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Top stories

Oil workers on a rig in Libya's Sirte basin. The country's energy infrastructure needs large-scale investment, say analysts

With or without foreign help, Libya’s 2m-barrel goal looks tough

Libya is hoping to double its crude oil production over the next three to five years, but analysts have warned that a lack of investment and the political crisis that has led to the country having two rival governments are jeopardising those plans. The country’s National Oil Corporation (LNOC) announced in June that it would […]

morocco water

Morocco struggles to solve its water crisis

A seawater desalination plant that opened last month at Sidi Rahal near Casablanca is a major part of Morocco’s plans to tackle the country’s frightening decrease in water supplies. The plant will be built in two phases and is designed to produce 300 million cubic metres of water a year to supply 7.5 million people, […]

Trending

  1. Dar Global to launch luxury Trump Tower in Jeddah

  2. Masdar and Acwa Power vie for Oman solar project

  3. Taaleem signs deal with UK’s Harrow for GCC schools

  4. Saudi FDI inflow up but still well below target

  5. Yahsat taps Musk’s SpaceX for next satellite launches

OPINION & Analysis

Best of AGBI

People celebrate after Eid al-Adha morning prayers inside Education City Stadium, Doha. The completion of infrastructure projects leading up to the 2022 World Cup meant there were few opportunities and catalysts left for the market

Sustained sell-off makes Qatari stocks more attractive

Qatari stocks are among the Gulf’s most attractively priced, according to core metrics, after a sustained slump on Doha’s bourse. The decline – the Qatari index is down about 27 percent from its late 2021 peak – comes after a momentous rally that propelled the index to a seven-year high when investors bet on a […]

Mena football teams weigh appeal of revamped Club World Cup

Football teams from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia will compete alongside the likes of Real Madrid and Bayern Munich at Fifa’s revamped Club World Cup next summer, potentially giving the Mena outfits unprecedented global exposure. The United States will host the 32-team tournament in June and July 2025. Yet less than a […]

Weather and politics keep pressure on price of rice

The status of rice as a global food staple means that it is also a political minefield for producer nations. So all eyes are on India as rice prices fluctuate at around a 15-year high.  Different varietals and markets command different prices, but trading on “contracts for difference”, which track benchmark prices, saw the cost of […]

Fees and procedures make UAE IPOs more complex 

UAE companies seeking to go public must undertake complex and often costly procedures to complete an initial public offering, although fees remain reasonable by international standards because of competition among advisers, according to experts. This decade, Abu Dhabi and Dubai have part-privatised many government-owned companies, sparking an IPO flurry that runs counter to slowdowns in […]

Adnoc, Emirates Global Aluminium and the outlook for net zero

It is a tall order. The UAE is striving to develop its industrial capacity while also decarbonising in a world that needs a 40 percent-plus reduction in emissions by the end of the decade to avoid devastating climate change. Two of the country’s biggest state-owned enterprises – Adnoc and Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) – are […]

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UAE latest

Yahsat satellite SpaceX launch

Yahsat taps Musk’s SpaceX for next satellite launches

The UAE’s satellite provider Al Yah Satellite Communications Company (Yahsat) has chosen Elon Musk’s company SpaceX to launch its next-generation geostationary satellites, Al Yah 4 and Al Yah 5. The two communications satellites are due to be launched into orbit in 2027 and 2028 respectively. Under the deal – part of an AED3.9 billion ($1.1 […]

Students at England's Harrow School. Taaleem Holdings will own and operate Harrow International Schools

Taaleem signs deal with UK’s Harrow for GCC schools

UAE schools operator Taaleem Holdings has signed a deal with the UK’s Harrow School to own and operate Harrow International Schools across the GCC. The agreement marks Taaleem’s first foray into the super-premium school market. The first Taaleem Harrow School will open in the UAE, according to a statement on Monday, although no date was […]

The new LNG carriers, which are likely to be delivered beginning in 2028, will be chartered to Adnoc Group subsidiaries for 20 years

Adnoc L&S awards vessel contracts to South Korea

A subsidiary of UAE state oil major Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) has awarded contracts worth AED9.2 billion ($2.5 billion) to South Korean shipbuilders to construct liquified natural gas (LNG) carriers. Two shipyards – Samsung Heavy Industries and Hanwha Ocean – have firm orders to construct four vessels with the option for one more, […]

Saudi Arabia latest

Demand for properties from the former president's Trump Organization remains high in the Middle East

Dar Global to launch luxury Trump Tower in Jeddah

London-listed real estate developer Dar Global and The Trump Organization have announced a new luxury real estate project in Saudi Arabia. The company partnered with the Trump Organisation in 2022 to use the former president’s name for its $4 billion master development in Muscat, a joint venture with Oman Tourism Development Company. Ziad El Chaar, […]

The Saudi Arabia market event draws visitors in Shanghai. The kingdom is targeting Chinese visitors in its tourism push

Oil export dip fails to dent Saudi trade with China

China is holding up as Saudi Arabia’s main trading partner – even after a fall in crude oil exports in the first half of the year that led to an Aramco price cut, which takes effect this month.  The latest international trade bulletin from the General Authority for Statistics says China accounted for 16.6 percent […]

The 'world-class wellness' resorts will include Six Senses The 'world-class wellness' resorts will include Six Senses Amaala, designed by architects U+A

Eight sites to open at Amaala Red Sea resort in 2025

Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea giga-project Amaala is to open its first phase in 2025 with seven resorts and a yacht club, the company said this week.  Red Sea Global – the Public Investment Fund project that owns Amaala – said the resorts to open would be Clinique La Prairie Health Resort, Jayasom Wellness Resort, Rosewood […]

Abu Bakr, a historical mosque in Medina. Non-oil sectors such as religious tourism now account for 50 percent of the Saudi economy

Saudi FDI inflow up but still well below target

Saudi Arabia recorded a year-on-year increase in foreign direct investment inflow of 0.6 percent to SAR17 billion ($4.5 billion) in the first quarter, still far below government targets as it struggles to find funding for its giga-projects.  FDI inflow was also up on the previous quarter’s SAR13 billion.  Net inflow was SAR9.5 billion when outflow […]

Saudi energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud speaks at the contract awards ceremony

Saudi Aramco boosts gas network with $25bn deals

Saudi Aramco has awarded contracts exceeding $25 billion to expand its strategic gas programme. The state-owned energy major is aiming to increase production by more than 60 percent by 2030 compared to 2021 levels. The contracts relate to the phase two development of the Jafurah unconventional gas field, phase three expansion of Aramco’s master gas […]

Around the Middle East

People celebrate after Eid al-Adha morning prayers inside Education City Stadium, Doha. The completion of infrastructure projects leading up to the 2022 World Cup meant there were few opportunities and catalysts left for the market

Sustained sell-off makes Qatari stocks more attractive

Qatari stocks are among the Gulf’s most attractively priced, according to core metrics, after a sustained slump on Doha’s bourse. The decline – the Qatari index is down about 27 percent from its late 2021 peak – comes after a momentous rally that propelled the index to a seven-year high when investors bet on a […]

Oman's Nama Power received 12 submissions for qualification from local and international developers

Masdar and Acwa Power vie for Oman solar project

The UAE’s Masdar and Saudi Arabia’s Acwa Power have been shortlisted to develop Oman’s 500-megawatt (MW) Ibri III solar project. The plant, launched by Nama Power and Water Procurement Company, will be built at a cost of OR155 million ($401 million).  The state-backed company received 12 submissions for qualification from local and international developers, of […]

Mabanee Kuwait

$65m credit boost for Kuwait developer Mabanee

The Kuwait real estate developer Mabanee has signed a deal to increase its credit facility by 80 percent, from KD25 million ($81.5 million) to KD45 million. The agreement was reached with “a local bank”, according to a filing on the Boursa Kuwait. Details of the bank were not disclosed. The facility, which has been extended for […]

Fans of Saudi team Al Hilal at King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh. Will Mena football clubs be as enthusiastic about the Club World Cup?

Mena football teams weigh appeal of revamped Club World Cup

Football teams from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia will compete alongside the likes of Real Madrid and Bayern Munich at Fifa’s revamped Club World Cup next summer, potentially giving the Mena outfits unprecedented global exposure. The United States will host the 32-team tournament in June and July 2025. Yet less than a […]

The Leviathan field holds as much as 600 billion cubic metres of gas and Israel is aiming to increase output and exports

Israel’s gas export plans complicated by war

Israel has agreed a move to double its natural gas exports from the Leviathan reservoir, but experts warn that tension with Hezbollah and a potential escalation in Lebanon may undermine expansion plans. The Israeli government is seeking additional revenues to improve an economy that has been badly hit by the war in Gaza. The energy […]

Anwar al-Mudhaf, chairman of the Kuwait Investment Authority, said Saudi Arabia is 'witnessing a notable rise in its investment importance'

Kuwait opens wealth fund office in Saudi Arabia

Kuwait’s sovereign wealth fund is to open an office in Saudi Arabia, as the kingdom turns to its Gulf neighbours to shore up flagging foreign investment in its giga-projects.  Anwar al-Mudhaf, chairman of the Kuwait Investment Authority and Kuwait’s finance minister, praised Saudi Arabia as an investment location and as a key player in the […]

Mumtalakat's investment aims to support the expansion of Racing Force’s helmet factory in Bahrain

Mumtalakat invests in Italian motorsport safety products

Mumtalakat, Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund, has invested in Italian Racing Force, the parent company of Racing Force Group (RFG), makers of motorsport safety products. The investment, made through its wholly owned subsidiary, aims to support the expansion of Racing Force’s helmet factory in Bahrain. Shaikh Abdulla bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, CEO of Mumtalakat, said that collaborating […]

QatarEnergy CEO and Qatar's energy minister Saad Al Kaabi. The company has secured sales of 25 million tonnes of LNG in the past year

QatarEnergy profits down by 31%

Annual profits at QatarEnergy have dropped by almost a third after gas prices fell from the highs caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The state-owned company reported net profits of QAR101.9 billion ($28 billion) in 2023, down 31 percent on the previous year, when the start of the conflict in Eastern Europe caused gas prices to […]

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Turkey Latest

Turkey off grey list

Turkey moves out of FATF grey zone

Turkey has been removed from an international watch list of countries with lax regulations on international money laundering and countering funding to illegal groups. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) announced it was taking Turkey off its grey list at the watchdog’s plenary session in Singapore on Friday. It said the country had made significant […]

Geopolitical risks and food prices are helping keep inflationary pressures alive, said Turkey's central bank

Turkey holds interest rate at 50% despite inflation risks 

Turkey’s central bank maintained its benchmark interest rate at 50 percent and will retain a tight monetary stance until inflation is tamed. The last 500 basis points rise to the benchmark rate was announced in March following a deteriorating inflation outlook. The rate has been hiked by 4,150 basis points since June 2023 to ease inflation […]

The e& stand at World Mobile Congress. The GlassHouse acquisition is its latest, following ventures in Egypt and Saudi Arabia

UAE’s e& buys Turkish cloud provider GlassHouse

The UAE telecom operator e&, formerly Emirates Telecommunications Group company and Etisalat, has acquired the Turkish cloud services provider GlassHouse through its wholly owned subsidiary e& enterprise. A binding agreement has been signed between e& enterprise and Mediterra Capital, a private equity firm that provides investments in Turkey, to take over 100 percent of GlassHouse […]

Tourists among houses in Bodrum. Turkey's housing costs rose 93 percent year on year, well above the general inflation rate of 75 percent

Turkey announces plans to drop cap on rent increases

Turkey is set to remove a two-year-old cap on residential rental increases, but some analysts warn that the lifting of restrictions may spark a further rise in rents and feed into already high inflation.  On May 20 treasury minister Mehmet Şimşek announced restrictions on rental increases would be abandoned at the beginning of July, saying […]

Mubadala injects $250m to revive Turkey’s Getir

Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Company will invest $250 million in Turkish grocery delivery startup Getir as part of a restructuring programme that will split it into two standalone units. The first standalone business will focus on domestic online groceries and food delivery services, with Mubadala, an existing shareholder, holding the management and majority stake, Reuters […]

Egypt Latest

Egyptian president Abdel Fattah El-Sisi talks with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen in Cairo

Deals between European and Egyptian companies worth $43bn

European companies are signing more than €40 billion ($43 billion) worth of deals with Egyptian companies across a range of sectors, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has said. “We have companies in sectors ranging from hydrogen to water management, from construction to chemicals, from shipping to aviation and to automotive,” she said at […]

A money exchange centre in Cairo. The World Bank funding is intended to support private sector growth in Egypt

World Bank’s $700m push for Egypt’s private sector

The World Bank will provide $700 million in funding to Egypt to address short-term economic challenges. The development policy financing (DPF) will aid in supporting the Egyptian government’s focus towards more private sector participation. The financing will further advance structural reforms to level the playing field to support private sector growth, build macroeconomic and fiscal […]

Water is handed out to pilgrims in Mecca. Hundreds of pilgrims without a Hajj permit died during extreme heat last week Video length: 07:15

Egypt shuts down 16 travel companies after Hajj tragedy

Egypt has withdrawn the operating licences of 16 travel companies for organising unlicensed Hajj trips to Saudi Arabia. A statement from the Egyptian government said the companies would be prosecuted and fined, with the funds used to compensate pilgrims’ families for their loss.  Hundreds of Egyptians were among 1,301 people who died of exposure to […]

A floating production unit in Israel's Karish gas field in the eastern Mediterranean. Carlyle is creating a new oil and gas company to manage the field

New Carlyle entity to manage East Med gas projects

Carlyle, the Nasdaq-listed private equity company, is creating a new oil and gas company to manage recently-acquired assets in the Mediterranean hydrocarbons market. The new as yet un-named entity will be led by former BP CEO Tony Hayward and will manage a portfolio of gas-weighted exploration and production assets in Italy, Egypt and Croatia, according […]

Features

A miner inside a tunnel of the Parrilla silver mine, Mexico. Mexico is the world's biggest producer of mined silver.

Silver is riding high but the market remains volatile

With a gain in its spot price of nearly one-third since the start of the year, silver is now 2024’s best-performing precious metal.  It is a major industrial material with an important role in the green energy transition. Yet, while these factors are combining to give silver a moment, analysts are quick to warn of […]

Saudi sports push ‘winning global audiences’

Saudi sports investments are winning a global audience as the kingdom tries to overcome charges of “sport washing”, a major survey of media coverage said this month. Media analytics consultancy Carma found that coverage of human rights in Saudi Arabia fell in favour of “a sports-related narrative” around the world, including in the West. The […]

Aramco adopts heat-sensing construction helmets

Saudi Aramco is deploying advanced safety helmets equipped with heat stress sensors to protect workers on some of its construction sites, a critical concern in the Gulf region’s scorching climate. The helmets, developed by Dubai and Saudi Arabia-based construction tech startup WakeCap, utilise internet-of-things (IoT) technology that monitors worker attendance, location, and safety incidents in […]

The future of DXB: airport could be turned into a city

The $35 billion plan to turn Al Maktoum International into the busiest airport in the world has everyone talking about the remaking of Dubai South. Perhaps a bigger challenge is the redevelopment of the city’s main airport – Dubai International, or DXB. DXB is near some of the city’s most densely populated neighbourhoods and the […]

People & Lifestyle

The Villaggio Mall in Doha. Qatar's prime malls are succeeding but others are experiencing growing vacancy rates

Premium Qatar malls thrive despite online competition

Large high-end malls in Qatar are winning the favour of consumers who still choose to shop in person amid intensifying competition from the internet. However, other shopping venues are suffering from reduced footfall and growing vacancy rates. The flagship Doha Festival City announced last month that it is fully leased after clinching its 500th retail […]

A stall holder in the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul. People in Istanbul faced rises in the cost of living this year, as soaring inflation impacted wages

Cairo and Istanbul feel biggest cost of living squeeze

Dubai has become the most expensive city in the Middle East for expatriate workers, while Cairo and Istanbul were among the cities that saw the biggest rise in the cost of living this year, as soaring inflation impacted wages. Dubai, the UAE’s largest city, saw rental prices rise by about a fifth in the last […]

Adult, Female, Person

Private jets to flamingos: the personal shopping lists of the super rich

The luxury e-commerce retailer Pastor & Co, which boasts it can supply clients with everything from Picasso paintings to swans, is aiming to pass $10 million in profits this year, buoyed by strong interest from the rich and famous across the Mena region. The personalised shopping service gets requests to source anything from a rare Fendi […]

A pilgrim prays on Mount Arafat, Mecca. Saudi Arabia has been enforcing a strict crackdown on performing Hajj without a permit Video length: 07:15

Hajj pilgrims feel the pinch as costs rise

The costs of Hajj are getting ever higher for pilgrims coming from around the world to perform the annual rites, which are a duty for every able-bodied Muslim to perform once in a lifetime.  Even pilgrims coming from within Saudi Arabia, for whom the costs are cheaper, are paying around SAR23,500 ($6,266) for up to […]

Electronics, Phone, Mobile Phone

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Around the world

A miner inside a tunnel of the Parrilla silver mine, Mexico. Mexico is the world's biggest producer of mined silver.

Silver is riding high but the market remains volatile

With a gain in its spot price of nearly one-third since the start of the year, silver is now 2024’s best-performing precious metal.  It is a major industrial material with an important role in the green energy transition. Yet, while these factors are combining to give silver a moment, analysts are quick to warn of […]

Covestro CEO Dr Markus Steilemann. The company has rejected two previous offers from Adnoc

Adnoc makes final bid for German chemicals maker

German chemical company Covestro AG has confirmed that it has started “concrete negotiations” over a $12.5 billion offer from Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc). Covestro said in a statement that Adnoc had offered €62 ($67) a share as a starting point for the negotiations, which are subject to the completion of due diligence. In […]

ADIA Hargreaves Lansdown

ADIA group raises offer for UK stock trading platform

A consortium including Abu Dhabi’s biggest sovereign wealth fund is poised to buy stock trading platform Hargreaves Lansdown after making an improved non-binding offer for the British company. Abu Dhabi Investment Authority’s (ADIA) wholly owned subsidiary Platinum Ivy has teamed up with private equity firms CVC and Nordic Capital to offer £11.40 ($14.51) per share […]

Two companies are dominant in the lithium industry – Chile’s SQM and US business Albemarle. In 2023, each commanded about 20 percent of global supply

Saudi Arabia targets Chile for lithium investments

Saudi Arabia’s mining minister Bandar Alkhorayef will visit Chile next month to negotiate a deal to secure lithium to support the kingdom’s ambition to expand its electric vehicle (EV) sector, a news report said. Alkhorayef will meet with his counterpart in Santiago, Reuters reported, quoting a Chilean government statement. The report said the two officials will discuss […]