Real Estate Saudi Arabia opens up holy cities to foreign property investors Saudi Arabia’s Capital Markets Authority (CMA) has announced that foreigners will be allowed to invest in companies that own real estate in the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. The CMA said the decision would “stimulate investment” and “enhance the attractiveness and efficiency of the capital market”. It added that the reform would help the […] January 28, 2025
Employment Saudi fund helps 17% more citizens join private sector The Human Resources Development Fund (Hadaf) contributed to the employment of 437,000 Saudi citizens in the private sector in 2024, 17 percent more than the year before, the fund has announced. The fund said it also provided training and guidance services to 2 million people last year in support of the kingdom’s “Saudisation” efforts to […] January 27, 2025
Giga-projects Italian insurer guarantees $3bn Saudi giga-project loan Sace, an Italian state-owned insurance company, has guaranteed a multi-currency loan of $3 billion provided by nine international banks to support projects in Neom, Saudi Arabia’s $500 billion giga-project. The announcement coincided with an official visit by Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni to Saudi Arabia, where she and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman signed an […] January 27, 2025
Economy Saudi Arabia has ‘great confidence’ in Lebanon’s reforms Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud visited Beirut on Thursday, the first trip to Lebanon by a Saudi foreign minister in 15 years. The visit coincided with early signs of recovery in Lebanon’s economy as it improves relations with Gulf states and others following the election of President Joseph Aoun. After his meeting with Aoun, Bin […] January 24, 2025
Oil & Gas Oil slips after Trump calls on Opec to lower prices Oil prices were down on Friday after US President Donald Trump drew a direct link between persistently high inflation and global oil prices during video remarks before the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Trump said he intends to address the problem by boosting domestic production and by asking “Saudi Arabia and Opec to bring […] January 24, 2025
Markets PIF’s $4bn bond sale is four-times oversubscribed Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) sold $4 billion of bonds on Wednesday in a sale that was four times oversubscribed. It marks the latest big Saudi debt sale this year, coming just two weeks after the kingdom raised $12 billion from a sovereign bond sale that was three times oversubscribed. On January 6 PIF […] January 23, 2025
Tech Saudi Arabia to invest $20bn on digital infrastructure Saudi Arabia is planning to spend $20 billion developing digital infrastructure to support the services sector over the next five years, minister of commerce Majid Al-Kassabi said at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday. The kingdom has already invested $25 billion in the past five years “to make sure Saudi Arabia is ready […] January 23, 2025
Real Estate National Housing Company announces record revenue The Saudi government-backed National Housing Company (NHC) achieved record revenues of SAR26 billion ($6.93 billion) in 2024 and hopes to double that figure for 2025. The company’s total revenues for 2024 was higher than the combined revenues it made in 2023 and 2022. It added 600,000 jobs to the Saudi economy last year and plans […] January 23, 2025
Trade Saudi Arabia vows to invest $600bn in the US Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told President Donald Trump that he intends to increase the kingdom’s investments and trade with the US by at least $600 billion over the next four years. The call was the first Trump took with a foreign leader after beginning his second term as president. Bin Salman congratulated […] January 23, 2025
Banking & Finance Saudi bank profits to ride out home liquidity squeeze Saudi banks are “poised for stable profitability” in 2025 despite their continued dependence on international capital markets, say analysts. External debt is likely to build up in the coming years because of high borrowing demand in the kingdom, which the ratings agency S&P Global expects to increase by 10 percent this year, driven by corporate […] January 22, 2025
Analysis Real Estate Saudi residential costs to keep rising with demand The cost of buying and renting residential and commercial property in Saudi Arabia is likely to continue to increase throughout 2025 and beyond, analysts say. Supply has not been able to keep up with the growing demand for housing, concentrated in Riyadh where an itinerant young population, increased economic activity in the non-oil sector, and […] January 20, 2025
Aviation Riyadh Air delays launch after Boeing setbacks Riyadh Air has been forced to push back its launch date to the third quarter of 2025 after delays to deliveries from Boeing. The new Saudi airline had been scheduled to begin flying early this year. It is a blow to Saudi Arabia’s tourism ambitions to attract 150 million visits a year. Riyadh Air was founded […] January 17, 2025
Tech KKR signs a $5bn Gulf data centre deal in Dubai KKR, the American investment giant, and the data centre platform Gulf Data Hub (GDH), based in Dubai, have signed a strategic partnership to invest $5 billion in data centres serving the Gulf. A joint press release on Friday said that funds “affiliated with KKR” will also acquire a stake in GDH, although it did not […] January 17, 2025
Mining Ma’aden signs $1bn contracts to develop industrial cities Saudi mineral giant Ma’aden has signed three contracts worth a combined $922 million with foreign companies to develop a third phosphate fertiliser project. The majority state-owned Saudi mining company announced the agreements in a note to the Saudi bourse on Thursday, coinciding with the final day of the Future Minerals Forum in Riyadh. Ma’aden is […] January 16, 2025
Mining Aramco-Ma’aden JV to mine lithium in Saudi Arabia Saudi Aramco and Ma’aden, two listed companies on the Saudi bourse, will launch a joint venture for minerals exploration and mining in the kingdom. The proposed venture will focus on energy transition minerals, which includes lithium extraction from high-concentration deposits and use of cost-effective direct lithium extraction technologies. “This proposed JV would enable us to accelerate […] January 16, 2025
Mining Ma’aden announces new gold discoveries in Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia’s state-owned mining company Ma’aden has announced the discovery of “multiple intercepts of recoverable gold and copper grades” in exploratory sites at Wadi al Jaww and Jabl Shayban, in a note published on the Saudi stock market (Tadawul) on Wednesday. In a separate note, it also revealed “strong gold mineralisation” beneath its flagship open […] January 15, 2025
Retail Nice One share price up 55% in first week of trading Nice One Beauty Digital Marketing Co’s shares jumped 9.81 percent on Tuesday, beginning the day at SAR49.75 ($13.25) and reaching SAR 54.30 by its close. Eight days after the Saudi cosmetics retailer launched an initial public offering (IPO) for 30 percent of its capital (36.5 million shares) on January 7, its shares have increased in […] January 15, 2025
Mining Saudi Arabia grants exploratory rights to six mining sites The Saudi Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources has allocated mineral exploration rights for six mining sites with a combined size of 890 sq km, according to the Saudi Press Agency. On Tuesday, the ministry announced that mining company Amak has been granted three exploratory concessions in Jabal al Khallah North (98 sq km) and […] January 14, 2025
Energy Aramco announces $9bn of localisation investment Saudi Aramco has identified 210 localisation opportunities within 12 sectors with an estimated market size of $28 billion. Wail Al Jaafari, Aramco vice president of technical services, revealed the plans on the opening day of the Iktva Forum in Dhahran on Monday. Iktva, which stands for “in-kingdom technical value add”, “is a top priority in […] January 14, 2025
Energy Sale of enriched uranium announced by Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia intends to export enriched uranium, the country’s energy minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, said on Monday. The announcement is the latest indication of Saudi nuclear ambitions. Saudi Arabia has long expressed an interest in developing a nuclear power sector and has engaged in talks with the United States over nuclear cooperation, which were […] January 13, 2025
Trade End sanctions on Syria, says Saudi Arabia Prince Faisal bin Farhan, Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister, has called for an end to economic sanctions on Syria, as the kingdom looks to repair trade and relations after the overthrow of the Assad regime. Speaking at a ministerial meeting in Riyadh to discuss Syria, Prince Faisal said that “continuing sanctions will hinder the aspirations of […] January 13, 2025
Analysis People & Lifestyle Egypt’s historic rent controls are a problem to be solved Ahmed lives in a four-bedroom apartment in a concrete tenement with his ailing mother. The flat has been in the family since his father, who died several years ago, began renting it when he graduated from university in the 1960s. It is in Manial, a bustling, lower-middle-class area of Cairo, the kind of place where […] December 6, 2024
