Construction Construction activity up in Turkey due to earthquakes The number of construction workers in Turkey increased by 28,000 in the second quarter of the year compared to Q1, as building activity continues at pace following February’s earthquakes. The latest figures from the Turkish Statistical Institute revealed the number of people employed in the country’s construction sector hit 1.973 million between April and June […] August 21, 2023
Construction Egypt keeps electricity prices unchanged until January 2024 Egypt will maintain current electricity prices for consumers, as it deferred any changes for an additional six months, the cabinet said in a statement. In its weekly meeting, the cabinet decided to maintain electricity prices until January 2024, citing Egypt’s current economic challenges. The government has delayed the scheduled increase in power prices for the […] August 18, 2023
Infrastructure Dewa selects Acwa Power to develop $914m water project Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) has selected Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund-backed Acwa Power as the preferred bidder for the construction and operation of the AED3.38 billion ($914 million) Hassyan phase one independent water producer (IWP) project. The project is the largest of its kind in the world for water production-based sea water reverse osmosis […] August 17, 2023
Construction Saudi Arabia first choice for China’s BRI investment Saudi Arabia remains one of China’s strongest global trade partners, leading Chinese engagement in the construction sector during the first half of 2023, according to the latest Belt and Road Initiative investment report issued by a leading think tank. Of 45 countries receiving Chinese financing and investment in the first six months of 2023, Saudi […] August 16, 2023
Infrastructure Saudi seeks Chinese funding for infrastructure projects Saudi Arabia is in talks with Chinese banks for potential investment in and development of infrastructure projects. The talks were held between Saudi housing minister Majid Al Hogail and several heads of Chinese banks in Beijing, state-run SPA news agency reported. The minister discussed investment opportunities across a number of Saudi cities with officials from […] August 16, 2023
Infrastructure Dewa profits fall 20% as financing costs surge Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) reported net profits of AED1.93 billion ($525.46 million) in the second quarter of 2023, down 20 percent from AED2.41 billion a year earlier due to rising financing costs. Revenue rose 4 percent to AED7.29 billion, driven by increased demand for electricity, water and cooling services and higher income from […] August 11, 2023
Infrastructure UAE invests in battle against severe flooding UAE government bodies and residents are working proactively to combat the impact of severe flooding, as climate change leads to increased levels of rainfall. Dubai Municipality said it received more than 100 emergency calls at the weekend as a result of severe weather conditions, and the National Centre of Meteorology (NCM) has warned that heavy […] August 10, 2023
Construction Parsons wins $52m road design contract in Qatar The Qatar government’s Public Works Authority (Ashghal) has awarded a contract to US firm Parsons Corporation to deliver engineering consultancy services for a new road and infrastructure framework. The $52 million, six-year contract includes design for roads and infrastructure projects within Doha city. More than half of Qatar’s three million-strong population lives in the capital […] August 9, 2023
Construction Saudi Electricity profit falls 27% as funding costs rise Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) reported a net profit after zakat and tax of SAR4.02 billion ($1.07 billion) in the second quarter of 2023, a decline of 27 percent year on year. Revenue stood at SAR19.72 billion in the three months to June 2023, up 1.63 percent from SAR19.40 billion in Q2 2022, the utility provider […] August 9, 2023
Infrastructure GCC needs 1,127 new schools by 2027 as enrolment rises The Gulf will need over a thousand new schools by 2027, according to a new report published on Wednesday. The prediction is based on the total number of students in the GCC growing by 1.6 percent annually to reach 14.2 million by 2027. Growth in student enrolment numbers at K-12 (kindergarten to 12th grade, or […] August 2, 2023
Infrastructure Israel plans to link $27bn rail project to Saudi Arabia Israel will build a 100 billion shekel ($27 billion) rail expansion that will connect its outlying areas to metropolitan Tel Aviv and, in the future, could provide overland links to Saudi Arabia, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. The announcement followed a trip by top US officials to Saudi Arabia last week to advance a possible […] July 31, 2023
Infrastructure Carbon targets deter Middle East power project developers Developers are becoming increasingly wary of bidding for long-term infrastructure deals in the Middle East because the terms go beyond their own carbon neutral targets. According to industry sources they are particularly struggling to be able to work on projects involving thermal power plants without carbon capture and storage (CCS) because the terms can stretch […] July 27, 2023
Transport UK keeps Turkey’s high speed railway on track with $865m backing The UK government’s export credit agency has underwritten $865 million of financing to support construction of a 286km high-speed electric railway in southern Turkey. With financing provided by UK Export Finance (UKEF), Turkey’s Rönesans Holding will finish construction of the Mersin-Adana-Gaziantep High Speed Railway on behalf of the Turkish Ministry of Transport. The deal is […] July 25, 2023
Infrastructure Egypt opens 17 infra projects for private sector investment Egypt has approved 17 infrastructure projects under its public-private partnerships (PPP) scheme, according to finance minister Mohamed Maait. The projects include three wastewater and industrial waste plants in Sadat, New Beni Suef and New Mansoura, and nine transformer plants and electrical grid projects in the New Administrative Capital, 6 October City and New Aswan City. […] July 14, 2023
Infrastructure Chinese telco enters Gulf with Zain Omantel tie-up One of China’s biggest wireless mobile network operators will make its GCC debut through a connectivity agreement with Zain Omantel International. State-owned China Telecom Global (CTG) signed the deal with Zain Omantel International (ZOI), a joint venture formed in May by Kuwait’s Zain Group and Oman’s Omantel. The deal with CTG is a “strategic subsea […] July 12, 2023
Exclusive Infrastructure UK must court Gulf investors despite Thames Water crisis The UK’s investment minister has said that the country must continue to incentivise foreign investment in its utilities sector, despite ongoing concerns that Thames Water, which is part owned by Abu Dhabi, could be on the verge of collapse. In an interview with AGBI this week, Lord Dominic Johnson, a minister of state in the […] July 6, 2023
Transport GCC on track to be linked by rail in next 10 years GCC governments are preparing to hand out $167 billion worth of contracts to link the six member countries by railway. “We should expect to see some significant contracts awarded on the railway to link all the GCC states over the next 24 to 26 months,” said Ed James, head of content and analysis at Meed, […] June 13, 2023
Analysis Infrastructure Ooredoo to cut losses in Myanmar to tune of $2.3bn Should Ooredoo succeed in selling its Myanmar subsidiary, the Qatari telecom operator will exit nursing multi-billion-dollar losses in what has proved to be a disastrous strategic failure for the former monopoly. Ooredoo Myanmar’s customer base has shrunk by nearly half in just over two years, while its cumulative pre-tax losses from 2013-2022 total QAR8.6 billion […] June 8, 2023
Oman unveils $5.2bn startup fund and plans for new city Oman is planning to set up an investment fund with a capital of OMR2 billion ($5.2 billion) to support economic diversification. The news was first reported by state-owned Oman News Agency, citing a decree by Sultan Haitham Bin Tariq Al Said. The Oman Future Fund will allocate a percentage of its capital to stimulate the […] June 1, 2023
Infrastructure Dubai’s Dewa gets 2 bids for $410m Hassyan water project Utility provider Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) received two bids for its 120 million gallons per day Hassyan independent water producer project. Bids were submitted from Saudi’s Acwa Power and UAE’s Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa). Acwa Power sent the lowest water levelised tariff of $0.389 per cubic metre for the base proposal […] May 26, 2023
Transport Egyptian electric train project gets IsDB green light The Islamic Development Bank has approved $344.5 million in financing towards the first phase of the planned Egyptian electric train system. The 660 km railway will connect Egypt’s port cities of Alexandria and Marsa Matrouh on the Mediterranean with Ain Sokhna on the Red Sea. The Egyptian electric train project is expected to benefit 25 […] April 3, 2023
PIF-backed Oman infrastructure fund raises $1 billion Omani infrastructure investor Rakiza, which is backed by Saudi Arabia’s PIF, has closed its first fund, raising more than $1 billion from participants. Rakiza has already spent a quarter of this money in buying three Omani assets – a 30 percent stake in a telecom tower portfolio, 31 percent of a Port Sohar container terminal […] March 21, 2023
