Can the UAE’s new trains and metros beat the car?

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WHAT WE’RE TRACKING TODAY

THIS MORNING: Mubadala-backed GlobalFoundries lands Japan-funded New York chip plants + UAE pumps record oil volumes in September

Good morning, everyone, and happy FRIDAY. Foreign investors pulled USD 2.8 bn out of MENA stocks in 3Q, more than five times what they took out in 2Q, with Saudi alone losing USD 1.5 bn, according to Mashreq Capital’s latest outlook (read more in our Planet Finance, below)

Abu Dhabi’s sovereign funds, meanwhile, are still writing cheques abroad: Mubadala Capital closed its USD 6.2 bn takeover of US billboard operator Clear Channel, and Adia took a slice of yet another Indian IPO. Mubadala-controlled GlobalFoundries landed the job of running two new chip plants in New York that Japan will fund with up to USD 21 bn, and Washington is taking a c. 4% stake in the company alongside Mubadala.

The UAE also pumped a record 5.3 mn bbl / d of oil in September despite the Hormuz squeeze. Part of September’s exports came out of storage, though, draining above-ground stocks to an all-time low and leaving little cushion if the strait tightens again.

Here at home, we look at the UAE’s plans to spend bns to get people out of their cars. Etihad Rail now runs between Abu Dhabi and Dubai, and Dubai has more than AED 54 bn of new metro lines on the way. But the feeder shuttle from Etihad Rail’s Mohammed Bin Zayed City station to Al Reem Island takes around 55 minutes, against 28 by car. We asked experts what it will take for people to ditch their cars once and for all.

GlobalFoundries gets Japanese cash and a US shareholder

Mubadala-owned GlobalFoundries will operate two new chip plants in New York under a US-Japan initiative worth up to USD 21 bn, it said in a statement. Japan will put up the money, while GlobalFoundries will supply the technology and run the fabs at its existing site in Malta, New York. An initial investment of around USD 10 bn will fund the first fab, which is expected to come online in 2029 and add some 900k 300mm wafers of annual capacity once fully operational. A further USD 10 bn or so would fund a second fab of roughly the same size.

Customers are already lining up: Renesas, Apple, Cirrus Logic and GM all backed the expansion in the statement. GlobalFoundries says the plants will serve automotive, industrial and connected infrastructure markets and “reinforce [its] ability to support customers worldwide.” The company expects to break ground on the first fab later this year.

Washington is getting a slice too: Under a separate agreement, the US Commerce Department will receive an equity stake of around 4% in GlobalFoundries. GlobalFoundries has also agreed to amend its existing CHIPS Act award, reallocating USD 955 mn to silicon photonics, silicon-germanium and advanced packaging at its New York and Vermont plants. The stake makes the US a shareholder alongside Mubadala at a time of closer US-UAE tech ties. The US has given certain UAE entities broader access to exports such as advanced computing items, and approved Nvidia chip exports to G42, which had cut ties with Chinese tech firms.

GlobalFoundries has proved useful for Mubadala in recent months. The sovereign wealth fund raised USD 1.9 bn in a block share sale of the manufacturer in June, selling shares for nearly double the price of a separate offering in March as it capitalized on a market rally.

Full tilt

The UAE pumped a record 5.3 mn bbl / d in September, up 400k bbl / d from August, as it kept barrels moving despite the Hormuz squeeze, according to IEA figures cited by Bloomberg. Crude production alone topped 4.4 mn bbl / d — close to maximum capacity and beating the crude record set in June.

REMEMBER- Leaving Opec gave the UAE room to pump: The UAE’s exit from Opec earlier this year removed production restrictions that had frustrated Abu Dhabi for years.

Getting the oil out did the other half of the job: The Adcop pipeline carries roughly 1.8 mn bbl / d to Fujairah, outside the strait. For barrels loaded inside the Gulf, the UAE has been among the region’s most successful producers in keeping shipments moving. Shuttle tankers carried crude to transfer points off Fujairah, where buyers’ ships collect it without entering Hormuz.

Some of September’s supply came out of storage: The UAE drew down observable above-ground inventories by more than 270k bbl / d in September, taking them to an all-time low, the IEA says. That leaves a thinner buffer against further supply disruptions.

The wider picture: Gulf oil flows recovered to more than 75% of pre-war levels in September, led by Saudi Arabia. But a new wave of Iranian attacks on tankers in Hormuz and escalating Houthi hostilities mean it’s unclear whether the rebound has held.

Jais is learning to do more than talk Arabic

Abu Dhabi's Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) and G42's Inception42 launched Jais 3, adding speech recognition, regional dialect support, and multi-step task capabilities to their Arabic-native AI models, according to a statement (pdf). Building on G42’s earlier Jais models and MBZUAI’s K2 Horizon, the release includes six open language models ranging from 900 mn to 375 bn parameters, alongside a speech model covering dialects spoken across 19 Arab countries.

What can it actually do? Transcribe conversations, pick up on regional dialects, keep up when speakers jump between Arabic, English, and French, and turn spoken instructions into documents and presentations. Think customer service or government workflows where people don’t always stick to Modern Standard Arabic. The developers say Jais 3 also came out ahead of comparable open models on several Arabic-language and agentic tasks in their own tests across 24 benchmarks.

And the bigger pitch? It comes in sizes that suit different hardware and budgets, from a model small enough to run on a phone to the full 375 bn-parameter flagship. As we’ve previously reported, smaller, specialized models can cut computing requirements and make it easier to tailor AI to specific jobs. Organizations can also run and adapt Jais 3’s open models on their own infrastructure rather than rely entirely on external providers — though whether that translates into lower costs will depend on how they're deployed.

PSA

WEATHER- Temperatures will hit 38°C before cooling to an overnight low of 29°C in Dubai, while Abu Dhabi will be a tad cooler at 37°C during the day and 28°C overnight, according to our favorite weather app.

The big story abroad

Debt investors are losing patience with the AI build-out. Bonds backing some of the biggest US data center projects, including Meta’s Hyperion and Microsoft-leased Project Excalibur, have slid well below par in recent weeks as investors question whether AI revenues can cover the debt, the Financial Times reports. Neoclouds have been hit hardest: CoreWeave, which has taken on more than USD 51 bn of debt and obligations, has seen its bonds fall to distressed levels, and Nvidia has lost about USD 270 bn in market value over the past week. Allianz’s CIO called it a “Darwin moment” for the weakest borrowers.

The revenue picture is mixed. At an investor day ahead of its IPO, Anthropic told prospective investors that 3Q revenue rose 45% q-o-q to USD 16.8 bn and that it turned an adjusted profit, Reuters reports. That’s strong growth, but well short of the previous quarter’s near-tripling. Anthropic is targeting a valuation of more than USD 2 tn in a listing that is likely to come after next month’s US midterms and ahead of rival OpenAI’s, which has been pushed to next year.

Meanwhile, some AI is moving off the cloud: Apple and Meta have released a version of Meta’s latest model that runs on Apple’s Mac Studio desktops, the FT reports, in a rare tie-up between the two rivals. Apple is pitching local AI as better for privacy.

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The UAE is building the network. Now it needs to get people to the station

The UAE is spending bns of AED to get people out of their cars — but it’s not as simple as having more public transport. Etihad Rail’s passenger trains now run between Abu Dhabi and Dubai, Dubai has two new metro lines in the works worth more than AED 54 bn combined, and Abu Dhabi is overhauling how its buses run and how riders pay. But experts tell us more lines on the map won’t be enough to beat the car unless getting to and from the stations becomes a lot easier.

BACKGROUND- The first Etihad Rail station opened in Abu Dhabi at the end of June as part of an initial 11-station plan, to which another seven will be added later. The network expanded on September 30 with the launch of passenger services between Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and Etihad Rail says services will extend to the Al Dhafra stations on December 30.

The biggest-ticket spending is in Dubai: The Dubai Metro’s Blue Line is scheduled to open in September 2029 with a budget of AED 20.5 bn, up from the AED 18 bn originally announced. Its 14 stations will connect to the existing Green and Red lines and serve growing districts including Mirdif, Dubai Silicon Oasis, Dubai Creek Harbour, and International City. Hot on its heels is the Gold Line, approved in April at a cost of around AED 34 bn, which will run 42 km across 18 stations as Dubai’s first fully underground metro line. It is set to serve 1.5 mn people and be completed by September 2032, linking up with Etihad Rail at Meydan and Jumeirah Golf Estates.

Once both lines are complete, the metro network will span 162 km and 85 stations. The developments aren’t surface-level only, with a AED 2 bn Dubai Loop set to cover 19 stations and Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) looking into developing an underground public transport system.

It’s part of a wider liveability drive: Dubai is planning to become a 20-minute city, making 80% of essential services reachable within 20 minutes.

Abu Dhabi is focusing on the system behind the routes: Abu Dhabi’s Integrated Transport Center announced an investment of more than AED 300 mn in next-generation public transport systems. The plan includes an automated vehicle management system for real-time monitoring of buses and journeys and a digital fare collection system with more flexible payment options, including bank cards, digital payments, and QR codes.

The state of play

“Historically, our cities have largely been planned around private vehicles,” Martin Tillman, founder of transport and mobility planning advisory firm TMP Consult, tells us. That extends to quieter neighborhoods. “In lower-density neighborhoods […] it’s difficult for public transport to match the convenience of driving,” Monica Menendez, professor of civil and urban engineering at NYU Abu Dhabi and director of the CITIES Research Center, tells EnterpriseAM.

Proximity ≠ accessibility: Even stations that are physically close to residential areas can pose problems if passengers have to cross major roads or walk in the heat to get there, Tillman adds. He flags the importance of assessments like the Pedestrian Environment Review System (PERS), which assesses the quality of pedestrian environments and identifies improvements.

Within current plans, there are some efforts to plug the last-mile gap. Abu Dhabi’s Mohammed Bin Zayed City Station is positioned some 31 km away from business areas like Al Reem Island — although it is closer to the Musaffah area where more blue-collar employees work. A feeder shuttle service is on offer to get passengers to Al Reem Island, but buses go every 30-45 minutes and take around 55 minutes. That’s competing with a 28-minute car journey between the station and Al Reem Island (as tested by EnterpriseAM on Google Maps on a random Wednesday at 4pm).

Over in Dubai, it’s a similar story. A passenger getting off at Etihad Rail Dubai Station and heading into Business Bay will need to walk 5-10 minutes between the rail and metro stations, wait 3-5 minutes at peak times for a metro, and then make the roughly 36-minute journey into Business Bay. Adding in the final few minutes of walking to the end destination, that puts the journey at around 50-55 minutes, compared to a 30-minute drive (also tested on a random Wednesday at 4pm). A second station is set to open in Meydan, closer to downtown Dubai, and it will be integrated with the planned Dubai Metro Gold Line.

Elisabetta Cherchi, professor of civil and urban engineering at NYU Abu Dhabi, describes the plan to have a metro station within 500 meters as good but sees that distance isn’t the only deciding factor. “Major highways cutting through cities can act as physical and psychological barriers to walking and accessing public transport stations,” she says.

What it will take

“Expanding the network is only part of the answer,” Menendez says. Service frequency, shaded walking and cycling routes, unified payment systems, convenient connections, strong network coverage, and comfortable vehicles need to work together to make public transport practical, she says. “No single form of transport can serve every neighbourhood equally well; each becomes more useful when they all work together as one connected system.”

The ultimate impact depends on “the quality of first- and last-mile connections,” according to Tillman. He stresses integrating different systems to create an effective interchange experience, rather than focusing purely on the number of interchanges. That’s especially key for Etihad Rail, where passengers need convenient connections into local transport networks, he says.

“Accessibility is a critical point,” Cherchi tells us. She highlights the importance of frequent departures, connectedness covering the entire end-to-end journey, and integration allowing passengers to switch easily between different modes of transport.

Carrot and stick: When it comes to competing with the car in car-oriented contexts, “a mix of carrot (better public transport) and stick (deterrents for private cars) interventions is normally necessary to make public transport competitive compared to private vehicles,” Cherchi tells us. One example is dedicated lanes for road-based public transport, which avoid congestion caused by private vehicles and make public transport more competitive, she says.

A comprehensive approach is vital: Expanding road capacity can actually worsen congestion by triggering induced demand, encouraging more car use and undermining public transport, Tillman says. Land use, parking, road space, and public transport therefore need to be planned together. That includes integrating future developments into public transport planning so that nowhere falls outside the catchment area, he adds.

The projects most likely to move the needle are built on a tried-and-tested formula: Tillman sees the Blue Line as likely to be among the projects with the biggest impact on passenger numbers and urban mobility, noting that the existing metro has shown “there is significant demand for high-quality public transport in the UAE.” Etihad Rail is also likely to change inter-city travel, especially between Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and the Northern Emirates, he adds.

One size won’t fit all: In the Northern Emirates, “public transport networks need to be planned around these local needs rather than replicating solutions adopted in larger cities such as Dubai,” Tillman says. Sharjah has significant cross-emirate commuting demand, while Ras Al Khaimah has more dispersed destinations.

The outlook: “Changing habits in a car-based society takes time,” Menendez says. Tillman sees cars remaining the dominant option for journeys that currently involve “multiple or disconnected interchanges, lengthy walks or unreliable feeder services.”

Population growth could cut either way. “As the UAE’s population grows and roads become busier, reliable public transport with good coverage becomes more valuable,” Menendez tells us. But growth also brings more sprawl into lower-density areas, where she says feeder vehicles can help people reach main transport links.

Car usage is obviously widespread in the UAE today. However, “culture changes,” Cherchi tells us. The UAE’s population is heterogeneous, so some will adapt faster than others, she says, but a good transport system is the first and necessary step to trigger the shift.

Mashreq prices CNH 1 bn Dim Sum offering + FAB settles first MENA digital green bond

Our friends at Mashreq raised CNH 1 bn in their inaugural Dim Sum bond offering, according to a press release. The three-year senior unsecured notes carry a fixed coupon of 2.50%, tightening from initial price guidance in the 2.95% area. Orders from regional and international investors peaked at CNH 2.3 bn, making the offering more than 2x oversubscribed. It is the bank’s first public issuance in the offshore renminbi market.

How it was done: Mashreq announced the issuance on 13 October and held a one-day virtual investor marketing exercise. The bank says the two-day execution helped it maintain pricing discipline while limiting its exposure to market volatility.

Next up: The paper will be listed on both Nasdaq Dubai and the Luxembourg Stock Exchange.

ADVISORS- Bank of China, China International Capital Corporation (CICC), China Securities Co. (CSC), Guotai Junan International (GTJAI), Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), and Standard Chartered were joint lead managers and bookrunners for the issuance.

IN CONTEXT- Dim Sum bonds are still rare in the region, with Gulf issuers dipping into the market every now and then since Emirates NBD became one of the region’s first issuers. Bonds are denominated in offshore RMB (CNH) and issued outside mainland China, and a firmer CNH is making them more of a mainstream financing option. The UAE and China have also recently signed an MoU to deepen cooperation across capital markets, asset management, and investor connectivity.

ALSO- FAB settles MENA’s first digital green bond: FAB issued and settled AED 1 bn of three-year digitally native green notes, according to a statement. It is the first digital green bond from the MENA region. The notes, which mature in October 2029, were priced at 5.75% and settled yesterday through Euroclear’s distributed ledger-based Digital Financial Market Infrastructure (D-FMI). Proceeds will fund projects with environmental or climate-related benefits.

The notes will be FAB’s second digital bond listed on the ADX, after its inaugural digital issuance in 2025. FAB remains the only issuer with digital bonds on the bourse. FAB and Standard Chartered structured the notes, while Emirates NBD, FAB, HSBC, ICBC (Asia), and Standard Chartered were joint lead managers.

DP World names Jason Varsamidis as CEO and MD for Asia Pacific

DP World tapped Jason Varsamidis (LinkedIn) as CEO and managing director for the Asia Pacific region, the logistics giant said in a press release. Varsamidis previously served as CFO for the region at DP World; no replacement has yet been named.

About the new lead: Varsamidis has spent more than 21 years at DP World. Besides serving as APAC CFO, he was CFO of DP World Australia and held other senior positions. Before that, he worked at P&O Ports, which brings his time in the sector to almost 30 years.

It’s a familiar path at DP World: DP World has a habit of promoting its finance chiefs. Former CFO Yuvraj Narayan became group CEO after Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem resigned, and GCC CFO Ahmed Yousef Al Hassan was recently made CEO and MD for the GCC.

Aldar makes its Sharjah debut, moves from Adia and Mubadala, GFH sells another US asset, and JustAd secures USD 5 mn

Aldar makes its Sharjah debut

Aldar signed a AED 1.1 bn forward purchase agreement with Arada for more than 1.1k residential units in Arada’s Aljada master community, marking its debut in Sharjah, according to a statement (pdf). The units sit across nine buildings in three residential blocks and are due for handover in 4Q 2029. They will go into Aldar’s residential-for-rent portfolio, which takes its develop-to-hold pipeline to AED 21 bn. Aldar says the buildings will target end-users and long-term renters looking for housing at “accessible price points.”

The partnership now runs both ways: The agreement comes two weeks after the pair signed a AED 15 bn partnership that gave Arada its first development foothold in Abu Dhabi. Under that agreement, Arada will co-develop a villa and townhouse community at Seih Sdeirah on the Abu Dhabi-Dubai border and is buying three residential plots on Yas Island from Aldar. Both companies called that agreement a “first phase” and said they would look for more work together across emirates and asset classes.

About Aljada: Aljada is a 2.2 mn sqm community planned to hold around 25k units at full build-out, with an expected gross sales value of AED 35 bn. Arada has handed over more than 8.8k units there since 2021.

Adia drops another anchor in India

Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (Adia) is among the anchor investors in Indian industrial equipment maker Bonfiglioli Transmissions’ INR 25.34 bn (c. USD 286 mn) IPO, which opens for subscription today, according to a bourse filing (pdf). Adia took roughly 255k shares worth INR 149.5 mn (c. USD 1.7 mn) through its Monsoon vehicle — or around 1.97% of the anchor book. The company raised INR 7.59 bn from anchor investors, including BlackRock, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, and Canada’s PSP Investments, allotting nearly 13 mn shares at INR 586 apiece, the top of its price band.

What’s Bonfiglioli? The Indian arm of Italy’s Bonfiglioli Group manufactures gearboxes, motors, and drive systems used in industrial automation, heavy equipment, and wind energy. The IPO is an offer for sale by its Italian parent, meaning all proceeds go to the selling shareholder rather than funding the company’s expansion. Subscriptions close on 19 October, with shares expected to list on the NSE and the BSE on 23 October.

Adia is keeping its India options open: Adia has backed several Indian IPOs and is reportedly considering another anchor investment in manufacturing platform Zetwerk, even as it trims its stake in eyewear retailer Lenskart.

GFH makes another US sale

GFH Partners sells its Michelin warehouse to Michelin for USD 151 mn: GFH Partners sold a 2 mn sq ft distribution facility in Wilmington, Illinois and an adjacent land parcel to the property’s tenant, Michelin North America, for USD 151 mn, according to a statement (pdf). GFH Financial Group’s DIFC-based real estate arm bought the asset with US partner Silver Creek Development in February 2021 for more than USD 135 mn. The sale closed on 6 October. GFH says returns were in line with the fund’s targets but did not give exact figures.

It’s GFH’s second US exit in three months: In July, GFH sold a USD 130 mn portfolio of US logistics and industrial assets. The Michelin agreement is its fourth exit from its US industrial and logistics book. The firm is still buying, though. It says it is deploying capital through a US transportation logistics platform that targets truck terminals, alongside fleet and container yards, building on the USD 300 mn logistics and industrial fund it closed in 2024.

It’s a wrap for Mubadala Capital’s USD 6.2 bn billboard takeover

Mubadala Capital completed its USD 6.2 bn acquisition of US billboard operator Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, after landing regulatory and shareholder approvals, according to a company statement. The transaction takes Clear Channel private, with its shares set to be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

REMEMBER- Mubadala Capital agreed to acquire the company alongside US investment firm TWG Global in February, offering shareholders USD 2.43 apiece at a 71% premium to the unaffected share price. The agreement secured its final regulatory approval last week.

There’s a changing of the guard too: Former TelevisaUnivision chief executive Wade Davis (LinkedIn) is taking over as CEO alongside his role as executive chairman, replacing Scott Wells (LinkedIn), who will stay on as an advisor. Former Paramount advertising chief John Halley (LinkedIn) is also coming aboard as chief commercial officer.

More advertising news from JustAd

Homegrown adtech platform JustAd raised USD 5 mn to expand into new markets beyond the MENA region, it said in a press release. Funding came from Dubai-based angel investor Imad Jomaa (LinkedIn), and the firm is targeting early 2027 to onboard new clients to its AI-powered marketing platform. The tool offers businesses a single interface to launch and manage their digital advertising campaigns on platforms like Google Ads, Meta, TikTok, and Snapchat.

Foreign investors pull USD 2.8 bn from MENA stocks as Mashreq cuts 2026 return outlook

Net foreign outflows from MENA equities jumped to USD 2.8 bn in 3Q 2026, up from USD 500 mn in 2Q, according to Mashreq Capital’s 4Q 2026 MENA Fixed Income and Equity Markets Outlook (pdf). The asset manager cut its full-year regional equity return forecast to 5-7% from 6-8%, favoring the UAE and Oman while remaining cautious on Qatar and Kuwait.

Saudi Arabia took the biggest hit: Foreign investors withdrew USD 1.5 bn from Saudi equities in 3Q, reversing USD 1.6 bn of inflows in 2Q and accounting for more than half of regional outflows. Kuwait lost USD 700 mn and Dubai USD 500 mn, while Abu Dhabi and Qatar were broadly flat. The selling intensified in September as geopolitical risks mounted.

REMEMBER- Saudi’s September sell-off was already flashing warning signs. TASI fell 6.2% m-o-m to its lowest month-end close of 2026, while foreign investors sold a net SAR 4.33 bn, as we reported last week. Higher interest rates and geopolitical uncertainty weighed on valuations, although market watchers described the pullback as a risk-off phase rather than a structural deterioration.

The market scoreboard shows just how wide the gap has become: The S&P Pan Arab Large Composite Index slipped 0.6% in 3Q, leaving it up 2.2% YTD. UAE equities gained 5.3% during the quarter, while Qatar shed 9.7%. Oman leads the year-to-date rankings with a 33.1% gain, against Qatar’s 11.2% decline. The UAE also bucked the wider GCC sell-off in September, with Dubai and Abu Dhabi the only two Gulf exchanges to finish the month in positive territory.

Oman’s geography is proving an advantage. The sultanate has kept crude flowing through ports outside the Strait of Hormuz, allowing it to benefit from higher oil prices and an Omani crude premium over Brent. Mashreq remains overweight Oman, where 2Q GDP grew 5.1% and government revenue rose 13% in 1H. FTSE Russell has also placed Oman on its watch list for a possible upgrade from frontier to secondary emerging-market status, with potential implementation after 2027.

The UAE gets an overweight — but Abu Dhabi triumphs over Dubai: Mashreq favors energy infrastructure, logistics, and companies tied to the Adnoc value chain, supported by Abu Dhabi’s project pipeline and export access through Fujairah. Dubai’s weakening residential market is a different story, with prices easing, transactions slowing, and new supply accelerating. Banks also face rising funding costs as credit growth outpaces deposit growth, leaving Mashreq underweight financials overall.

Saudi Arabia remains a stock-picker’s market: Mashreq is neutral on Saudi overall but favors energy and grid infrastructure, data centers, and companies with multiyear contracted backlogs. It’s less enthusiastic about contractors exposed to the reprioritization of gigaproject spending. The disconnect between earnings and returns is striking: Saudi corporate earnings have grown an average of 8.1% annually over five years, while the equity market has returned just 1.2% a year.

Qatar and Kuwait have yet to find their footing: Qatar’s equity market is trading at its lowest price-to-book valuation since 2009, but Mashreq wants evidence of recovering LNG exports before turning more constructive. Kuwait faces its own constraints, with crude exports recovering to only around two-thirds of last year’s levels. Mashreq remains underweight both markets.

Egypt is a more balanced call: Mashreq remains neutral on Egyptian equities but favors banks, which stand to benefit when monetary easing resumes. It expects rates to remain at 19% through year-end, with cuts beginning in 2027. FY 2026 growth reached 5.1%, and inflation eased to 14.5%, although September’s PMI of 47.2 signals continued weakness in private-sector demand.

The bond sell-off has opened another window: The Bloomberg EM USD Aggregate MENA Index lost 3.8% in 3Q, taking its YTD decline to 3.2%, largely as higher US Treasury yields weighed on prices. That pushed the index yield to 6.5%, while higher-quality Gulf sovereigns now offer close to 6%. Mashreq favors UAE, Moroccan, and Egyptian conventional sovereign debt but expects full-year regional bond returns to be flat to mildly negative.

Sukuk have weathered the storm better: The Bloomberg USD Sukuk Index declined 1.6% year to date through September, compared with the MENA bond index’s 3.2% loss. Mashreq favors sovereign sukuk from Oman, the UAE, Turkey, Egypt, and Pakistan. The relative resilience comes despite a tougher issuance environment: GCC sukuk sales fell 23% y-o-y to USD 51.1 bn in 1H, as we reported last month.

MARKETS THIS MORNING-

Asian markets are broadly in the green this morning, bucking a global sell-off in tech stocks. Japan’s Nikkei is up more than 1%, while South Korea’s Kospi gained 1.2%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is also up 1.3%, while mainland China’s CSI 300 was 0.3% higher. Over on Wall Street, futures are unchanged after investors rotated out of tech stocks and into other parts of the market yesterday.

ADX	9,805	-0.3% (YTD: -1.9%)
DFM	5,830	-1.1% (YTD: -3.6%)
Nasdaq Dubai UAE20	4,819	-0.4% (YTD: -1.4%)
USD : AED CBUAE	Buy 3.67	Sell 3.67
EIBOR	3.6% o/n	5.1% 1 yr
TASI	10,107	-0.3% (YTD: -3.7%)
EGX30	52,273	+1.5% (YTD: +24.9%)
S&P 500	7,744	+0.3% (YTD: +13.1%)
FTSE 100	10,840	+1.1% (YTD: +9.2%)
Euro Stoxx 50	6,168	-0.4% (YTD: +6.5%)
Brent crude	USD 105.34	-0.6%
Natural gas (Nymex)	USD 3.21	-0.9%
Gold	USD 4,178.9	+0.2%
BTC	USD 82,072.7	+0.6% (YTD: -7.5%)
Lunate JP Morgan UAE Bond UCITS ETF	AED 3.51	-1.1% (YTD: -2.1%)
S&P MENA Bond & Sukuk	148.19	+0.8% (YTD: -2.4%)
VIX (Volatility Index)	16.46	-2.4% (YTD: +10.1%)

THE CLOSING BELL-

The DFM fell 1.1% yesterday on turnover of AED 403.4 mn. The index is down 3.6% YTD.

In the green: Al Salam Sudan (+0.1%), Taaleem Holdings (+0.6%), and Al Ansari (+0.3%).

In the red: United Foods Company (-5.0%), Mashreq Bank (-4.2%), and Dubai Islamic Insurance and Reinsurance Co. (-3.9%).

Over on the ADX, the index rose 0.3% on turnover of AED 911.1 mn. Meanwhile, Nasdaq Dubai is down 0.4%.

The self-taught food scientist who built a protein business out of dates, camel milk, and a washing machine

(xxNF) Rashid Gargash (LinkedIn) didn’t set out to make protein bars. Rashtions began as a food security research project during his time at Georgetown University, built around a simple question: what can the desert feed us? His answer was dates and milk. Through years of self-taught experimentation, he turned that into a shelf-stable field ration, using a preservative he invented with a repurposed washing machine.

Today, Rashtions sells premium protein-packed date truffles to consumers. They’re made from Khalas dates, camel milk, and A2 ghee at a factory in Umm Al Quwain that Gargash built, and largely engineered, himself. He’s now working on turning whey liquid, a waste product of the region’s dairy industry, into a local source of protein.

Each week, My Morning Routine looks at how a successful member of the community starts their day — and then throws in a couple of random business questions just for fun. This week, we spoke with Gargash about turning a humanitarian prototype into a consumer brand, why he pushed his whole factory’s start time to 10am, and the advice from an 88-year-old family friend that still keeps him going. Edited excerpts from our conversation:

EnterpriseAM: Take us back to the beginning. How did Rations start?

Rashid Gargash (RG): It started as research during Georgetown University’s executive program, which deployed me to Africa as a teacher. I wanted to create a methodology to deploy so much emergency and basic food that the price of food would go down, using what the region already has.

A human being needs three things to survive: protein, carbohydrates, and fat. So I asked, “What do we have in the desert?” Wherever you go, there’s a desert, there are dates, and there’s milk. I combined them and got this sloppy paste. It tasted terrible, but it had everything a human being needed.

E: How did you turn that paste into a product?

RG: The paste had a super low shelf life and was super sticky. At UAE University, I met Dr. Afaf Kamal-Eldin, who everybody knows as the best date professor in the world. She explained a methodology called pomace, which is basically date fiber isolate. I didn’t have USD 2-3 mn for a centrifuge, so I bought a washing machine and changed the motor. I spun the dates really fast, pulled the sugar away, and invented a preservative. It makes the product non-sticky and gives it a three-month shelf life in open air.

I built a machine line that fits in the back of a car and deployed it in Africa. The children there were eating food designed for soldiers, with a three-year shelf life. But this is not a soldier, this is a child. A child wants something that tastes like a sweet.

E: Why the move to selling to consumers?

RG: I tried going the institutional route first, but it didn’t work out, and I was running out of money. So I pivoted to selling to the people. I wanted something good enough to give my nephews and nieces, so I went extremely premium: Khalas dates, A2 organic ghee, camel milk, 100% cocoa, and Brazilian coffee. I trace every ingredient back to its source. Camel milk is abundant here, and its quality is way higher than cow milk.

E: Has the food security mission taken a back seat?

RG: People don’t know, but I’m actually still on the same mission. The country needs an adequate protein source with a two-year shelf life. We make a lot of cheese, laban, and labneh in this region, and the whey liquid left over is full of protein, but it’s thrown away. I want to turn that into our own source of protein. It’s expensive, but importing it is even more expensive.

Right now, 60% to 99% of each product is sourced locally. We can’t grow cocoa and coffee here, and the protein comes from abroad because of strict certifications. Once I make my own protein, it will be at least 95%. Most of this is self-taught, but my friends are academics or in the industry, so we buy a machine and play with it. I’ve got eight patents.

E: Switching gears, what do your mornings look like?

RG: I wake up at about 10am. I noticed that in the early mornings nobody wants to deal with anything, and we don’t get orders then, so I pushed the timings for the whole factory to 10am. The first thing I do is check how my customers are doing and whether there are any complaints. Whatever the feedback is, that’s my focus for the day. My world currently revolves around my customers.

The rest of my day is honestly just work. This is my passion; yesterday I was up all night doing research. I put a CEO in place. I’m the CEO whenever I need to be, but I can’t do everything myself. Marketing doesn’t get involved with food. I’m the food science guy, and that’s the most complicated part.

E: What’s one constant in your day?

RG: The most social part of my life is going to the coffee shop for 15 to 30 minutes. I usually have a late lunch with my mom, and on Fridays we have Friday lunch.

Rashid’s favorites

What he’s reading: A comic book version of The Art of War — a very fun read if you don’t like to read.

Best advice he’s received: “That man that flew to the moon, what’s the difference between you and him? Two eyes, a nose, and a mouth. Don’t you have the same?” The advice came from Auntie Sultana, an 88-year-old Gargash I would call a legend.”

CALENDAR

OCTOBER

20-22 October (Tuesday-Thursday): Future Health Summit, Adnec Center Abu Dhabi.

27-28 October (Tuesday-Wednesday): Arab Competition Forum, Dubai.

27-28 October (Tuesday-Wednesday): Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting.

30 October (Friday): Large businesses achieving annual revenues equal to or above AED 50 mn must appoint an accredited service provider for e-invoicing implementation.

Signposted to happen sometime in October 2026:

Abu Dhabi Space Week, Abu Dhabi.

NOVEMBER

2-5 November (Monday-Thursday): Adipec, Adnec Center, Abu Dhabi.

2-6 November (Monday-Friday): Dubai Future Finance Week, Dubai.

4 November (Wednesday): Digital Transformation Summit, Sofitel, Abu Dhabi.

4-16 November (Wednesday-Monday): ADIB rights trading period.

9-10 November (Monday-Tuesday): Annual government meetings, Abu Dhabi.

9-12 November (Monday-Thursday): EMEA Council on Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Education Conference, Dubai College of Tourism, Dubai.

9-13 November (Monday-Friday): World Congress of Military Med, Adnec Center, Abu Dhabi.

10-12 November (Tuesday-Thursday): Dubai International Electric Vehicle Exhibition & Conference, Dubai World Trade Center.

10-24 November (Tuesday-Tuesday): ADIB rights issue subscription period.

16-18 November (Monday-Wednesday): World Police Summit, Dubai World Trade Center, Dubai.

18-19 November (Wednesday-Thursday): Touchdown Middle East 2026, Conrad Abu Dhabi Etihad Towers, Abu Dhabi.

25-26 November (Saturday-Sunday): Doers Summit, Dubai Silicon Oasis, Dubai.

DECEMBER

2-4 December (Wednesday-Friday): UN Water Conference, UAE.

4-6 December (Friday-Sunday): Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Abu Dhabi.

8-9 December (Tuesday-Wednesday): Capital Market Summit, Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai.

8-9 December (Tuesday-Wednesday): Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting.

7-10 December (Monday-Thursday): Abu Dhabi Finance Week, Al Maryah Island, Abu Dhabi.

8-10 December (Tuesday-Thursday): Abu Dhabi Water & Power Week, Adnec Center, Abu Dhabi.

8-10 December (Tuesday-Thursday): Middle East & North Africa Business Aviation Association Show, DWC, Dubai Airshow Site.

Signposted to happen sometime in 2027:

1 January: Deadline for large businesses to implement e-invoicing;
14-17 January (Thursday-Sunday): MOC27 Motor, Outdoor & Camping Festival, Dubai Sevens Stadium, Dubai.
1Q 2027: Completion of the first phase of Hassyan seawater desalination project;
1-3 February (Monday-Wednesday): World Governments Summit;
31 March: Small businesses with annual revenues of less than AED 50 mn are obliged to contract with an accredited service provider for e-invoicing implementation;
31 March: Government entities are required to appoint an accredited service provider for e-invoicing implementation;
21-22 April (Wednesday-Thursday): Token2049, Dubai;
31 May-2 June (Monday-Wednesday): RailX Dubai, Dubai World Trade Center, Dubai.
1 July: Deadline for small businesses to implement e-invoicing;
1 October: Deadline for governments to implement e-invoicing;
November: HR Tech, Abu Dhabi.
Abu Dhabi’s solar and battery energy facility, combining 5.2 GW of solar capacity and 19 GWh of battery storage, is set for commissioning.

Signposted to happen sometime in 2028:

Artificial Intelligence Summit.

Signposted to happen sometime in 2029:

Sibos 2029 organized by the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), Dubai;
Annual Meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund, Abu Dhabi;
The commissioning of the seventh phase of Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park.

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