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A man wades through a flooded street in Dubai. Some areas of the UAE received more than a year's worth of rain in one day Video length: 03:08

UAE president orders review after flooding

The UAE’s president, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, has ordered an urgent review of the country’s infrastructure after historic levels of rainfall brought the Gulf state to a standstill, with some areas seeing more than a year’s worth of rain in one day. The president has contacted authorities “to quickly work on studying the […]

Emirates' REIT's portfolio includes the Index Tower (centre). Its profit rose 55 percent year on year

Emirates REIT in profit after revaluation gain

Dubai’s Emirates REIT reported a 55 percent rise in annual profit after making a nine-figure revaluation gain on its property portfolio. A REIT – a real estate investment trust – is a company that owns income-producing assets related to real estate such as buildings, land and real estate securities.  Through REITs investors can have fractional […]

Telegram founder Pavel Durov believes the messaging app will have 1 billion users soon, and chose Dubai for his new base as it is 'neutral'

Telegram to hit 1bn users in a year, founder says

Telegram, the messaging platform based in Dubai, will have one billion active monthly users within the next year, its founder Pavel Durov said on Tuesday. The app has 900 million active users at the moment. It aims to remain a “neutral platform” and not a “player in geopolitics,” Durov said during a recent video interview […]

Dubai was hit by the heaviest rainfall in 75 years on Tuesday, leaving motorists stranded floods rain weather UAE Gulf

Gulf’s record floods highlight ‘balance between risk and investment’

Historic rainfall this week in the Gulf, particularly in the UAE, has raised serious questions about investment in infrastructure to prevent the widespread flooding that brought much of the region to a standstill. On Tuesday the UAE was hit by its heaviest rains in 75 years. The downpour turned main roads into waterways, particularly in […]

Prices for apartments in Dubai – with or without enviable views – have risen by as much as 30% year on year

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 […]

Sunil Kumar, CEO of the supermarket chain, says private-label sales account for 42% of its revenue

Spinneys bets big on sales growth for own-label goods

Supermarket operator Spinneys is betting big on strong sales of its private-label products as it prepares to go public next month, CEO Sunil Kumar told AGBI on Tuesday. Its private label – or own-brand – ranges cover food, toiletries and household goods. The retailer also has exclusive rights to sell Waitrose-branded products from the UK […]

Spinneys CEO Sunil Kumar and chairman Ali Al Bwardy. The company operates 75 grocery retail supermarkets in the UAE and Oman

Spinneys to offer 900m shares in Dubai IPO

Supermarket operator Spinneys will sell 25 percent of its business in an initial public offering (IPO) on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM), according to an intention to float document released on Tuesday. The company’s offering will be open from April 23 to April 29 for retail investors, while institutional investors can subscribe until April 30, according […]

Dubai's property market 'will have a severe oversupply problem' if all projects are delivered without delay

Delays keep property oversupply at bay in Dubai

Dubai’s off-plan market is treading a delicate line between the risk of having too many properties and the threat of project delays, industry insiders have said. “There’s plenty of supply coming in,” Haider Tuaima, director of real estate research at consultancy Valustrat, told AGBI. “If everything is handed over on time, then we will have […]

Construction workers in Dubai. The sector is suffering less from payment delays that affect other Gulf states

Prompt payments prop up Dubai’s construction sector

Dubai’s construction industry is at the healthiest it has been in almost 20 years, according to an executive from one of the city’s most established industrial groups.  This resurgence is notable for its relative lack of payment delays – a common issue in construction projects globally and in the Gulf region. “Delayed payments are not […]

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 […]

2BYN5A4 Mall of the Emirates is a shopping mall in the Al Barsha district of Dubai.. Image shot 04/2014. Exact date unknown.

The pros and pitfalls of pop-up shops

Pop-up shops are appearing in more shopping malls, hotels and even beach clubs. Whether they are for new brands looking to build a name or more established companies opting for a more experiential way to market and test their products, pop-ups are largely temporary affairs designed to create a buzz. They are also considered a […]

City, Architecture, Building Abu Dhabi alternative investment fund Lunate and Saudi Arabia-based Olayan will each own 24.5 percent equity interest in ICDBP ICD Brookfield Place Dubai

Lunate and Olayan buy into Dubai’s ICD Brookfield Place

Dubai’s sovereign wealth fund Investment Corporation of Dubai and Brookfield Corporation have sold a 49 percent stake in ICD Brookfield Place (ICDBP), the emirates’ largest office tower. Abu Dhabi alternative investment fund Lunate and Saudi Arabia-based Olayan will each own 24.5 percent equity interest in ICDBP. It is the largest institutional third-party single-asset real estate […]

Between 80 and 90 percent of global trade relies on trade finance, which is mostly short-term

Finance platform aims at $2.5trn trade funding hole

A blockchain-based platform that lets institutions and wealthy individuals provide finance to importers and exporters for returns of up to 9 percent a year could help fill a multi-trillion-dollar hole in international trade, it says. In trade finance, the involvement of third-party financial companies removes payment and supply risks for sellers and buyers respectively.  Historically, […]

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, […]

Box, Ball, Baseball 2RD2M3G Young arab man smiling confident unpacking cardboard box at new home globe off-plan developers payment plan Dubai

Dubai developers tempt off-plan buyers with 1% payment

Dubai developers are offering 1 percent payment plans in an attempt to maintain interest in an increasingly crowded off-plan sales market and to delay an anticipated slowdown after years of record growth. Yet experts warn that this tactic carries significant risks, drawing parallels to the precedents set before the 2008 housing crash. Ziad Hinnawi, sales […]

A view of the Motor City community. Union Properties will repay AED250m to lenders in the second quarter of 2024

Union Properties to repay $263m debt in 2024

Union Properties plans to repay AED966 million ($263 million) to lenders in 2024 as part of its debt restructuring plan. The developer, which trades on the Dubai Financial Market, has repaid AED290 million ($78.96 million) worth of debts as a result of AED816 million generated from plot sales in the first quarter of 2024.  The […]

Rumo predicts the port expansion with DP World will cost $500 million

DP World teams up with Rumo for new Brazilian port terminal

DP World and the Brazilian railway operator Rumo are to build a new terminal at the port of Santos in São Paulo, to handle 12.5 million tonnes of grain and fertiliser a year. The project is intended to make the port Brazil’s primary gateway, and central to trade for South America. Rumo estimates the total […]