Acwa Power lands 25-year deal to build 230 MW combined-cycle gas plant in Mauritania

Plugged in

Acwa lands CCGT contract in Mauritania: Saudi utility giant Acwa signed two 25-year agreements with the Mauritanian government and state utility Somelec to develop the 230 MW Ndiago combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power plant, according to a disclosure. The project carries an estimated investment cost of around USD 700 mn and covers the design, financing, construction, operation, and maintenance of the gas-fired plant under a 25-year government payment model.

What’s in store? The contractual package includes a public-private partnership with the Mauritanian government under which Acwa will hold an effective 60% stake in the project, and a gas-to-power tolling agreement with Somelec that will govern the conversion of natural gas into electricity over the same 25-year period.

Cargo comeback

Gulf cargo carriers are clawing back the market share the Iran war handed to Lufthansa. Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad are now flying at roughly 95% of prewar capacity, eroding the demand and yield boost the German carrier picked up while regional rivals were disrupted by the conflict, Lufthansa Cargo CEO Ashwin Bhat told Bloomberg. Lufthansa hasn’t cut prices to defend share, and Bhat called demand “surprising” for what’s usually a soft summer stretch. The cargo unit posted EUR 324 mn (USD 369 mn) in operating net income last year, about 17% of the group’s total.

Mounting pressure: The EU is also scrapping its duty-free exemption for low-value e-commerce imports — replacing it with an EUR 3 per-item fee. Bhat says Asian customers are “nervous,” and Lufthansa has already seen goods front-loaded into Europe ahead of the change. E-commerce is under 20% of its cargo business, but a demand drop could trigger aggressive price-cutting that spills into every carrier's margins — Gulf carriers included.

Docked in Sohar

CMA CGM and Oman’s Asyad Group are putting USD 400 mn into a multipurpose logistics terminal in Sohar, according to a statement. The framework agreement, signed during Sultan Haitham bin Tariq’s state visit to France, has the two companies jointly developing, managing, and operating the facility.

Why it matters: Hormuz transits have picked up since the initial US-Iran peace agreement earlier this month, but they’re far from secure — tit-for-tat strikes have kept the strait’s risk premium alive, and CMA CGM still has 10 ships stuck inside the Gulf, even after its Galapagos vessel made it out on Sunday. Chairman and CEO Rodolphe Saadé said the terminal will give the group reliable inland access to key trade corridors.

On the road

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is set to provide EUR 365 mn to finance transport infrastructure in Morocco, according to a statement. The financing package will support upgrades to the country’s motorway network and national railway system. No disbursement timeline or project-level breakdown has been disclosed. The EU will also provide a EUR 15 mn grant to fund climate resilience measures for the rail network.

Development rush

Dubai has approved AED 18 bn of projects spanning transport, trade, culture, investor services, and workforce development. The headline project is a 15-km elevated corridor along First Al Khail Street, running parallel to Sheikh Zayed Road and expected to reduce traffic on Sheikh Zayed Road by 51% during peak hours, according to state news agency Wam. Construction will start in 3Q 2027 and end in 4Q 2030.

Also in the pipeline: A real-time population census after Dubai’s population topped 4.58 mn at end-2025; a unified investor register covering the emirate and its freezones; a private-education strategy targeting 3k jobs for Emiratis by 2033; new customs and culture strategies, with further details undisclosed; and a global center for technology and innovation in Islamic finance.