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Agriculture
October 2026 12 Oct — Oman Electricity and Energy Conference. Oman 15-17 Oct — Syria…
Bond windfall drives jump in Jordan pension fund income
PLUS: Aramco’s lithium plans advances with USD 200 mn Nesr deal to extract battery-grade carbonate…
Banque du Caire files weeks behind MNT-Halan, testing Egypt’s market depth
Plus: Airtel Money fell below its offer price on its first day in London
Kuwaiti banks pull half their deposits from the CBK in 9M 2026
Nearly all of the drop came after the CBK eased liquidity rules in March, and…
AI
MENA startups set a mega-round record in Q3 as the early-stage deal base thinned 45%
Three Gulf fintech rounds carried the quarter
Foreign carriers suspend Riyadh flights as Houthi airport strikes continue
The Houthis claimed four large-scale attacks on Saudi airports and Aramco facilities in 24 hours
GCC AI adoption surges on paper, but scaling past the pilot stays the hard part
The gap between experimenting and embedding is where data readiness, governance and workforce changes decide…
Automotive
Riyadh is pressing ahead with its events calendar
Good morning, friends. Saudi Arabia is pressing ahead with its marquee business calendar, even as…
October 2026 12 Oct — Oman Electricity and Energy Conference. Oman 15-17 Oct — Syria…
Iraq launches Future Generations Fund as part of USD 3 bn stimulus basket
Plus: Saudi Arabia is on course to produce more gas than it needs at home
Morocco lowers card interchange cap to boost acceptance at small merchants
Plus: Abu Dhabi agri players are making investments abroad
Banking
Steadright, Janus Henderson, and Ajialuna all fall behind schedule as Mubadala holds its pace
Plus: Oman now clears both FTSE Russell bars for an upgrade to secondary emerging
Nassib Ghobril named Banque du Liban chief economist
Plus: Vasilis Hadjiaslanis tapped as Middle East general manager for Deliveroo
Gulf debt issuance fell 17.5% in 3Q as higher rates bit
Issuers are holding out for better levels, but heavy order books and tight spreads show…
Qatar’s first North Field East LNG train to be ready in November to offset part of attack-hit LNG capacity
Shell has also partially restarted Pearl GTL
Commodities
Four days of Houthi strikes on Saudi airports kill three and ground hundreds of flights
Turkey has ruled out sending troops to help Saudi Arabia with its offensive against the…
Iraq devalues to fund its budget as a record of resets limits what it achieves
Baghdad has previously moved the IQD rate in both directions, which economists say tells the…
Two sets of barrels come off the market
Happy FRIDAY, ladies and gentlemen. Two sets of barrels came off the market this week,…
Construction
October 2026 12 Oct — Oman Electricity and Energy Conference. Oman 15 Oct — GCC…
Eagle Hills signs framework deal for Damascus and Latakia projects as Syria pledge advances
Plus: Jeddah Tower completion timeline pushed back
Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey court foreign capital as doors to regional markets widen
FTSE Russell has taken Egypt off the watchlist for demotion to frontier market
E-commerce
Algeria’s 2027 budget delivers the last tranche of Tebboune's salary-doubling pledge
The final tranche of raises, which are meant to double salaries from their 2022 starting…
Price pass-through splits the region as UAE and Saudi absorb what Egypt and Qatar can’t
Demand decided who could absorb record price increases
Egypt’s gold rush is early, uneven and years from a second major mine
Royalty cuts and a new bidding system drew the explorers in; a thin services base,…
Education
At the negotiating table
Good afternoon, friends. Doha is where this war is being negotiated this week. Qatar is…
October 2026 1-3 Oct — 4th International Energy Transition Fair. Tunisia. 3 Oct — National…
Adnoc-backed AIQ to deploy 1 mn AI cameras across an Indian oil major’s network in its biggest overseas push yet
PLUS: Iraq inks Huawei MoU for sovereign cloud buildout, with no visible US pushback
Regional markets build apparatus ahead of deployment as Qalaa secures debt waivers
Plus: Acumen Holding’s first fund opens to EGX investors
Energy
Morocco’s cars, planes, tourists, and the diaspora are bringing in more FCY, but the fuel bill is taking more out
The extra spending on energy imports alone outstrips what tourism and remittances added this year…
Yemen’s government launches Saudi-backed offensive against the Houthis as US builds up forces
Throughout the conflict with Iran, the US military has maintained a footprint of around 20…
Singapore’s Temasek will open its first Gulf offices in Abu Dhabi and Riyadh next year
One office follows the money already flowing. The other is more of a new bet
Finance
The IMF wants Lebanon’s Financial Gap Law to hold the line on hierarchy of claims, but the Central Bank wants carve-outs
The longer the standoff runs, the more the losses keep landing on depositors and taxpayers…
Moving the energy market
Good morning, wonderful people. We’re beginning the first full work week of 4Q 2026 with…
September 2026 30 Sep-3 Oct — Cityscape Egypt 2026. Egypt October 2026 1-3 Oct —…
Flydubai halts Tel Aviv routes after emergency landing and onboard altercation
Plus: Opec+ is expected to leave its production targets unchanged for November
Fintech
Syria begins work on the Arab Gas Pipeline stretch that would connect Jordan's border to Turkey’s
Plus: AfDB is covering nearly a third of Morocco’s 2030 World Cup airport expansion
Egypt’s biggest listing in years tests whether foreign buyers come back to the EGX
Plus: Paramount takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery is now set to close next Tuesday
Morocco gets its first woman prime minister
El Mansouri is now working on putting together a cabinet
MENA sovereign funds lose global ground as sovereign investors elsewhere speed up
Funds in the region have fallen behind the global average as SWFs in the rest…
Healthcare
Abu Dhabi’s L’imad is leading the Zero Hormuz push to route trade around the strait
EGA is also looking to ship aluminum from the UAE’s east coast
Saudi Arabia developing new oil pipeline to Oman's Duqm, bypassing Hormuz
The cross-peninsula route has been floated since the 1970s
The UAE’s domestic payments rails are in place, but the money hasn’t moved yet
The UAE has assembled a full-stack domestic payments system but whether it delivers the cheaper,…
Infrastructure
Three tankers hit in Hormuz as regional leaders talk de-escalation
Good afternoon, friends. We’re ending the week with a clear geopolitical theme, as three tankers…
September 2026 30 Sep-3 Oct — Cityscape Egypt 2026. Egypt October 2026 1-3 Oct —…
US troops leave Iraq after 20 years as analysts see gains for pro-Iran militias
Plus: QatarEnergy extends force majeure again
PIF and Malaysia's MRCB explore SAR 21 bn transit development at Makkah's King Salman Gate
Plus: Chinese battery maker Gotion High-Tech and Volkswagen’s battery arm PowerCo will build a EUR…
Hospitality + tourism
Two Eastern Desert explorers eye TSX listings
Plus: Tunisian battery maker’s Algerian arm heads to Algerian bourse
Aramco is engineering two new export corridors while Iraq eats a markdown to keep crude flowing
Some workarounds are working. What’s less clear is how long producers can afford to run…
Sabotage cuts Syrian gas again as Damascus builds a fuel transit business for Iraq
The transit fees and the domestic grid depend on the same eastern security situation that…
Lebanon hopes for IMF agreement as financial gap law becomes the last obstacle
A full IMFpackage hinges on parliament passing the financial gap law, but there’s no vote…
Manufacturing
A stack of residency incentives is turning Sultan Haitham City into the GCC’s most accessible foreign-buyer real estate market
Concerns over visa and asset safety are also pushing some UAE-based investors to Oman
The return of brotherly relations
Good afternoon, nice people. It’s the last day of the quarter, and we’re ending it…
September 2026 30 Sep-3 Oct — Cityscape Egypt 2026. Egypt October 2026 1-3 Oct —…
Media
Aramco is carving out a standalone gas unit that could eventually be minority-listed
Plus: Turkey’s planned USD 5.3 bn agrifood push picks up a bigger-than-planned World Bank cheque
African Bank of Oman mandated to scout projects in Angola’s flagship freezone
PLUS: Jordan’s Bank al Etihad heads to ADGM in a JV with Ethmar International, building…
BP’s four-well Egypt program straddles its pending USD 1 bn sale to Energean
Plus: Nawy is moving its retail property business inside a regulated fund
EBRD trims MENA growth on Hormuz and war, but lifts Morocco and Tunisia on the drought’s end
Egypt and Jordan take small hits but keep growing, while Iraq and Lebanon see their…
Mining
New CMA rules would put Saudi IPO banks on the hook for unsold shares, make bidders prove they have the dry powder
Banks would become genuine backstops rather than just facilitators of demand — something that is…
Iran insists on diplomacy as Trump rejects ceasefire proposal
Washington is also pushing to ground Iran’s entire fleet
GCC private schools came through the year better than feared, but Kuwait’s recovery is lagging
Single-gender Qatari demand is filling the seats expat families left behind. Kuwait has no equivalent…
NBFS
Guilty as charged
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. We begin the last week of September with a verdict…
September 2026 24 Sep — Central Bank of Egypt monetary policy decision. Egypt 30 Sep-3…
Tunisia faces steep economic losses and agricultural job cuts from unaddressed water scarcity, World Bank says
Plus: GCC, North Africa have USD 90 bn worth of hotels and resorts in the…
Tunisia taps AfDB for USD 110 mn to rehabilitate polluting Gabès chemical plants
Plus: Alibaba to expand UAE data centers in Europe and Middle East AI push
Oil + gas
Global asset managers deepen Gulf presence with new offices and bns in commitments
Plus: PIF is adding fixed income to the list of things it pays outsiders to…
Microsoft commits USD 10 bn to UAE, Saudi, Qatar and Kuwait cloud and AI infrastructure
The total price tag will be split among the countries, focusing on cloud and AI…
Bahrain’s interest bill now tops this year’s maturities as the Iran war guts its oil revenue
Bahrain spent USD 2.8 bn servicing its debt in 2025, or 37% of revenue, and…
Lebanon scraps import fee hike weeks after introducing it amid price pressures
The scrapped fees come despite Beirut’s fiscal position deteriorating
Private equity
US-Iran talks weigh sequenced Hormuz reopening as Iranian flights are scrapped
Neither the US nor Iran want to cede first, and a similar June understanding collapsed…
How Saudi EXIM is forward-positioning to shield industry from Gulf shipping shocks
Saudi EXIM’s reinsurance buildout predates the Iran war but carries new weight as the cost…
Some spats are cooling off
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. The price of the war is being negotiated in two…
Real estate
September 2026 23 Sep — National Day (public holiday, markets closed). Saudi Arabia 23 Sep…
Iraq’s Al Zaidi sets militia disarmament deadline to July 2027 as talks with armed factions drag on
PLUS: Jordan sets 30 September deadline for irregular foreign workers to regularize or face deportation
Omantel taps Kaspersky as a locally-hosted partner as region becomes biggest market for Russian cybersecurity vendor
PLUS: Germany's BMA to build Libya’s first industrial-scale sugar plant in Benghazi
Qatar borrows at a war premium while QIA invests as if there’s none
QIA spent the same week committing USD 20 bn to JP Morgan and clearing the…
SMEs
US pitches USD 10 bn Gulf reconstruction fund as Qatar pushes back on the “worthless Hormuz” thesis
US’ Bessent says Hormuz will be worthless in two years. Qatar’s Kaabi says it will…
Oil carried Oman’s GDP growth in 1H, but construction, hospitality, and transport all shrank in real terms
FDI fell 44%, and three-quarters of what came in went to oil and gas
Qatar sizes its domestic investments target for the next five years at USD 61 bn
This is the second GCC sovereign to carve out a domestic-focused vehicle this year
Iran signals it could reopen Hormuz within a week as UN diplomacy inches forward
Plus: Saudi Arabia secured limited British refueling support and a French offer to help secure…
Sports
Oman is building tourism supply and demand together as it courts a different tourist demographic
Oman’s tourism pipeline has OMR bns in projects designed to set it apart from the…
Events calendar back in question
Good afternoon friends, and happy hump day. The season’s events calendar is back in question…
September 2026 23 Sep — National Day (public holiday, markets closed). Saudi Arabia 23 Sep…
Telecoms
Jordan’s tourism sector may be in recovery, but Westerners and Jordanian expats still aren’t coming back
Plus: Qatari Diar’s USD 29.7 bn Alam Al Roum becomes the second Gulf sovereign real…
Qatar readies privatization pipeline as Doha Investment takes control of 45 state firms
Plus: Nassef Sawiris opens EUR 4.10 cash offer as OCI-Orascom merger hinges on tender
Saudi Arabia steps back from cross-border digital currency project
SAMA said it completed its mBridge proof of concept in May 2025 and has not…
Lebanon raises bread prices as fuel costs pile pressure on MENA’s net energy importers
Net energy importers from Beirut to Cairo are running out of room to absorb fuel-price…
Tech
Houthi strikes hit Saudi cities as Riyadh draws China, Pakistan and Turkey into the fray
Beijing asked Tehran to help rein in the Houthis as it looks to keep the…
How the UAE drew the line on tokenized assets, and why it matters for the rest of the region
A tokenized sukuk is a security. A tokenized apartment might not be
Passing the simulated target
The UN General Assembly’s high-level week kicks off tomorrow
Trade + logistics
September 2026 23 Sep — National Day (public holiday, markets closed). Saudi Arabia 23 Sep…
IMF wants independent administrators running Lebanese banks during losses assessment, but Beirut is hesitant
PLUS: UAE lobbies to come off travel warning lists as Dubai tourism posts its sharpest…
Morocco’s water security and Oman’s Yiti sustainable city pick up USD 190 mn from OPEC Fund
Plus: EBRD backs Iraqi trade finance and Moroccan energy-efficiency lending with matching EUR 25 mn…
Turkey’s regulator readies rescue as regulatory crackdown drives investment funds’ meltdown
A late August regulatory rewrite triggered by an MSCI warning on concentrated fund positions has…
Transport
Three Gulf and Egyptian buyers with a foot in the door finish their acquisitions this week
Plus: L’imad is mulling bidding for a stake in Atlas Air Worldwide
Two Saudi agreements accounted for a fifth of the USD 1.8 bn signed at Syria’s Imar
Roads, cement, and water dominated the signings — while the UAE’s Dnata and a Saudi-backed…
Jordan locks in zero-tariff US access for 60% of its exports as Amman shops for more trade partners
Apparel, pharma, and fertilizers retain full exemption
Iraq looks to end reliance on Hormuz and Iranian gas with pipelines and new power generation projects
An agreement with Siemens covers combined-cycle and thermal plants burning fuel sources available in Iraq