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United Arab Emirates

Business news and financial news from the United Arab Emirates, covering the UAE's biggest companies including the Emirates Group, International Holding Group, Etisalat, Adnoc and Emaar Properties

How I got to the top: Kamal Al Samarrai, co-founder, Verity

What does your company do? Verity is a UAE-based fintech startup on a mission to teach kids and teens how to earn, save, give and spend responsibly, while offering parents the ability to guide their money management. By integrating our family banking and financial literacy app with a personalised pre-paid debit card, we’re making learning […]

A woman looks at US tax paperwork. Some experts believe Gulf states will be taxing income by the end of the decade

How new GCC tax laws will affect your business

To tax or not to tax… That is one of the key questions facing leaders in the Gulf region as they prepare their countries for a post-oil future. Although Dr Thani Bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, the UAE’s minister of state for foreign trade, went on record in February to say “income tax is not on […]

DEWA IPO bodes well for Dubai’s asset sale

A further nine government and state-owned companies are now set to be listed on the DFM Optimism is growing over government plans to monetise state assets following the hugely successful Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (DEWA) initial public offering (IPO). DEWA debuted on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) on April 12 in the UAE’s largest […]

Launch, Rocket, Vehicle

High-growth firms set to fly with $250m “venture debt” boost

Natasha Hannoun, head of debt at SHUAA Capital, tells AGBI why the investor’s alternative capital solution is a game changer for the region’s startup ecosystem Fintech is the number one target for SHUAA Venture Partners, a new $250 million (AED 918 million) Shari’ah fund, focused on venture debt investments. Other sectors being eyed include healthtech […]

The museum cost $136 million and took a decade to open from when the idea was first conceived
  • Insight

The mind-blowing numbers behind the Museum of the Future

The Museum of the Future is a “living museum” aiming to contribute to a deep intellectual movement, connecting thinkers and experts and acting as a test bed to create innovative solutions for global challenges.   Rising 77 metres above the ground the structure was built using robotic technology and with an emphasis on sustainability.  The façade […]

Revealed: top co-working spaces in the Gulf

Demand for co-working spaces is on the rise in the Gulf as business communities evolve to support the shift towards knowledge-based economies and nurture a new generation of startups driving a different way of working. Spaces are opening up across the region to accommodate a different breed of worker that prioritises flexibility, low rates and […]

Egypt gets Gulf aid as eyes turn to currency flexibility

The central bank allowed Egypt’s pound, which had been stable since November 2020, to drop by 14 percent against the dollar on March 21 after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine prompted investors to withdraw billions of dollars from Egyptian treasury markets. Last week Saudi Arabia said it had deposited $5 billion with Egypt’s central bank and […]

UAE’s Aldar Properties reports 26.5% Q1 jump

UAE-based developer Aldar Properties on Wednesday reported a 26.5 percent increase in first-quarter profit driven by record quarterly sales and the inclusion of the financial results of Egypt developer SODIC, in which it co-owns a majority share. The company made AED 688 million ($187 million) in the quarter, up from 544 million a year earlier, […]

Joe Biden is under pressure to bring down petrol prices in the US

Saudi Arabia leads OPEC move to drop energy watchdog’s data

A decision driven by Saudi Arabia that OPEC+ should stop using oil data from the West’s energy watchdog reflected concern about US influence on the figures, said sources, adding to strain on ties between Riyadh and Washington. The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies including Russia, a group referred to as OPEC+, has […]

Bicycle, Bike, Vehicle

Deliveroo backs off plan to cut pay of UAE riders after strike

Delivery service Deliveroo on Monday put on hold plans to cut pay and extend working hours for its drivers in the United Arab Emirates after a rare strike over the weekend. The Amazon-backed company said in an email to restaurants, seen by Reuters, that it had paused proposed changes in its rider pay structure and […]

Wristwatch, Clock Tower, Building

Swiss watchmakers grapple with fallout of Russian crisis

Swiss watchmakers are gathering in Geneva this week for their first big industry event in three years, tackling the impact of sanctions on rich Russians arisingfrom the war in Ukraine. Russia was only the 17th largest market for Swiss watch exports last year, but how to manage business and client relations during such a sensitive […]

Musk’s Twitter free speech promise may be tested in Middle East

In a region where the local media is often controlled by the state, millions of people rely on social media platforms to follow news and express their opinions. Both Twitter and Facebook showed their potential to influence real-life events during the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings, when they played an outsize role in social upheaval. But […]

Upside Foods valued at $1bn from Abu Dhabi funding

Upside Foods has raised $400 million in a funding round led by Temasek and Abu Dhabi Growth Fund, valuing the cultivated meat company at over $1 billion, the company said on Thursday. SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Synthesis Capital are among the investors who took part in the latest round, bringing the company’s total capital […]

UAE top lender FAB posts record profit

First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), the United Arab Emirates’ biggest lender, reported on Thursday its highest ever quarterly net profit, helped by the sale of a majority stake in its payments business. The UAE banking sector is improving on the back of a further easing in COVID-19-related restrictions and a rebound in oil prices, boosting […]

Logo, Trademark, Symbol

Chinese coronavirus vaccine candidate to have UAE trial

China’s Suzhou Abogen Biosciences Co said its coronavirus vaccine candidate using the messenger RNA (mRNA) technology and targeting the Omicron variant has obtained clinical trial approval in the United Arab Emirates. With Friday’s announcement, Abogen joins Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna in trialing candidates modified specifically against Omicron, a highly transmissible variant with increased resistance to antibodies […]

Airplane, Aircraft, Vehicle

Qatar Airways suffers setback in feud with Airbus

A British judge has denied a bid by Qatar Airways to reinstate a jet contractcancelled by Europe’s Airbus in the latest twist to a dramatic feud playing out in UK courts. The companies have been locked in a safety dispute for months on Europe’s A350 long-haul jet. Their unprecedented bust-up widened in January when Airbus revoked a separate deal for […]