Good morning, folks. The news cycle is showing early signs of a slight recovery in 2026, as trade, rail, and financing updates trickle in.

Today’s big story is the financial close of a USD 1.1 bn facility for Nigeria’s Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway — a project that will dramatically boost the connectivity of the new Lekki deep sea port. The facility is backed by a credit ins. wrapper from the Islamic Development Bank’s insurance arm, allowing First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) to bypass Nigeria’s sovereign risk ceiling and providing a blueprint for future Gulf financing in the risky African markets.

Over in Egypt, an Alstom-led rail development alliance is cementing its status as the go-to partner for the state’s massive rail expansion, after securing its second development contract for a rail freight project. Under the contract, the French-local consortium will build a 63.5 km rail link connecting the 10th of Ramadan industrial city to the Suez Canal ports.

Happening today-

Khaled Dhafer & Brothers’ Logistics Services (KDL Logistics) rings the opening bell on the Nomu parallel market today, according to a Tadawul disclosure. The company’s shares will be allowed to trade within a 30% price fluctuation cap and a static 10% band.

REFRESHER- The firm is floating a 20% stake at SAR 23 per share in a secondary offering on Tadawul’s parallel market. KDL’s founding family is selling down its positions to a combined 80% stake, subject to a 12-month lockup period, and pocketing net proceeds.

Watch this space-

RAIL — EUR 215 mn 10th of Ramadan railway awarded: A consortium of France’s Alstom and local contractors Concrete Plus and Rowad Modern Engineering has been awarded a EUR 215 mn contract to build the 10th of Ramadan logistics rail line, a source with knowledge of the contract tells us. The contractors will build a 63.5 km corridor linking the 10th of Ramadan dry port to the Suez Canal ports in Sokhna and Adabiya.

Connecting the industrial heartland: The project is designed to integrate the 10th of Ramadan city into the national rail network from two primary directions. It involves an 18.5 km stretch linking the city’s dry port and industrial zone to the Cairo-Suez rail and a second 45 km link to the Benha-Zagazig-Ismailia-Port Said rail corridor.

The pattern: This is the second major freight victory for the Alstom-led alliance in two months, following their EUR 540 mn contract for the Cairo-Alexandria bypass. The Madbouly government aims to see rail freight capacity grow from 8 mn tons per year in 2026 to 13 mn tons a year by 2030.

DEBT — SAL Saudi Logistics is moving forward with plans to issue SAR-denominated sukuk, with the firm tapping JP Morgan and SNB Capital as lead joint managers and bookrunners for the transaction, it said in a Tadawul disclosure. The company is earmarking the proceeds for expansion plans.

REMEMBER- SAL is embarking on one of its most capital-intensive projects this year, building a SAR 4.2 bn logistics zone at Riyadh’s Falcon City. The company expects to spend 20% of the project’s estimated value in 2026 on infrastructure development and complete the first phase by 2027, with 2030 targeted for full delivery. A portion of the project will follow a build-to-suit model, backed by long-term contracts of up to 25 years.

AVIATION — Emirates SkyCargo ramps up 2026 capacity with 10 new freighters: The Dubai-based carrier confirmed it will induct 10 Boeing 777 freighters into its fleet this year, pushing its active freighter fleet to 21 aircraft by December.

The cargo carrier has been focused on expanding its fleet, both through aircraft acquisitions and conversions of existing Emirates passenger aircraft, the first of which is set to begin operations as a full freighter in 2026, in order to plug the gap left by delays in deliveries from Boeing.

Market watch-

Oil prices slipped this morning amid signs of weaker-than-expected demand and robust global supplies, Reuters reports. Brent crude futures dropped by USD 0.14 to trade at USD 61.62 / bbl as of 04:50 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) fell by USD 0.19 to USD 58.13 / bbl.

Baltic index dips downward once again: The Baltic Exchange’s dry bulk sea freight index — which tracks rates for the capesize, panamax, and supramax vessel segments — was down 1.6% to 1,851 points on Monday. The capesize fell for the eighth day by 1.9% to 3,049 points, while the panamax index increased 0.9% to 1,293 points, and the smaller supramax index eased 33 points to 1,043 points.

Data point-

57.4 — that’s the seasonally adjusted purchasing managers’ index figure for Saudi Arabia in December, according to the Riyad Bank Saudi Arabia PMI (pdf). The figure maintains the country’s non-oil private sector in expansion territory, albeit at a slower rate for the second consecutive month. Still, December’s performance outperformed the index’s long-run average of 56.9. November’s reading was 58.5.

The breakdown: Output and new orders both cooled in December, reaching their weakest rates of growth since August. Firms maintained strong hiring trends, similar to the previous month, and accelerated their purchasing activity to the fastest pace in three months. This led to an increase in input stocks as firms worked to manage mounting backlogs, which hit their highest level since July. Meanwhile, input cost inflation accelerated amid rising purchasing prices. On the other hand, wage pressures eased, marking their slowest pace in approximately a year and a half.

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