Good morning, friends. It’s another slow day here at home — typical of August — with very little happening beyond a handful of M&A updates and more earnings.

On the M&A front, we have news of Sawaeed Holding taking over two Emirates Stallions Group subsidiaries and Taqa closing the sale of its Iraq oil field stake. As for earnings, state-owned conglomerate IHC is out with its financials for 2Q 2024, as is Adnoc Logistics & Services and Burjeel.

WEATHER- Expect fair to partly cloudy skies with possible rain in eastern and southern areas. Humidity will rise along western coasts at night and tomorrow morning, according to the National Center of Meteorology (pdf). Dubai will see the mercury hit 41°C, with an overnight low of 32°C, while temperatures will hit 38°C in Abu Dhabi, with an overnight low of 32°C.

MEANWHILE- Are you planning to be in Egypt on 24 September? You may be interested in attending our 2024 Enterprise Finance Forum. Seating is strictly limited at our flagship, invitation-only forum for C-suite executives and other senior leaders.

Why attend? We’re in the early days of a generational realignment of power in our industry — in our region and beyond — and on the cusp of the biggest intergenerational transfer of wealth the world has ever seen. With that as the backdrop, we’re going to take stock of where we stand six months after the float of the EGP and ask what’s next for finance in Egypt and the wider region. Among the questions we’ll be asking:

• What roles will Egypt, Saudi and the UAE play in the regional industry going forward?
• What are foreign investors looking for right now?
• Is real estate the only asset class in Egypt?
• What does the next generation of leaders think as they take over established family businesses?

Do you want to request an invitation? Tap or click the image below.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1- Dubai tests 7-hour workday, 4-day working week for gov’t bodies: The Dubai Government Human Resources Department (DGHR) launched a new “flexible summer” pilot program aiming to reduce working hours to seven per day and suspend work on Fridays for 15 government entities from 12 August to 30 September as part of a new summer initiative, a government statement read. The DGHR will receive feedback on employees' productivity by the end of the initiative.

Remember: The UAE has implemented a four-and-half-day working week since 2022, with Sharjah running a four-day working week.

#2- Italy won’t stand in the way of Adnoc-backed VTTI’s acquisition of Adriatic LNG: The Italian government won’t opt for the Golden Power clause to block or restrict Adnoc-backed VTTI ’s acquisition of Italy’s largest LNG terminal Adriatic LNG, Reuters reported, citing sources it says are in the know. The Golden Power regulations allow the Italian government to veto or impose conditions on transactions involving strategic assets.

Background: ExxonMobil and QatarEnergy agreed in March to sell their stakes in Adriatic LNG in a transaction that would see VTTI acquire a 70% stake in the terminal and Italian gas grid operator Snam increasing its share to 30%. The transaction could reportedly value the terminal at EUR 800 mn, including debt.

Who owns what? ExxonMobil owns 70.7% of Adriatic LNG, while QatarEnergy owns 22%, and Italian gas grid operator Snam owns the remaining 7.3%. VTTI’s shareholders include Adnoc, the world’s largest oil trader Vitol, and Australian investment manager IFM. Adnoc acquired a 10% stake in VTTI in 2019.

DATA POINTS-

#1- A record 44.9 mn visitors passed through Dubai International Airport (DXB) in 1H 2024, marking an 8% y-o-y increase, airport operator Dubai Airports said in a statement. Dubai attracted around 9.31 mn international visitors during the period, with India emerging as the most popular destination for flyers, and traffic from China rising 80% y-o-y to over 1 mn passengers. Aircraft movements were up 7.2% y-o-y during the six months to 216k.

DXB revised its 2024 passenger forecast up to a record 91.8 mn, surpassing its May estimate of 91 mn passengers, it said in the statement. “We’re pretty optimistic that actually this is going to be a record year and hopefully leading toward our goal of topping the 100 mn passenger mark within the next three or four years,” Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths told Bloomberg.

#2- Ajman's rental market saw a 49% y-o-y increase in transaction value to AED 2.28 bn in 1H 2024 on the back of government initiatives and infrastructure improvements, Wam reports. Residential rental contracts comprised the lion’s share of transactions during the first six months of the year with AED 1.21 bn, while commercial rental contracts comprised AED 989 mn and investment rental contracts made up AED 80 mn.

#3- The Cabinet approved over 2.6k housing applications worth over AED 2 bn in 1H 2024, Al Khaleej reports. The applications included 631 grants worth AED 430.9 mn, nearly 2k housing loans, and financing worth AED 1.6 bn.

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTS-

Standardized Electric Vehicle (EV) charging fees will take effect nationwide as of 6 September, after the decision was published in the Official Gazette in July. Fast charging will cost no less than AED 1.2 per kWh plus VAT, and slow charging will be no less than AED 0.7 per kWh.

Background:The UAE's decision to implement EV charging fees seeks to regulate the country’s expanding EV infrastructure, reduce overcrowding at charging stations, and ensure fair access, Khaleej Times writes. Currently, charging station rates vary widely, with some not charging users at all.

REMEMBER- We’re getting more EV charging stations this year: UAEV — the first state-owned EV charging network in the UAE — is targeting to install up to 100 160 KW fast-charging units by the year’s end, and some 1k units by 2030 in public spaces, workplaces, shopping centers, and residential areas. There are also plans to later install chargers in malls, supermarkets, and government buildings.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

There’s no single story clearly capturing the international press’ imagination this morning, giving us instead a mixed bag of the latest from the US presidential race and some analysis on the Palestine-Israel conflict.

Kamala Harris and her newly-minted running mate Tim Walz are making campaign stops in key swing states in the Upper Midwest — a critical area to ensure they get voted into the White House this November. Harris’ campaign raised some USD 36 mn in the first 24 hours after announcing Walz as her vice presidential pick (Reuters | New York Times | AP | Guardian).

MEANWHILE- Hamas’ appointment of Yahya Sinwar as its new political chief is the subject of analysis pieces in Bloomberg, the Financial Times, and the Wall Street Journal, all of whom are looking at Sinwar’s past and what his appointment means for Gaza and the prospects of a ceasefire with Israel.

Over in Bangladesh: Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, who has long been a political adversary of Bangladesh's deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, has been appointed as the country's interim leader. (France24 | CNN | BBC)

OLYMPICS-

Another eventful day at the Paris Olympics kicked off with the 20 km mixed walk race — the latest discipline added to the Olympics this year — which was won by the Spanish duo Álvaro Martín and María Pérez.

Australia had its best Olympic day in history yesterday, adding four golds to its haul. Most notably, 21-year-old Keegan Palmer held on to the men's skateboarding gold after first winning in during the Tokyo 2020 games, where the sport made its debut. Yesterday’s wins pushed Australia to third place in the medal standings with 18 golds — five more than host France in fourth place.

Moroccan Soufiane El Bakkali successfully defended his title in the 3,000m steeplechase after one thrilling tactical race. El Bakkali became the first athlete to bag the event’s gold back-to-back since 1936.

Bahrain’s Salwa Eid Naser has qualified for the women’s 400m final tomorrow after coming first in the semifinals, giving Manama a chance at securing a second medal after 4-year-old Winfred Yavi clinched the women’s 3km steeplechase title on Monday.

The medal standings now at the Paris Olympics:

• USA (27 gold, 94 overall)
• China (25 gold, 65 overall)
• Australia (18 gold, 41 overall)
• France (13 gold, 51 overall)
• UK (12 gold, 49 overall)
• Korea (12 gold, 27 overall)

Want to see when your favorite sport is on? Check out the official schedule here.

MARKET WATCH-

Global crude consumption is projected to fall to 104.5 mn barrels per day (bbl/d) in 2025, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in its latest report (pdf), slashing its previous forecast by 200k bbl/d as it anticipates demand growth to slow to 1.6% next year. The EIA cited China’s economic slowdown, which has affected diesel demand, crude oil imports, and oil refinery activity, as the key reason behind the forecast revision.

The agency forecasts Brent crude oil to average between USD 85-89 for the rest of 2024 and level at USD 86 in 2025 on the back of low global oil inventories due to Opec’s production cuts.

Background: Concerns over the sluggish growth have kept oil prices in check this year despite Opec+ production cuts and potential supply disruptions on the back of the ongoing war in the Middle East, Bloomberg writes.

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CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

The World ESG Summit is scheduled to take place on 20-21 August at Dusit Thani in Dubai. The two-day business conference will gather public and private sector players from key sectors like energy, utilities finance, and manufacturing to explore ESG integration across all industries.

Dubai Future Academy is now accepting applications for its four-week program on future-readiness across various fields, FEEL: ADisruptive Futures Program, until 5 September, geared towards international entrepreneurs, mid-to-senior level executives, policymakers, government officials, and specialists. The program will feature lectures from experts at MIT, Yale, and Stanford, as well as field trips to innovation hubs and labs in Dubai. Graduates will receive certificates at the Dubai Future Forum, scheduled to be held on 19-20 November.

A new UAE-China Summit presented by HSBC will take place sometime in December as part of the Abu Dhabi Finance Week, Wam reports. The trade forum will mark 40 years of diplomatic relations between the UAE and China, and focus on bilateral trade, investment windows, and cultural exchange.

Check out our full calendar on the web for a comprehensive listing of upcoming news events, national holidays and news triggers.