THIS MORNING: L’imad wants to bring in outside capital + Luckin Coffee eyes a piece of the Gulf’s coffee habit

Good morning, everyone. DP World is preparing to pour bns into Nigeria, just as an older African bet is running into trouble.

Zambia's state-owned miner has accused Abu Dhabi's IRH of breaching the agreements behind its Mopani copper takeover, warning it may seek damages or arbitration — even as IRH maintains the two have “a strong and constructive relationship.”

Elsewhere, L'imad is laying the groundwork to raise third-party capital as early as next year, and building its new unit, L’Imad Capital, into a global platform that can back funds, make direct investments, and co-invest alongside partners. It's part of a broader shift, with Mubadala Capital and MGX having already pulled similar moves.

We’re delighted to welcome Todd Wilcox as a guest speaker at the 2026 EnterpriseAM Egypt Forum.

Todd Wilcox is the deputy chairman and CEO of HSBC Bank Egypt, bringing more than 30 years of international banking experience. He joined Egypt from HSBC China, where he served as Senior Executive Vice President, Deputy CEO, and Executive Director of the Board.

Todd has held a series of senior leadership roles across HSBC, including CEO of Brunei for the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, CRO for Asia-Pacific overseeing 11 markets, and COO for Risk across all Asian markets. He also served as head of retail banking and marketing at HSBC Bermuda, and began his career with HSBC in Canada. Prior to HSBC, Todd worked at Royal Bank of Canada across a range of business and functional roles.

Join us on 5 October in Cairo. Attendance is by invitation only, and we’ve reached full capacity.

Request your invitation here to join the waitlist.

Mubadala-backed Luckin eyes the Gulf

Luckin Coffee wants a piece of the Gulf's coffee habit: Mubadala-backed Chinese chain Luckin Coffee is considering expanding into Gulf markets, Chairman David Li told CNBC. The comments came weeks after Mubadala joined Li’s Centurium Capital in a USD 1 bn investment in the company. Li didn’t name a country, a partner, or a timeline.

This is Luckin’s second attempt at the region. A 2019 plan for Middle East shops fell apart when an accounting scandal pushed the company into US bankruptcy and off Nasdaq. Since then, Luckin Coffee has overtaken Starbucks as China’s biggest coffee chain by sales, with more than 36k stores in mainland China and Hong Kong. Its global footprint, however, is still small: 150 stores in Malaysia, 100 in Singapore, and 23 in New York.

Initial price thoughts out for Emirates NBD’s Swiss issuance

Emirates NBD has set initial price thoughts of 110-115 bps over the Swiss Average Overnight Rate on the green bond we reported on earlier this week, sizing the offering at CHF 150 mn over five years, Zawya reports. That puts the yield on the senior unsecured notes at 1.845-1.895%.

ADVISORS- BNP Paribas, Emirates NBD Capital, and UBS are bookrunners and joint lead managers for the offering.

The timeline: The bonds, which are part of Emirates NBD’s USD 20 bn EMTN program, are set to hit the SIX Swiss Exchange on 9 October. The move adds a third currency to the lender’s green debt market issuance drive so far this year, having already raised USD 1 bn in blue and green bonds in January and a EUR 500 mn green bond in February.

L’imad wants to bring outside capital into the fold

L’imad Holding is laying the groundwork to raise third-party capital through investment arm L’imad Capital as early as next year, Bloomberg reports, citing people it says are familiar with the matter. L’Imad is building the unit into a global investment platform that can back private equity and other fuAI safety concerns take their tollnds, make direct investments, and co-invest alongside partners. It plans to build a track record first, with any external fundraising still under consideration and no final decision made.

The buyout-style arm is still taking shape: L’imad Capital is looking for a CEO with private equity, infrastructure, or private credit experience and is making other senior hires. Under the proposed structure, L’imad Holding would sit on top as the holding company, while L’imad Capital pursues return-driven investments and strategic support for portfolio companies.

The bigger shift: The plan would push Abu Dhabi further toward attracting institutional capital to its own investment platforms, rather than only deploying sovereign money. Mubadala Capital has already turned a USD 25 bn credit portfolio into a third-party asset management play, while MGX raised USD 49 bn from institutional and private investors for its AI investment vehicle.

It’s also the latest sign of L’Imad’s widening mandate: After absorbing ADQ in February and most recently moving to take AD Ports private, L’Imad is now weighing a stake in Atlas Air Worldwide.

UAE, Egypt renew their local-currency backstop

The UAE and Egypt renewed their AED-EGP currency swap agreement for another five years, keeping a AED 5 bn facility in place to support bilateral trade and financial settlements, Wam reports. The facility is equivalent to EGP 69 bn and is intended to support greater use of the two countries’ currencies in cross-border transactions.

The bigger push: The renewal fits the Central Bank of the UAE’s broader effort to expand bilateral local-currency payment rails. We looked at that strategy last week, with Egypt among the markets where direct settlement could reduce reliance on third currencies. The UAE has also signed a AED 3 bn currency swap with Ethiopia, alongside agreements linking payment systems and promoting local-currency trade.

Mending fences, at last?

Abu Dhabi and Riyadh may be looking to put their differences aside to face the regional tensions. UAE Vice President and Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan met Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh yesterday in what was the first public visit to Saudi Arabia by a senior Emirati official since January. The two discussed bilateral relations and regional developments, the Saudi Press Agency reports.

Defense was a key part of talks between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi: Al Nahyan met separately with Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman and discussed areas of “mutual interest” and boosting cooperation between the two countries, according to a Saudi Defense Ministry statement.

The elephant in the room: The talks follow Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s sit-down with Emirati President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in the UAE on Sunday, where discussions reportedly centered on Iran. Against that backdrop, the renewed Saudi-Emirati engagement could point to closer coordination as regional tensions mount.

The renewed Houthi offensive appears to have accelerated efforts to repair ties, as Riyadh seeks allied support for air defense and to manage the maritime threat. Saudi commentator Ali Shihabi said Prince Khalid’s invitation was “a big gesture” showing greater coordination on Yemen, while noting that the UAE was unlikely to return to the war. Riyadh instead wants Abu Dhabi to manage southern factions and prevent them from weakening the anti-Houthi front.

REMEMBER- The two countries experienced their biggest rift in many years, with disputes over Yemen escalating since December 2025, followed by the UAE’s withdrawal from Opec and reported delays and additional scrutiny on some bank transfers between the two countries. These disagreements made it difficult to arrange a unified GCC response to the regional conflict.

Biggest in history

The biggest case in Premier League history: The disciplinary case and decision by an independent commission against Manchester City are “the most significant in Premier League history,” Premier League CEO Richard Masters said in a statement. Masters said parts of the case are still open, most notably the penalty City will face, and the league plans to wrap up the remaining proceedings quickly to give clubs and fans certainty.

Man City found guilty. The commission has found Manchester City in breach of 114 of the 115 financial rule charges brought against it by the Premier League, a verdict against a club owned by one of Abu Dhabi's most senior royals, landing just as UK-UAE relations are back on firm footing.

Charges are false, Man City says: The club maintained that it is innocent of wrongdoing and that it is “disappointed and surprised” by the findings, it said in a statement. Manchester City will move to appeal the findings for which the Premier League has a deadline set at Friday, 2 October.

The Egyptian government locked in enough LNG and crude to carry the country through peak demand this summer, and the real question now is who pays for it and for the rebuild ahead.

PowerTrip, our new four-part signature series, follows the money behind an energy sector that went from exporting gas to importing it in just five years.

Over the four issues this autumn, we’ll look at how the lights stayed on and what that cost, who will own the next generation of power, how fast renewables can really scale, and whether Egypt’s claim to be the region’s energy hub still holds.

Issue I looks at how Egypt avoided rationing this summer, how the country went from gas exporter to importer in a decade, and what keeping the lights on actually cost us.

Tap here to subscribe to the Egypt edition, coming straight to your inbox today.

PSA

WEATHER- Temperatures will reach highs of 39°C today in Dubai before cooling to lows of 29°C overnight, while Abu Dhabi will see a marginally cooler high of 38°C with lows of 29°C as well, according to our favorite weather app.

The big story abroad

Some of the world’s most powerful tech CEOs met US President Donald Trump at the White House, where the executives signed the White House Accord on Super Intelligence, referring to AI, to adopt safety regulations. The agreement includes internal controls to monitor AI models during training and deployment in critical areas like cybersecurity, biosecurity and chemical threats, along with audits by external parties to conduct assessments. Among the signees are the chiefs of Google, Meta, Nvidia, OpenAI, XAI, and Anthropic.

AI safety concerns take their toll: Open AI CEO Sam Altman said that the startup will not go ahead with its public listing until it can confidently guarantee its safety practices. This follows a lawsuit filed against OpenAI by a public interest law group over an incident in which the startup's AI agents allegedly went rogue and “knowingly” accessed tech company Hugging Face despite lacking permission.

Scaling back. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is set to announce a 20% reduction in general and admiral positions during an address to service members today. The cuts will double the 10% reduction ordered last year and must be completed by the start of next year, officials said.

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