Good morning, wonderful people, and thank you for your patience this week while we took a few days off to tool-up for 2026.

We take a limited number of publication holidays every year. It’s a chance to work ahead, think big thoughts, and get organized — particularly when we’re planning something new. Breaks like these don’t just allow us to keep our journalism sharp by engaging in a bit of Maoist self-criticism, but to cook up new things.

Uh, Enterprise? Beyond self-flagellation, what do you guys do on these breaks? Past publication breaks are where we built the things that became:

• Our annual events series, including our flagship EnterpriseAM Egypt Forum
• Our audio products, including Morning Drive and Making It
• Our launches in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and the MENA-India corridor
• The relaunch of EnterpriseAM Weekend in Egypt
• …and plenty more

We’ll have lots more for you in the months to come — stay tuned. 🙂

We lead this morning with news that Noon has raised USD 500 mn from PIF and its backers, in what appears to be a push to stay competitive amid rising competition from new players and ahead of possible IPO plans.

MEANWHILE- we also have the latest on AD Ports mandatory tender offer that could see it secure up to 90% of Egypt’s Alexandria Container and Cargo Handling Company.

Watch this space-

RAIL: Is Gulftainer making a play for East Africa’s rail logistics? Sharjah-based Gulftainer is in advanced talks to finalize a concession to operate Uganda’s first rail-connected dry port — an agreement that would see Gulftainer build and run the inland terminal that connects to the upcoming Standard Gauge Railway (SGR).

What’s the play? The firm could be testing the waters in landlocked Africa, where rail and road connectivity are key to brings goods to ports in neighboring countries. With minimal assets on the continent to leverage, Gulftainer’s could tap into the rising demand on intermodal logistics infrastructure in the continent.

The SGR connection — linking to Kenya in its first phase — is also set to provide shippers a competitive alternative to trucking, potentially undercutting costs of Kenya-Uganda container movements — which can reach up to USD 3.5k for 40-ft containers.

PORTS: Next stop for AD Ports could be Kuwait. AD Ports Group signed an MoU to explore developing and operating container services at Kuwait’s Shuaiba Port. This follows DP World’s launch of a 36-hour maritime service linking Dubai’s Port Rashid to Iraq’s Umm Qasr, utilizing a specialized roll-on/roll-off (Ro-Ro) vessel for 145 accompanied trailers.

Why does it matter? The moves can provide a layer of predictability to Iraq-bound shipments, where land borders have been historically subject to congestion. For example, Iraq’s Customs Efficiency score in the World Bank’s 2023 Logistics Performance Index (LPI) remains a significant outlier compared to its Gulf neighbors, sitting at the bottom quintile with overall score of 2.3.

The bottomline? By securing Kuwaiti partnerships and direct sea links now, UAE operators are working to ensure they remain the key origin point for Iraq-bound goods, regardless of which overland corridor eventually dominates as Iraq advances its own ambitious intermodal logistics infrastructure throughAl Faw Grand Port and the Iraq Development Road.

M&As: International Holding Company (IHC) lifted its 22.5% stake in ADX-listed agro-food and commodities trader Invictus Investment to about 40% via an AED 420 mn block trade, according to a press release (pdf). The transaction value implies an AED 2.4 bn valuation for Invictus at the time of the acquisition. Invictus’ top line rose 43% y-o-y to AED 6.1 bn in 1H — its strongest half since listing on the back of doubling in traded volumes — and it also scaled to 10 new markets, now operating in 65 countries. Invictus’ ADX stock gained 2.5% yesterday to close at AED 2.44 ashare.

What’s the playbook? IHC has been acquiring assets covering the entire "farm-to-shelf" cycle, with the latest investment in Invictus advancing the group’s strategy that focuses on securing global trading and logistics infrastructure that links its production assets in Africa and the UAE to regional distribution assets.

SYRIA: Washington votes to repeal Caesar Act: The US House of Representatives has voted to lift sanctions under the Caesar Act — the last major holdout item in the US’ web of Syria sanctions that Washington had began undoing earlier this year. The move — a part of the draft budget for the Defense Department yet to be finalized by the Senate — requires Washington to submit a review every six months to Congress to certify that the Syrian regime is protecting minorities and fighting Islamic State militants (among other things).

REMEMBER- The US officially ended its direct sanctions on Syria in August, leaving secondary sanctions — courtesy of the Caesar Act — in place. The Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2019 was imposed to target the Assad regime by sanctioning entities and individuals providing material support to the now-ousted Assad government.

Market Watch-

Oil prices surged this morning amid shortage concerns after the US pledged to impose a full blockade on all oil tankers bound to and from Venezuela, Reuters reported. Brent crude futures went up by USD 0.79 to trade at USD 59.71 / bbl as of 05:00 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose USD 0.77 to USD 56.04 / bbl.

Baltic index breaks losing streak: The Baltic Exchange’s dry bulk sea freight index — which tracks rates for the capesize, panamax, and supramax vessel segments — was up 0.5% to 2,204 points on Tuesday, buoyed by the larger-size segment. The capesize increased 3.1% to 3,834, while the panamax index eased 4.1% to 1,577 points, and the smaller supramax index shed by 25 points to 1,335.

***YOU’RE READING EnterpriseAM Logistics, the essential MENA publication for senior execs who care about the industry that connects producers and retailers to global markets. We’re out Monday through Thursday by 9:15am in Cairo and Riyadh and 11:15am in the UAE.

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