Analysis Petrochemicals Gloomy earnings outlook for Saudi petrochemicals sector Saudi Arabia’s 10 listed petrochemical companies are likely to report lacklustre earnings for the fourth quarter of 2024 because of an ongoing downturn in the global chemicals industry, analysts predict. The sector’s prolonged malaise means they are likely to be of little interest to international institutional investors – although all enjoy significant cost advantages over […] February 25, 2025
Economy Confidence builds in Turkish real sector Turkish businesses are looking forward to better times but are still struggling with present day issues such as low levels of orders and a sluggish general economic environment. The Turkish Central Bank’s latest business tendency statistics and real sector confidence index, issued on February 24, recorded a steady increase in positive sentiment among the country’s […] February 25, 2025
Banking & Finance Dubai crypto regulator Vara monitoring Bybit hack Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (Vara) has said it is “actively monitoring” the fallout from a $1.4 billion hack at Bybit, a cryptocurrency exchange that has fallen victim to what it calls crypto’s largest heist. Dubai-based Bybit said hackers exploited a smart contract – a self-executing program that automates blockchain transactions – during a routine […] February 24, 2025
OpinionPeople & LifestyleWill peace with Ukraine persuade Russians living in the UAE to return to the motherland?Frank Kane, Editor-at-Large, AGBI
OpinionTRANSPORT True love is hard to find, especially among embattled carmakers in need of a bailoutImthishan Giado, Partner, Motoring Middle East
Opinionartificial intelligenceThe Middle East will have to choose the tech it wants for its future so it doesn’t lose outTriska Hamid, Angel investor
Analysis Oil & Gas Egypt’s gas industry caught in vicious circle as demand rises Egypt’s gas industry is caught in a vicious circle. The country uses natural gas to generate almost 80 percent of its electricity, according to the International Energy Agency, and Globalpetrolprices.com says Egyptian households pay less than EGP1 ($0.02) per kilowatt hour. Demand for power and therefore for gas is surging at a time when production […]
VIDEO EXCLUSIVE Tech Errol Musk: Tower will be a ‘truly international institute’ 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 […]
Food & Drink Climate change and rising costs challenge Turkish tea producers Turkey is one of the world’s biggest tea producers, and it is taking steps to increase its profile in the highly competitive international market
Analysis Real Estate How Qatar escaped a World Cup property glut 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 […]
Opinion Artificial Intelligence The case for Gulf ‘free data zones’ How can corporations compete globally if American AI is more expensive than China?
Banking & Finance Emirates NBD buys outstanding shares to delist EIB Emirates NBD, Dubai’s largest bank by assets, will delist Emirates Islamic Bank (EIB) from the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) after acquiring 100 percent of the sharia-complaint lender, according to a statement. Emirates NBD has made a mandatory cash offer to buy the remaining 0.11 percent stake (free float) in EIB for AED11.95 ($3.25) per share […] February 25, 2025
Finance UAE commits $40bn to support Italy’s economy The UAE has committed to invest $40 billion in core sectors of the Italian economy, as the countries advance towards a comprehensive strategic partnership agreement (Cepa), the two nations said in a joint statement. More than 40 new agreements were signed across priority areas such as defence, energy, sustainable energy, and energy transition and space […] February 25, 2025
Opinion People & Lifestyle Happy days are here again for Russian expats in the UAE Even after any potential peace deals, many are likely to continue to live in the UAE February 24, 2025
Banking & Finance Dubai crypto regulator Vara monitoring Bybit hack Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (Vara) has said it is “actively monitoring” the fallout from a $1.4 billion hack at Bybit, a cryptocurrency exchange that has fallen victim to what it calls crypto’s largest heist. Dubai-based Bybit said hackers exploited a smart contract – a self-executing program that automates blockchain transactions – during a routine […] February 24, 2025
Infrastructure Abu Dhabi tenders more stormwater projects Abu Dhabi has again invited companies to bid for stormwater drainage and flood mitigation projects. Record rainfall last year caused more than $8.5 billion of physical and economic damage in the UAE and wider region. The neighbouring emirate of Dubai, which was also hard-hit by the April floods, subsequently approved drainage-improvement plans worth $8.2 billion. […] February 24, 2025
Manufacturing PIF unit to manufacture lifts in Saudi Arabia Alat, a Public Investment Fund-backed manufacturing company, is setting up a €160 million ($168 million) joint venture with Germany’s TK Elevator to manufacture lifts and escalators in Saudi Arabia, the German company said in a statement. Alat, which was launched in February last year by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has acquired a 15 percent stake in […] February 25, 2025
Analysis Petrochemicals Gloomy earnings outlook for Saudi petrochemicals sector Saudi Arabia’s 10 listed petrochemical companies are likely to report lacklustre earnings for the fourth quarter of 2024 because of an ongoing downturn in the global chemicals industry, analysts predict. The sector’s prolonged malaise means they are likely to be of little interest to international institutional investors – although all enjoy significant cost advantages over […] February 25, 2025
Renewable Energy Acwa planning 15GW wind and solar projects Acwa Power expects to announce new solar and wind power projects before the end of April as part of its contract to provide 70 percent of Saudi Arabia’s renewable energy needs. The projects will have a combined generating capacity of 15 gigawatts (GW), Acwa’s chief investment and development officer Thomas Brostrom told AGBI. That is […] February 24, 2025
Tech SoftBank CEO admits failing to deliver returns to PIF Japan’s SoftBank Group has not “fully delivered” the expected returns to Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, CEO Masayoshi Son has said. “I haven’t still given him enough return. I still owe him,” Bloomberg reported, quoting Son at a panel discussion at a conference staged by Saudi Arabia’s FII […] February 24, 2025
Agriculture PIF-owned Salic pays $1.8bn to up stake in Olam Agri Saudi Agricultural and Livestock Investment Company (Salic) will acquire a 45 percent stake in Olam Agri Holdings for $1.8 billion, the Singapore-based company said in a statement. The transaction values Olam Agri at $4 billion, higher than the $3.5bn put on the company in November last year when Salic, a Public Investment Fund (PIF) subsidiary, […] February 24, 2025
Oil & Gas Iraq to propose new plan to offset extra oil output Iraq reaffirmed its commitment to the Opec+ agreement on Monday and said it would present an updated plan to compensate for any overproduction in previous periods, according to a statement from the Iraqi oil ministry. Baghdad, Opec’s second largest producer, said its oil minister Hayan Abdel-Ghani had spoken with Saudi Arabia’s energy minister Prince Abdulaziz […] February 25, 2025
Artificial Intelligence Qatar opts for AI to boost public services Qatar’s government has signed a five-year deal with artificial intelligence (AI) data company Scale AI to deploy AI-powered tools and training. It is an attempt to improve government services in the Gulf state, a senior Scale AI executive told Reuters on Sunday. “(This deal) can be a blueprint for other governments around the world, and […] February 24, 2025
Renewable Energy Amea Power to build battery storage facilities in Egypt The UAE renewable energy company Amea Power has signed an agreement with the state-run Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company to develop two battery storage facilities with a total capacity of up to 1,500 megawatt-hours (MWh). The project involves a 500 MWh station at Banban in the far south of Egypt and a 1,000 MWh facility at […] February 24, 2025
Oil & Gas Iraq to export 185,000 bpd of crude from Kurdistan Iraq will export 185,000 barrels per day (bpd) from Kurdistan’s oilfields through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline once oil shipments resume, an Iraqi oil ministry official said on Sunday. Basim Mohammed, deputy oil minister for upstream operations, told Iraq’s state news agency that the quantity currently available for export from Kurdistan regional government oilfields is 300,000 bpd. […] February 24, 2025
Sustainability Oman set to start plastic recycling plant this year Oman is likely to start operations at its biggest plastic recycling plant in the third quarter of 2025, according to a news report. The project, located close to Sohar Port, will have a processing capacity of 200 metric tonnes per day, the Oman Daily Observer reported. The volume of recyclable waste, including plastics, produced in […] February 23, 2025
Food & Drink Bring back smoking, say Jordan restaurateurs Bring back smoking! That is how desperate restaurateurs and cafe owners feel in Jordan after a drop in tourism last year, linked primarily to the wars in the Middle East. Among other measures, restaurateurs want the return of the shisha, the waterpipe smoking device that is popular across the Arab world, and over which smokers can […] February 21, 2025
Banking & Finance Qatar’s $3bn bond issue oversubscribed four times Orders for Qatar’s $3 billion bonds attracted bids of more than $12 billion, with spreads tightening significantly amid high demand, a news report said. The three-year senior unsecured notes of $1 billion were priced at 30 basis points (bps) over US treasuries compared to the initial pricing of 60 bps, Bloomberg reported, quoting informed sources. […] February 21, 2025
Banking & Finance Oliver Wyman joins EY in Iraq bank restructuring Iraq has hired two of the world’s most prominent financial consulting firms to help restructure its banking sector, which has been wrecked by long-term violence, according to an adviser to the prime minister. London-based EY and Oliver Wyman of the US will prepare a roadmap for a plan that could include merging the country’s two […] February 21, 2025
Economy Confidence builds in Turkish real sector Turkish businesses are looking forward to better times but are still struggling with present day issues such as low levels of orders and a sluggish general economic environment. The Turkish Central Bank’s latest business tendency statistics and real sector confidence index, issued on February 24, recorded a steady increase in positive sentiment among the country’s […] February 25, 2025
Energy Turkey’s biofuel sector gets fired up on overseas demand Turkey is poor in oil and gas while its renewable energy sector is heavily reliant on a mix of hydro, wind and solar. But another element is heating up: biofuel – fuel derived directly from biomass, such as wood or plant matter – is gaining interest domestically and creating an export market not available to […] February 24, 2025
Food & Drink Climate change and rising costs challenge Turkish tea producers Turkey is one of the world’s biggest tea producers, and it is taking steps to increase its profile in the highly competitive international market February 24, 2025
Logistics Turkey says talks with Abu Dhabi fail on port deal The Turkish government has confirmed that talks with Abu Dhabi Ports Group (AD Ports) over operating rights at the Alsancak freight and passenger port in Western Turkey have failed. “The aim there was to get a partner for the Alsancak port and adding capital to expand it,” Turkish transport minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu told Bloomberg. No […] February 21, 2025
Sustainability Turkey receives climate funding from Beijing agency Turkey has secured a $5 billion investment commitment from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), a Beijing-based multilateral funding agency, to support its long-term climate strategy. Turkish finance minister Mehmet Simsek and AIIB president Jin Liqun signed a memorandum of understanding for the investment programme, at a conference in Saudi Arabia, the bank said. The programme […] February 18, 2025
Economy Expat remittances to Egypt up by a half to $30bn in 2024 Expatriate remittances to Egypt, a critical source of foreign exchange, jumped 52 percent year on year to $30 billion in 2024, according to the central bank. The surge was driven by economic reforms introduced in March 2024 and the flexible exchange rate regime, the government-run State Information Service reported. Remittances rose to $3.2 billion in […] February 25, 2025
Analysis Oil & Gas Egypt’s gas industry caught in vicious circle as demand rises Egypt’s gas industry is caught in a vicious circle. The country uses natural gas to generate almost 80 percent of its electricity, according to the International Energy Agency, and Globalpetrolprices.com says Egyptian households pay less than EGP1 ($0.02) per kilowatt hour. Demand for power and therefore for gas is surging at a time when production […] February 24, 2025
Renewable Energy Amea Power to build battery storage facilities in Egypt The UAE renewable energy company Amea Power has signed an agreement with the state-run Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company to develop two battery storage facilities with a total capacity of up to 1,500 megawatt-hours (MWh). The project involves a 500 MWh station at Banban in the far south of Egypt and a 1,000 MWh facility at […] February 24, 2025
Economy Egypt keeps interest rates steady as inflation looms Egypt’s central bank kept its key overnight interest rates unchanged on Thursday, as expected, citing the impact on inflation of uncertainty around US protectionism and geopolitics. The bank’s monetary policy committee kept the lending rate at 28.25 percent and the deposit rate at 27.25 percent, it said. The median forecast in a Reuters poll of 10 analysts […] February 21, 2025
Tax New tax relief package expected in Egypt next month Egypt will announce a tax relief package for taxpayers and businesses next month, to increase the transparency of the tax system and encourage more foreign direct investment, it has been reported. The finance minister is overseeing the package’s implementation to ensure it meets business needs, the Egypt Today newspaper reported, citing Rasha Abdel Aal, head […] February 20, 2025
Food & Drink Climate change and rising costs challenge Turkish tea producers Turkey is one of the world’s biggest tea producers, and it is taking steps to increase its profile in the highly competitive international market
Analysis Telecoms Red Sea attacks put security spotlight on vital subsea cables What do Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, a new data centre in Saudi Arabia and the icy waters of the Baltic Sea have in common? In short, they reflect a new Gulf Arab, and indeed global, focus on protecting vital submarine cable networks and potentially developing alternative, terrestrial routes. The Yemeni militia’s […]
Analysis Finance UAE pension plans aim to ease end-of-service headaches Pensions are a headache for governments, companies and employees alike. How to provide staff with a comfortable retirement that could last for decades? Historically, staff leaving UAE companies receive a substantial one-off payout from their employer, the amount increasing significantly the longer the period of service. But this “defined benefit” system can cause financial difficulties […]
Analysis Banking & Finance Share price rally tipped to keep rolling for UAE banks A year-long rally in share prices for major UAE banks still has some steam in it, underpinned by loans growth and attractive dividend yields, analysts have said. In the 12 months to February 11, the share price of Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) surged by almost 40 percent. Shares in Emirates NBD, Mashreq and Dubai […]
Tourism Luxury travel is the engine of Saudi’s tourism market Saudi Arabia has focused on high-end tourism to create a name for itself, but will need to cater to the broader market in the longer term
Opinion Employment New UAE gratuity scheme could leave staff worse off Replacing end-of-service benefit with a defined contribution fund could cost expat workers thousands
Opinion Food & Drink Rising prices open door for Saudi Arabia to lead coffee market With its favourable topography and climate, the Arabian Peninsula has the potential to be a major producer
Analysis Food & Drink Dubai restaurants risk out-pricing customers on alcohol costs 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 […]
Analysis Tourism Moroccan tourism startups build momentum ahead of World Cup 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 […]
Opinion Media & Advertising What’s in a (badly spelt) brand name? Brands – and their branding and PR agencies – like to feel special
Analysis Health Tech specialists tap into Gulf’s market of the sleep deprived 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 […]
Opinion Leisure & Hospitality Sotheby’s first Saudi auction: a test of Gulf’s market potential The 150 lots will feature everything from Picasso to Hermès handbags, at prices up to $1.5m
Analysis Employment UAE and Kuwait companies struggling to hire staff 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 […]
Agriculture UAE’s Aqua Bridge to build aquaculture farm in India 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 […]
Trade InvestSaudi to open second US office in Miami 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 […]
Oil & Gas Brazil joins Opec+ oil producers’ group 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 […]
Aviation Australia likely to approve Qatar Airways-Virgin deal The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is leaning towards approving a five-year deal between Qatar Airways and Virgin Australia, allowing them to sell long-haul return flights starting in June, the watchdog said. The approval, if granted, will allow the two airlines to commence 28 new weekly return flights between Doha and Perth, Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. […]
