Omantel taps Kaspersky as a locally-hosted partner as region becomes biggest market for Russian cybersecurity vendor

Oman taps Kaspersky to bring cybersecurity services onshore: Otech, Omantel’s technology arm, became an authorized Kaspersky Managed Security Service Provider in Oman. Under the agreement, Otech will provide Kaspersky cybersecurity solutions via a locally-hosted cloud, with round-the-clock support and management delivered from within the Sultanate, the companies said in a joint statement.

MENA has been the Russian cybersecurity vendor’s fastest growing region, since the US banned its products in late 2024 and sanctioned top executives. While the company’s B2C revenue fell by 3% y-o-y in 2025, MENA-driven revenues rose by 39%. The same also applied on on B2B products, with MENA revenues growing at 23% — far outpacing the global growth rate of 16%.

And the US-Iran war is further fueling this trend: Kaspersky regional sales logged in a 32% growth in 1H this year, the firm’s regional director Toufic Derbass told industry outlet ITP earlier this month. The windfall comes as businesses and governments field unprecedented surge in cyber attacks amid heightened geopolitical volatility in the region.

Sweet on Benghazi

German engineering contractor BMA will build Libya’s first industrial-scale sugar production plant, according to the company’s statement. The Julyana Sugar Project, planned in Benghazi’s Juliana Freezone, is expected to be completed within 24 months and produce 2.5k tons of raw sugar per day. There is a lot we don’t know about the project. Details, like the contract value, financing, and commercial launch, were not disclosed. It is also not clear whether this is a government-backed project, or advanced by private Libyan investors. That is good news for Libya and bad news for sugar exporters in neighboring countries. Libya ranked as the world’s 24th top importer of raw sugar in 2024 at a USD 513 mn bill, which given its small market suggests major dependence on imports. The country imported most of its raw sugar needs from Brazil, India, and Morocco in 2024, with smaller volumes also coming from its neighbors Algeria, Tunisia, and Egypt, according to data from the Observatory of Economic Complexity. ZOOMING OUT- Benghazi, the center of the Haftar-led government that controls the east of the country, has been the site of bustling economic and investment activity with European and regional companies, including those from Italy, Germany, Egypt, and Turkey, signing contracting agreements for reconstruction projects, as well as investment in real estate, healthcare, and the steel industry.

Two clicks to Baghdad?

Syria and Iraq have agreed to digitally link their customs systems at border crossings, Syrian state news agency Sana reported. Restoring passenger traffic at the crossing will come next once the needed infrastructure rehabilitation is complete. Iraq and Syria have three official crossings: Al Qaim-Abu Kamal crossing (open since June 2025), as well as Al Tanf-Waleed and Yarubiyah-Rabia crossings, both reopened last April as Iraq rushed to move crude overland to Syrian ports as a reroute around Hormuz. Similarly, on the Turkish side of the border, five crossings are currently being upgraded to accommodate the growing trade flows, which are estimated at 17% y-o-y during the first seven months of 2026.

GO DEEPER- Syria was historically the shortest, cheapest, and busiest land bridge connecting trade flows between Europe and our region, but over a decade of conflict halted that, with Jordan emerging as the main beneficiary as an intermodal transit node. To dive deeper, check out our Lede from last March hashing out why Syria is well positioned to recapture these flows again after the end of the conflict and what hurdles may slow it down.