Opinion Markets Saudi Arabia and the UAE set pace in GCC equities race The post-Covid recovery strategy has paid off big time for UAE markets November 18, 2024
Tourism Salvator Mundi destined for Riyadh giga-park 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 […] November 18, 2024
Renewable Energy 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, […] November 18, 2024
Analysis Construction Jeddah Tower will be world’s tallest building, but sky’s the limit Since the invention of the modern high-rise in the early 1900s, to the completion of the Burj Khalifa in 2010, the height of the tallest building in the world grew nearly five fold, or 661 metres, going from the 167 metres of the Philadelphia City Hall to the Burj’s 828 metres. The Jeddah Tower, on […] November 15, 2024
Analysis Construction 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 […] November 15, 2024
Analysis Food & Drink 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, […] November 15, 2024
Transport Saudi ride-hailing enjoys prosperous summer A busy summer for drivers has brought a 41 percent increase from the second quarter to the third in the number of trips facilitated through ride-hailing apps in Saudi Arabia. In the first nine months of the year more than 51.8 million ride-hailing trips were taken, an increase of 12 percent over last year, statistics […] November 14, 2024
Banking and Finance Saudi Arabia’s debt rule changes could increase sales Saudi Arabia’s market regulator has simplified its sukuk and bond issuance rules in reforms that should boost debt sales by both domestic and international entities in Riyadh, a top Islamic finance expert told AGBI. The kingdom’s debt capital market had $408 billion of outstanding issuance as of June 30, up 18 percent versus a year […] November 14, 2024
Construction Banks vying to fund Roshn’s Saudi expansion Saudi real estate developer Roshn, a subsidiary of the Public Investment Fund (PIF), is reporting strong interest from banks eager to finance its projects, and demand is so high that some lenders have been turned away, according to a senior executive. In contrast to this momentum, Saudi Arabia’s other giga-projects face financing constraints, with resources […] November 14, 2024
Telecoms PIF’s $1bn Saudi Telecom sale could be sign of things to come Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund has offloaded a $1 billion stake in the kingdom’s former telecoms monopoly in a deal that could mark the start of further equity sales as government entities seek to raise money for infrastructure spending. In October, the International Monetary Fund lowered its GDP growth prediction for Saudi Arabia this year […] November 14, 2024
Agriculture 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 […] November 14, 2024
Giga-projects Neom’s Trojena to launch first apartment sales in new year The Saudi winter resort of Trojena will begin putting its first residential apartments and villas on the market within a few months, a senior official said on Wednesday, after its parent company Neom announced a new CEO in an effort to reinvigorate the giga-project. “2025 is very exciting for us at Trojena, we’re hoping early […] November 14, 2024
Energy Acwa Power secures $238m for Azerbaijan wind farm Saudi renewable energy major Acwa Power has secured $238 million in funding to support a wind energy project in Azerbaijan. The funding for the Absheron-Khizi 240-megawatt (MW) wind farm comes from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the Opec Fund for International Development. In December 2023, the company obtained a Shariah-compliant equity bridge […] November 14, 2024
Mining Alba to decide on Ma’aden merger early next year Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) expects to decide whether to merge with subsidiaries of Saudi Arabia’s Ma’aden by the first quarter of 2025, its chief executive said on Wednesday. Alba, Bahrain’s largest listed company with a market valuation of almost BHD2 billion ($5.3 billion), on September 16 announced it had entered a non-binding agreement with Ma’aden. Under […] November 13, 2024
Trade 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, […] November 13, 2024
Construction Former CEO sues Roshn for $100m over ‘unpaid bonuses’ The former CEO of Roshn, David Grover, is suing the Saudi property developer for more than $100 million, claiming unpaid bonuses and wrongful termination. Grover, who lost the initial stage of his case against the state-owned company in October, has appealed to a higher court in Riyadh, the Financial Times reports. Grover alleges that Roshn […] November 13, 2024
Transport Saudi car dealer Samaco Motors to go public in 2025 Saudi Arabia’s Samaco Motors, the exclusive dealer of European cars including Audi, Bentley, Porsche, Lamborghini and Volkswagen, has revealed plans to go public on the Saudi market next year. The company’s CEO Mohammed Sharbatly revealed the news to Al-Eqtisadiah newspaper. Speaking on the sidelines of the launch of Porsche’s new electric vehicles in Riyadh, Sharbatly said […] November 13, 2024
Gaming PIF cuts stake in Nintendo as Switch sales slow Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) has trimmed its holding in Nintendo, as the Japanese gaming company suffered a drop in sales for its biggest product. The Saudi sovereign wealth fund reduced its stake to 7.54 percent from 8.58 percent, according to a Japanese regulatory filing on Tuesday. The news of the cut comes just […] November 13, 2024
EXCLUSIVE Health Aster DM Healthcare expects to close Saudi deals in months Aster DM Healthcare is buying more clinics and hospitals in Saudi Arabia with some deals expected to close in the coming months. The hospital operator, headquartered in Dubai, wants to increase its current roster of 250 hospital beds in Riyadh to 1,000 beds within the next three to four years to help meet the country’s […] November 13, 2024
Video length: 06:30 VIDEO Real Estate Minister trumpets Saudi Arabia’s $168bn housing push Real estate transactions in Saudi Arabia have totalled $168 billion so far this year, the Saudi minister of municipalities and housing, Majed Al Hogail, told a real estate forum in Riyadh this week. Speaking at the Cityscape exhibition, which is trying to promote Riyadh-centred giga-projects, the minister said that Saudi Arabia is pushing to finish […] November 13, 2024
