Good morning, friends, and Merry Christmas to all of you who are celebrating. While the Christmas news slowdown continues to take hold, a mini debt rush is taking shape as we near the end of the year.

ADQ raised what, to our knowledge, is its biggest loan yet from investors from across Greater China — marking the third facility this week raised by an Emirati player and funded by Asian investors. Meanwhile, United Arab Bank locked in AED 1 bn in funding, half of which was shariah-compliant.

ALSO- Amea Power secured funding for its solar plant in Côte d’Ivoire. Without further ado…

PSA

WEATHER- We have a somewhat cloudy day ahead of us, with the mercury reaching a warm 26°C and a low of 18°C in Dubai, and 25°C along with a low of 17°C in Abu Dhabi.

Watch this space

OPEN FINANCE — CBD becomes the first bank to adopt open finance: Retail customers at Commercial Bank of Dubai (CBD) can now link their current and savings accounts to third-party applications to share financial information and make payments under the UAE’s open finance framework, according to a press release.

Why it matters: While the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) has been clearing fintechs to operate for months, the system required a major bank to actually open its books for the framework to function at scale. CBD’s move effectively ends the pilot period, which started after the CBUAE introduced its regulatory framework for open finance earlier this year.

What’s next? More banks and fintechs should start being onboarded over the next few months, as banks look to integrate with the CBUAE’s API hub, Nebras, and align with the new standards ahead of the 16 September 2026 deadline set by the CBUAE.

BLOCKCHAIN — ADI Foundation plans to bring blockchain payments to Africa through M-Pesa: ADI Foundation, which is the digital arm of IHC’s Sirius International Holding, signed an MoU with mobile money platform M-Pesa to scale its blockchain infrastructure in Africa, targeting M-Pesa’s more than 60 mn users across eight countries, Semafor reports.

The blockchain is designed to support international payments and includes a digital identity system and energy trading component. It is set to launch a stablecoin in 2026, aimed at facilitating cross-border transactions for companies operating in Abu Dhabi.

The target? The blockchain infrastructure provider aims to reach 1 bn users globally by 2030, targeting large-scale financial inclusion in emerging markets, an executive involved in the project told the outlet.

Why this matters: The initiative is part of Abu Dhabi’s broader plan to bolster economic ties with Africa, where users are pivoting toward crypto to hedge against currency volatility and bypass relatively slow traditional financial infrastructure. Stablecoins are also increasingly being used to facilitate high-value trade transactions between Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, according to data picked up by Semafor from blockchain data analytics firm Chainalysis.

TRADE — Galvanized wire from Egypt and the UAE will now face anti-dumping duties in Morocco after the country’s Industry and Commerce Ministry imposed provisional levies, escalating a trade dispute that threatens to fragment some regional supply chains. In the decision (pdf), Rabat levied duties of up to 52.7% on UAE-based exporters, with the exception of Al Khaleej Steel Industries, whose exports will face a 23.1% rate after it cooperated with investigators. The ministry cited “sustained price undercutting” that has eroded the market share of local players.

This adds to a list of anti-dumping steel duties imposed on the UAE: The US also imposed anti-dumping duties of up to 16.4% on corrosion-resistant steel coming from the UAE, following a years-long probe.

Happening tomorrow

UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan will land in Pakistan tomorrow to discuss bilateral ties with the country’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Arab News reports. Talks will cover regional issues and boost cooperation with Islamabad across key sectors including trade, investment, energy, and development.

In context: Islamabad is reportedly the UAE’s third-largest trading partner after China and the US. The UAE is also a major investor in Pakistan, with investments from the likes of AD Ports’ in the country’s infrastructure, and a recent government-to-government agreement to operate the Islamabad International Airport.

The Big Story Abroad

It’s a quiet morning for global business as just about all Western markets take the day off and folks — bridging or not — slide into a long weekend. The NYSE, Nasdaq, LSE, Paris, and Frankfurt exchanges are all closed.

Up first: Stocks hit another high on Wall Street yesterday as investors pine for a “Santa Claus rally” — hoping to see shares advance in the seven trading days that include the last five of 2025 and the first two of next year.

We promised ourselves we’d stop writing about the bloody Epstein files, but here we are: The US Department of Justice is looking for “emergency recruits” to work through Christmas and New Year’s after officials just happened to find there are another 1 mn or more documents they need to review. The story is front-page, above-the-fold news at every major global business news outlet. Read: DOJ finds a mn more epstein files it needs to review.

Closer to home: Israel is warning it could attack Iran once again — and Canada, the UK, Germany, and 11 other nations are condemning Israel ’s plans to approve 19 more West Bank settlements.

AND- Reuters is a bit concerned about US plans to make it easier for normies to invest in private credit and crypto.

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