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Are Covid Passports the Future?

Despite globalisation and the integration of economises like never before it is still the case that we live in a world divided across so many lines. Nationality, wealth, class, race and religion just to name a few that are the dominant factors in what freedoms we have or the chances of being able to easily provide for our families.
Covid and the new era of geopolitics that have followed the pandemic is generally accepted to be an accelerated evolution of existing trends rather than a revolution, and the potential for new divisions to be created as a by-product of Covid passports is a policy decision worthy of serious interrogation at a moral as well as practical level.
The dilemma is one that countries who are more progressed along their vaccination programme have the luxury of making. The policy is currently headline news in the UK whilst in neighbouring France the spread of new more infectious variants is forcing new lockdowns. In Syria, a country where war has gutted an effective ability to monitor the virus, primary schools have been closed indefinitely, whilst in nearby Saudi Arabia authorities said Monday that only people immunised against COVID-19 will be allowed to perform the year-round Umrah pilgrimage, starting from the holy month of Ramadan.
The most obvious starting point around passports proving that people have had a Covid vaccine is how it will allow residents of richer countries a freedom denied to citizens from poorer countries for potentially years to come. In many a sense it shines a light on how any opportunity for a global response to a global crisis was rejected in a more traditional every country for themselves race to protect their own populations.
Yet Covid passports will have domestic implications as well as international ones, with the global ones surely requiring some form of international agreement as to what would constitute satisfactory proof of protection. Could having had an AstraZeneca vaccine allow travel to the USA for example where the vaccine has yet to be approved by American regulators? Would individuals have had to have had two shots of a vaccine or one? What about those who for pre-existing health reasons are unable to have a vaccine?
Add to these fundamental questions an assessment of the state of Covid variants. For example, the huge risk to the UK of variants coming from Brazil that may render certain vaccines ineffective and therefore necessitate stricter travel restrictions regardless of whether that Brazilian resident has been vaccinated and the mind starts to boggle as to how this would work. Suddenly images of huge queues at embassies for Covid visas or airports full of people who’ve been turned back from flying spring to mind. Chaos is indeed a real possibility.
In the UK discussions around Covid passports are far more focused on the immediate domestic implications. Whilst having a vaccine is not compulsory it seems likely to be the case that having proof of vaccination will be needed to access concerts, sporting events and potentially the cinema and even restaurants. Now that over half of the British adult population has been vaccinated you can already observe a change in people’s behaviour in tandem with the unlocking of restrictions in the country. People have started to wear the stickers you receive upon having a vaccine out and about. Already something quite intimate, the state of your own immune system, is now being worn quite literally as a badge of pride and presumably a means of reassuring people around them.
The UK is planning to update a Covid app that was primarily designed to help contact tracing, turning it into a ticket to entertainment that will be denied those who don’t have it. Israel already has such a system with its “Green Book” leading some people to march in protest against the scheme, calling it tyrannical and saying it creates a privileged “vaccinated class” of people in a new two-tier society.
Yet the scale of opposition to the concept is generally small. The promise of a return to normality and an escape from the grinding isolation and restrictions of lockdowns are so appealing that it would appear that most are willing to accept this new proof of identity for domestic freedoms. At a global level the more onerous burdens of proof, perhaps both of a vaccine and recent testing, may suddenly make travel far more expensive that it has ever been and change the nature of modern tourism.
James Denselow
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BENEFIT AGM approves 10%...
- March 27, 2025
BENEFIT, the Kingdom’s innovator and leading company in Fintech and electronic financial transactions service, held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) at the company’s headquarters in the Seef District.
During the meeting, shareholders approved all items listed on the agenda, including the ratification of the minutes of the previous AGM held on 26 March 2024. The session reviewed and approved the Board’s Annual Report on the company’s activities and financial performance for the fiscal year ended 31 December 2024, and the shareholders expressed their satisfaction with the company’s operational and financial results during the reporting period.
The meeting also reviewed the Independent External Auditor’s Report on the company’s consolidated financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2024. Subsequently, the shareholders approved the audited financial statements for the fiscal year. Based on the Board’s recommendation, the shareholders approved the distribution of a cash dividend equivalent to 10% of the paid-up share capital.
Furthermore, the shareholders endorsed the allocation of a total amount of BD 172,500 as remuneration to the members of the Board for the year ended 31 December 2024, subject to prior clearance by related authorities.
The extension of the current composition of the Board was approved, which includes ten members and one CBB observer, for a further six-month term, expiring in September 2025, pending no objection from the CBB.
The meeting reviewed and approved the Corporate Governance Report for 2024, which affirmed the company’s full compliance with the corporate governance directives issued by the CBB and other applicable regulatory frameworks. The AGM absolved the Board Members of liability for any of their actions during the year ending on 31st December 2024, in accordance with the Commercial Companies Law.
In alignment with regulatory requirements, the session approved the reappointment of Ernst & Young (EY) as the company’s External Auditors for the fiscal year 2025, covering both the parent company and its subsidiaries—Sinnad and Bahrain FinTech Bay. The Board was authorised to determine the external auditors’ professional fees, subject to approval from the CBB, and the meeting concluded with a discussion of any additional issues as per Article (207) of the Commercial Companies Law.
Speaking on the company’s performance, Mr. Mohamed Al Bastaki, Chairman BENEFIT , stated: “In terms of the financial results for 2024, I am pleased to say that the year gone by has also been proved to be a success in delivering tangible results. Growth rate for 2024 was 19 per cent. Revenue for the year was BD 17 M (US$ 45.3 Million) and net profit was 2 Million ($ 5.3 Million).
Mr. Al Bastaki also announced that the Board had formally adopted a new three-year strategic roadmap to commence in 2025. The strategy encompasses a phased international expansion, optimisation of internal operations, enhanced revenue diversification, long-term sustainability initiatives, and the advancement of innovation and digital transformation initiatives across all service lines.
“I extend my sincere appreciation to the CBB for its continued support of BENEFIT and its pivotal role in fostering a stable and progressive regulatory environment for the Kingdom’s banking and financial sector—an environment that has significantly reinforced Bahrain’s standing as a leading financial hub in the region,” said Mr. Al Bastaki. “I would also like to thank our partner banks and valued customers for their trust, and our shareholders for their ongoing encouragement. The achievements of 2024 set a strong precedent, and I am confident they will serve as a foundation for yet another successful and impactful year ahead.”
Chief Executive of BENEFIT; Mr. Abdulwahed AlJanahi commented, “The year 2024 represented another pivotal chapter in BENEFIT ’s evolution. We achieved substantial progress in advancing our digital strategy across multiple sectors, while reinforcing our long-term commitment to the development of Bahrain’s financial services and payments landscape. Throughout the year, we remained firmly aligned with our objective of delivering measurable value to our shareholders, strategic partners, and customers. At the same time, we continued to play an active role in enabling Bahrain’s digital economy by introducing innovative solutions and service enhancements that directly address market needs and future opportunities.”
Mr. AlJanahi affirmed that BENEFIT has successfully developed a robust and well-integrated payment network that connects individuals and businesses across Bahrain, accelerating the adoption of emerging technologies in the banking and financial services sector and reinforcing Bahrain’s position as a growing fintech hub, and added, “Our achievements of the past year reflect a long-term vision to establish a resilient electronic payment infrastructure that supports the Kingdom’s digital economy. Key developments in 2024 included the implementation of central authentication for open banking via BENEFIT Pay”
Mr. AlJanahi concluded by thanking the Board for its strategic direction, the company’s staff for their continued dedication, and the Central Bank of Bahrain, member banks, and shareholders for their valuable partnership and confidence in the company’s long-term vision.
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