliation for an unprecedented attack by Israel on Iran’s embassy in Syria).

#4- In business: Andreessen Horowitz has raised USD 7.2 bn to invest in AI-anchored companies, the firm said in a note yesterday. The high-profile VC’s fund is among the biggest to close since the downturn in the VC “ecosystem” began a couple of years back.

Big themes for the fund: Infrastructure, growth, games, apps, and “American dynamism” (don’t get us started).

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