Oil & Gas Adnoc Gas to invest $13bn in domestic and international growth Adnoc Gas plans to invest more than $13 billion in domestic and international growth opportunities over the next five years, chairman Sultan Al Jaber told the company’s annual general meeting on Monday. Al Jaber said that the company was progressing with several “significant’ projects to accelerate its growth. Predictable margin business was expected to increase […] April 1, 2024
Banking and Finance RAKBank reveals 10% attrition rate for SMEs Ras Al Khaimah’s RAKBank has revealed a 10 percent annual churn rate of startups funded in the UAE – an amount it says is well below the global average. The lender has almost 50,000 small and medium-sized enterprises on its books and last year handed out AED2.5 billion ($680 million) worth of loans to more than […] April 1, 2024
Agriculture UAE’s Invictus buys 60% of Moroccan grain trader Invictus Investment Company has acquired a 60 percent stake in Morocco’s largest grain trader, Graderco, and its subsidiaries from Zalar Holding. The deal will lead to 20 percent growth in consolidated revenues over the nine-month post-acquisition period, said the Abu Dhabi-listed company. Invictus reported revenue of AED8.1 billion ($2.2 billion) and 5.4 million metric tonnes in […] April 1, 2024
Energy Adnoc cuts Upper Zakum exports to fuel its refinery Exports of Upper Zakum crude from the UAE fell sharply in March after Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) diverted more supply to its own refinery and boosted shipments of its lighter Murban oil, according to traders, analysts and shipping data. The swap in oil grades at Adnoc’s Ruwais refinery has tightened medium-sour crude supply […] April 1, 2024
Energy UAE weighs investments in Europe’s nuclear power sector The UAE has approached countries in Europe, including the UK, to gauge their interest in the Middle Eastern state investing in their nuclear power infrastructure, according to three sources familiar with the talks. As part of its outreach, the UAE has discussed the idea of state-owned Emirates Nuclear Energy Company (ENEC) becoming a minority investor […] April 1, 2024
Construction ADIA backs Indian developer in $240m deal Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, the UAE’s largest sovereign wealth fund, and India’s Kotak Alternative Investment Fund will support Indian developer Prestige Group in building residential projects across four Indian cities. The deal is valued at 20 billion rupees ($240 million), Prestige Group said in a statement to the Bombay Stock Exchange on Monday. The projects will be […] April 1, 2024
Retail ADIA and Mubadala join $8.3bn China shopping mall deal Two Abu Dhabi state-backed companies are part of a group which has agreed to invest $8.3 billion to acquire a 60 percent stake in Chinese property major Dalian Wanda’s shopping mall subsidiary. The investment was led by Hong Kong private equity firm PAG, along with Platinum Peony B 2023 RSC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Abu […] April 1, 2024
Tech UAE to build 1,000 MW data centres in Kenya The UAE plans to build data centre projects with a total capacity of up to 1,000 megawatts in Kenya to promote the “digital corridor” concept with the East African nation. The UAE’s investment ministry and Kenya’s ministry of information, communications and digital economy have signed a pact to set up a framework for investment cooperation […] April 1, 2024
Tourism Abu Dhabi to create 178,000 new tourism jobs Abu Dhabi wants to attract 40 million visitors and generate 178,000 new jobs in its tourism sector by 2030 to help diversify its economy away from oil. The emirate wants to increase tourism’s contribution to its non-oil GDP to AED90 billion ($24 billion) a year by the end of the decade, Abu Dhabi Media Office […] March 31, 2024
Opinion People & Lifestyle 6 essential tips for journalists at Ramadan The holy month is a wonderful time but presents challenges for media March 29, 2024
Construction Auditors raise concerns over Drake & Scull as losses mount Auditors reviewing the finances of Drake & Scull International have issued a heavily qualified disclaimer in which they appear to distance themselves from the UAE construction contractor. A filing on Dubai Financial Market for Drake & Scull revealed revenues of AED94 million ($26 million) for the year to December 31 2023, up from AED81 million […] March 29, 2024
Education Taaleem profits rise with surge in UAE student numbers An increase in student enrolments by more than one-third helped UAE schools operator Taaleem achieve a 53 percent increase in annual profits for the first half of the 2023-24 academic year. Taaleem, which operates schools on behalf of the Abu Dhabi, Dubai and UAE federal governments, said student numbers across its portfolio of 32 UAE […] March 29, 2024
Transport Dubai company to launch flying cars in Mena Aviation company Aviterra has signed a deal with Dutch company PAL-V to launch flying cars across the Middle East and Africa. Based in Dubai, Aviterra will buy 100 Liberty flying cars from PAL-V and invest in the flying car maker with the intention of making door-to-door mobility a reality in the region. “The PAL-V Liberty is the […] March 29, 2024
Artificial Intelligence Dubai startup helps AI-voice cloning take centre stage A YouTube video released in January of Novak Djokovic shows the tennis star speaking fluent Spanish at a post-match press conference. While the Serbian champion is renowned for speaking several languages, in this case his voice was created by an artificial intelligence tool developed by a Dubai-based startup, Camb.ai. The original Djokovic footage was taken […] March 29, 2024
Analysis Real Estate Dubai land shortages push property prices even higher A shortage of undeveloped land in Dubai has caused an unprecedented rise in the cost of plots, setting the stage for further increases in the city’s already high property prices. Experts note that in some areas land prices have nearly quadrupled over the past year, compelling developers to rethink their strategies to capitalise on this […] March 29, 2024
Construction Alec IPO could start listings rush in construction sector A listing by Dubai’s Alec Engineering and Contracting could open the gates for more construction-related companies to go public as they take advantage of the country’s buoyant property market, according to a business expert. Alec, which is backed by the Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD), the emirate’s sovereign wealth fund, is behind some of the […] March 28, 2024
Trade Angola project demonstrates GCC’s growing Africa interest Dubai Investments has appointed a Chinese construction company as the main contractor on its flagship project in Angola as GCC investments in Africa rise. China Harbour Engineering Company will undertake the first phase of Dubai Investments Park Angola, covering 2,000 hectares of residential, commercial and industrial property in the West African country. The award of […] March 28, 2024
Oil & Gas Adnoc begins output at new block off Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi state oil company Adnoc has commenced crude oil production from its Belbazem offshore block to achieve its strategy of producing five million barrels per day (bpd) by 2027. The block is operated by Al Yasat Petroleum, a joint venture between Adnoc and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), the UAE state-owned Wam news agency […] March 28, 2024
Analysis Banking and Finance Reasons to be cheerful for UAE banks with Egyptian subsidiaries Despite the plunge in the value of the Egyptian pound, UAE banks’ subsidiaries in the country remain a strong long-term asset, analysts have told AGBI. Three Emirati banks – Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, First Abu Dhabi Bank and Dubai’s Emirates NBD – have acquired Egyptian lenders. The pound-to-dollar exchange rate stood at about EGP31 at […] March 28, 2024
Analysis Banking and Finance DIFC’s law tipped to help digital assets go mainstream The Dubai International Financial Centre has introduced a law to define and regulate digital assets – a move that should herald their integration into more parts of the economy, lawyers have told AGBI. The DIFC legislation came into effect on March 8 and classifies the assets as property. Digitally tracked items such as cryptocurrencies, non-fungible […] March 27, 2024
