We have some good development on the Phase 1 and 2 funding end. In a nutshell, we have now secured the entire funding based on pledges from ABG members, plus the contribution from the ABG Board, as well as from the three members who had pledged additional support in case of a shortfall. Many thanks to Charlotte for a very diligent follow up with the ABG members on these pledges, and a note of thanks to those who have contributed.
We have a total of 15 ABG members who have pledged AED 107, 145/- at an individual contribution of AED 7,143/-. This leaves us with a shortfall of AED 42,855/-
ABG have then contributed an additional AED 25,000/- towards the required funding from the reserve budgets. Which then leaves us with a shortfall of 17,855.
You will recall that we had the offer on the table by Unilever, Google and CG to underwrite the shortfall after all the contributions have come in. Given that, these three companies will need to contribute an added amount of AED 5,952/- for us to get to a total of AED 150,000/-. Hence instead of the regular pro rata invoice of AED 7,143/- they will receive an invoice of AED 13,095/-. In case of Unilever I can confirm that we are already processing that invoice.
We are hopeful that we will receive the money into the account by End Sep. In the meantime, Shadi is exploring payments terms with Archers to see if we can start work ahead of making the advanced payment as their SOW had requested. We will likely have an update on this within a week.
So good to start the journey, but it is worth reminding ourselves that we have miles to go before we sleep. The real work and efforts will be needed once the Phase 1 and 2 have finished and we will need to talk about the funding of the project itself.
