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Top stories

Egypt PPP tenders Abu Rawash wate water plant

Public-private tenders worth $1bn on offer in Egypt

Eleven tenders worth more than $1.2 billion for public-private partnerships (PPPs), mainly involving water and waste water treatment, are about to be issued by the Egyptian government. Atter Hannoura, director of the PPP Central Unit at the Egyptian finance ministry, said that the total value of PPP agreements to be tendered is about EGP62 billion […]

Olives being harvested in the Eceabat region of northwestern Turkey

Turkey’s olive growers mine liquid gold

Turkey is likely to set a new record for olive oil output this year, as millions of new trees planted in a drive to expand supply reach maturity. The crop should consolidate the country’s position as the one of the world’s largest olive oil producers.  This year, Turkey is on course to produce around 475,000 […]

UAE bankruptcy law Emirates Hospital

Bankruptcy law change lures private credit to UAE

A new bankruptcy law which came into effect in the UAE earlier this year is attracting an influx of private credit into the country after boosting investor confidence. Private credit is non-bank lending to businesses, by private investors. Introduced on 1 May 2024, the new regulations shook up insolvency laws that had only been in force […]

Trending

  1. Saudi Arabia’s Maaden seeks $1bn private sector investment

  2. Private money leading charge in Saudi construction industry

  3. Turkish consumer confidence slides as inflation persists

  4. The No 1 problem in a family business? ‘Not business, but family’

  5. Governments urged to agree carbon credit rules at Cop29

OPINION & Analysis

Best of AGBI

Jeff Maggioncalda, CEO of Coursera, says many educational technology startups grew too quickly Video length: 03:19

A lesson in growth for educational technology

Funding value is down by 90 percent in the educational technology sector from global highs, forcing many companies out of business. In the first quarter of 2024 there were about 100 venture capital transactions in educational technology, or “edtech”, with a total value of about $580 million. Online course provider Coursera has more than 20 […]

Nobody likes methane seepage. Especially Europe

Liquefied natural gas has always had a heroic reputation in the energy world. Heroic engineering, heroic logistics and heroic expense, yes – but a heroic outcome: clean (or not-so-dirty) energy and a seat with the good guys at the high table of energy transition. Qatar of course, Egypt, Oman, Israel and the UAE – these are the lucky producers and […]

Rise of service-based economies highlights flaws in GDP data

This month Dubai made headlines across regional media as the emirate announced its gross domestic product grew 3.3 percent in the second quarter, while similar economic statements by other Middle East governments also generated ample news coverage. Yet, as economies become increasingly services-based, capturing their real size and growth is becoming more difficult, and that […]

UAE’s ambitious NDCs balanced by criticism over oil expansion

The UAE has pledged to cut greenhouse gas emissions nearly in half by 2035 under its updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), marking its most ambitious climate target to date under the Paris Agreement. While the UAE’s commitment to a 47 percent reduction positions it as a regional leader in climate action, its concurrent expansion of […]

People, Person, Clothing

interview

The No 1 problem in a family business? ‘Not business, but family’

Mishal Kanoo, chairman, The Kanoo Group

UAE latest

An impression of the Space Perspective balloon capsule in flight

Space Perspective favours Dubai for balloon launches

US company Space Perspective says it is in talks with Gulf countries about hosting rights to launch its high-altitude balloon flights.  The company will operate flights carrying a luxury capsule into the stratosphere to a height of around 30km. Taber MacCallum, founder and chief technology officer, said at a tourism conference in Dubai that it […]

Drake & Scull Louvre Abu Dhabi

Former Drake & Scull CEO returns to lead growth plans

Construction engineering company Drake & Scull International (DSI) has reappointed a former CEO to lead it. The company said it is entering “a new chapter of growth and development” following its debt restructuring earlier this year. Muin Al Saleh, who was CEO between 2017 and 2019, returns to the Dubai contractor in the same position.  […]

People, Person, Adult The agreement between AD Ports and SC Zone in Egypt will enable strategic infrastructure projects in the Mediterranean Sea region

AD Ports explores building new economic zone in Egypt

AD Ports Group is exploring opportunities with the Egyptian government to build, operate and transfer an economic zone in East Port Said. As part of a framework agreement, the UAE port operator and the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SC Zone) will explore the building, operation, and transfer of the East Port Said Industrial Zone near […]

UAE bankruptcy law Emirates Hospital

Bankruptcy law change lures private credit to UAE

A new bankruptcy law which came into effect in the UAE earlier this year is attracting an influx of private credit into the country after boosting investor confidence. Private credit is non-bank lending to businesses, by private investors. Introduced on 1 May 2024, the new regulations shook up insolvency laws that had only been in force […]

Lulu's revenue rose to $1.86bn, driven by strong sales performances in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait

Lulu Q3 profit rises 126% as revenue hits $1.9bn

Lulu Retail Holdings, the largest grocery retailer in the GCC, reported a 126 percent year-on-year increase in net profit to $35.1 million in the third quarter of 2024. The company cited improved operating profit and cost management for the rise. Revenue rose to $1.86 billion, up 6 percent on last year, driven by a strong […]

Saudi Arabia latest

Maaden aims to expand its operations tenfold compared to 2020, underpinned by a 10-year investment strategy

Saudi Arabia’s Maaden seeks $1bn private sector investment

Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Maaden) is offering upwards of 52 investment opportunities worth SAR4 billion ($1 billion) to boost private sector participation, a senior executive has said. Investments worth SAR1.3 billion are already in the implementation phase, Abdullah Al Osaimi, senior vice president, procurement and business support, told CNBC Arabia. Maaden, Saudi Arabia’s largest miner, […]

Experts say private sector involvement in the construction sector is likely to grow further in coming years

Private money leading charge in Saudi construction industry

Private sector participation in Saudi Arabia’s construction industry is powering investment in the sector, according to a senior economist. Overall gross fixed capital formation – a measure of investment in an economy’s infrastructure, schools and other physical assets, as well as related tools and machinery – is up 3 percent year on year in the […]

Muslim Pilgrims at The Kaaba in The Haram Mosque of Mecca , Saudi Arabia, In the morning performing umrah

Saudi travel firm targets Chinese ahead of IPO

Saudi Arabia is hoping to attract 5 million Chinese tourists by 2030 as part of a push that is also targeting Russia, Germany, Italy and the UK, leading tour operator Almosafer said on Wednesday, flagging a likely IPO within two years.  “China is the top tourist source market and you really need to have a […]

Diriyah Company CEO Jerry Inzerillo said that Diriyah will once more become "a gathering place for the world"

Saudi’s Diriyah adds cultural districts to $63bn plan

Diriyah Company, backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, has started construction on multi-billion dollar educational and arts districts in the $63.2 billion giga-project. Spanning an area of 14 sq km, the “world’s biggest urban development projects” will house the Qurain Cultural District and Northern District. The Qurain Cultural District will include a range of arts, […]

Riyadh roads, Saudi Arabia economy

Saudi Arabia economy

The latest economic and demographic indicators for Saudi Arabia, including GDP, inflation, oil prices, trade, population, unemployment and more

Around the Middle East

The Hilton Garden Inn Dubai at Mall Avenue. A quarter of the group's developments in the Middle East is aimed at the mid market

Hilton says Middle East expansion will add 35,000 jobs

Hotel group Hilton’s expansion plans in the Middle East will create 35,000 jobs, its regional head has said.   The US company will at least double its size in the region with 130 new properties, its Middle East and Africa president, Guy Hutchinson, said.  “We’re seeing this part of the world emerge as a thought and […]

Passengers at Bahrain airport. British Airways has been flying there for 92 years

British Airways reverses decision to scrap Bahrain flights

British Airways has reversed its decision to scrap flights to Bahrain but is still reviewing plans to end direct flights to Kuwait.  The UK’s flag carrier announced two weeks ago that it would end its direct flights to Bahrain and Kuwait in the first quarter next year due to delays to the delivery of Rolls […]

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, WTO director-general, said the potential escalation of conflicts in the Middle East could lead to further increases in transport and energy costs

WTO predicts Middle East trade slowdown in 2025

Lower oil prices, the potential for conflicts to escalate and the impact of a Trump presidency are factors supporting the World Trade Organization’s prediction that trade in the Middle East will slow down in 2025, experts have said.  In its latest Global Trade Outlook and Statistics report, the WTO said Middle East exports will grow 5 […]

Bahrain hopes its International Commercial Court will draw in new businesses and high-net-worth individuals

Bahrain arbitration court strengthens Singapore ties

Bahrain is seeking to emulate the success of a Singapore-based arbitration panel by launching its own International Commercial Court. It will target ultra-high-net-worth individuals and family offices, which are private wealth management advisory firms serving multi-generational wealthy families. The specialised arbitration centre is modelled on the Singapore International Commercial Court (SICC) and is to be […]

Jadwa Investment's new fund has completed its first three investments in the retail and food and beverage sectors

Jadwa raises $266m for GCC investment fund

Saudi Arabia’s Jadwa Investment has announced the first close for its blind pool private equity fund, with total capital commitments of SAR1 billion ($266 million).  The fund, called GCC Private Equity Fund 1, will invest in “high-potential private equity opportunities across the GCC”, the company said.  A blind pool fund is where investors commit capital without […]

Cresta has nearly quadrupled its annual recurring revenue and almost doubled its customer base in the last two years

QIA leads $125m funding round for AI startup Cresta

Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) has led the new $125 million funding round for Cresta, a US-based generative artificial intelligence (AI) platform for contact centres. The series D round included World Innovation Lab, Accenture, Comcast Ventures, EnvisionX, LG Ventures, Qualcomm, Scan Health and Workday Ventures. The round included returning investors Andreessen Horowitz, Greylock Partners, J.P. Morgan, Sequoia […]

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, right, with China's President Xi Jinping. The report says Saudi Arabia could learn from Beijing's economic development

Beijing ‘exploits’ Iran, says US advisory panel

American officials have identified the Middle East, and particularly the GCC, as crucial turf in superpower competition between the US and China, singling out energy and advanced technology as the main fields where a tug-of-war is taking place. The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, a 25-year-old Congressionally-mandated independent US government agency, dedicated an entire […]

oman oil

IMF says oil output to back Oman’s economic rebound

Oman’s economy is on track to rebound in 2025, driven by higher hydrocarbon production and robust growth of the non-hydrocarbon sector, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said. Growth is, however, projected to remain at 1.2 percent this year, weighed down by extended Opec+-related oil production curbs. Fiscal and current account balances are forecast to […]

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Turkey Latest

A Beko manufacturing plant. The company said Italian operations were financially unsustainable, with factory utilisation rates falling below 40 percent

Turkey’s Beko to cut jobs in Italy over underperformance

Beko, a Turkish white goods and electronic brand owned by manufacturer Arcelik, is to reduce its workforce in Italy by nearly half amid mounting industry challenges and financial underperformance. The company will lay off 1,935 of 4,440 employees, Reuters reported, citing a statement issued by Italy’s industry ministry, the FIM, FIOM, UILM and UGLM trade […]

Olives being harvested in the Eceabat region of northwestern Turkey

Turkey’s olive growers mine liquid gold

Turkey is likely to set a new record for olive oil output this year, as millions of new trees planted in a drive to expand supply reach maturity. The crop should consolidate the country’s position as the one of the world’s largest olive oil producers.  This year, Turkey is on course to produce around 475,000 […]

Shoppers walk past a coffee shop at a shopping mall in Ankara, Turkey

Turkish consumer confidence slides as inflation persists

Turks appear to have taken to heart government efforts to cool the economy and rein in inflation, with the latest consumer confidence survey showing a dip in outlook, reversing a five-month upward trend. Turkey’s consumer confidence slipped further into negative territory in November, according to data issued by statistics agency Turkstat on November 21, as […]

Saffron being cultivated in the province of Eskişehir, Turkey. The country does not currently grow enough to meet its own needs

Saffron adds spice to Turkey’s agriculture offering

Turkey is hoping an age-old product, saffron spice, will boost the value of its agriculture sector.  A new project aims to double the area of saffron under cultivation to meet domestic demand and form the basis for exports in the rare and valuable spice.  Saffon-A Tarim AŞ, a private sector company, has begun harvesting 100 […]

Turkey will not sell stakes in state energy companies to a single private company or consortium, the energy minister said

Turkey targets IPOs for state energy companies

Turkey is preparing to launch initial public offerings (IPOs) for its state-run energy companies to enhance their institutional structures, energy minister Alparslan Bayraktar has said. The companies include electricity transmission operator Teias, electricity producer EUAS, gas grid operator Botas, and oil and gas company TPAO, Reuters reported, citing the minister’s briefing to a parliamentary commission. […]

Egypt Latest

Egypt's inflation is projected to ease significantly in the first quarter of 2025

Egypt’s central bank keeps key rates steady

The Central Bank of Egypt has kept its key interest rates steady as economic growth remains below potential. The lending rate was unchanged at 28.25 percent, while the deposit rate remained at 27.25 percent, the monetary policy committee (MPC) said in a statement. “Projections for Q4 2024 show that while economic activity continues to pick […]

Egypt PPP tenders Abu Rawash wate water plant

Public-private tenders worth $1bn on offer in Egypt

Eleven tenders worth more than $1.2 billion for public-private partnerships (PPPs), mainly involving water and waste water treatment, are about to be issued by the Egyptian government. Atter Hannoura, director of the PPP Central Unit at the Egyptian finance ministry, said that the total value of PPP agreements to be tendered is about EGP62 billion […]

Egypt is hoping to increase annual tourist numbers from last year’s record of 15 million to 25 million by 2030

Abu Dhabi’s Adtic invests with Accor in Egyptian hotel

The Abu Dhabi Tourism Investment Company (Adtic) has signed an agreement with the French hospitality company Accor to open a Sofitel hotel near the Giza Necropolis outside Cairo. Adtic, which is 84 percent owned by the Abu Dhabi Development Fund and 10 percent by the Abu Dhabi National Hotels Company, has allocated $100 million for […]

Egypt, which recently became a net importer of LNG, has purchased dozens of cargoes this year

Egypt seeks long-term LNG deals as energy demand soars

Egypt is holding talks with global energy companies about securing long-term liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply contracts to meet growing power demands. “The ministry (of Petroleum) is seeking three or four years of supply to hedge from sudden price increases,” an unnamed source told Reuters. The country, which recently became a net importer of LNG, […]

Features

Salvator Mundi Salman park

Salvator Mundi destined for Riyadh giga-park, say sources

The $450 million Leonardo Da Vinci painting Salvator Mundi is destined for a museum of art inside the King Salman Park giga-project in Riyadh in time for hosting the World Expo in 2030, two separate sources have said.   The artwork is a big part of Saudi Arabia’s plans to rebrand itself globally as a socially […]

Saudi giga-projects are going local with new focus

A nationalist sensitivity towards the leadership and aims of Saudi Arabia’s massive giga-projects is slowly taking hold, as foreign CEOs are swapped out for locals and the government makes a stronger push on housing for Saudi citizens.  Last month, the King Abdullah Financial District replaced its Indian CEO Guatam Sashiittal with Mohammed Alsudairy – head […]

Golden returns draw investors to fitness markets

Investors are showing increasing interest in homegrown fitness companies, tempted by the “golden egg” returns on offer. The fitness market in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) has been growing at an annual rate of 30 percent since 2020, with the UAE sector valued at an estimated $550 million and Saudi Arabia at $1.7 […]

Algeria must forge its own identity to hit tourism targets

If Algeria’s tourism industry is to become the vital engine of the country’s economy its tourism minister hopes, it must find a way to differentiate itself from its neighbours, experts have told AGBI. The Algerian government aims to welcome more than 12 million foreign visitors by the end of the decade, as part of its national tourism […]

Building more homes a better strategy for Kuwait, say experts

Kuwait has tightened property ownership restrictions on non-GCC nationals in an attempt to make real estate more affordable for locals, but industry watchers say building more homes would be the better strategy.  The small, oil-rich emirate has already imposed strict standards on nationals of countries from outside the Gulf who wanted to purchase domestic real […]

People & Lifestyle

In the absence of any concrete structures as yet, Neom exhibitors provided virtual reality sets to give throngs of curious visitors a sense of what The Line will look like

Leaders of The Line share vision of a brave new world

Its managers and designers say it is the human society of the future, but others might see in it a dystopian vision of life shielded in a glass box from an uninhabitable world.  Leading figures behind the Neom city The Line – the boldest of Saudi Arabia’s $1.25 trillion giga-projects – made a coordinated pitch […]

Saudi consumers are looking for non-alcoholic drinks that deliver the flavour of traditional cocktails

Saudis getting a taste for non-alcoholic drinks

The Saudi government’s drive to improve the nation’s health is boosting the food and beverage market in the most unlikely of places – zero-alcohol beer.  A report by MarkNtel Advisors shows the Gulf market is growing by 7.7 percent a year. The local and international brands vying for share include Aujan Group Holding, Anheuser-Busch InBev, […]

Habib Hazzan, managing general partner at Ibtikar Fund, which has just closed its second fund at $25 million

Funding increase to support Palestinian startups

Funding levels are being ramped up to support Palestinian startups in the war-torn territory and across the wider Middle East and North Africa. Just $8.8 million has been invested in Palestinian startups – marked as Ramallah, West Bank or Gaza-based – in 18 deals on record from 2022 to the present day, according to Racha […]

Men on the Muscat waterfront. Omani citizens who earn more than $1m will have to pay income tax

Oman to impose income tax on high earners post-2026

Oman is expected to implement its proposed personal income tax on high earners after 2026, according to a new report. In July, the Majlis al-Shura, the lower house of the Omani parliament, approved a draft law on income tax – the first of its kind in the GCC region – forwarding it to the State […]

A perfume shop in Sabya, Saudi Arabia. The country's fragrance sector is worth $2.3bn

Investors scent riches in Middle East perfume

The retail offering of Al Majed for Oud Company was more than nine times oversubscribed this week, as investors rushed to buy up the first tranche of 1.5 million shares in the Riyadh-based perfume and oud products manufacturer. The full listing of 7.5 million shares, or a 30 percent stake in the company, will raise […]

Lionel Messi poses for a photo at Dubai Expo 2020. He and his Argentina teammates will soon be appearing on 'giant billboard on Sheikh Zayed Road' to advertise property

Project stardust: why Dubai developers still want celeb tie-ins

Lionel Messi, Rohit Sharma and Chris Hemsworth are just some of the famous faces who have promoted UAE real estate in recent years. Superstar sportsmen and Hollywood heroes do not come cheap, but are they really a good investment for developers or just an excuse for the CEO to get a selfie?  Many industry observers […]

Around the world

Machine, Motor, Engine

Acwa Power to build energy storage systems in Uzbekistan

The Saudi renewable power company Acwa Power has agreed with Uzbekistan’s energy ministry to develop up to two gigawatt hours (GWh) of standalone battery energy storage systems capacity (BESS) avross the Central Asian country. The deal comes after a memorandum of understanding signed during the Tashkent Investment Forum in Uzbekistan in May 2024. Under the agreement, […]

Landmark Group chairwoman Renuka Jagtiani Video length: 03:36

Landmark Group expands into Asia

Landmark Group, based in Dubai and one of the biggest retail chains in the Gulf region with annual revenue of more than $7 billion, is investing $1 billion in its Asia expansion. As the company celebrates its 50th anniversary, Renuka Jagtiani, chairwoman, and Landmark Retail CEO Kabir Lumba explain Landmark’s growth strategy and the challenges […]

Arizona water Saudi dairy cattle shed

Arizona to prosecute Saudi company over water use

The attorney general of the US state of Arizona is set to launch legal proceeding in the next two weeks against the Saudi dairy company Almarai over groundwater pumping on two farms in the state. Fondomonte, an Almarai subsidiary, grows alfalfa for animal feed on 6,000 acres in Butler Valley, La Paz County, Arizona, which […]

September 19, 2023, New York City, New York: (NEW) President of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Speaks at UN 78th GA in New York.

Nigeria nears trade deal with Saudi Arabia

Nigeria is looking to finalise a $5 billion bilateral trade facility with Saudi Arabia, it said, following a meeting between its president, Bola Tinubu, and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh. The pair met on the sidelines of the joint Arab-Islamic Summit, which was convened to discuss the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict. Following the meeting, […]