While the Middle East has seen a surge in sustainable finance initiatives, investors are struggling to find commercially viable energy projects to invest in. This is particularly the case in developing nations, according to industry experts. The financial sector in the UAE has pledged to “mobilise” AED1 trillion ($272 billion) in sustainable finance by 2030. […]
International investors have pumped more than $60 billion into Gulf stocks over the past five years but their share of ownership is still relatively low, putting into question the success of GCC states’ economic diversification policies. Governments in the world’s largest oil-producing region have long sought to increase foreign direct investment into their economies and […]
Britain is “very keen” to secure business in the aviation, hospitality and financial services sectors and elsewhere in Dubai and the wider UAE, a UK trade commissioner has told AGBI. A free trade agreement between the UK and the Gulf Co-operation Council, which includes the UAE, would support these opportunities for British companies, said Sarah […]
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Oman’s rise in food prices may be due in part to its new pension for the over-60s
Egypt's portfolio of multilateral trade deals includes the largest continental free trade agreement in the world. We look at how it can do more business in Africa – a market of 1.5 billion people
The detention of a leading opposition figure in Turkey just days before he was to be named as a candidate in presidential elections is likely to set back the country’s campaign against sky-high interest rates and persistent inflation, analysts have warned. Ekram İmamoğlu, the mayor of İstanbul and leading member of the opposition Republican People’s […]
Morocco has reported so much rainfall this year that it is filling dams across the country to levels not seen in at least three years. That augurs well for the agricultural sector which accounts for about one-sixth of the economy and is a component of exports and therefore foreign exchange. The economy declined last year […]
Kuwait’s stock market is the Gulf’s top performer this year as local and foreign investors bet that economic reforms and increased infrastructure spending will bolster corporate profits. Investors seem more confident Kuwait will make good on its long-awaited plans following the suspension of parliament last May. Parliament and the government were often at loggerheads, derailing […]
Wassim Elaify is not short of work. Quite the opposite. Indicators, the accountancy firm he manages in Riyadh, is receiving more requests to be taken on as clients from expanding Saudi companies and newly arrived international groups than it can handle. Saudi Arabia‘s non-oil economy is expanding at more than four times the rate of […]
Matein Khalid, Investor
Britain is “very keen” to secure business in the aviation, hospitality and financial services sectors and elsewhere in Dubai and the wider UAE, a UK trade commissioner has told AGBI. A free trade agreement between the UK and the Gulf Co-operation Council, which includes the UAE, would support these opportunities for British companies, said Sarah […]
Gulf Islamic Investments, Dubai’s financial services company which has more than $3.5 billion of assets under management, is aiming to more than double the value of its business in the United States. GII’s US assets total $750 million and include an 80 percent share in ZSpace, a virtual reality education technology company with a market […]
The UAE has started negotiations with Tunisia on a bilateral trade and investment agreement. In a virtual meeting between the two nations’ ministers of trade, officials expressed their commitment to expanding and deepening bilateral relations, the official UAE news agency WAM said. The UAE and Tunisia will proceed to negotiate specific chapters and provisions covered […]
Dubai is running a pilot scheme that allows for the tokenisation of property title deeds, the first jurisdiction in the Middle East to do this. Tokenisation is the process of creating and trading digital tokens that are backed by real-world assets on a blockchain. It enables direct and verifiable peer-to-peer transactions. Through the process, a […]
Abu Dhabi sovereign fund Mubadala may sell its stake in du, the UAE’s second-largest telecom operator by subscribers, which if added to the free float would boost the stock’s chances of being included in emerging market indexes. Admittance to the MSCI and FTSE emerging market benchmarks means that exchange-traded funds which track these measures must […]
Middle East investors are in talks with HudBay Minerals to buy a stake of as much as 30 percent in the Canadian company’s US copper project, a news report said. The stake sale in HudBay Mineral’s flagship Copper World project in Arizona has drawn interest from investors in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Japan, Bloomberg […]
Riyadh-based Sport Clubs Company has received approval to float 30 percent of its share capital on the Saudi stock exchange. The Capital Market Regulator has given its nod to sell 34.3 million shares on the main market. The approval will be valid for six months but is deemed cancelled if the initial public offering (IPO) […]
Shares of Umm Al Qura for Development and Construction (Umm Al Qura), the developer of Masar, a massive mixed-use project in the holy city of Mecca, will start trading on the Saudi stock exchange next week. The stock will be subject to a daily and static price fluctuation limit of plus or minus 30 percent and […]
Recognition and security guarantees are among what the kingdom might be expecting
The loan books of Saudi Arabian banks now exceed their total deposits, which might normally be a warning sign that the sector’s finances are under strain. Yet the Saudi Central Bank (Sama) takes a more nuanced approach to calculating loan-to-deposit ratios, an important metric known in the industry as LDR. Sama’s assessment indicates that lenders […]
The president of Tunisia, Kais Saied, has sacked his prime minister, Kamel Maddouri, less than a year after Maddouri’s appointment, as the country’s economy falters and it tries to cope with a worsening flood of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa. Saied named Sara Zaafarani, the minister of equipment and housing since 2021, as Maddouri’s replacement. Zaafarani, […]
Qatar’s Hamad International Airport’s annual passenger capacity has reached 65 million passengers, following an expansion plan started in 2018. The terminal area has expanded by 14 percent to cover 845,000sqm, adding 17 new boarding gates to reach 62, the Government Communications Office said in a statement. The new concourses (D and E) will boost flight […]
Morocco has reported so much rainfall this year that it is filling dams across the country to levels not seen in at least three years. That augurs well for the agricultural sector which accounts for about one-sixth of the economy and is a component of exports and therefore foreign exchange. The economy declined last year […]
Gold soared to a record high on Thursday, as the US Federal Reserve hinted at a possible easing of interest rates by half a percentage point by the end of the year. The news further fostered bullion’s appeal amid ongoing geopolitical and economic woes. Spot gold rose 0.2 percent to $3,052.92 an ounce as of 00:30 […]
Algeria has officially shelved a $3 billion project to build what could have been one of Africa’s largest ports, nine years after a group of Chinese and Algerian companies signed an initial agreement, Ports Europe reported. The Algerian authorities, China State Construction Engineering Corporation and the China Harbour Engineering Company, signed an initial agreement in […]
The Omani government reportedly plans to create 45,000 job opportunities in 2025. The jobs include 11,000 positions for training and qualification, 10,000 in government offices and 24,000 in the private sector, the Oman Daily Observer reported, citing labour minister Dr Mahad bin Said Baowain. The ministry is focusing on providing work-related training and wage subsidies for […]
Iraq has officially endorsed an agreement with UK energy major BP for the development of four oilfields in the northern Kurdish Kirkuk region. The cabinet gave its final approval to the multi-billion dollar contract at a meeting this week headed by Prime Minister Mohammed Al-Sudani, the official news agency said. BP expects to invest up […]
Kuwaiti nationals earn nearly five times as much as their expatriate colleagues, and more than four in every five Kuwaitis work for the government, data from the Central Statistics Administration has revealed. Of 450,000 working Kuwaitis at the end of September, 375,000, or 83 percent, were in the public sector, with the remainder in the […]
The detention of a leading opposition figure in Turkey just days before he was to be named as a candidate in presidential elections is likely to set back the country’s campaign against sky-high interest rates and persistent inflation, analysts have warned. Ekram İmamoğlu, the mayor of İstanbul and leading member of the opposition Republican People’s […]
Markets in Turkey were thrown into turmoil on Wednesday after the arrest of Ekrem İmamoğlu, a leading political opposition figure, with the stock exchange, lira and bonds all recording sharp losses. İmamoğlu, the mayor of Istanbul, was expected to be named on Sunday as the Republican People’s Party candidate for Turkey’s next presidential election. He […]
Iraq’s oil pipeline through Turkey – which has been closed for two years – is not just a pipeline. It raises a cornucopia of issues: declining Russian oil exports to Turkey, US pressure on Iraq to stop illicit Iraqi oil exports to Iran, peace with the militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in eastern Turkey, how […]
Turkey’s largest oil refiner Tupras is set to receive a cargo of Itapu crude early next month, its first such purchase from Brazil, according to a source, and ship tracking data. Tupras last month said it had stopped buying Russian crude after the US announced new sanctions on Russia’s oil industry on January 10. The cargo of […]
Turks are increasingly using credit cards to buy goods and services abroad, as inflation and taxes eat away at their buying power at home. Turkish people used their credit cards more than 380 million times for overseas purchases last year, spending $11.5 billion, according to a new report by the central bank’s Bankalarası Kart Merkezi […]
A Chinese company will reportedly invest $700 million to establish a solar panel glass manufacturing facility in Egypt. Hong Kong-listed Xinyi Glass will develop the project in the Suez Canal Economic Zone in two phases, the Egypt Today newspaper reported. The facility is expected to produce 1.5 million tonnes of solar panel glass and 1.1 […]
Egypt’s EFG Holding will list its buy-now, pay-later subsidiary on the Egyptian stock exchange as part of a restructuring process, the bank has announced. As part of the restructuring plan, the Cairo-listed investment bank intends to pay its 2024 profit by distributing a 20.5 percent stake in U Consumer Finance, known by its brand name, […]
Emirates NBD, Dubai’s largest bank by assets, has refuted media reports that it is undertaking due diligence on a state-owned Egyptian bank ahead of potentially buying a stake in the lender. Last week, Kuwaiti and Egyptian media published articles detailing how Emirates NBD – which has an Egyptian subsidiary – had begun examining the books […]
Egypt's portfolio of multilateral trade deals includes the largest continental free trade agreement in the world. We look at how it can do more business in Africa – a market of 1.5 billion people
The British oil and gas producer Capricorn Energy is in advanced talks with the state-owned Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation to improve the terms for its gas concession agreements in the Western Desert. The talks include an improved gas price for incremental production and new discoveries, plus “modernised” commercial terms, the company said. Capricorn and the […]
Iraq’s oil pipeline through Turkey – which has been closed for two years – is not just a pipeline. It raises a cornucopia of issues: declining Russian oil exports to Turkey, US pressure on Iraq to stop illicit Iraqi oil exports to Iran, peace with the militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in eastern Turkey, how […]
Global investors are increasingly vying for stakes in later-stage Gulf startups, betting on the region’s economic expansion and stronger exit opportunities, as the regional IPO markets gain momentum. The region, long overlooked for growth-stage capital – minority investments in established companies aimed at accelerating expansion – is witnessing a surge of interest from giants such […]
A “shocking” lack of care facilities for the elderly, few options for childcare, unsafe transport and poor access to credit all combine to make it hard for even highly educated women in the Middle East and North Africa to progress in their careers. That is the belief of Hela Cheikhrouhou, a senior official with the […]
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. […]
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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