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Taqa Morocco and local partners have agreed to invest $14bn to support energy and water security

Taqa to invest in Morocco’s energy and water security

The Casablanca-listed subsidiary of Abu Dhabi’s Taqa has agreed to develop multi-billion-dollar large-scale power and water projects in Morocco along with local partners, according to a statement. Taqa Morocco Group, Nareva, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Morocco’s Al Mada Group, and the sovereign Mohammed VI Investment Fund signed agreements with the Moroccan government and the Office National de […]

Doha's Mina District during a rainstorm. A major part of Qatar's infrastructure drive is to reuse rainwater for irrigation and cooling

Qatar to spend $22bn on water infrastructure works

Qatar is to spend billions of dollars as part of its five-year strategy to develop drainage, sewage and flood prevention infrastructure. The government-backed Public Works Authority (Ashghal) will invest more than QAR81 billion ($22.3 billion) to implement various infrastructure projects, the state-run Qatar News Agency reported. These projects include the development of citizens’ lands, government […]

Gulf desalination Video length: 04:57

Water scarcity: The GCC’s desalination challenge

The Gulf is one of the most water scarce regions in the world, so it has had to adopt innovative solutions for its water resources. One of the most prominent of these is desalination. While less than 1 percent of the world’s drinking water is desalinated, GCC countries depend on their desalination plants for up to […]

Dubai sewerage sewage Construction materials loading in a large sewer line and tunnel in Portland in the U.S. state of Oregon.

Dubai takes step forward on $22bn sewage tunnel network

Dubai Municipality has issued a request for proposals for the first two contracts of the $22 billion Dubai Strategic Sewerage Tunnels (DSST) project, according to a Dubai utilities official. The project aims to modernise Dubai’s sewerage system and has an estimated initial capital expenditure of AED30 billion ($8 billion) and a total lifecycle cost of […]

A UAE desalination plant in Rafah, Egypt. Both countries are investing in projects and startups to tackle water scarcity

Funding model for water tech ‘holds back Gulf innovators’

An over-reliance on government funding for water startups in the Gulf may be holding back innovation, experts have told AGBI. The Middle East – a region that includes some of the world’s most water-stressed countries – gained its first water “unicorn” in February when Saudi-based GI Water as a Service raised eight figures in a […]

Sand dunes under water in Merzouga, Morocco. Increased output on both irrigated and non-irrigated land will help improve Morocco's import bill

Relief for Moroccan agriculture after heavy rainfall

Morocco has reported so much rainfall this year that it is filling dams across the country to levels not seen in at least three years.  That augurs well for the agricultural sector which accounts for about one-sixth of the economy and is a component of exports and therefore foreign exchange. The economy declined last year […]

A man delivers water by truck in Wadi Rum, Jordan. The country is one of the most water-stressed in the world, according to the World Bank

Water projects take priority in Jordan’s PPP pipeline

Jordan is planning to launch public-private partnerships (PPP) valued at more than $1 billion this year – and that figure may soon rise to $2 billion, according to an official. Hamza Alhajaya, head of Jordan’s PPP unit, told AGBI that Jordan is already expecting to publish tenders for seven projects in 2025 worth a total […]

A rainy day in Abu Dhabi. The damage caused by record rainfall across the UAE in 2024 is estimated to have cost $8.5bn

Abu Dhabi tenders more stormwater projects

Abu Dhabi has again invited companies to bid for stormwater drainage and flood mitigation projects. Record rainfall last year caused more than $8.5 billion of physical and economic damage in the UAE and wider region. The neighbouring emirate of Dubai, which was also hard-hit by the April floods, subsequently approved drainage-improvement plans worth $8.2 billion. […]

UAE cloud seeding

UAE ramps up cloud seeding to combat water shortage

The UAE is stepping up its use of cloud seeding as a cost-effective way to tackle its chronic water shortages. The technique, which the country first tried in the 1980s, involves shooting a salt flare into a cloud. The salt attracts water, the water drops collide with others and get bigger, and then fall as […]

Gardener watering plants on the Corniche with West Bay skyline of Doha in the background.

Climate and cost: the Gulf’s water scarcity challenge

Over the past 18 months, Saudi Arabia has set up a Global Water Organisation, established a stand-alone Saudi Water Authority and presided over the One Water Summit in Riyadh. At the summit on December 5, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman called for “collective action” to address water scarcity in the region and around the world. […]

Rainfall in December was down 60 percent and if dry conditions persist, GDP growth could suffer

Geopolitical tensions and low rain may stifle Morocco’s GDP growth

Morocco’s economy is expected to pick up in the first quarter of 2025, thanks to increased consumer spending, but the momentum faces a risk as a result of geopolitical tensions and low levels of rainfall, a government agency has said. The country’s GDP grew by around 4.3 percent in the third quarter of 2024 compared […]

Economic risks were the biggest concerns for business leaders and experts across the Middle East

Inflation, not war, is Gulf states’ top concern, says WEF

Economic concerns such as inflation dominate risk perception for the coming year in the Gulf and across Mena, according to the World Economic Forum. Its survey of thousands of experts and business leaders, the Global Risks Report 2025, found that geopolitical conflict was the No 1 risk globally, selected by respondents as the “most likely […]

Britain’s prime minister Keir Starmer meets with Iraqi prime minister Mohammed Al-Sudani at 10 Downing Street in London

Iraq and UK sign $15bn deal to strengthen trade ties

Iraq has signed a set of agreements with the UK worth £12.3 billion ($14.98 billion) as the two countries aim to bolster their growing trade relationship. The package, more than 10 times last year’s total UK-Iraq bilateral trade, was disclosed following a meeting between British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his Iraqi counterpart Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani […]

North Africa green energy Ziz river

Water scarcity biggest threat to North Africa’s green energy drive 

Water scarcity is the biggest hurdle to the development of renewable power across North Africa, along with a lack of financing and governance failures, a new report says. Nevertheless, countries in the region are boosting production of sustainable sources of energy, pushed by unmet domestic demand and the European Union’s increasing hunger for imports of […]

A sandstorm in Jeddah. Saudi Arabia's Sand and Dust Storm Warning Advisory and Assessment System is based in the city

Saudi Arabia to invest $10m in sandstorm warning system

Saudi Arabia will invest $10 million over the next five years to support its global sand and dust storm monitoring initiative. The initiative, launched through its United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) Cop16 presidency, will expand on existing international sand and dust storm capacity, overseen by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO). Two billion tonnes […]

Employees outside Samsung C&T headquarters in Seoul, Korea; the company has won the contract to build a gas-fired power plant near Doha

Qatar awards $2.8bn contract for Doha desalination plant

Qatar Electricity and Water Authority (Kahramaa) has awarded Samsung C&T Construction Group a $2.84 billion contract to build a combined-cycle power plant in Doha.  The gas-fired power plant, Facility E, will produce up to 2,400 megawatts of electricity and 500,000 tons of desalinated water per day. When completed in 2029, the plant will account for […]

Architecture, Building, Factory

Morocco secures $211m loan to improve water security

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has approved a €200 million ($211 million) loan to Morocco’s phosphate-based fertiliser producer OCP Group to enhance water security by developing new desalination facilities. The funding will support the construction of two seawater desalination facilities for OCP Group at its industrial complexes in El Jadida and Safi. […]

Work has commenced on Morocco's Khouribga pipeline project, which will have a total annual capacity of 80 million cubic meters

Moroccan company gets $108m to tackle water scarcity

A new €100 million ($108 million) loan from a World Bank unit will help Morocco tackle water scarcity, which has been hindering economic growth. The loan is being provided through the International Facility Corporation (IFC) to Casablanca-based OCP Group, a producer of plant nutrition solutions and phosphate-based fertilisers. It will fund the construction of a […]

Jordan is one of the most water-stressed countries in the world, with its population facing absolute water scarcity

Jordan selects preferred bidder for $3bn water project

A consortium led by French investment firm Meridiam has been selected as the preferred bidder for Jordan’s $3.3 billion Aqaba Amman water desalination and conveyance project. The Meridiam-led group includes Orascom Construction, Vinci Construction Grands Projets and Suez. Jordan is one of the most water-stressed countries in the world, with its population facing absolute water scarcity, according […]