THIS MORNING: UAE fends off another round of cyberattacks against key sectors + Archer acquires three Boeing units

Good morning, everyone. Adnoc Gas is taking the cost of the Hormuz squeeze into account in its plans for the future, while Mubadala is planting the seeds for its next act.

Adnoc Gas saw its bottom line halve on Hormuz disruptions, and so is planning a workaround through an LNG export route that skips the strait entirely.

Meanwhile, Mubadala is going deeper into Brazil’s biofuel supply chain, building out a macauba farm to feed a planned network of biorefineries, backed by a USD 3 bn investment.

On the earnings front, Spinneys managed to grow its bottom line by leaning on supply chain integration and rerouting to keep its shelves stocked through the disruption to regional logistics. And Dubai banks are spending mns of USD to back up data abroad after strikes damaged local AWS data centers earlier this year, with the CBUAE issuing weekly waivers to allow for the offshore data hosting.

UAE defenses thwart another round of cyberattacks

The UAE has fended off organized cyberattacks against the aviation, energy, and education sectors, state news agency Wam reports, citing the UAE Cyber Security Council. The council didn’t specify which firms were targeted but said the attacks included attempts to breach digital infrastructure, compromise accounts and operational data, launch targeted phishing campaigns, and exploit users as points of entry into systems.

The impact? Contained. The council said the incidents were handled proactively, with intrusion attempts contained before any damage or disruption to critical services occurred. The attack paths and indicators of compromise were also tracked, and the threats were neutralized before they could spread.

The UAE dealt with another series of cyberattacks just last month as part of a wider trend of rising cyberattacks since the start of the war. Cyber Security Council head Mohamed Al Kuwaiti had said that the Emirates was facing 800k cyberattacks a day in April. The growing number of AI-powered attacks is also leading to more complex and harder-to-detect attacks. Iran-linked groups have increasingly targeted critical facilities, including Fujairah Port, as part of the war, according to Dow Jones.

Archer acquires three Boeing units

Flying taxi maker Archer Aviation is acquiring Boeing’s Wisk Aero, Insitu, and SkyGrid businesses in an all-equity transaction, giving Boeing a 19.75% stake in Archer, as per a press release. The agreement is expected to be sealed by the end of the year.

Also in the tie-up: Boeing will secure two warrants to buy as much as USD 200 mn of Archer’s stock and have the option to choose a director for its board, Reuters reports.

IN CONTEXT- Archer Aviation has been a key player in the Emirates’ eVTOL ambitions for several years now. It moved a step closer to rolling out its air taxi operations earlier this year after securing a restricted type certificate program. It’s also planning to set up more than 10 vertiports across Abu Dhabi. This latest takeover both marks expansion into more of the eVTOL stack and brings in a sizable defense and aerospace revenue stream.

What each brings to the table: Wisk comes with autonomous eVTOL technology and more than 1.7k flight tests. Insitu develops unmanned aircraft systems used for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, with its systems deployed by the armed forces of 35 countries. SkyGrid adds software for managing increasingly automated aircraft within shared airspace.

Dubai banks pay the cost of war-disrupted AWS services

Dubai banks are paying mns of USD in extra costs to back up data abroad, five months after drone and missile strikes damaged local Amazon Web Services (AWS) data centers, according to The Banker. One banker told the outlet AWS data is now backed up in India and Ireland rather than staying in the emirate, as part of business continuity arrangements spanning both AWS and Microsoft Azure.

The Gulf’s digital sovereignty is being tested: The Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) continues to issue weekly emergency waivers exempting lenders from strict local data-sovereignty laws, allowing them to host core banking information offshore, while AWS’s UAE region server remains “disrupted.”

Why this matters: As the UAE races to position itself as a global tech hub with USD multi-bn investments from the likes of Microsoft and massive projects like the Stargate data cluster, this prolonged disruption serves as a stark reminder of the region’s vulnerability to wider conflict. The lingering uncertainty around the region’s digital infrastructure is costly for risk-averse multinationals, as this creates a higher risk premium that could eventually drive corporate workloads toward European alternatives and complicate long-term capital allocation, as security experts have told us before.

Data point

30k — That’s how many new investors joined the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) in 1H 2026, up 7.1% y-o-y — with foreign investors making up 77% of the new registrations, state news agency Wam reports. Foreign investors accounted for 48% of trading value, and institutions made up 78%, with net institutional inflows climbing 13.7% y-o-y to AED 1.4 bn.

Market capitalization stood at AED 2.8 tn in June, while dividends distributed reached AED 49.9 bn. Trading value reached AED 171 bn, with volumes rising 3.7% y-o-y to 50.3 bn shares. Average daily traded volume went up 9% to 423 mn shares, while nearly 3.3 mn trades were executed, up 12% y-o-y.

REMEMBER- The inflows are notable given the headwinds that hit the ADX during that period: ADX posted its steepest monthly decline in six years in March, falling 8.9%, as the Iran war triggered a pullback from UAE exposure and foreign investors turned net sellers across the market. By July, however, Abu Dhabi became the only major Gulf market posting a monthly gain.

The EnterpriseAM Egypt Forum is back —— and we’re devoting the full day to the singular set of questions on everyone’s mind: What does AI actually mean for your company, your people, your economy, your own job — and your kids’ future?

Every session on stage answers one question: “So, what do I actually do about it?”

Join us on 5 October in Cairo. Seats are limited and attendance is by invitation only.

Request your invitation here.

PSA

Indian travelers can now get their UAE entry visa at no charge when booking an Abu Dhabi holiday of at least three nights, according to a press release from the Department of Culture and Tourism. The scheme runs from 1 August through 31 October 2026 and will cover up to 20k visas. Travelers will need to book through participating partners to get the no-cost visa access.

How does it work? Abu Dhabi’s Tourism Department will cover the full visa cost, either directly through an appointed destination management company or by reimbursing participating partners AED 285 per visa.

Why now? The UAE has been looking to bolster the tourism sector, which has taken a massive hit from the regional war, with some analysts seeing a full recovery in traveler inflows by 2029. While authorities have already rolled out support for tourism and hospitality players in Dubai, this latest move looks to drum up tourism appetite in one of the UAE’s key international tourism markets.

WEATHER- Temperatures will reach 42°C in Dubai today, and a hotter 45°C in Abu Dhabi. Dubai will see a low of 34°C, while Abu Dhabi will cool off to 32°C.

Destination Sahel Issue III drops this week, and we’re diving into how the North Coast is adapting to a changing market.

Developers are recalibrating as buyer behavior shifts, luxury retail is carving out a bigger piece of Sahel’s economy, and the wellness and sports scene has become a summer destination on its own.

In this issue, we get into what’s actually changing on the ground, from how developers are adjusting their pitch to where to shop and how to stay active this season.

Tap or click here to subscribe to the Egypt edition, coming straight to your inbox tomorrow, 12 August.

The big story abroad

In the latest twist in the regional war, US President Donald Trump has issued a counter-demand for financial compensation from Iran, turning Tehran’s own claim for war damages back on the Islamic Republic. Iranian officials had indicated that reparations and an end to sanctions, largely in line with the terms of the interim truce signed in June, are prerequisites for opening the Strait of Hormuz.

Wall Street’s next big AI wager: Nvidia is looking to mobilize USD 500 bn for AI infrastructure after signing MoUs with six major financial firms, including BlackRock, Blackstone, Apollo, Goldman Sachs, and KKR. The chipmaker aims to launch first-of-their-kind compute financing platforms, accelerating AI infrastructure expansion across labs, enterprises, and cloud providers.

Meta has unveiled Muse Glimmer, an open-weights version of its most powerful AI model, Muse Spark, making its underlying calculations accessible to the public. Muse Spark, however, will remain closed and accessible only to paying users. The announcement was accompanied by an essay by CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who championed his vision for a transparent tech landscape vis-a-vis AI innovation.

Speaking of Meta: A US appeals court has allowed thousands of lawsuits against Meta, Google, TikTok, and Snapchat to move forward over claims that the companies designed their platforms to be addictive to young users. The cases were brought forward by states, municipalities, school districts and individuals claiming that the social media platforms contribute to depression, anxiety, body-image issues among young demographics.

Also in the AI world: OpenAI wrapped up a USD 7 bn share buyback sale, allowing current and former employees to sell stock ahead of an anticipated Wall Street listing. The startup opted to buy back its shares from its employees rather than tapping outside investors, which values the company at USD 852 bn.

At least 111 people were killed in Colombia yesterday after a magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck, damaging nearly 1.6k homes and collapsing 60 buildings. It was Colombia's most powerful earthquake this century, its geological service said.

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