The Circuit Milken Edition

☀️ Good morning and welcome to Day 2 of The Circuit’s special coverage of the Milken Institute’s 2024 Middle East and Africa Summit. Read here what to expect today as the conference wraps up with discussions on the transition to renewable fuels, regulating digital finance, controlling the costs of health care and investing the Gulf’s sovereign wealth.

The agenda opens today with brief remarks from U.S. Ambassador Martina Strong, who came to Abu Dhabi a year ago and has been a key Biden administration representative in the Middle East.

Following Ambassador Strong onstage, Michael Milken returns to kick off Day 2’s proceedings in a conversation about the future of world financial markets with TPG’s James Coulter, promising to hit on topics including deglobalization, decarbonization, and digitization.

Milken will also lead the conference’s concluding session in a chat with Khaldoon Al Mubarak, one of the country’s most influential leaders as Managing Director and Group CEO of the Mubadala sovereign wealth fund, and a member of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council The conversation promises to touch on how the UAE, Saudi Arabia and their Gulf neighbors have become a dominant force in the investment world, with venture capitalists and hedge fund managers making pilgrimages to tap their financial resources.

Other headliners today include U.S. Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti, the former mayor of Los Angeles, who will join investors and real estate developers on a panel about the future of the world’s cities, with discussions on sustainable transportation, smart infrastructure and enhanced livability.

Among the showcase activities during the Summit has been interviewing and whittling down the list of competing startups for the annual $1 million Milken-Motsepe Fintech Prize, which aims to expand access to capital and financial services for small businesses in emerging and frontier markets. Nominees have been making pitches this week in hopes of competing in the final round taking place at the Milken Institute’s flagship Beverly Hills conference in May, where the prize is presented.

In an interview with The Circuit’s Omnia Al Desoukie, Margaret O’Connor, the chairperson of Mauritius-based Launch Africa and a judge for the Milken-Motsepe award, said the program is a major incentive for the continent’s young companies. “I actually have goosebumps because we’re at a moment in time where we’re building systems to create systematic connectivity,” O’Connor said. ”The GCC needs African talent – AI talent and entrepreneurial talent and business talent. GCC also needs access to African markets [while] African entrepreneurs need access to GCC markets and capital.”

Dr. Jill Biden, First Lady of the United States, told a packed ballroom that she’s proud of the progress made by the Biden administration in advancing medical care and education about women’s health after years of neglect. “I remember going to my husband and saying, ‘Joe, this can’t go on.’”

Actor Ed Norton, who is U.N. Goodwill Ambassador for Biodiversity, on “The Art of Storytelling” in a lunch discussion yesterday: “To get people involved in the story, you have got to make it transparent and about them. People respond well because of the authenticity of the story. When everyone sees that everyone is working from their heart, they will put in their efforts.”

Grant Verstanding, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Red Cell Partners during a panel on artificial intelligence: “The whole world changed after Newton. The whole world will change after AI.” 

Read our full recap of Day 1 at the Milken Middle East Africa Summit here and subscribe to our Daily Circuit newsletter for the latest on the Middle East business landscape each day here.