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Migrants attempting to reach Italy from Tunisia. About 270,000 so-called irregular migrants arrived in the EU via sea crossings last year

EU reveals total aid to North Africa to combat migration 

The European Union provided €673 million ($718 million) in funding to four North African countries from 2021-23 to help the quartet reduce what it calls irregular migration to the 27-member bloc, official data shows. Last year about 270,000 “irregular migrants” arrived in the EU via sea crossings, 64 percent more than in 2022. Crossings from […]

6G tech

Batelco in talks to trial 6G technology in Bahrain

Bahrain telecommunications giant Batelco is in talks to trial 6th generation (6G) connectivity as the kingdom attempts to cement its position as a technological leader in the region. The island kingdom is among the first countries to have a comprehensive 5G network coverage in most urban areas, with more than 95 percent coverage courtesy of […]

Traffic on Fourth Street, Abu Dhabi. The Yahsat and Bayanat merger could help bring self-driving cars to the emirate

UAE merger creates world’s most valuable listed space company

The world’s most valuable publicly listed space company has been created after shareholders of analytics provider Bayanat and “satellite solutions” company Al Yah Satellite Communications Company (Yahsat) agreed to a merger. The deal will help to further Abu Dhabi’s ambitions to be at the centre of the drive towards autonomous vehicles. The newly created Space42 […]

Trending

  1. Third of Vision 2030 projects ‘completed’ government says

  2. Flooding puts spotlight on Dubai’s population growth

  3. Saudi Aramco signs up with Fifa as World Cup sponsor

  4. Binance to launch new Ronaldo NFTs ‘soon’ amid legal case

  5. RAK free zone reports 61% surge in new companies

OPINION & Analysis

Best of AGBI

Dubai residents receive help from volunteers as they evacuate their flooded homes

Flooding puts spotlight on Dubai’s population growth

Extensive flooding caused by the historic April 16 storm highlights the challenges the Dubai authorities face as they work on increasing the population by 2.5 million people by 2040. With an increasingly erratic climate, the key for local authorities will be managing that growth closely, industry professionals told AGBI.  “The growth in itself is not […]

Beirut bids to reclaim its regional shipping crown

The ruined grain silos that absorbed much of the Beirut Port blast still stand as a monument to Lebanon’s misery during the past four years.  Much of the debris, scattered across the old port and lying on the seabed, remains unmoved from where it fell on 4 August 2020, when 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate […]

Iraq shapes up as a destination for UAE investors

Emirati investors may be increasingly tempted to look at Iraq after additional safeguards are introduced under a new bilateral investment treaty, observers believe. The treaty between Iraq and the UAE was signed in October 2021 and ratified by both states last year. All that is left now is for the instruments of ratification to be […]

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UAE latest

Joby Aviation's CEO JoeBen Bevirt (2nd left) at the signing of a multilateral agreement with the three Abu Dhabi government departments

Abu Dhabi signs multiple deals to launch air taxi services in 2025

A commute from Abu Dhabi to Dubai could take only 30 minutes next year, with the introduction of air taxi services significantly slashing travel time between the emirates. The electric aircraft manufacturer Joby Aviation signed agreements this week with Abu Dhabi’s Department of Municipalities and Transport, Department of Economic Development and Department of Culture and […]

Traffic on Fourth Street, Abu Dhabi. The Yahsat and Bayanat merger could help bring self-driving cars to the emirate

UAE merger creates world’s most valuable listed space company

The world’s most valuable publicly listed space company has been created after shareholders of analytics provider Bayanat and “satellite solutions” company Al Yah Satellite Communications Company (Yahsat) agreed to a merger. The deal will help to further Abu Dhabi’s ambitions to be at the centre of the drive towards autonomous vehicles. The newly created Space42 […]

Zayed International airport's air traffic controllers have guided planes carrying at total of 6.8 million passengers in the first three months of the year

London and India dominate airport traffic in Abu Dhabi

London and Indian cities dominated traffic at Abu Dhabi’s airports during the first quarter with year-on-year visitor numbers up by more than a third. Close to 7 million passengers passed through the emirate’s five airports in the first three months of the year. Zayed International airport, formerly known as Abu Dhabi International airport, welcomed 6.8 […]

Dubai residents receive help from volunteers as they evacuate their flooded homes

Flooding puts spotlight on Dubai’s population growth

Extensive flooding caused by the historic April 16 storm highlights the challenges the Dubai authorities face as they work on increasing the population by 2.5 million people by 2040. With an increasingly erratic climate, the key for local authorities will be managing that growth closely, industry professionals told AGBI.  “The growth in itself is not […]

Saudi Arabia latest

The SPA report highlighted a number of metrics as being on target, including home ownership of 53.7 percent

Third of Vision 2030 projects ‘completed’ government says

One third of 1,064 planned projects have been completed so far under the Vision 2030 economic transformation plan, the Saudi government said in its annual progress report on the reform programme.   The report also said 561 initiatives were on track, according to the state-owned Saudi Press Agency, publishing its major findings. It was not […]

Tawfik Alzaidi

Saudi director’s labour of love takes the kingdom to Cannes

For the first time a Saudi film has been selected to compete in the Cannes film festival, catapulting its little-known self-taught director into the limelight. Tawfik Alzaidi was so surprised that he’d managed to break through to the big time that he kept the news that his film Norah had been accepted for the ‘Un […]

Fifa president Gianni Infantino at the Club World Cup final in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia last December. The value of the deal with Saudi Aramco has not been disclosed

Saudi Aramco signs up with Fifa as World Cup sponsor

Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil producer, has signed a four-year global partnership with international football association Fifa. The energy giant will become Fifa’s major worldwide partner with sponsorship rights for multiple events, including the Fifa World Cup 26, co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico and the Fifa Women’s World Cup 2027. The value […]

The Austrian unit of Spain's Cellnex, which owns 4,500 towers, has an estimated value of €800 million

STC and PIF to bid for Austrian telco tower operator 

Saudi Arabia’s STC Group and the Public Investment Fund (PIF), the kingdom’s sovereign fund, are likely to jointly bid for the Austrian unit of Cellnex, Spain’s mobile phone tower operator, El Economista newspaper reported. The Austrian unit, owning 4,500 towers, is estimated to be valued at €800 million ($857 million), the newspaper said, quoting unnamed sources. Cellnex’s […]

Jacksonville Port in Florida. A new container service connecting the port to Jeddha could improve Saudi exports

Florida port service could increase Saudi non-oil exports

Saudi Arabia’s exports are set to improve following the introduction of a new container service that will link Jeddah with Florida. Non-oil exports rose 4.4 percent year on year in February while production cuts led oil exports to slip to 77 percent of the total, the government said. Jacksonville Port Authority (Jaxport) in Florida said […]

Around the Middle East

6G tech

Batelco in talks to trial 6G technology in Bahrain

Bahrain telecommunications giant Batelco is in talks to trial 6th generation (6G) connectivity as the kingdom attempts to cement its position as a technological leader in the region. The island kingdom is among the first countries to have a comprehensive 5G network coverage in most urban areas, with more than 95 percent coverage courtesy of […]

The Elmed undersea power line will run from the electrical substation at Partanna in Sicily to a substation at Mlaabi, Tunisia

Tunisia-Italy power project gets $285m investment 

The Tunisian Electricity and Gas Company (STEG) has revealed plans to invest about €266 million ($285 million) to complete the Tunisian-Italian Elmed Interconnector Project, a 220km power line connecting the two countries. The investment will fund the Tunisian side of the project, which includes laying a 100km submarine power cable worth €125 million and the […]

UK Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch attended the sixth round of UK-GCC trade talks in Riyadh in February

UK election adds urgency to GCC trade talks

An imminent general election in the UK and a potential change of government has accelerated pressure on negotiators to resolve talks about a GCC trade deal. Talks between the six countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council – the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and Kuwait – and the UK are almost two years old.  […]

GCC insurance companies may have to consolidate in the wake of payments for flooding damage in the region

More GCC insurance mergers likely after flooding impact

Consolidation in the GCC’s insurance sector – already underway because of rising competition and stricter regulations on solvency capital requirements – could be accelerated by the impact of the flooding in the region last week. Ratings agency S&P Global said this week that many insurance companies – mainly in the UAE, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia […]

The 2020 explosion caused $15bn of damage and reduced the port's capacity

Beirut bids to reclaim its regional shipping crown

The ruined grain silos that absorbed much of the Beirut Port blast still stand as a monument to Lebanon’s misery during the past four years.  Much of the debris, scattered across the old port and lying on the seabed, remains unmoved from where it fell on 4 August 2020, when 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate […]

Oman UAE deals Sultan of Oman president of UAE

Oman and UAE sign deals worth $35bn

The UAE and Oman have announced a host of new commercial and business deals worth a total of AED129 billion ($35 billion). The partnerships were agreed during Monday’s state visit to the Emirates by the ruler of Oman, Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al Said.  Investment and collaboration agreements covered areas including renewable energy, green metals, […]

Total and OQ executives at the FID signing ceremony for the LNG bunkering project in Sohar Port

OQ and Total approve $1.6bn LNG project in Oman

State-owned Oman National Oil (OQ) and French energy major TotalEnergies have finalised the construction of a $1.6 billion Marsa LNG bunkering project at Sohar Port. The project will be developed by Marsa Liquefied Natural Gas, a joint venture owned 80 percent by TotalEnergies and 20 percent by OQ, the state-run Oman News Agency reported. The upstream component […]

UAE Oman trade

Oman’s sultan in UAE to push for rebound in trade

Sultan Haitham bin Tariq of Oman will arrive in the UAE on Monday for a state visit as he looks to cement ties with his country’s biggest trade partner. During the visit the Omani ruler will meet UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to discuss bilateral relations which were worth more than $14 […]

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Turkey Latest

Getir initially bought a stake in the online shopping platform known as n11 in 2022 before acquiring the remaining shares

UAE-backed Getir plans sale of shopping platform

Turkish grocery delivery startup Getir is planning to sell its Istanbul-based online shopping platform, known as n11, as part of its restructuring strategy, a media report said. “There are many options on the table being discussed with investors. One of them is the sale option for n11,” Reuters reported, citing an unnamed source. A Getir spokesperson […]

The funding of Midas is among the 'biggest ever' Series A fund raise by a Turkish fintech

Turkish fintech Midas raises $45m for new products

Turkish fintech startup Midas has raised $45 million in equity funding to expand its services and launch new products. The new products include cryptocurrency trading, mutual funds and savings accounts. The funding is among the “biggest ever” Series A fund raise by a Turkish fintech and comes less than three years after Midas was launched.  […]

A worker at Al Faw Grand Port. The Development Road project aims to connect the port with Turkey

Gulf to collaborate on $17bn Suez Canal road and rail rival

The $17 billion “Development Road” project is moving ahead after the UAE, Iraq, Qatar and Turkey signed a quadrilateral cooperation agreement.  The road and rail collaboration aims to tie the Al-Faw Grand Port in Iraq’s oil-rich south to Turkey, thereby shortening travel time between Asia and Europe in a bid to rival the Suez Canal. […]

The Turkish Airlines deal with Rolls-Royce and Airbus will be announced later this month

Turkish Airlines nears $20bn deal with Airbus and Rolls-Royce

State-backed Turkish Airlines is expected to sign an agreement with UK’s Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc and European planemaker Airbus to manufacture $20 billion worth of aircraft components locally. The deal will be announced in Istanbul later this month, Bloomberg reported, quoting Turkish officials who were aware of the agreement. Last December the Turkish national carrier announced […]

Turkey textiles

Hit by rising costs, Turkey’s textile producers move overseas

Textile manufacturers in Turkey, struggling with pricing pressures and labour costs, are moving their operations overseas, although at least some in the sector see a turnaround by the year’s end. The Istanbul Chamber of Industry sectoral purchasing managers’ index for March showed sentiment among textile manufacturers was the lowest among the 10 sectors covered by […]

Egypt Latest

Migrants attempting to reach Italy from Tunisia. About 270,000 so-called irregular migrants arrived in the EU via sea crossings last year

EU reveals total aid to North Africa to combat migration 

The European Union provided €673 million ($718 million) in funding to four North African countries from 2021-23 to help the quartet reduce what it calls irregular migration to the 27-member bloc, official data shows. Last year about 270,000 “irregular migrants” arrived in the EU via sea crossings, 64 percent more than in 2022. Crossings from […]

Sodic general manager Ayman Amer and Robert De Niro, Nobu Hospitality Co-Founder, at the launch of their third venture in Egypt

Aldar-owned Sodic to build third Nobu hotel in Egypt

Sodic, the Egyptian real estate subsidiary of the UAE’s Aldar Properties and Nobu, the US-headquartered luxury lifestyle brand, have signed up to develop their third hospitality project in Egypt. The Nobu Hotel and Restaurant, which will come up in east Cairo, will open next year, the developer said in a statement. The cost of the […]

Egypt's wealthiest man, Nassef Sawiris, who lives in Cairo, has interests in construction, manufacturing and sports

Cairo has most billionaires in Africa, but wealthy are leaving

Cairo is home to more billionaires than any other African city, but Egypt is facing an exodus of its wealthiest citizens. The international wealth advisory firm Henley & Partners said Cairo is home to four billionaires, and 30 centi-millionaires – those worth $100 million or more. Most reside in affluent parts of Greater Cairo, including […]

A square in Cairo

‘Worst is behind us’ in Egypt’s black market dollar war says BMI

The Egyptian government’s priority for 2024 should be to keep the gap between the official and parallel exchange rates for Egypt’s pound and the US dollar as narrow as possible, says BMI Research. In a webinar on Tuesday BMI, a Fitch Group firm specialised in country risk, said that “the worst is behind us” in […]

reducing inflation Egypt Mohamed Maait finance minister

Reducing inflation is Egypt’s top priority, says minister

Reducing inflation in Egypt to align with the central bank’s target is the government’s main priority, the country’s finance minister, Mohamed Maait, has announced. Inflation in Egypt fell to 33 percent in March from 38 percent in September, passing the central bank’s target range of a 5 to 9 percentage point fall. Maait, speaking at […]

Features

Egypt's wealthiest man, Nassef Sawiris, who lives in Cairo, has interests in construction, manufacturing and sports

Cairo has most billionaires in Africa, but wealthy are leaving

Cairo is home to more billionaires than any other African city, but Egypt is facing an exodus of its wealthiest citizens. The international wealth advisory firm Henley & Partners said Cairo is home to four billionaires, and 30 centi-millionaires – those worth $100 million or more. Most reside in affluent parts of Greater Cairo, including […]

Saudi Arabia strives to counter giga-project doubts

As Saudi Arabia ramps up its global tour to attract more giga-project investment, doubts have begun to set in over costs and whether they will meet the imminent 2030 deadline. The kingdom’s officials put on a big show at an international real estate event in Cannes in March and this week Neom kicked off the […]

Rising prices risk making Dubai homes ‘unattainable’

Escalating home prices in Dubai’s affordable communities are making it even more difficult for residents to get on the property ladder, real estate experts have warned. February data from property consultancy ValuStrat shows the highest annual growth in apartment values was recorded in the emirate’s more budget-friendly neighbourhoods.  Prices in Discovery Gardens and The Greens […]

Space trash offers Saudi Arabia a new revenue source

Saudi Arabia is targeting lucrative and environmentally critical opportunities in the rubbish removal sector – in outer space. More than 27,000 man-made objects larger than 10 centimetres, such as defunct satellites and spent rocket stages, orbit Earth, according to Nasa. This space debris puts at stake billions of dollars of assets such as spacecraft and […]

The Mena metaverse: moving beyond the hype

Two years ago, the concept of metaverse lands transformed from an interesting subculture into a thriving multi-billion-dollar market, capturing the interest of major investors both regionally in the Middle East and globally.  Metaverse lands, made of pixels and digital images, refer to buildings and plots within a virtual environment, offering spaces for gaming, socialising, business […]

People & Lifestyle

Art NFTs Video length: 04:13

Dubai art dealer uses NFTs for fractional art ownership

A Dubai tech startup is introducing tokenisation to the art world, after the NFT bubble burst spectacularly. 10101.art aims to make investing in art accessible to all by selling digitised fragments of works by artists including Andy Warhol, Banksy and Picasso, allowing for collective ownership of a masterpiece for as little as $100 a fragment. […]

Egypt's wealthiest man, Nassef Sawiris, who lives in Cairo, has interests in construction, manufacturing and sports

Cairo has most billionaires in Africa, but wealthy are leaving

Cairo is home to more billionaires than any other African city, but Egypt is facing an exodus of its wealthiest citizens. The international wealth advisory firm Henley & Partners said Cairo is home to four billionaires, and 30 centi-millionaires – those worth $100 million or more. Most reside in affluent parts of Greater Cairo, including […]

Electronics, Headphones, Adult Foreign investment in esports has been slowing but experts remain upbeat about the future of the market esports game gaming Saudi Arabia

World Cup’s brimming prize pot to revive Saudi esports

Saudi Arabia will offer a record-breaking $60 million prize pool for its upcoming Esports World Cup, at a time when the kingdom is facing challenges attracting foreign investments to the sector. The amount of prize money for this summer’s event breaks the previous record of $45 million set by esports festival Gamer8 in 2023. Saudi […]

Dubai has more than 13,000 restaurants and cafes, according to tourism officials

Dubai restaurant scene ‘at risk of hitting saturation point’

Food and beverage operators in Dubai have warned that the emirate’s restaurant market is increasingly saturated as one company calls time on a prominent location. Gates Hospitality, which operates venues across the Middle East, announced this week that two of its restaurants in Souk Madinat Jumeirah, Folly and Publique, would close at the end of […]

A young Cristiano Ronaldo fan pictured at an Al Nassr Saudi Pro League match. The star has approximately 849 million social media followers

Binance to launch new Ronaldo NFTs ‘soon’ amid legal case

Cristiano Ronaldo and the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Binance are to launch a fourth set of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) “soon”, as the footballer faces a $1 billion lawsuit for promoting the company. The Al Nassr and Portugal forward signed a deal with Binance in 2022 to create NFTs – digital collectibles – using his “CR7” […]

Taaleem has doubled its investment in edtech over the past five years but says it is selective with its use

Mena reaches for tech to upgrade results in education

Demand for education technology, or edtech, is growing in the Middle East and North Africa as countries seek to bolster learning to drive economic growth.  However, experts warned against excessive use of technology in classrooms, saying it could affect the attainment of basic skills such as reading and writing.  Examples of edtech include interactive whiteboards, […]

Electronics, Phone, Mobile Phone

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Around the world

The Elmed undersea power line will run from the electrical substation at Partanna in Sicily to a substation at Mlaabi, Tunisia

Tunisia-Italy power project gets $285m investment 

The Tunisian Electricity and Gas Company (STEG) has revealed plans to invest about €266 million ($285 million) to complete the Tunisian-Italian Elmed Interconnector Project, a 220km power line connecting the two countries. The investment will fund the Tunisian side of the project, which includes laying a 100km submarine power cable worth €125 million and the […]

UAE South America sugar-plantation

Emirates in trade talks with South American quartet

The UAE is talking to the four South American countries of the Mercosur bloc to deepen trade relations and boost two-way commerce currently worth almost $8 billion a year. The group, which consists of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, is in the preliminary stages of negotiations “to define next steps” of a free trade deal […]

The Austrian unit of Spain's Cellnex, which owns 4,500 towers, has an estimated value of €800 million

STC and PIF to bid for Austrian telco tower operator 

Saudi Arabia’s STC Group and the Public Investment Fund (PIF), the kingdom’s sovereign fund, are likely to jointly bid for the Austrian unit of Cellnex, Spain’s mobile phone tower operator, El Economista newspaper reported. The Austrian unit, owning 4,500 towers, is estimated to be valued at €800 million ($857 million), the newspaper said, quoting unnamed sources. Cellnex’s […]

UK Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch attended the sixth round of UK-GCC trade talks in Riyadh in February

UK election adds urgency to GCC trade talks

An imminent general election in the UK and a potential change of government has accelerated pressure on negotiators to resolve talks about a GCC trade deal. Talks between the six countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council – the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and Kuwait – and the UK are almost two years old.  […]