Good morning, nice people, and welcome to an uncharacteristically busy Tuesday. We have a jam-packed issue for you today, so let’s get right into it.

THE BIG STORY here at home: Mubadala and Goldman Sachs are planning to deploy USD 1 bn in private credit in the Asia-Pacific region, with a particular focus on India. The long-term capital would be earmarked for companies and sponsors that are of “high quality,” the two said.

^^We have more details on this story and several others in this morning’s news well.

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT-

#1- It just became a little easier to get to KSA: KSA’s General Authority for Roads has inaugurated the third phase of the Dhahran-Al Uqair-Salwa road project, which aims to boost connectivity between Eastern Saudi Arabia and the UAE, the authority said in a statement. The 66 km road cost SAR 199 mn (AED 194 mn) to build, Al Arabiya reported yesterday.

The road is a boon for regional connectivity and trade: The road’s completion is poised toboost trade transportation links between the UAE, Saudi Arabia and the rest of the GCC, streamlining the movement of goods between the industrial cities and border crossings. The project is also set to slash travel time to Qatar by an hour and enhance connection between Jubail’s industrial hub and border crossings while strengthening transport and logistics sectors’ performance.

#2- Sharjah Municipality has launched a monthly public parking subscription, offering Sharjah’s residents a month-long parking service covering two areas for one flat price, according to a statement. You can sign up for the subscription through Sharjah Municipality’s website.

SIGN OF THE TIMES-

IHC’s board now has an “AI observer”: ADX-listed conglomerate International Holding Company introduced a new board position for AI observer ‘Aiden Insight’ to assume the responsibilities of data analysis, risk assessment, strategic planning support, innovation tracking, and ethical and compliance monitoring, according to a press release (pdf). The AI agent is being developed by G42 and Microsoft. Once developed, Aiden “will attend IHC Board meetings as a non-voting observer, offering real-time insights to inform discussions and guide decisions,” the press release reads.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1– Abu Dhabi plans to issue its first USD-denominated bond since 2021 “soon,” Bloomberg reports, citing people it says are familiar with the matter. The sources did not clarify the size or an exact timeline for the issuance.

Abu Dhabi doesn’t need the funding, but officials reportedly think that a “fresh benchmark” would “assist the bond-sale plans of government-related companies” and that the emirate could use the issuance to improve the overall liquidity profile of its debt.

The word “benchmark” is likely key here: It implies an offering of at least USD 500 mn. Large, liquid issuances attract big-name investors who actively trade debt. And because benchmark bonds are widely traded, the issuance could set a reference point for the pricing of similar-quality issuances by others in the emirate. “Abu Dhabi has issued at least USD 2 bn every time it’s tapped the USD bond market in the past decade,” the business information service writes.

REMEMBER- S&P Global Ratings predicted the emirate will issue around USD 2 bn in new debt annually, in addition to repaying an average of USD 3 bn per year.

#2- e& to form JV with international telco heavyweights: e& Group is set to establish a joint venture in 2024 with South Korea’s SK Telecom, Germany’s Deutsche Telekom, Singapore’s Singtel, and Japan’s SoftBank, the companies said at a meeting of what’s being dubbed the Global Telco AI Alliance or “GTAA,” according to a press release.

The GTAA will aim to develop multilingual AI models to make it easier to serve customers and grow the telcos’ customer base to 1.3 bn spanning 50 countries, they said. The large language models now in development will initially be optimized for Arabic, Korean, English, German, and Japanese.

#3- FAB looking to pitch in Adani USD 3 bn loan? Indian conglomerate Adani Group’s renewables firm Adani New Industries is in talks with First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), among other international lenders, to borrow USD 3 bn in two or three-tranche offshore loans over the next 12 months, Bloomberg reports, citing people familiar with the ongoing talks.

Also in talks: DBS Bank, Deutsche Bank, and Standard Chartered Bank. The funds would help Adani see its plan to commence green hydrogen production in 2027 through, targeting establishing the renewables arm as a major green hydrogen player.

#4- UAE sovereign wealth funds own small pieces of Alibaba, new filings show: Chinesee-commerce giant Alibaba disclosed that sovereign wealth funds in the UAE, Qatar, Singapore, and Malaysia own minority stakes in some of its units, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The filing doesn’t specify the name of the fund and the stake is small, the document suggests.

REMEMBER- Alibaba is looking to partner with Emirati and Saudi firms to help Alibaba keep up with the regional developments as China-GCC relations continue to warm. GCC countries have been bolstering ties with China in recent years as they pursue investments to diversify their non-oil economies — a move that has seen pushback from Washington.

#4-Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism plans to launch 60 new customer service centers by the end of 2024, with the aim to reduce conflict resolution time to one day, down from the current four day average, Al Bayan quotes Director of the Consumer Protection Department Ahmed Ali as saying.

HAPPENING TODAY-

#1-The International Conference on Management and Sustainability of WaterResourcesis underway at the Marriott Hotel, Al Jaddaf, Dubai. The two day event wraps tomorrow.

#2- The International Innovation Forum 2024 opened its doors yesterday at the Dubai Customs head office as part of the ongoing UAE Innovates national event.

#3- Mobility startups can now pitch ideas for sustainable transportation solutions as part of Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority’s Startups Challenge, held concurrently with UAE Innovates. You can register for the challenge by sending a nomination request here.

#4-The Dubai Dutyfree Championship continues today with the men’s singles: Yesterday saw Andy Murray secure his second victory in 2024, defeating Denis Shapovalov with a score of 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-3. Andrey Rublev also triumphed over Zhizhen Zhang with a hard-fought victory of 6-7(4), 6-2, 6-4.

Can’t get enough tennis? The World Tennis Association tour’s final is set for Saturday, 2 March. You can buy tickets for both the women’s WTA tournament and the men’s ATP here.

#5-The two-day ACFE Fraud Conference Middle East ends today at the Fairmont Bab Al Bahr Hotel in Abu Dhabi.

HAPPENING THIS WEEK-

#1- Economy Minister Abdulla Bin Touq Al Marri will meet with the UK’s Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch to discuss a trade agreementon the margins of her visit to attend the WTO ministerial conference, along with UK Trade Policy Secretary Greg Hands, the Telegraph reports. Badenoch and Hands’ visit to the UAE — which comes as part of a wider Middle East tour — comes against the backdrop of the stalled GBP 600 mn takeover of the Telegraph by RedBird IMI, which is backed by Abu Dhabi’s International Media Investments.

#2- The Investopia Summit will take place tomorrow and after in Abu Dhabi. The two-day event will run under the theme “Emerging Economic Frontiers: Investing in Fast-Growing Sectors in the New Economy,” gathering investors, government officials, and entrepreneurs to explore investments in strategic markets.

#3- The MENA Transport Congress and Exhibition 2024 will also kick off tomorrow, running through Friday, 1 March at the Dubai World Trade Centre. Look for 2k attendees and 65 speakers, including industry leaders, researchers, and government officials to be in attendance.

#4- The UAE-Kazakhstan Business Council’s first meeting also kicks off tomorrow at Expo City Dubai, Wam reports. Kazakh Trade Minister Shakkaliyev Arman will participate, along with over 200 private companies across various sectors from both countries. The event aims to promote cooperation between UAE and Kazakh businesses.

#5- The International Property Show kicks off today at the Dubai World Trade Centre, and will run until this Thursday, 29 February. The property event will feature over 100 real estate developers from 45 countries, including the US, Spain, GCC countries, and Turkey.

DATA POINT-

Emirates Development Bank (EDB) contributed AED 4.3 bn to the country’s total industrial GDP in 2023, up 80% y-o-y from its AED 2.4 share in 2022, Wam reports. The lender aims to raise its contribution to AED 10 bn in two years by “focusing on empowering the private sector to drive the nation’s economic growth,” EDB CEO Ahmed Mohamed Al Naqbi said.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

Joe Biden thinks we could see a ceasefire in Israel’s war in Gaza “by Monday,” saying, “Well I hope by the beginning of the weekend, by the end of the weekend. My national security adviser tells me that we’re close. We’re close. We’re not done yet. My hope is by next Monday we’ll have a ceasefire.”

Biden’s remarks were spontaneous and made in response to a question from reporters, Reuters and the New York Times report. The news came as the Palestinian Authority government stepped down amid Arab and US calls for reform and Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu presented his cabinet with a plan for the evacuation of Rafah ahead of the IDF’s planned assault on the city.

From Planet Finance:

#1- Citigroup is looking to regain its dealmaking mojo after hiring Viswas Raghavan from JPMorgan Chase to run its new banking division. Raghavan will report directly to CEO Jane Fraser, who’s in the midst of the biggest restructuring of Citi in decades. Raghavan had just been promoted to become the sole head of investment banking at JPM last month. The story is getting plenty of ink from the Financial Times and Bloomberg.

#2- Jacob Rothschild passes away: Banker and philanthropist Jacob Rothschild, a seventh-generation heir of the Rothschild banking dynasty, died yesterday at the age of 87, according to an announcement by the Rothschild Foundation — a British charity he led. The story is everywhere in the foreign press: Bloomberg | Reuters | NY Times | The Guardian | Wall Street Journal.

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