Cryptocurrency traders in the Middle East and North Africa prefer stablecoins over single crypto currencies like Bitcoin, data show. Stablecoins made up 52 percent of all cryptocurrency transactions carried out in the Mena region in the year to June 2024, according to New York-based blockchain analysis company Chainalysis. That is more than the 17 percent […]
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The 'oil man's Davos' kicks off with a nod to Elvis
Asset securitisation, a $14 trillion business in the United States, seems to be finally gaining ground in the Gulf. Last week the UAE lender Deem Finance sealed a $400 million asset securitisation deal with JP Morgan. Emirates NBD of Dubai and Rasmal Ventures in Qatar have also co-invested $7.6 million in the Turkish startup TeamSec, […]
Gulf plans to develop sixth-generation networks may be premature given the region’s data use and the lack of an immediate need for ultra-fast 6G, say telecoms experts. Although 5G networks are still being rolled out across the region, the UAE is targeting the start of 6G services before 2030. Saudi Arabia has begun laying the […]
Like Etihad before it, Qatar Airways is expanding by buying stakes in other airlines. The Abu Dhabi carrier’s acquisition strategy ended badly, however. Three airlines in which it invested went bust and it lost $1.87 billion in one year alone in 2016. Qatar Airways may have better luck, analysts say. The state-owned carrier, which started […]
Citigroup says it is expanding its presence in the UAE, the second-largest Arab economy, as it competes to manage more of the assets of wealthy Gulf merchant families. $1 trillion of these assets are expected to shift to the next generation by the end of this decade. To boost its capabilities, the US bank says […]
Gulf fertiliser companies are trading below their fair value, with investors not seeming to price in a rebound in product prices that analysts say is more than just a seasonal upswing. In the Gulf, fertilisers and petrochemicals are considered adjacent industries, since both rely on natural gas as a feedstock. While petrochemical companies’ earnings have […]
Canada and Saudi Arabia have made progress towards ending a five-year diplomatic spat and mending trade and economic relations. However experts say that more could be done to deepen exchanges and investment ties – especially as US President Donald Trump kicks off a tariff war that may encourage Ottawa to widen its circle of trading […]
Saudis play the long game with focus on new sports and formats
Simon Chadwick, professor of sport
ADQ, the third-largest of Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth funds, has become a majority shareholder in Dubai-listed logistics company Aramex. The fund now owns 58 percent in Aramex following a voluntary tender offer, which includes 23 percent owned by its subsidiary, AD Ports Group, and 35 percent bought from previous shareholders, ADQ said in a statement on Tuesday. […]
The UAE is seeking to double annual flows of foreign direct investment in six years and to triple its total FDI stock, vice president and prime minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has said, according to the Dubai Media Office. The Dubai ruler and prime minister of the seven-member UAE said that the cabinet […]
A joint venture between Mubadala Investment Company, one of Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth funds, and the holding company Alpha Dhabi Holding has raised its target for deploying funds into private credit by 150 percent. The joint venture said it wanted to invest up to $2.5 billion in credit by 2028, after reaching $1 billion since […]
Asset securitisation, a $14 trillion business in the United States, seems to be finally gaining ground in the Gulf. Last week the UAE lender Deem Finance sealed a $400 million asset securitisation deal with JP Morgan. Emirates NBD of Dubai and Rasmal Ventures in Qatar have also co-invested $7.6 million in the Turkish startup TeamSec, […]
Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment Company has completed the sale of its indirect stake in Calisen, a UK supplier of energy smart meters. Private equity infrastructure investors EQT and Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC will buy Calisen in a deal that values the company at around $5 billion. Mubadala, BlackRock and Goldman Sachs […]
The Public Investment Fund (PIF) has launched Saudi Arabia’s first duty-free operator as the kingdom targets 150 million annual visitors by the end of the decade, according to a statement. Al Waha Duty-Free Company (Al Waha), a wholly owned unit of the sovereign fund, aims to secure a “large” share of passenger spending to boost […]
Asset securitisation, a $14 trillion business in the United States, seems to be finally gaining ground in the Gulf. Last week the UAE lender Deem Finance sealed a $400 million asset securitisation deal with JP Morgan. Emirates NBD of Dubai and Rasmal Ventures in Qatar have also co-invested $7.6 million in the Turkish startup TeamSec, […]
Saudi Arabian energy company Acwa Power has opened a renewable-energy innovation centre in Pudong New Area in Shanghai. The move is part of the company’s aim to expand its renewables presence in China, according to a statement. The new facility will focus on five areas: photovoltaics, wind, energy storage, green hydrogen and seawater desalination, Acwa […]
Shares in the online brokerage Derayah Financial rose by 30 percent on their first day of trading, the maximum allowed for newly listed companies, the Saudi stock exchange said. Derayah, the third-largest broker in Saudi Arabia, floated 20 percent of its shares on the Tadawul, the main market of the Saudi Stock Exchange, in a […]
As airlines prepare to switch timetables, the Gulf looks set for growth, new routes and cautious optimism
Iraq is ramping up development of an offshore liquefied natural gas terminal and a 40km pipeline, as Baghdad seeks to import more LNG following a US decision to end the country’s exemption to restrictions of the purchase of gas from Iran, according to local media. Ali Shaddad, a member of the parliament’s oil and gas […]
Asset securitisation, a $14 trillion business in the United States, seems to be finally gaining ground in the Gulf. Last week the UAE lender Deem Finance sealed a $400 million asset securitisation deal with JP Morgan. Emirates NBD of Dubai and Rasmal Ventures in Qatar have also co-invested $7.6 million in the Turkish startup TeamSec, […]
Oman is planning to build 12,000 villas and apartments in the southern coastal town of Salalah as part of a drive to attract tourists. The $350 million development, which will be able to house 60,000 people, will cover 7.3 sq km and also include parks, a marina and retail and hospitality space. Construction of the […]
Jordan’s economy is forecast to grow by 2.7 percent in 2025 as tourism recovers and trade with Syria and Iraq starts to rise gradually, S&P Global said. Tourism contributes an estimated 15 percent to Jordan’s GDP, with about three-quarters of it sourced from Arab visitors, including Jordanians living abroad. “We expect the number of Arab […]
Brazilian grain trader Agribrasil has held talks with suitors interested in buying a stake in the company, according to two sources familiar with the matter speaking on condition of anonymity because the discussions are private, and GCC companies are reported in the mix. Two sources named Solaris Commodities, an independent commodity trader headquartered in Dubai, […]
Like Etihad before it, Qatar Airways is expanding by buying stakes in other airlines. The Abu Dhabi carrier’s acquisition strategy ended badly, however. Three airlines in which it invested went bust and it lost $1.87 billion in one year alone in 2016. Qatar Airways may have better luck, analysts say. The state-owned carrier, which started […]
Gulf plans to develop sixth-generation networks may be premature given the region’s data use and the lack of an immediate need for ultra-fast 6G, say telecoms experts. Although 5G networks are still being rolled out across the region, the UAE is targeting the start of 6G services before 2030. Saudi Arabia has begun laying the […]
France’s TotalEnergies has started constructing Iraq’s largest solar power plant as part of a $27 billion energy deal it signed in 2023. The plant, based in the southern oil hub of Basra, has a production capacity of 1,000 megawatt (MW) and includes installing two million solar panels, the official news agency said, citing an Electricity […]
Turkey’s competition watchdog is carrying out an investigation into four of the country’s five biggest retailers by sales, the supermarket group Carrefour, the discount store chain BİM, the supermarket chain Migros and the discount store group Şok. Their shares on the Boursa Istanbul fell by as much as 6.3 percent on Monday, the day the […]
Asset securitisation, a $14 trillion business in the United States, seems to be finally gaining ground in the Gulf. Last week the UAE lender Deem Finance sealed a $400 million asset securitisation deal with JP Morgan. Emirates NBD of Dubai and Rasmal Ventures in Qatar have also co-invested $7.6 million in the Turkish startup TeamSec, […]
Prices for dates in Turkey ahead of Ramadan pretty much always rise because that is when demand surges. The Turks are otherwise not big eaters of the dried fruit. But during Ramadan it is usually the first food muslims in the Middle East and elsewhere tend to eat to break the fast after a long […]
Turkey’s central bank has cut interest rates for the third time since December, citing an easing of inflationary pressures and a cooling of domestic demand as factors in its decision. The bank’s monetary policy committee cut its headline lending rate by 250 basis points on March 6, lowering its interest rate to 42.5 percent from […]
Turkey’s inflation rate declined again in February, falling below 40 percent for the first time since mid-2023, while an indicator of industrial activity improved. The consumer price index fell to 39.05 percent, according to data issued by state statistics agency Turkstat this week, with a month-on-month price increase of 2.27 percent. The decline could mean […]
Egypt’s annual urban consumer price inflation plunged to 12.8 percent in February from 24 percent in January, decelerating even faster than analysts had expected, official data showed on Monday. The drop was amplified by a statistical base effect, as exceptionally fast price increases of the past two years were no longer reflected in the statistics, […]
Egypt’s most successful football club has kicked off what could become a sponsorship rush from European companies into the country’s top league. Al Ahly of Cairo, winners of 44 Egyptian Premier League titles and 12 Confederation of African Football Champions League titles, has agreed a marketing partnership with the Austrian drinks company Red Bull. No […]
Sharply lower crude oil exports allied with a surge in imports of gas caused Egypt’s trade deficit to widen by nearly 13 percent in December, implying a call on foreign exchange reserves, official data showed on Tuesday. Total exports increased slightly to $3.7 billion in December 2024 from $3.6 billion in December 2023, the country’s […]
A new entity comprising 41 Egyptian private companies will be set up to boost exports across the Arab countries to support economic growth, a news report said. The process of setting up Arab Alliance for Industrial Investment is expected to be completed next week, Ashraq Business reported, citing Mohamed El-Bahi, a board member of the […]
Egypt has invited international companies to bid to develop 13 new oil and gas sites in the Mediterranean Sea, the Gulf of Suez and the western desert as the country seeks to reverse a fall in natural gas production. The bids cover concessions that include seven undeveloped discoveries and six exploration areas, according to the […]
Prices for dates in Turkey ahead of Ramadan pretty much always rise because that is when demand surges. The Turks are otherwise not big eaters of the dried fruit. But during Ramadan it is usually the first food muslims in the Middle East and elsewhere tend to eat to break the fast after a long […]
Chinese car makers look set to win big over traditional manufacturers from the US, Japan and Europe among Ramadan bargain hunters in the UAE this year. For years, Japanese, American, and European carmakers have relied on Ramadan promotions, offering free insurance, extended warranties and zero percent financing, to increase sales. But buyers, squeezed by inflation, […]
Earnings calls for analysts, reporters or investors are a staple for listed companies in Western markets. The same is not true in the Gulf, however, and experts say that can make it harder to assess a company’s performance and justify its stock valuation. It can also deter institutional investors, limit liquidity and slow market growth. […]
Errol Musk told AGBI in an exclusive video interview during his visit to Dubai that the Musk Tower that is to be built in the UAE will serve as an innovation centre. It will also foster developments in science “that are ignored”, including “space-time travel and gravity”, he said. Discussions are ongoing with Abu Dhabi-based […]
Three years on, it is clear that Qatar has by and large avoided what plagued many of its World Cup host predecessors – the big White Elephant. In spite of a rush of building projects to open a slew of new hotels and apartments for the November-December 2022 event, the gas-rich nation was shrewd enough […]
Replacing end-of-service benefit with a defined contribution fund could cost expat workers thousands
With its favourable topography and climate, the Arabian Peninsula has the potential to be a major producer
The cost of eating out in Dubai’s restaurants is rising, especially if you’re washing your meal down with an alcoholic drink. Last year, Dubai was named the third-most expensive city in the world for a half-litre of draught beer at an average of $10.89, according to price comparison website Numbeo. Qatar was number one, followed […]
Startup innovation and entrepreneurship are helping to fuel growth in Morocco’s tourism industry. The sector’s importance to the economy is increasing as the country prepares to co-host the Fifa World Cup in 2030. Morocco welcomed 17.4 million international tourists in 2024, a 20 percent increase on 2023, the latest data from the UN World Tourism […]
Brands – and their branding and PR agencies – like to feel special
People in the Gulf are among the worst sleepers in the world, research has found – and that makes the region a rousing proposition for sleep-aid businesses such as the US pair Whoop and Eight Sleep. A survey of 2,727 people across the GCC, published last month, found that only half manage to sleep for […]
The 150 lots will feature everything from Picasso to Hermès handbags, at prices up to $1.5m
Companies in the UAE and Kuwait are struggling to afford new staff as a result of squeezed margins, according to the latest business sentiment survey. For the third successive month, non-oil companies operating in the UAE highlighted a reduction in prices charged, with discounting used to support sales amid a highly competitive market. This was […]
Opec+ is debating whether to raise oil output in April as planned or freeze it, as its members struggle to read the global supply picture because of fresh US sanctions on Venezuela, Iran and Russia, eight Opec+ sources said. Opec+ usually confirms its supply policy one month in advance to have time to allocate crude […]
A UAE aquaculture company linked to the ruling Al-Maktoum family of Dubai has agreed to develop an aquaculture farm and research centre in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh at an initial cost of $461 million. Aqua Bridge Group, whose chairman is Sheikh Ahmed bin Mana bin Khalifa Al-Maktoum, said the partnership project in the […]
Saudi Arabia’s investment promotion authority, InvestSaudi, will establish its second office in the United States in Miami to target flows to and from North and South America. Khalid A. Al-Falih, the Saudi investment minister, made the announcement on Thursday at the Future Investment Initiative summit in the South Florida city. “By selecting Miami as our […]
Brazil, the largest oil producer in South America, has officially joined the Opec+ group of more than 20 countries that attempts to manage global oil output. The participation formalises an initial announcement in November 2023, a statement by Opec said. Brazil’s membership will be limited to the Opec+ Charter of Cooperation, a permanent forum between […]
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