Al Khayyat family eyes major African infrastructure projects

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Al Khayyats want more African infrastructure: Qatar’s Al Khayyat family-owned Power International Holding (PIH) is bidding for Ethiopia’s planned USD 12.5 bn airport — set to be Africa’s biggest aviation hub — and a 400 km highway project in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The move comes as “Africa is becoming a much larger percentage of our business,” PIH subsidiary UCC Holding Group CEO Boyd Merrett tells Bloomberg.

Egypt’s Finance Ministry is adding small businesses and startups to its tax and customs “white list” — a new classification that grants qualifying companies expedited customs clearance, accelerated tax refunds, and access to the customs green lane, a government official tells EnterpriseAM. Eligible businesses must be “compliant with tax regulations and enrolled under the simplified tax regime,” the source adds.

What is the white list, anyway? The white list is a roster of trusted companies with clean operational records and no history of smuggling or customs value manipulation. The government is expanding the previously limited roster to support local investments and boost corporate liquidity through perks like doubled immediate VAT refunds. The list may expand again during a potential second phase, with disbursements tied to performance-based criteria, we’re told.

Sign of the times

The UAE and Saudi Arabia trimmed their US Treasury bond holdings in March, joining a long roster of sovereigns that cut their exposure to the US during the war. Saudi holdings fell 6.7% to USD 149.6 bn, whereas the UAE saw its bond holdings decrease 4.9% to USD 114.1 bn, the Arabic press reports.

Still, this isn’t a wholesale reduction in exposure. Both Saudi and the UAE maintained higher bond holdings on a yearly basis, with their combined wallet recording USD 263.7 bn in March 2026, compared to USD 235.9 bn in the same month in 2025.