The accidental energy issue

1

OPENING NOTE

Is Israel running an op on the US press?

Good morning, wonderful people, and welcome back from Eid. What type of morning is it? Let’s put it this way: Aramco boss Amin Nasser is backing out of global energy extravaganza CERAweek and Donald Trump is sending 2k paratroopers to the region. This is fine.

Energy is the big theme in this morning’s edition, which should surprise exactly none of you as Egypt braces for rolling blackouts and Saudi recons with the reality that high oil prices are only great as long as there’s demand for oil in volume.

MEANWHILE- Is Israel running an op on the US press? Longtime readers know we’re not much for conspiracy theories, but a drumbeat of stories in major US outlets reeks of a calculated bid by Tel Aviv to pull Saudi Arabia into the war on Iran. Witness the New York Times (MbS is pushing Trump to step up the war?) and the Wall Street Journal (Saudi will let the US use its bases for attacks?).

Why stop at Saudi? Axios’ Barak Ravid has the UAE lining up to start pounding Iran, too.

A PALATE CLEANSER for you from the Dept. of Schadenfreude: OpenAI says it’s shutting down its Sora video-generation / social media app after just six months. “What you made with Sora mattered,” it adds. Uhm … not so much? –Patrick

Good news, bad news

Oil could be on its way into “uncharted territory” — and it may not be good news for Saudi Arabia, prompting the government to reportedly model a worst-case scenario that assumes oil at USD 180 / bbl amid persistent disruptions.

Higher oil prices could be a short-term boon for the kingdom’s balance sheet, as it will be able to export well over half the pre-war levels. “If the oil price averages over USD 140 / bbl, then it’s a net benefit,” Gulf analyst at GlobalPartners Justin Alexander tells EnterpriseAM.

It’s all about how long the Hormuz closure is going to last. “I don’t think USD 150 is out of the question in another month […] You start talking about June, I’ll give you USD 180,” CIBC Private Wealth Senior Energy Trader Rebecca Babin told the Journal.

But the favorable impact would be short-lived. Saudi officials are reportedly concerned the volatility could tip the global economy into recession or trigger a lasting demand hit as consumers cut back. For the medium term, Alexander anticipates higher prices for a longer period, driven by the risk premium and reduced global reserves.

AND- Surging oil means the end of cheap energy and factory inputs, Wolfgang Lehmacher, former head of supply chain and transport industries at the World Economic Forum, tells EnterpriseAM. “A probable USD 8-12 / gallon gas price kills spending and spurs electric cars. Gulf aluminum plants will close without shipping from Hormuz. World trade growth will slow as costs soar,” he added.

IN CONTEXT- Saudi Arabia has cut output by some 2 mn bbl / d since the closure of Hormuz last month, with Saudi Aramco’s CEO Amin Nasser raising alarm bells over “the biggest crisis the region’s oil and gas industry has faced.” The ongoing conflict has already withheld mns of barrels from the global supply, with prices doubling since the war began last month. This could all be exacerbated by the destruction of energy infrastructure on both sides of the war, particularly as Riyadh’s alternative oil export route was already targeted right before Eid.

Pricing tightrope: Aramco is trying to price crude accurately while preventing global consumers from putting their pencils down and slashing oil use for good. The company has already cut its crude supply to Asian buyers for April for a second month running.

What’s next?

All eyes are on 2 April, when Aramco is due to release its net official selling prices. Until then, modelers are racing to identify the breaking point — the price at which gasoline demand starts to collapse and industrial activity becomes uneconomic.

Supply crunch ahead? Saudi light crude is being offloaded to Asian purchasers via Yanbu port for around USD 125 / bbl. We’re expecting to see physical shortage weigh heavier next week, as extra oil in storage –– a portion of which was shipped out of the Gulf prior to the war –– is used up.

Brace, brace, brace…

The worst energy market disruption in history is now hitting the real economy — and governments across our region are scrambling to contain the fallout. The International Energy Agency (IEA) is already calling this the largest disruption in oil market history. For countries already struggling with big import bills — hello, Morocco and Egypt — that means inflation and a hit to industrial output. Qatar’s coffers, meanwhile, could suffer up to USD 20 bn in annual losses from a 17% loss in LNG export capacity.

Governments dependent on energy imports are pushing policies to soften the blow for consumers, with Morocco announcing a subsidy for the transportation sector and Egypt taking its first step toward energy rationing.

Morocco turns to its crisis playbook: Morocco is rolling out a portal that allows transportation players to apply for subsidies rather than adopting direct consumer subsidies. It’s the third time in six years that Rabat deployed a similar program to prevent a hike in freight and public transit rates. By subsidizing everything from city taxis and rural transit to freight trucks and tourism fleets, the state is betting that the subsidies can prevent inflation’s domino effect from reaching consumer goods prices.

While the portal is now live, the real test is the speed of delivery. If cash doesn’t hit bank accounts as fast as price hikes hit the pumps, the cushion the government is promising may prove too thin to stop a spike in the cost of living.

Egypt leans on austerity: A new round of austerity measures will come into effect starting Saturday, 28 March, as the government attempts to contain a ballooning energy bill without triggering a new wave of inflation. The measures include earlier closing hours for stores and restaurants, reduced public lighting, a shutdown of government buildings in the new capital after work hours, and a temporary slowdown in diesel-intensive projects.

The rationale: Instead of passing through higher global energy costs to consumers, it is effectively shifting the adjustment onto operating hours, public consumption, and business activity. That helps shield households in the short term but places immediate pressure on sectors like retail, hospitality, and entertainment that rely heavily on evening demand. The impact on employment could be grim if the measures stay in place for any length of time.

Where the disruption is coming from

Where things stand: Saudi Aramco has cut crude oil supply to Asian buyers for April. Iraq cut down over 70% of its oil production in Basra, and Kuwait slashed its own by more than half. Meanwhile, Qatar has lost some 17% of its production for up to five years.

Compounding the uncertainty, Iran is saying the oil from which the US has lifted sanctionsdoes not exist. (US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had said last week that the US would temporarily lift sanctions to allow the sale of 140 mn barrels of Iranian oil stranded at sea as part of Washington’s bid to tamp-down oil prices.)

Without a swift resolution to the conflict, reserves risk becoming little more than a stopgap — even if the plan to release hundreds of mns of barrels could be executed in less than six months (which it can’t).

Grim outlook for natural gas

The global natural gas supply chains are even more exposed than oil, with fewer alternative routes, lower storage capacity, and facilities that are more expensive and complex to repair.

Long-lasting damage: Repairs to Qatar’s LNG facilities after this month’s missile strikes could take up to five years, Mees reports. Two liquefaction trains — roughly 12.8 mtpa, or 17% of Qatar’s LNG capacity — have been knocked offline, forcing QatarEnergy to declare force majeure on long-term contracts with buyers in Europe and Asia, QatarEnergy’s CEO Saad Al Kaabi told Reuters.

This comes as lost volumes from Hormuz’s shipping halt mount — with each month of disruption removing around 1.5% from annual global LNG availability, intensifying competition for a shrinking pool of flexible supply.

The search for alternatives — and their limits

West Africa is the fastest external option, but it only solves part of the problem. Nigeria has lifted output to about 1.7 mn bbl / d and is pitching itself as a diversification partner. Nigerian and Angolan grades could also see stronger East-of-Suez demand as buyers hunt for light sweet alternatives.

But there’s the catch: “West Africa is short on spare capacity,” Ruaraidh Montgomery, head of energy trends and analysis at Welligence Energy, tells EnterpriseAM.

Brazil is one of the few non-Opec producers big enough to matter — but not enough to cover a global energy shock. Output is forecast to average 4 mn bbl / d in 2026. The catch: Brazilian barrels take longer to reach Asia, and cargo offers into China have already jumped to USD 13-14 above Brent, showing that replacement supply exists but gets expensive once Asian buyers start chasing it.

And the crude isn’t a perfect match: Much of it is lighter than the medium-sour Gulf grades many refiners are built for. On top of that, Brazil’s growth is already baked into market expectations — meaning it doesn’t offer a fresh pool of emergency barrels, Montgomery added

This is where Moscow comes in: Russia is emerging as the market’s most usable emergency fallback for Asia, with its medium-sour grades and already flowing barrels that can be redirected faster than new supply can be developed.

No off-ramp… so far

The long weekend was marked with infrastructure attacks, more attempts to reopen (or muscle through) the Strait of Hormuz, and mismatched diplomacy signals.

The state of diplomatic play remains up in the air, as the Pentagon is reportedly expectedto dispatch thousands of soldiers to the region and potentially inside Iranian territory. The reports come as mediators from Egypt, Turkey, and Pakistan want to set up talks between the US and Iran by Thursday, though a diplomatic divide remains between Washington and Tehran. Meanwhile, resolutions are under discussion at the UN Security Council over commercial shipping activity and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, with Bahrain hoping to push for UN-backed action.

While Hormuz remains largely closed, Tehran has begun hand-picking which vessels — and which countries — can pass. Iran is shifting from a total blockade of Hormuz to a mode of selective transit, with at least three vessels struck while attempting to pass through the strait over the long weekend. These attacks have forced ships to “hug” Iran’s coast while transiting, which allows Iran to use visual identification in lieu of radar stations knocked out by US strikes.

Who’s been able to get through: Vessels from India, Pakistan, and Greece, alongside Iran's own oil fleet, have been tracked taking unusual routes around Larak Island to navigate the strait. At least nine Chinese Cosco-linked tankers are currently amassing north of Abu Dhabi, likely awaiting cleared passage given Beijing’s role as the primary buyer of Iranian oil. Iran’s Foreign Minister has signaled readiness to let Japanese-related vessels pass following direct talks with Tokyo.

Iran is soft launching a new pay-to-play model: For those not on the list of enemy-linked vessels, passage now could carry a steep USD 2 mn transit fee per vessel — a move Iranian lawmakers say reflects a new concept of sovereignty for Iran.

The aviation industry is still scrambling

Global airlines are continuing to avoid the region. European carriers extended suspensions of flights well into the summer, and in some cases even later than that. Lufthansa Group airlines — including Lufthansa, SWISS, and Austrian — suspended flights to Dubai until 31 May, and Abu Dhabi until 24 October. Other airlines that have made similar moves include KLM, Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines, and British Airways.

Regional carriers that faced near-zero occupancy in the first days of the war are beginning to pick up again, although with different strategies and mixed results. Some airlines are doubling down on domestic routes and others are moving their operations to neighboring countries to keep their fleets moving. Some carriers, meanwhile, are hitting a (temporary, partial) pause: Qatar Airways is reportedly parking several planes in Spain as they remain out of use and the airline is one of many “looking for safer places to park their planes.”

SWFs are keeping busy

Gulf sovereign capital didn’t take an Eid break: The region’s big funds were busy while the markets were closed. Mubadala booked a 17x exit on an AI cooling play, Savvy Games wrote a USD 6 bn check for Southeast Asian gaming, Aramco tapped Citi to sell a chunk of its midstream infrastructure, and ADIA quietly moved into European bank capital relief. Add a Pax Silica-linked critical minerals fund, a Saudi delivery unicorn testing IPO waters mid-war, and a new SAR 4.5 bn bet on the Holy Cities — and it’s clear the deal pipeline barely blinked.

The one worry: Wall Street is getting tense about the health of the private credit market, where Gulf SWFs are big players. We’ll be watching this space in the weeks ahead.

Who’s exposed? Everyone. ADIA is just the latest, launching over the break a significant risk transfer (SRT) fund with London’s Christofferson Robb & Company and taking a participating stake in the manager. But at least it’s not in the US: The move gives Abu Dhabi’s biggest sovereign wealth fund a direct entry point into the regulatory-heavy world of European bank capital relief — a shift from vanilla corporate and real estate lending toward more complex credit protection for performing EU bank portfolios.

Mubadala and KKR just booked one of the sovereign wealth world’s most eye-popping exits. The pair sold Canada’s CoolIT Systems to US water giant Ecolab for USD 4.8 bn — roughly 17x what they paid for the liquid cooling specialist just three years ago. CoolIT sits at the exact bottleneck of the moment: It keeps AI data centers cool. Mubadala and KKR bought in at USD 270 mn in 2023, rode the global data center build-out to peak valuation, and got out.

Our take: With concerns about a possible bubble in the AI infrastructure buildout amid all the overlapping circular deals, this one could wind up looking particularly prescient…

SPEAK OF Mubadala… The fund joined SoftBank and Singapore’s Temasek in a US-led investment fund to shore up critical mineral and energy supply chains, with Washington kickstarting the vehicle with a USD 250 mn commitment. The fund sits under the Pax Silica framework and targets rare earth and mineral security at a moment when the regional war has doubled helium prices. It’s sovereign capital being deployed to hard-wire the logistics and mineral networks underwriting next-gen AI compute.

PIF’s gaming arm is writing another big check. Savvy Games Group is acquiring Istanbul-based mobile studio Moonton from China’s ByteDance for USD 6 bn — a 50% premium over what the TikTok parent paid in 2021. The deal brings Mobile Legends: Bang Bang and its 1.5 bn installs under the Saudi umbrella, giving Savvy a dominant beachhead in Southeast Asia. Current management stays on, according to an internal memo from Moonton CEO Zhang Yunfan. Moonton joins a portfolio that already includes Scopely (Monopoly Go), Niantic’s gaming division (Pokémon Go), and esports giant ESL Faceit. Separately, Saudi’s Electronic Gaming Development Company picked up a 5.03% stake in Japan's Capcom — PIF already held 5% before the transaction.

ALSO IN SAUDI- Saudi Aramco is moving forward with the sale of a USD multi-bn stake in its oil export and storage terminals, a deal that could fetch over USD 10 bn, with Citi advising. The timing is deliberate: Aramco is signaling business-as-usual even as it reroutes crude through its East-West pipeline to bypass the Hormuz chokepoint. Shoring up the balance sheet given what’s happening in the region right now is a smart move.

Private-sector moves

Ninja, the Saudi quick-delivery unicorn, is testing IPO waters despite the war. The four-year-old startup has been gauging investor appetite for a Tadawul main market listing in late 2026 or early 2027, Bloomberg reports, with executives meeting investors in London this month and banks being selected. Ninja logged USD 1 bn in revenue last year and is targeting USD 1.6 bn in 2026. It claimed a USD 1.5 bn valuation in last July’s Riyad Capital-led round. A private raise remains the fallback if volatility persists, the report claims. Tadawul has held up better than most regional bourses since the conflict started, with strong oil prices propping up energy heavyweights.

Arabian Dyar and Al Rajhi Capital are launching anSAR 4.5 bn real estate fund targeting residential and hospitality projects in Makkah and Madinah — a bet on what Arabian Dyar CEO Naif Alatawi calls investment destinations that “have stood there for centuries.” The fund could eventually deploy up to SAR 20 bn to meet demand from non-Saudi Muslims now eligible to own property in the Holy Cities under last January’s Real Estate Foreign Ownership Law. Dyar is already working on SAR 10 bn worth of projects in Makkah’s Masar district. “Prices could hit SAR 50k per sqm when the market opens,” Alatawi told Bloomberg.

ALSO WORTH KNOWING TODAY

Borouge Group International has taken control of Borouge, completing its acquisition of a 54% stake from Adnoc and 36% from Borealis to bring total ownership to 90%, according to an ADX disclosure. The move locks in control ahead of the broader Adnoc-OMV polyolefins mega-merger — a c. USD 60 bn platform combining Borouge, Borealis, and Nova Chemicals — which is on track to close before month-end.

Rakbank has wrapped up the sale of its merchant acquiring business to Network International for AED 551 mn, according to a press release. Network International will onboard Rakbank’s c. 5k merchants over 6-8 months and offer its payment solutions to the bank’s clients. The deal was first reported last November and still needs regulatory approval.

Qualiphi acquired Career Club from iCareer in a six-figure USD deal to build what it calls the region’s first Arabic-first career services ecosystem. The platform serves 500k students across 40 Egyptian public universities and 7k in the Gulf, with plans to onboard 15 more Egyptian universities and expand into two additional Gulf markets this year.

Market Snapshot

Tadawul flat • ADX +1.1% • DFM +1.6% • EGX30 -1.4%

Brent USD 104.49 / bbl · Gold USD 4,514 / oz · USD / SAR 3.7502 · USD / EGP 52.63

The cancellations continue

Also canceled…

#1- Saudi’s Leap tech conference has been pushed to August, moving from its original April slot as regional conflict continues to disrupt the international events calendar. Organizers confirmed the shift follows a rethink of the logistics required to ensure the high-level global participation the kingdom’s flagship tech show demands.

#2- Abu Dhabi’s highly anticipated Offlimits Music ‌Festival has been postponed to November. The festival, headlined by Shakira and the Jonas Brothers, was initially set to happen on 4 April.

The festival pushback adds to a growing list of events that have been delayed due to the ongoing war. The International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions pushed back its Expo Middle East, and London-based Informa has delayed events for over 10 brands.

De-risking Syria

Germany is pushing the EU to follow Saudi’s lead in de-risking doing business in Syria, proposing that the European Commission resume the European Investment Bank’s (EIB) operations in Syria, with a pitch focused on the textile and agrifood sectors.

Why it matters: The German pitch signals a harder push towards economic normalization with Syria that goes beyond just lifting sanctions. As a conservative multilateral lender, the EIB’s entry could provide a compliance cover for private capital still wary of entering Syria, potentially forcing a broader recalculation of the Syria risk premium.

Mawani’s new corridor

UAE, Saudi expand trade routes amid Hormuz risk: The Saudi Port Authority (Mawani) opened a new sea-land logistics corridor between UAE’s Sharjah and Saudi Arabia’s Dammam.

Mawani also added five new maritime shipping services. The new lines are Gulf Shuttle, Redex, jade, AE19, and SE4 services with MSC, CMA CGM, Maersk, and Hapag-Lloyd — adding a combined capacity of 65.6k TEUs across routes linking Saudi ports with regional and global destinations.

Still flowing

Blockchain platform Tether led a USD 7.5 mn seed round for UAE blockchain infrastructure startupUtexo, which is building the APIs and software that let digital wallets and payment companies process stablecoin transactions without overhauling legacy systems, according to a press release. Franklin Templeton, Big Brain Holdings, Portal Ventures, Maven 11 Capital, and Fulgur Ventures also participated.

The timing tracks: The CBUAE recently approved its first licensed stablecoin as a payment method across federal entities, IHC / ADQ / FAB are developing a regulated AED token, and Tether itself has an AED-pegged stablecoin in the pipeline through a partnership with Phoenix Group.

Syria-based proptech startup Miftah secured an undisclosed sum in a pre-seed funding round ahead of its official market launch. The startup is building a digital real estate marketplace focused on identity verification and will use the capital to accelerate product development and rollout.

The Giga-scaleback continues

SIGN OF THE TIMES: Giga scaleback continues… Saudi Arabia terminated a USD 1 bn tunneling contract for Neom’s The Line, the futuristic linear city that has been among the most drastically rescaled ventures in the wholesale recalibration of Saudi gigaprojects.

The termination impacts projects that were awarded in 2022 to a consortium composed of Hyundai E&C, Greece-based Archirodon, and Samsung C&T. Hyundai E&C, which was awarded more than half the value of the contract, said in a market filing that the deal was terminated back in December and that settlement was finalized.

IN CONTEXT- Lower-than-expected oil prices and foreign direct investments were among the main drivers for the massive rescoping of Saudi Arabia’s USD tn gigaprojects — and the lingering Iran war could further pressure the country’s capital inflows.

Watch this space

UAE authorities could be offering greater tax leniency to expats who have left the country due to the ongoing regional war, the Financial Times reports, citing people with knowledge of the plan. The Federal Tax Authority (FTA) is now expected to review residency applications on a case-by-case basis for those whose travel or stay has been disrupted by the war, showing more leniency on the requirement for residents to spend 183 days in a year (or 90 days for those who are employed or own a home in the UAE)

Why it matters: Many high-net-worth individuals who fled when the conflict began on February 28 risk losing their tax-exempt status. If these residents are forced to pay taxes in their home jurisdictions (like the UK), the UAE risks a permanent exodus of capital and talent.

Will firms who head for the hills be shown the same consideration? Hedge fund Millennium will likely be hoping so if it goes through with its plan to relocate to Jersey.

Will 2026 be Syria’s comeback year? Syrian President Ahmed Al Sharaa thinks so, with a doubled budget and growth projected at some 30-35% to bring GDP back to pre-2011 levels around USD 65 bn. Sharaa also pledged a 50% hike in salaries during his Eid Al Fitr address (watch, runtime: 13:31).

Take these numbers with a grain of salt… The announced budget of USD 10.5 bn is almost double what the Finance Minister previously signaled two months ago, and a 35% growth rate won’t translate into a GDP of USD 65 bn. With a GDP of some USD 21 bn in 2024, hitting the pre-war levels would require growth to hit 111%.

What’s Sharaa’s math? The methodology here isn’t clear, but these could be adjusted projections based on new income streams after the central government regained control of previously autonomous, oil-rich territories in the north and the east.

Marsa Maroc plots MAD 21 bn expansion: Morocco's port operator Marsa Maroc is planning to invest nearly MAD 21 bn in port expansion projects through 2030 after closing 2025 with 16% increase in revenue to MAD 5.8 bn, and 25% surge in net income to MAD 1.6 bn.

Why it matters:The investment plan is meant to reinforce the group’s ambition to rank among the region’s leading port operators by the end of the decade, which is part of a MAD 4.4 bn investment plan that aims to modernize and expand port capacity at the port of Casablanca and Jorf Lasfar, according to the group’s annual financial release (pdf).

Pipeline dreams? Australia’s investment group Macquarie reportedly pulled out its bid for the USD 7 bn stake in Kuwait Petroleum Corporation’s (KPC) crude oil pipeline network due to uncertainty caused by the Iran war. Still, Kuwait is reportedly courting investors and is seeking binding offers by 7 April, sources told Reuters on Friday.

Why it matters:Macquarie’s change of heart is another sign that the war is shaking investor confidence in what are otherwise historically considered reliable assets in the GCC. If other investors follow suit, Kuwait’s latecoming diversification push could be thrown into question, as funds from the stake sale are expected to contribute a big chunk to its USD 65 bn investment plan.

Catch up quick

Central banks moved in rare unison last week, keeping interest rates on hold as regional volatility clouded the global outlook.The US Federal Reserve led the pack, holding rates at 3.50–3.75% and citing “solid” economic activity tempered by "elevated uncertainty" from the conflict in the Middle East. The Central Bank of the UAE, Saudi’s Sama, the Central Bank of Bahrain, and other GCC central banks followed suit. Similarly, the Bank of England, the Bank of Japan, and the European Central Bank all left rates unchanged.

The outlier: Russia bucked the global hold trend, cutting its key rate by 50 bps to 15.0%. The move — the seventh cut since rates peaked at 21% in 2024 — comes as domestic inflation cools and a temporary easing of US sanctions on Russian oil provides some breathing room.

CALENDAR

March 2026

30 March — Egypt International Energy Conference and Exhibition begins (through 1 April). Egypt

31 March — Saudi Aramco ex-dividend date. Saudi Arabia

April 2026

2 Apr — Central Bank of Egypt monetary policy decision. Egypt

5 Apr — OPEC+ ministerial meeting. Vienna (virtual)

9 Apr — Martyrs’ Day (public holiday, markets closed). Tunisia

9 Apr — Liberation Day (public holiday, markets closed). Iraq

13 Apr — IMF / World Bank spring meetings begin (through 18 Apr). Washington (virtual)

14 Apr — QNB 1Q 2026 earnings guidance. Qatar

15 Apr — 2Q IPO listing window opens. Region-wide

25 Apr — Sinai Liberation Day (public holiday, markets closed). Egypt

28-29 Apr — US Federal Reserve Open Market Committee meeting.

28 Apr-1 May — Syria HiTech International ICT Exhibition. Damascus, Syria

May 2026

12 May — Qatar Economic Forum (through 14 May). Qatar

21 May — Central Bank of Egypt monetary policy decision. Egypt

25 May — Independence Day (public holiday, markets closed). Jordan

27-30 May — Eid Al Adha (public holiday, markets closed). Region-wide

28 May — Saudi Aramco ex-dividend date. Saudi Arabia

June 2026

7 June — OPEC+ ministerial meeting. Vienna/Virtual

9 June — King Abdullah II Accession Day (public holiday, markets closed). Jordan

10–14 June — Syria Buildex International Construction Exhibition. Syria

16-17 June — US Federal Reserve Open Market Committee meeting.

July 2026

5 July — Independence Day (public holiday, markets closed). Algeria

9 July — Central Bank of Egypt monetary policy decision. Egypt

14 July — Republic Day (public holiday, markets closed). Iraq

23 July — Revolution Day (public holiday, markets closed). Egypt

25 July — Republic Day (public holiday, markets closed). Tunisia

28-29 July — US Federal Reserve Open Market Committee meeting.

30 July — Throne Day (public holiday, markets closed). Morocco

August 2026

13 Aug — Women’s National Day. Tunisia

20 Aug — Revolution of the King and the People Day (public holiday, markets closed). Morocco

20 Aug — Central Bank of Egypt monetary policy decision. Egypt

21 Aug — Youth Day (public holiday, markets closed). Morocco

25 Aug — Prophet’s Birthday (public holiday, markets closed) — TBD. Region-wide

31 Aug-3 Sep — LEAP technology conference. Saudi Arabia

September 2026

7-9 Sep — AIM Congress. UAE

15-16 Sep — US Federal Reserve Open Market Committee meeting.

15 Sep — IMF’s eighth review of Egypt’s USD 8 bn EFF arrangement. Egypt

16-17 Sep — Middle East Banking Innovation Summit. UAE

23 Sep — National Day (public holiday, markets closed). Saudi Arabia

24 Sep — Central Bank of Egypt monetary policy decision. Egypt

30 Sep-3 Oct — Cityscape Egypt 2026. Egypt

October 2026

3 Oct — National Day (public holiday, markets closed). Iraq

6 Oct — Armed Forces Day (public holiday, markets closed). Egypt

15 Oct — GCC Made in the Gulf Forum + Exhibition. TBD

25 Oct — Liberation Day (public holiday, markets closed). Libya

25-27 Oct — World Investment Forum 2026. Qatar

26-29 Oct — Future Investment Initiative. Saudi Arabia

27-28 Oct — US Federal Reserve Open Market Committee meeting.

29 Oct — Central Bank of Egypt monetary policy decision. Egypt

November 2026

1 Nov — Revolution Anniversary (public holiday, markets closed). Algeria

2 Nov — Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition + Conference (ADIPEC) opens (through 5 Nov). UAE

6 Nov — Green March Anniversary (public holiday, markets closed). Morocco

16 Nov — Cityscape Global begins (through 19 Nov). Saudi Arabia

December 2026

17 Dec — Central Bank of Egypt monetary policy decision. Egypt

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