THIS MORNING: USD bns worth of agreements incoming from UAE-Germany + DP World locks in Mombasa land grab

Good morning, everyone. If there’s a theme running through today’s issue, it’s the UAE writing cheques faster than it’s cashing them in. Abu Dhabi is pushing its space ambitions into orbit-based AI infrastructure, with Marlan Space and Loft Orbital leading a USD 1 bn consortium — backed by France’s Mistral and US-based BlackSky — to build a 50-satellite constellation, and IHC tightening its grip on the project just as it scales. Later today, the UAE and Germany are expected to unveil their own agreements worth USD bns, spanning investment, AI, and energy, building on a bilateral relationship already worth some USD 15.5 bn.

The money is moving in plenty of other directions too: IHC’s Alpha Wave Global is joining a roughly USD 1 bn raise for Adani Airport Holdings and Azizi is unveiling an AED 30 bn mega-project in Sharjah — the fourth AED 30 bn+ launch from a heavyweight developer since May. FAB, meanwhile, found investments well ahead of what it needed: its USD 500 mn bond was more than 2x oversubscribed, with pricing tightening 25bp from initial guidance to land tighter than the war’s March peak.

Here’s the irony: All this outbound dealmaking comes as the UAE’s own FDI haul shrinks. Our Planet Finance story this morning shows inflows into the UAE falling 46% y-o-y in 1H 2026, even as Egypt and India pull further ahead as the region’s FDI winners. UAE firms, meanwhile, sent an estimated USD 11 bn abroad in the same period — double what came in. More on all of that below.

UAE, Germany to team up on USD bns

Agreements worth USD bns are set to be announced later today between the UAE and Germany, Reuters reports, citing UAE State Minister Lana Nusseibeh. The two are set to ink agreements spanning investment, AI and tech cooperation, and energy and the energy transition, to build on an existing bilateral relationship that currently stands at roughly USD 15.5 bn, excluding the oil sector.

The wheels were already turning earlier this year when the two countries inked a slate of MoUs covering energy, security, clean power, and industrial supply chains during a state visit by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz to Abu Dhabi in February. LNG was a key focus, with Adnoc and Germany’s utility RWE agreeing to provide up to 1 mtpa of LNG for up to 10 years to Germany and other European markets. Masdar and RWE also inked an MoU to look into battery energy storage systems, and Covestro and Fertiglobe are set to explore cooperation in ammonia and sustainable materials.

A vote of confidence from Jefferies

Jefferies is adding a new index dedicated to tracking the 30 most liquid listed firms across the GCC, it said in a press release. The investment banking firm is targeting institutional clients for the benchmark and cites the region as hosting a substantially more favorable risk profile compared to other emerging markets, helped by the greenback peg providing stability.

The rationale: Despite the conflict, Jefferies cites ambitious economic transition agendas, growing non-oil activity contribution to GDP, consistently strong FDI inflows, and the USD 4 tn of assets held by GCC sovereign wealth funds, which make it “one of the world’s most concentrated pools of strategic capital.”

On the diversification front, it also flags AI agendas in the UAE and KSA as further proof that international tech players are doubling down on the reach as “a strategic priority.”

UAE banks see assets rise 1.3% in July

Gross bank assets rose 1.3% m-o-m to AED 5.7 tn at the end of July, according to the Central Bank of the UAE’s (CBUAE) latest monetary and banking developments report (pdf). Gross credit grew 1.5% to AED 2.8 tn, with domestic credit up 1.4% to AED 2.2 tn and foreign credit up 1.8% to AED 592.9 bn. The domestic increase came mainly from individuals, whose lending rose 2.3% by AED 13.9 bn, and corporates, whose credit climbed 1.1% by AED 10.9 bn. Government lending also rose 1.7% by AED 4.2 bn.

Deposits kept pace: Total bank deposits rose 1.1% to AED 3.5 tn, with resident deposits up 0.5% to AED 3.2 tn and non-resident deposits jumping 6.8% to AED 311.4 bn. Private-sector deposits rose 0.7% to AED 2.34 tn, while government-related entity deposits gained 3.7% to AED 347.3 bn.

Wizz Air is back — and United Airlines isn’t

The airline-return story keeps splitting in two directions. United Airlines has pushed its Newark-Dubai restart to 27 March 2027 — despite resuming flights to Tel Aviv earlier in the week. It joins Luxair (February), Air Canada (mid-January), and Virgin Atlantic (winter 2027) in pushing the full return to 2027; KLM and British Airways are both still working toward set October dates rather than flying yet, while Air France is monitoring the situation and intermittently suspending flights.

Wizz Air is moving the opposite way. The budget carrier says Dubai and Abu Dhabi are among four cities — alongside Jeddah and Amman — “coming back” to its network, promising 12 routes and 49 weekly flights, though it hasn't yet said which routes or when they will start.

That's a scale-up more than a return from scratch: Wizz Air shut down its locally based Abu Dhabi joint venture entirely in September 2025, citing operational challenges and engine reliability issues in the Gulf heat, but kept flying into Abu Dhabi on a thinner schedule through its European brands — Wizz Air Hungary and Wizz Air Malta have continued serving the capital from cities including Budapest, Larnaca, Krakow, and Katowice. Dubai, however, has had no Wizz Air service since the shutdown.

DP World doubles down on Kenya

DP World is locking in its Mombasa land grab: The UAE port operator and Kenya-based GulfCap Africa signed a shareholders' agreement to advance the 222-hectare Mombasa Industrial Park — a planned economic zone near the Port of Mombasa, according to a statement. The first phase will cover 40 hectares, and more than 60 local and international companies have already expressed interest in taking space in the development.

The real prize is still the port concession: DP World first announced the project in August, with the site located less than 20 km from Mombasa's port. The company has spent years trying to secure a concession at the port itself but has yet to publicly re-enter Kenya's revived concession process. The industrial park gives it another route into the gateway economy — through warehousing, distribution, customs services, cargo consolidation, and inland logistics.

PSA

WEATHER- Temperatures will hit 42°C in both Dubai and Abu Dhabi today, with an overnight low of 32°C, according to our favorite weather app.

The big story abroad

In the absence of a major story dominating the front pages today, we’re diving into three of the most notable developments in the business press.

Washington steps up debt housekeeping: The US Treasury Department announced it will buy back up to USD 6 bn of government debt to keep bond markets functioning, resulting in yields rising to their highest level in almost three years. This move—part of an operation to halt rising borrowing costs—marks an increase from the Treasury’s previous pledge to “at least” double its long-term bond acquisitions to USD 4 bn.

Meet the new iPhone: In a launch event yesterday, Apple announced the iPhone Duo — its first foldable smartphone — among a spate of new products, including the iPhone 18 Pro, Airpods 5, and Apple Watch Series 12. Its latest lineup sees a USD 100 price increase for the iPhone 18 Pro and Max, while the foldable Duo starts at USD 2k.

From the world of AI: Google will invest USD 15 bn in AI infrastructure in Finland over the next two years to develop three data centers, along with a 22-year agreement to purchase up to half the power generated by one of the country’s two nuclear plants. This marks the search-engine operator’s first nuclear energy agreement outside the US and its biggest European investment.

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