Skip to content Skip to Search
Skip navigation

Arabian Gulf Business Insight

closing prices

ABU DHABi +1.2%
BAHRAIN +0.1%
dubai +0.1%
egypT +0.1%
kuwait +0.3%
oman -0.4%
qatar =0.0%
SAUDI -0.2%

Top stories

Opec secretary general Haitham Al Ghais. Analysts say the body is running out of options to stabilise oil prices

Opec+ delay to output rise fails to rejuvenate oil price

The decision by Opec+ on Thursday to postpone its oil output hike until December has failed to pump up the markets, where the sentiment remains bearish.  While Opec+ still holds sway over global balances, it is running out of options to stabilise prices, analysts said, as the share price of Aramco, the world’s biggest producer, […]

Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell. If the Fed cuts US interest rates, UAE banks will feel the effect because of the dollar peg

US interest rate cut will impact UAE bank margins  

UAE banking sector profits have soared as higher-for-longer interest rates boosted margins and loan defaults remained low. Yet analysts predict that imminent US interest rate cuts will squeeze profitability, despite the likelihood of reduced borrowing costs bolstering loan growth. Dubai’s Emirates NBD reported a record first-half profit of AED13.8 billion ($3.76 billion), while First Abu […]

A launch in Dubai would add to Primark's 450 stores worldwide, including the Oxford Street flagship in London

Primark launch would diversify Dubai’s retail offering

The launch of value fashion retailer Primark in Dubai would add a much-needed affordable element to the emirate’s retail offerings, industry experts say. Kuwait-based Alshaya Group announced this week that it had partnered with the international fashion retailer and is looking to “explore opportunities to bring its stores to the Middle East”. Alshaya’s portfolio of […]

Trending

  1. Upfront payment drive eases working capital struggle

  2. NMDC Energy IPO on Abu Dhabi bourse attracts $24bn

  3. Egypt holds key policy rates steady as inflation eases

  4. Oman’s fine line between labour localisation and growth

  5. UAE backs Jordan’s $2.3bn rail line for mining exports

OPINION & Analysis

Best of AGBI

Saudi bond issuance on the international market has been worth almost $27 billion in the year so far, well ahead of Poland in second place

Saudi Arabia leads international bond issuance

Saudi Arabia is the leading emerging market issuer of sovereign and quasi-sovereign international bonds, and experts predict the kingdom will expand its borrowings further to help fund infrastructure spending. Saudi Arabia, the Middle East’s largest economy despite a 0.8 percent decline in real GDP last year, sold $26.8 billion of international bonds from January 1 […]

Masdar ‘on the lookout’ for deals in China, says CFO

Masdar, Abu Dhabi’s state-owned clean energy company, is looking to acquire assets in China as part of its strategy to expand its portfolio of renewable energy projects. Mazin Khan, its chief financial officer, told AGBI that “macroeconomic conditions, with high interest rates and renewable players looking for capital” were opening the door for mergers and […]

Prince Faisal: growth, not profit, is focus for esports

Cost-intensive spectator events are not going to be a “serious profit generator”, Prince Faisal bin Bandar Al Saud told AGBI, as Saudi Arabia concluded the first Esports World Cup last week.  The event was watched by more than 500 million people but Prince Faisal, president of the Arab Esports Federation, said: “In esports, sustainability is […]

GCC-India trade tumbles as New Delhi snaps up Russian oil

India’s trade with the GCC countries fell 12 percent to $162 billion in 2023-24, according to its Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The drop from $184 billion in 2022-23 comes as energy-hungry New Delhi snaps up discounted Russian crude and slashes imports of Gulf oil. Ajay Srivastava, founder of the Global Trade Research Initiative think […]

Turks turn to crypto to ‘escape’ currency fluctuations

As blockchain platform Tether introduces the first dirham-pegged stablecoin – cryptocurrencies whose value is tied to a currency, commodity or financial instrument – in the UAE, AGBI looks into how unstable economies such as Turkey have used cryptocurrencies as a hedge against inflation. Turkey banned the use of cryptocurrencies for payments in 2021, the same year […]

economic indicators

The latest data from every GCC country

UAE latest

Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell. If the Fed cuts US interest rates, UAE banks will feel the effect because of the dollar peg

US interest rate cut will impact UAE bank margins  

UAE banking sector profits have soared as higher-for-longer interest rates boosted margins and loan defaults remained low. Yet analysts predict that imminent US interest rate cuts will squeeze profitability, despite the likelihood of reduced borrowing costs bolstering loan growth. Dubai’s Emirates NBD reported a record first-half profit of AED13.8 billion ($3.76 billion), while First Abu […]

A launch in Dubai would add to Primark's 450 stores worldwide, including the Oxford Street flagship in London

Primark launch would diversify Dubai’s retail offering

The launch of value fashion retailer Primark in Dubai would add a much-needed affordable element to the emirate’s retail offerings, industry experts say. Kuwait-based Alshaya Group announced this week that it had partnered with the international fashion retailer and is looking to “explore opportunities to bring its stores to the Middle East”. Alshaya’s portfolio of […]

The retail tranche of NMDC Energy's IPO was oversubscribed 600 times and the professional tranche by 16.7 times

NMDC Energy IPO on Abu Dhabi bourse attracts $24bn

The initial public offering (IPO) of NMDC Energy on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) generated AED88 billion ($23.96 billion) in gross demand, oversubscribing by 31.3 times. A total of 1.15 billion shares, representing 23 percent of NMDC Energy’s total share capital, were offered at AED2.8 per share. The IPO was oversubscribed within hours of […]

Airport, Car, Transportation

Adnoc’s first bond sale raises $4bn

Abu Dhabi’s state oil giant, Adnoc, launched its first-ever bond sale on Wednesday, raising $4 billion through its wholly-owned primary debt-capital market funding vehicle, Adnoc Murban. The company offered three benchmark-size, dollar-denominated treasuries with maturities of five, 10 and 30 years. Adnoc sold $1 billion of five-year bonds, $1.5 billion of 10-year bonds and $1.5 […]

Saudi Arabia latest

Traders at the Saudi stock exchange. Fourth Milling will not receive any proceeds from the IPO, which will be distributed to the selling shareholders

Fourth Milling to launch retail IPO next month

The two-day retail tranche of the Fourth Milling Company’s (MC4) initial public offering (IPO) will begin on October 2. The company will sell 162 million shares, or 30 percent of its share capital, on the Saudi stock exchange, it said in its prospectus. The price range announcement and institutional book building will commence on September […]

Saudi bond issuance on the international market has been worth almost $27 billion in the year so far, well ahead of Poland in second place

Saudi Arabia leads international bond issuance

Saudi Arabia is the leading emerging market issuer of sovereign and quasi-sovereign international bonds, and experts predict the kingdom will expand its borrowings further to help fund infrastructure spending. Saudi Arabia, the Middle East’s largest economy despite a 0.8 percent decline in real GDP last year, sold $26.8 billion of international bonds from January 1 […]

Riyadh Air CEO Tony Douglas. Only Saudia and British Airways currently offer direct flights between London and Riyadh

Virgin Atlantic confirms partnership with Riyadh Air

Virgin Atlantic has signed a partnership with Riyadh Air, which will start when the new Saudi national carrier launches next year. Riyadh Air has been expected to announce cooperation agreements with other operators.  A statement said the partnership would open new destinations in Saudi Arabia and beyond, and would include Virgin’s London-Riyadh route, but gave […]

Saudi Arabia's non-oil growth is forecast to reach 4.4 percent in the medium term, following a slight moderation in 2024, said the IMF

IMF says oil cuts phase-out will aid Saudi economy

The phase-out of oil production cuts is expected to help increase Saudi Arabia’s overall growth to 4.7 percent in 2025, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said. However, growth is expected to average 3.7 percent annually beyond 2025, the fund said in its latest staff report. Despite the contraction of 0.8 percent in overall growth […]

Tabby IPO: it has 12 million customers across Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait

Mubadala-backed Tabby prepares for Saudi IPO

Tabby, the buy-now-pay-later startup backed by Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala, is on track to prepare for its initial public offering, the company’s CEO confirmed on Wednesday. The fintech unicorn – a startup worth more than $1 billion – was originally founded in the UAE but is now headquartered in Saudi Arabia. It is […]

Around the Middle East

Riad Salameh was governor of Lebanon's central bank for three decades

Lebanon’s former central bank governor ‘arrested in Beirut’

The former governor of Lebanon’s central bank, Riad Salameh, was arrested on Tuesday after a hearing in Beirut, a senior judicial source has told Reuters. Salameh has been charged with financial crimes including money laundering, embezzlement and illicit enrichment. He has denied all wrongdoing. Neither he nor his lawyer immediately responded to Reuters’ attempts to […]

Virgin Australia jets at Melbourne Tullamarine Airport. The airline was bought out in 2020 when it went into administration

Qatar Airways’ expansion ‘on a different path from Etihad’

Qatar Airways is reportedly keen to buy more stakes in legacy airlines – a strategy that sounds familiar to anyone who knows the history of Etihad but is likely to have a different outcome, according to aviation experts. Almost a decade ago Abu Dhabi’s flag carrier was running into serious problems with its aggressive expansion […]

The Botas-Shell LNG deal provides additional regional and global trade opportunities said Turkish energy minister Alparslan Bayraktar

Turkey’s Botas strikes deal to buy LNG from Shell

Turkish energy company Boru Hatları ile Petrol Taşıma AŞ (Botas) has agreed to buy up to four billion cubic metres of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from British energy major Shell. The companies signed a 10-year supply pact, with Shell starting deliveries from 2027 from its US and global portfolio. The deal will enable Botas to […]

Production from the project’s first new urea train is expected this decade, said QatarEnergy CEO Saad Al-Kaabi

QatarEnergy’s new plant will double urea production

State-backed QatarEnergy will build a new urea production complex to more than double the Gulf country’s urea output to meet growing global demand. The new project involves building three ammonia production lines to supply feedstock to four new urea production trains in Mesaieed Industrial City, located 36 kms from Doha.  Accordingly, urea production will increase […]

Oman says its food-unit merger will lead to high-quality products, cost efficiency and effective decision-making

Oman wealth fund begins merger of food units

Oman has initiated a merger between two state-run entities to support its food security sector. Oman Investment Authority, the sultanate’s sovereign wealth fund, has begun the initial process of merging Oman Food Investment Holding Co (Nitaj) and Fisheries Development Oman, the state-run Oman News Agency reported. The move is intended to lead to high-quality products, […]

Beautyworld Middle East said there had been an 8.4% increase in participation from UAE and GCC brands for this year’s Dubai event

Gaza boycotts fuel sales spike for Gulf beauty brands

Homegrown beauty brands in the Middle East are benefiting from boycotts of international companies as a result of the Israel-Gaza conflict. The cosmetics giant L’Oreal said the boycotts had a two-percentage-point drag on its growth in the first half of the year, as consumers turned their backs on the Paris-based company which also owns the […]

Oxygen Park in Old Al Rayyan: the city had a third of all property sales in Qatar in the second quarter of this year

Sales surge but rents fall in Qatar property market

Lively mortgage activity helped sales surge in Qatar’s property market in the second quarter of this year, according to research by real estate research company ValuStrat. However, rents fell across the residential, commercial and industrial sectors. Some 1,300 apartments and 120 villas were built from April to June. An estimated 9,000 units are expected this […]

Jameel Ahmad, governor of the State Bank of Pakistan, said talks to secure an additional $2bn in external financing from the IMF are ongoing

Pakistan targets $4bn from Middle East lenders

Pakistan aims to raise up to $4 billion from commercial lenders in the Middle East by fiscal year 2025, the State Bank of Pakistan governor Jameel Ahmad has said. The country’s gross financing needs would be met over the next fiscal year and in the medium term, he told Reuters. Saudi Arabia, the UAE and […]

Topics:

Neom
HYDROGEN
SAUDI VISION 2030
IPOs
mergers & acquisitions
crypto
Electric cars
israel-hamas war
FOOD SECURITY
islamic finance
ukraine-russia war
OPEC
SPACE

Turkey Latest

Egyptian president Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi and Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan shake hands after a signing ceremony in Ankara

Turkey and Egypt mend relationship with state visit

Turkey and Egypt have moved closer to rapprochement after a decade of strained ties. Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Egypt’s president Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi signed 17 memorandums of understanding during the latter’s one-day visit to Ankara on Wednesday. Among the agreements signed were commitments to boost cooperation in finance, energy, defence and tourism. Ties […]

Turkey Brics Erdogan Putin Xi

Doubts grow over Turkey’s Brics application

A report that Turkey has formally applied to join the non-Western aligned Brics bloc is looking premature, with a Turkish government spokesman refusing to confirm the claim. Bloomberg reported that Turkey had submitted its application to join the bloc that consists of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, plus more recent members, the United […]

A textile factory in Istanbul. Many employers in Turkey have scaled back on their workforce, blaming rising costs and weak demand

Cooling inflation little help for Turkey’s struggling manufacturers

Although Turkey’s consumer inflation slowed in August to the lowest rate for nearly a year, analysts say it was not enough to help the country’s struggling manufacturing sector. Consumer inflation in Turkey dropped almost 10 percentage points to an annualised 52 percent in August, the smallest figure since mid-2023, state statistics agency Turkstat said on […]

A cruise ship in Istanbul. Second-half services sector exports in 2024 are expected to be stronger, as they will take in the bulk of the summer tourism season

Services upturn eases Turkey’s trade deficit woe

Exports by Turkey’s services sector are helping trim the country’s trade deficit, with growth in overseas sales the best in the G20 and far outstripping other segments of the economy.  Though narrowing, Turkey still has a wide trade deficit, with imports totalling almost $199 billion for the first seven months of 2024, against exports of […]

The Botas-Shell LNG deal provides additional regional and global trade opportunities said Turkish energy minister Alparslan Bayraktar

Turkey’s Botas strikes deal to buy LNG from Shell

Turkish energy company Boru Hatları ile Petrol Taşıma AŞ (Botas) has agreed to buy up to four billion cubic metres of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from British energy major Shell. The companies signed a 10-year supply pact, with Shell starting deliveries from 2027 from its US and global portfolio. The deal will enable Botas to […]

Egypt Latest

A woman at a supermarket in Cairo. Egypt's annual headline and core inflation fell for the fifth consecutive month

Egypt holds key policy rates steady as inflation eases

Egypt’s central bank left its key policy rates unchanged as inflation continued to subside amid softening growth. The lending and deposit rates were kept intact at 28.25 percent and 27.25 percent. Inflationary pressure has continued to subside with the gradual easing of previous shocks, the central bank said in a statement. Annual headline and core […]

Egyptian president Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi and Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan shake hands after a signing ceremony in Ankara

Turkey and Egypt mend relationship with state visit

Turkey and Egypt have moved closer to rapprochement after a decade of strained ties. Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Egypt’s president Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi signed 17 memorandums of understanding during the latter’s one-day visit to Ankara on Wednesday. Among the agreements signed were commitments to boost cooperation in finance, energy, defence and tourism. Ties […]

The historic Mogamma El Tahrir building redevelopment project in Downtown Cairo, the once administrative governmental offices will be converted into a luxury hotel complex.

Egypt’s private sector begins to feel impact of reforms

Egypt’s non-oil private sector economy expanded for the first time in three years as the impact of the government’s currency strategy and international investment drive begins to trickle down to the business community. The country’s economic outlook was transformed in February following a $35 billion investment deal for Emirati sovereign wealth fund ADQ to develop […]

A train arrives at the Cairo subway. Line 1, which spans 44 km and connects 35 stations, transports more than 1.5 million passengers daily

Egypt awards $885m contract to upgrade Cairo metro

A consortium led by Orascom Construction, listed on Dubai, Egypt and Nasdaq stock exchanges, will commence the modernisation of the Cairo metro line 1 next month. The €800 million ($885 million) project will be completed in 64 months without disturbing commercial operations. The consortium has signed a contract with Egypt’s National Authority for Tunnels to […]

A shot from a UN Habitat animation showing the Ras El-Hekma development. Property in the region is being snapped up before any building has started

ADQ’s Egypt project lights fire under region’s real estate

The $35 billion investment by the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund ADQ in Egypt’s tourism sector appears to have spurred a jump in real estate transactions on the country’s Mediterranean coast. In February ADQ unveiled its plan to build Egypt’s “largest new city” in Ras El-Hekma, and develop the coastal region into a Mediterranean vacation […]

Features

Turkey stablecoin Video length: 04:56

Turks turn to crypto to ‘escape’ currency fluctuations

As blockchain platform Tether introduces the first dirham-pegged stablecoin – cryptocurrencies whose value is tied to a currency, commodity or financial instrument – in the UAE, AGBI looks into how unstable economies such as Turkey have used cryptocurrencies as a hedge against inflation. Turkey banned the use of cryptocurrencies for payments in 2021, the same year […]

Kuwait Entertainment City targets Gulf tourism rivals

Kuwait Investment Authority taking over a planned Entertainment City development in the nation’s capital is the latest sign of an upturn in its commercial real estate sector, according to experts. Authorities first announced the nearly $660 million (KWD 200 million) project in October 2019, then relaunched it in May 2023. A study at the time […]

Morocco makes 2030 World Cup a focus for investment

The artist’s impression shows a massive polygonal structure, with an aluminium lattice roof draped in floating cream sheets.  This is the Grand Stade Hassan II de Casablanca at Benslimane, north of Morocco’s commercial capital. The successful design was unveiled earlier this week by the winning architects, the Casablanca-based Oualalou + Choi and the arena specialist […]

Turkey’s hazelnut growers expect good season despite climate fears

Turkey’s hazelnut growers are hopeful for higher production this year, but they are increasingly fearful of the effect of climate change on their crops. Harvesting of one of Turkey’s key agricultural export products recently began, as experts forecast higher yields than last year. But concerns are mounting over the sector’s longer-term prospects. The country accounts […]

Why gold ETFs are losing their shine

Even as gold prices hit record highs – analysts believe they could range between $2,200 and $2,600 per ounce until the end of this year – exchange traded funds that follow the precious metal have had their worst first half since 2013, losing almost $7 billion in value. The World Gold Council’s Andrew Naylor and […]

People & Lifestyle

Executive, Person, Adult

Recruitment portals try to ease logjam in Saudi labour market

Saudi Arabia presents a golden opportunity for recruitment platforms that seek to match multitudes of job seekers with a plethora of employers looking to hire, labour market specialists say.   There are around 168 Public Investment Fund companies working on the $1.25 trillion Vision 2030 economic diversification programme, as well as foreign companies setting up offices […]

Turkish transport and infrastructure minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu said that the user rights of social media accounts belonging to Turkish citizens will be protected

Turkey lifts ban after Instagram agrees to demands

Turkey has lifted its more than week-long ban on Instagram after the social media company agreed to collaborate with the government to address its concerns. The ban was removed on Saturday night after Instagram promised to work on demands regarding “catalogue crimes” and censorship on users, transport and infrastructure minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu said in a […]

Oman biofuels

Oman’s entrepreneurs hope to turn biofuels into liquid gold

A bus powered partly by date kernels launched on the streets of Muscat at the end of 2022. It was a Sultan Qaboos University project, set up as Oman strives to develop sustainable sources of energy. The bus successfully runs on a mix of biodiesel made from the oil extracted from date kernels and conventional […]

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hit out at social media platforms on Monday after his government blocked Instagram

Turkey’s Instagram ban hits $57m-a-day ecommerce trade

For four days and counting, Instagram has been blocked in Turkey – not only putting a dent in the social lives of millions of users but also placing additional pressure on an economy under strain.  Turkish regulators gave no reason when they imposed a ban on the Meta-owned platform on August 2.  However, the shutdown […]

'Growing local talent is not a luxury' – experts say the UAE must move beyond hiring AI workers from abroad

Local talent vital for UAE to achieve AI ambitions

The UAE is on a quest to lead the artificial intelligence sector but one of the stumbling blocks it is striving to address is the lack of local professionals coming into the industry. AI is expected to contribute $320 billion to the Mena region’s economy by 2030 – $96 billion of which will be attributed […]

Electronics, Phone, Mobile Phone

NEWSLETTER

Sign up to get the Best of AGBI direct to your inbox every week

Around the world

Palm Jebel Ali

Belgian company wins $220m Palm Jebel Ali dredging contract

The AED 810 million ($220 million) contract to complete dredging, land reclamation, beach profiling and other work at Palm Jebel Ali has been awarded to a subsidiary of the Belgian-owned Jan De Nul Group. In May the Dubai state-owned developer Nakheel announced that local contractor DBB Contracting and Khansaheb Civil Engineering, a subsidiary of Khansaheb […]

The deal includes UCB’s neurology and allergy portfolios in mainland China and its Zhuhai manufacturing site

Mubadala joins $680m acquisition of UCB’s Chinese business

Abu Dhabi-based Mubadala Investment Company and Singapore’s CBC Group have jointly acquired the neurology and allergy business of UCB, a Belgian biopharmaceutical company, for $680 million. The deal includes UCB’s neurology portfolio (Keppra, Vimpat and Neupro) and allergy portfolio (Zyrtec and Xyzal) in mainland China and its Zhuhai manufacturing site. The combined net sales for […]

Apex Botswana giant diamond

Diamond weighing 1lb cheers Mubadala-backed financier

The discovery in Botswana of a rough diamond weighing more than a pound, the second largest ever found, is likely to prove timely for Apex Group, the global financial services provider, which counts the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala among its key backers. The huge gem’s discovery was announced on Thursday by Lucara Diamond Corp, […]