Good morning, wonderful readers. We bring you a busy issue this morning as Leap 2025 prepares to wrap up its four-day run. In today’s issue: PIF finalizes acquisition of Tawal, Hedab Al Khaleej sets indicative price range for Nomu IPO, and a field day for Saudi’s startups with multi-USD mn investments. Let’s dive in.

HAPPENING TODAY-

#1- The two-day Saudi Electricity Company’s (SEC) USD-denominated sukuk issuance, which ends up today, according to a disclosure to Tadawul. The offering has a minimum subscription of USD 200k, with USD 1k increments. Details on the size, yield, and term of the senior unsecured issuance will be determined based on market conditions.

Use of proceeds: Funds raised through the issuance will be earmarked for SEC’s corporate purposes, capital expenditures, and potential financings for projects under the company’s Green Sukuk Framework.

ADVISORS- Joint Lead Managers for the potential offering include HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, First Abu Dhabi Bank, Mizuho, MUFG, SMBC, Intesa Saopaolo, Alistithmar Capital, BofA Securities, ICBC, BNP Paribas, Emirates NBD Capital, Natixis, Dubai Islamic Bank PJSC, Bank of China, and SNB Capital.

#2- PIF Private Sector Forum begins today at Riyadh’s King Abdul Aziz International Conference Center. The two-day event will bring together CEOs from PIF’s portfolio companies — including Riyadh Air, Alat, Diriyah, Ma’aden, and Ceer — and looks to bridge connections between the wealth fund, its portfolio companies, and private sector players, while promoting localization and enhancing supply chains in vital sectors.

WEATHER- A rainy Riyadh is looking at a 27°C high and a 14°C low today. Jeddah will see light showers and a 28°C high and 18°C low. Meanwhile, Makkah will also see light showers and a 29°C high and 19°C low.

HAPPENING TOMORROW-

PIF Saudi Ladies Int’l kicks off tomorrow and ends on Saturday, 15 February. The premier Women Golf event, held in Riyadh, will have a total prize fund of USD 5 mn.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1- Is OpenAI about to make a push into Saudi? PwC brought OpenAI representatives to Saudi to meet with government and private sector officials to discuss accelerating AI investments in the Kingdom, Al Arabiya reports citing statements by PwC’s GenAi Partner Musa Beidas on the sidelines of Leap 25. He highlighted Saudi Arabia’s strong AI potential and OpenAI’s interest in expanding its presence in the Middle East, noting positive developments in the Kingdom’s market.

** We have everything from the Kingdom’s flagship tech conference in the news well, below.

#2- GCC economy could grow by an additional USD 2.8 tn over the next decade: The World Governments Summit (WGS) estimated that GCC economies can accelerate regional GDP growth from 3.5% to 6.0% if the countries surveyed improved their weakest productivity determinants, according to the summit’s Productivity Potential Index (PPI) report.

The methodology: The report uses what it calls a Productivity Potential Index (PPI) score to look at how each country being sampled is “currently positioned to improve its productivity,” examining the factors that drive productivity in the world’s economies as well as their potential for growth.

How the Kingdom fared: Saudi Arabia’s PPI score indicated that productivity can improve by an additional USD 69.3 per hour worked, with the Kingdom coming in first among the 6 GCC countries, and 21st in the global ranking of 60 countries included in the survey. In second place was Kuwait (USD 60.8), followed by Qatar (USD 57.2), Bahrain (USD 56.9), the UAE (USD 48.7), and Oman (USD 39.8).

#3- The council of ministers approved the National Leadership Succession and Development Program at its weekly meeting yesterday, chaired by Crown Prince Bin Salman, state news agency SPA reports. The cabinet also approved an MoU with Turkey for cooperation between the Saudi Central Bank and the Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye.

Also greenlighted at the meeting:

• An MoU on maritime passenger transport in the Gulf of Aqaba with the Egyptian Transport Ministry;
• An MoU with Qatar on financial cooperation;
• An economic and planning MoU with Oman;
• A trade cooperation MoU with the Maldives;
• A cooperation agreement with Jordan on combating illicit drug trafficking;
• Mutual exemptions on short-term residence visas for diplomatic and official passport holders with the Solomon Islands.

DATA POINTS-

#1- Consumer spending via point-of-sale (PoS) transactions in the Kingdom dropped 11.4% w-o-w for the week ending February 8 to SAR 13.7 bn, according to the Saudi Central Bank’s (Sama) report (pdf). Meanwhile, the number of weekly transactions declined 5.6% to 219.6k.

The breakdown: Food and beverages made up the biggest chunk of spending in terms of value during the week, dipping %19.9 w-o-w to SAR 2 bn, followed by restaurants and cafes at less than SAR 2 bn, marking a 9.5% drop. Riyadh had the highest value of PoS transactions at SAR 4.8 bn, followed by Jeddah at SAR 2 bn.

#2-The Industry and Mineral Resources Ministry issued some 42k certificates of origin in January, supporting exporters across commercial and industrial sectors, state news agency SPA reports.

OIL WATCH-

Saudi crude supplies to China are expected to drop in March, with Chinese refiners anticipating 41 mn barrels from Aramco, down from 43.5 mn in February, marking the second straight month of falling shipments to the world’s largest oil importer, Reuters reports citing unnamed trade sources.

Background- The fall in orders comes as the state-owned oil giant raised March crude prices for customers in Asia last week, putting the OSP for Arab Light at USD 2.40 to USD 3.90 premiums to Oman/Dubai benchmarks, their highest in more than two years, the newswire said.

Not all Chinese refineries are cutting back: Aramco is boosting supplies to PetroChina and Shenghong Petrochemical, while state-owned Sinopec and Aramco JV Fujian refinery will receive lower allocations, Reuters reported.

ALSO- Aramco-owned Motiva Enterprises’ Texas refinery can now process 654k bbl / d, making it the largest plant in the US, Bloomberg reports. The increased output comes after changes which saw the plant streamline some processes, sources familiar with the plant’s operations said.

SPORTS-

The inaugural Olympic Esports Games in Riyadh have been pushed two years to 2027, with national team qualifiers set to begin this year, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said in a statement. The Kingdom inked a 12-year agreement with the IOC in July 2024 to “regularly” host the event that was expected to kick off this year.

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THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

Trump doubled down on his plan to forcibly displace Gazans in an impromptu press conference with King Abdullah II of Jordan, the first Arab leader to meet with the US President after his controversial statements sparked wide regional and international criticism.

“We’re gonna have Gaza … there’s nothing to buy. Gaza is a war-torn area,” Trump said, responding to a question regarding where the money will come from and who the US will buy Gaza from. Gazans will be resettled in a “parcel of land” in Jordan, another in Egypt, with other countries potentially hosting more refugees, Trump added. On the matter of cutting aid to Egypt and Jordan, the US President said: “I don’t have to threaten that, I think we’re above that.”

King Abdullah seemed unwilling to respond to Trump’s pressures to publicly endorse his plan, circling back to Jordan accepting 2k ill Palestinian children from the strip for treatment. Abdullah added that Arab nations are putting together alternative proposals with the support of regional and European players, and that there is no need to “get ahead of ourselves.” The King later reiterated in posts on X that Jordan is part of a “unified Arab position” opposing any displacement of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.

Egypt was out with a statement early this morning, confirming it is planning to “present a comprehensive vision for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip in a manner that ensures the Palestinian people remain in their homeland and aligns with their legitimate and legal rights.”

The conference came as the fraught ceasefire in Gaza is on the brink of collapsing. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Israel will resume “intense fighting” if Hamas does not move forwards with the planned release of Israelis, with Israeli troops already amassing in and around Gaza. Meanwhile, Trump reiterated in the presser his advice that Israel “let hell break out” if Hamas ignores the deadline he put earlier for releasing captives by Saturday noon. (Bloomberg | NYTimes | CNN | Reuters | BBC)

MORE FROM TRUMP- Trump earlier signed an executive order to halt enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act that prohibits bribing foreign government officials for business gains. “It’s going to mean a lot more business for America,” the President said. (FT | Reuters | BBC)