UAE startups struggle to find lead investors for growth stage rounds

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WHAT WE’RE TRACKING TODAY

THIS MORNING: Iranian flights suspended + MGX-backed consortium eyes another data center portfolio, Mubadala eyes stake in Italian turbine maker

Good morning, friends, and happy Friday. It’s another morning of Abu Dhabi capital staying busy — mostly abroad.

An MGX-backed consortium is in talks for up to USD 25 bn of data centers across Tokyo, Sydney, and Johor Bahru. Mubadala is closing in on a stake of up to 35% in an Italian turbine maker, and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority added another Indian stock to its book. And Mair, the Abu Dhabi grocery co-op turned listed company, is buying into a Turkish coffee chain with more than 400 shops.

Separately, the UAE has launched fast-tracked CEPA talks with Argentina, where XRG already holds a slice of the country's LNG push.

Closer to home, checks are harder to come by: Our big story today digs into the growth-stage funding gap after the number of series A rounds halved in 1H 2026. Investors tell us the problem stems from founders struggling to find anyone willing to lead a round, as opposed to just participate, as well as information asymmetry with foreign funds and a more difficult backdrop that has led to longer runways and different asks from investors.

Another Iranian route cut off

The UAE has suspended all flights by Iranian airlines to and from the country until further notice, the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) said in a statement carried by Wam. The suspension took effect today, and the GCAA tied it directly to the US ban on Iranian airlines using airports around the world. The US Treasury’s threat of secondary sanctions on any airport or company servicing Iranian carriers kicked in on Wednesday.

The UAE isn’t alone: As of Wednesday, Oman and Azerbaijan have barred Iranian airlines, Iraq has banned flights to Baghdad, and Georgia has suspended flights to Tbilisi, the Financial Times reports. Mahan Air has also dropped its Istanbul, Ankara, and Muscat routes. Iran’s Civil Aviation Organisation says it is talking to Oman and Iraq about keeping some flights running, including sending Baghdad-bound flights to the pilgrimage city of Najaf instead. Iran’s top security official Mohsen Rezaei has warned that countries shutting out Iranian flights could face reciprocal restrictions.

Why it matters: Flights were one of the last threads left after Abu Dhabi halted all trade, commercial exchange, and financial transactions with Iran in August. The central bank tightened the financial side further on Wednesday, sanctioning Bank Melli’s UAE branches over money laundering and terror financing violations.

Abu Dhabi capital eyes moves abroad

An MGX-backed consortium is closing in on Stack Infrastructure's Asia data centers: The BlackRock and MGX-backed AI Infrastructure Partnership (AIP) and Australia's IFM Investors have entered exclusive talks to buy the Asia Pacific portfolio, which spans sites in Tokyo, Osaka, Sydney, Melbourne, and Johor Bahru, in a transaction that could value it at USD 20-25 bn, Bloomberg reports. That's a haircut of up to a third on the more than USD 30 bn Stack's owner, Blue Owl, was initially seeking. The buyers are aiming to sign soon, though talks could still drag on or fall apart.

Background: MGX, the AI investor set up by Mubadala and G42, is a founding partner in AIP alongside BlackRock's Global Infrastructure Partners and Microsoft. The partnership's first investment, the USD 40 bn buyout of Aligned Data Centers, closed in July, bringing 51 campuses and more than 6.4 GW of capacity (operational and planned), concentrated in the US with a handful of sites in Latin America. This would be the consortium’s first move outside the Americas.

Meanwhile, Mubadala is in talks for a stake of up to 35% in Italy’s Ansaldo Energia: Italian state lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) is looking to sell 15-35% of Genoa-based gas and steam turbine maker Ansaldo Energia to Gulf investors, and talks with Mubadala are furthest along, Reuters reports, citing two sources it says are in the know. The stake would come as part of a broader agreement to expand Ansaldo Energia’s operations in the Gulf. CDP, which owns 99.6% of Ansaldo through CDP Equity, would keep full control.

Ansaldo is no stranger to the UAE: Ansaldo Energia has operated in the UAE for more than three decades, runs a remote monitoring and diagnostics center in Abu Dhabi, and last year was awarded a contract to supply four turbines for the 1 GW Al Dhafra power plant.

ICAEW, Oxford see UAE economy contracting 1.5% this year

The UAE economy is forecast to grow 6.6% in 2027 after shrinking 1.5% this year, according to the Economic Insight: Middle East Q3 2026 report released by ICAEW and Oxford Economics. The report says the UAE is “well placed to provide fiscal support to boost non-oil sectors,” with real estate and tourism lagging the rest of the economy.

Tourism is the weak spot: Tourism makes up around 13% of the UAE’s GDP. Visitor numbers are expected to drop 46.7% this year, before recovering 30% in 2027 and another 59% in 2028. The report doesn’t expect a full return to pre-conflict levels before 2028. It does, however, point to Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) data — still above the threshold separating expansion from contraction — as evidence that consumer confidence is doing better than headline growth figures suggest. Even employment has largely held up, with the report noting that “firms have been cautious to ramp up hiring, but anecdotal evidence does not point to a large or persistent exodus of workers or widespread labour shortages.”

BACKGROUND- This is ICAEW’s third straight downgrade to its GCC outlook for this year. It now expects the bloc to contract 6.4% in 2026 before rebounding 5.8% in 2027. The deeper hit follows renewed escalation that damaged Saudi Arabia’s oil export infrastructure, including the East-West pipeline, and pushed Brent above USD 100 a barrel. In March, ICAEW forecast a 0.2% GCC contraction for 2026. By June, it was projecting a 2.4% contraction followed by 8.1% growth in 2027.

The UAE is better off than most, save for Qatar, which is set for 11.5% growth next year after a much weaker 2026. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia is forecast to return to 4.7% growth in 2027 after contracting 4.6% this year as the oil sector gradually normalizes. The GCC’s hydrocarbon sector is similarly expected to rebound 25.9% in 2027 after a 26.9% contraction this year.

UAE, Argentina launch CEPA talks

Abu Dhabi isn’t waiting on Mercosur to do business with Buenos Aires: The UAE and Argentina launched talks on a bilateral trade and economic partnership agreement — also known as a CEPA — on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, state news agency Wam reports. Both sides say they want to fast-track the talks. Energy and mining head a long sector list that also takes in AI and data centers, pharma, agribusiness, and real estate.

Why it matters: Argentina is already part of the UAE’s CEPA talks with Mercosur, which began in 2024. After the latest round in November 2025, Al Zeyoudi said the process had “advanced” and said he hoped to wrap it up within weeks. Ten months on, there’s no agreement yet. A separate bilateral track suggests Abu Dhabi wants its Argentine interests moving at its own pace rather than the bloc’s.

Follow the gas: The joint statement singles out the XRG-YPF partnership, part of an Argentina LNG project expected to draw some USD 51 bn in investment. In June, XRG and Eni agreed to take 32% each of three Vaca Muerta blocks that will feed a planned 12 mn tons per annum export project, with YPF keeping 36%.

PSAs

#1- Abu Dhabi gives Tajer licence holders another year to operate without an office: Tajer Abu Dhabi licence holders whose grace period runs out in 2026 will be able to operate without physical premises for another year following a new extension by the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (ADDED), according to the Abu Dhabi Media Office.

New industrial (Rowad) licences also get more room — three years instead of two before construction must start, and four years instead of three for projects under construction to reach production.

Why it matters: Premises are one of the biggest fixed costs of starting up, and pushing that bill back a year helps reduce costs for founders at a time when costs are on the rise since the regional war began. The licence’s momentum is slowing, though. Growth in new Tajer licences fell from 24% in 2025 to 8% in 1H 2026, even as the number of activities it covers has grown from 30 at launch in 2017 to more than 1.2k. ADDED says an earlier waiver of fines for late licence renewals and cancellations has reached roughly 7.8k firms.

This is the latest in a string of relief measures introduced over the past few months to help businesses navigate the cost pressures associated with the war and ongoing supply chain disruptions. That includes AED 2.5 bn worth of stimulus packages from Dubai, a AED 6.2 bn Central Bank of the UAE resilience package which offered up to six months of loan deferrals, fee deferrals for postal and courier firms, and rent relief at Dubai South. The Finance Ministry also extended its small business tax relief scheme — originally set to expire at the end of June 2026 — through 31 December 2029, which eases taxes for resident taxable entities generating AED 3 mn or less in annual revenue.

#2- Also extended: The duty suspension on goods imported for re-export, temporarily admitted, or moved in transit was extended another 60 days, bringing the total extension to 180 days. The new notice covers suspended-duty cases expiring between 27 February and 31 October 2026. The extra 60 days run from the date each original suspension period expires, and Dubai Customs has left the door open to extending again.

The first extension, 120 days, came in June and reached 6.6k companies. It was part of a wider package that let firms pay duties in installments and cut financial penalties by 80%, which cleared more than AED 79 mn for 428 companies. The package also stretched the transit period from 30 to 90 days and let consignments enter through Khorfakkan, Fujairah, and the Hatta border crossing, bypassing the Strait of Hormuz.

#3- You can now open a DFM trading account entirely through the EFG Hermes One app, EFG Hermes UAE said in a press release (pdf). The new feature allows users to get a DFM investor number (NIN) and start trading directly on the DFM without paperwork or a branch visit. The move comes on the heels of a 1H 2026 that saw the DFM — where EGH Hermes is a top broker — attract nearly 43k new investors, most of whom are foreign.

WEATHER- Temperatures will hit 39°C today in Dubai and reach a low of 29°C, while Abu Dhabi will see a high of 41°C with a low of 30°C, according to our favorite weather app.

The big story abroad

Another round of US-Iran Hormuz negotiations: US and Iranian negotiators in New York are exploring a phased agreement in which Tehran would reopen the strait and Washington would lift its naval blockade, with Qatar mediating. Brent slid toward USD 106/bbl on the reports. The sticking point is that neither side wants to give up its leverage first, and a similar sequenced understanding struck in June collapsed within weeks. Tehran is willing to move its demand for transit fees into a side attachment, sources say, but not to give up control of the waterway. Trump has floated an agreement after the 3 November midterms, while former US negotiator Dennis Ross puts the odds of one before the vote at 30%.

Meanwhile, in bond market news: The US 30-year yield hit 5.48%, its highest since 2004, and the 10-year reached 5.20%. Japan's 10-year yield hit its highest since 1996. Pricey oil, AI spending, and deficits are all feeding the selloff, and traders are now pricing three more Fed hikes after last week's first increase in more than three years.

And Trump and Xi’s summit has wrapped, with China’s Xi Jinping’s White House state visit producing a two-month extension of the trade truce that was due to expire in November. That kicks tariffs, rare earths, and tech restrictions into the next round of talks. The two leaders also split on AI: Trump wants no new guardrails, while Xi says the two powers must manage the technology's growth.

Closer to home:

Turkey is holding two days of talks, chaired by Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek, on repaying some 456k investors in 131 funds worth about USD 20 bn that were ordered into liquidation after a wave of redemption failures.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas reaffirmed plans for legislative elections on 28 November, the first in 20 years, though Fatah officials doubt the vote will go ahead.
Saudi Arabia's Capital Market Authority is proposing an overhaul of IPO rules that would make underwriters commit to taking up unsold shares, require banks to verify that orders are backed by real liquidity, and require issuers to disclose forecasts. Public comments are open until 22 October.

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UAE Series A rounds halved in 1H as startups struggle to find investors willing to lead

UAE startups are still raising big money — getting to the next round is another matter. Series A rounds halved in 1H 2026 even as larger investments kept overall funding elevated, according to Magnitt data shared with EnterpriseAM. International investors are still showing up, but their share of Series A capital has fallen to its lowest level in more than five years — leaving regional backers to support a pipeline of startups already struggling to graduate beyond seed.

The headline numbers hide a much thinner market: UAE startups raised USD 895 mn in 1H, up 53% y-o-y, even as transaction count fell 37%, according to Magnitt’s mid-year report. But Series A funding fell around 20% as the number of rounds halved, Magnitt founder and CEO Philip Bahoshy tells EnterpriseAM, and AI companies took around 60% of it. Series B funding rose on a flat transaction count, pointing to bigger checks going to a similarly small pool of businesses. Together, the two stages accounted for just a fifth of UAE funding.

The pipeline was narrow to begin with: Only 10.6% of UAE startups that raised early-stage funding between 2015 and 2025 went on to secure a Series A, according to Magnitt’s 10-Year Funnel Analysis — and only around 23% of those raised a Series B. Fewer companies entering Series A today means fewer growth-stage businesses two or three years down the road.

“We have become much better at funding companies at inception than at financing their next stages of growth,” Victor Sunyer, partner for growth equity at Nuwa Capital, tells EnterpriseAM.

The missing lead check

Foreign investors haven’t disappeared — they’re just writing smaller checks: International investors made up 55% of UAE Series A participants in 1H, broadly in line with 2025, but supplied an estimated 35% of the capital, Bahoshy says. At Series B, their share of both investors and capital held at around half, in line with historical levels.

The real gap is someone to lead: The region has family offices, smaller growth funds, and institutions capable of participating in sizable investments, Sunyer says. Far fewer are prepared to commit a substantial amount upfront, conduct due diligence, set the valuation, and bring other investors into the round, he adds. That can leave founders with interested backers but nobody willing to get the fundraising process moving.

Some of the investors who could lead haven’t heard of these companies: Varun Rekhi, a growth investor at European VC Speedinvest, says some UAE businesses growing three or four times a year remain largely unknown to major overseas funds. He sees that information gap — alongside founders’ ability to articulate their investment case — as one of the biggest barriers to attracting international capital.

That leaves founders caught in a loop: “Series A investors say come back with more traction,” Rekhi says — but startups often need more money to produce that traction. He expects more bridge and pre-Series A rounds to fill the gap.

Can regional capital pick up the slack?

On paper, regional investors have stepped in: Their share of UAE startup funding rose from around 20% in 2025 to more than 80% in 1H 2026, Bahoshy says. They supplied more than 60% of Series A capital and nearly half of Series B funding.

But a handful of big wagers are doing much of the work: Three BlueFive Capital-backed transactions accounted for around 60% of total UAE funding in 1H, including CargoX’s USD 250 mn and Mal’s USD 230 mn rounds, according to our previous coverage. Excluding those investments, the foreign share of overall UAE funding returns toward its five-year average, Bahoshy says. The regional shift at Series A is real, but the countrywide figures overstate how broadly the investor mix has changed.

There’s only so much regional capital can carry: “Regional funds do not currently have enough firepower to fill it on their own,” Sunyer says. MENA-focused VCs are sitting on USD 1.45 bn in dry powder — 88% of what 17 funds have raised since 2024, according to Magnitt data we covered in August — but that’s spread across different mandates, geographies, and stages, not earmarked for UAE growth rounds.

The deeper problem sits with the LPs: Limited partners — the institutions and individuals backing VC funds — have favored seed strategies over the growth funds their portfolio companies will eventually need, Sunyer says, and some prefer to invest directly in later rounds to “capture higher returns themselves.” The lack of exits doesn’t help: MENA recorded just 16 startup M&A transactions in 1H, down 56% y-o-y, according to Magnitt, leaving LPs few proven routes to get their money back.

Nuwa is working around the gap transaction by transaction: Nuwa has developed a growth syndicate bringing family offices and other investors into individual transactions, allowing it to assemble larger checks while giving participants flexibility over which companies they back. Sunyer says the program has made three investments so far and aims to support six to eight businesses.

Regional capital can also act as a bridge to foreign money rather than a replacement for it: Rekhi points to managers such as Key Capital, COTU, Arbor Ventures, and BYLD introducing regional startups to global funds. His own firm offers another model: Speedinvest’s Middle East and Africa fund, backed by Mubadala, Qatar Investment Authority, and EIB Global, targets initial investments of around USD 5 mn, primarily at Series A and B — exactly the stage where the gap is widest. “Sovereign investors can [also] make a real difference by anchoring rounds and bringing larger pools of capital to the table,” Sunyer says.

What still gets a check

Besides AI startups, one of the growth-stage rounds raised over the past year was from Keyper — and it saw a mix of foreign and regional investors. The proptech raised USD 11 mn in July in a round led by Speedinvest — its first international lead investor — alongside regional and strategic backers including Mashreq’s venture arm, Arab National Bank, Dubai Future District Fund, Property Finder, and Ellington Properties. The investment followed an earlier USD 4 mn Series A.

The lead investor did the legwork: Speedinvest spent nearly a year getting to know the founders before investing, Rekhi says, drawn by Keyper’s focus on landlords rather than racking up tenants, as well as the underlying UAE real estate story. “For me, Keyper was a macro story first, and when you look under the hood, it is an operator story.” That year of diligence is exactly the lead-investor work Sunyer says few regional backers are willing to take on. Foreign and regional investors were also asking different questions: “International investors were assessing the market as well as the company. Regional investors already understood the market and were assessing us,” co-founder and CEO Omar Abu Innab tells EnterpriseAM.

The new reality

The pitch itself has changed: “Three years ago a regional expansion plan was an asset in a pitch; today the question is whether you have finished the market you are already in,” Abu Innab says. Sunyer sees the same shift from the investor side: Revenue growth still matters, but investors want customer retention, healthy margins, returns on acquisition spending, and a credible path to profitability.

Even strong growth no longer ensures a quick close: The global AI boom is resetting growth expectations across sectors, Rekhi says, leaving businesses growing 70-100% a year spending four to six months trying to close a round as investors reassess growth rates, team size, and execution speed.

Founders shouldn’t wait for easy money to return: Sunyer advises startups to allow longer to close rounds, raise enough to materially strengthen the business, and avoid spreading capital across too many markets or products. “A broad recovery in fundraising should be upside, not something the business depends on,” he says.

Ultimately, the 2H outlook looks like more large, concentrated rounds: “Headline funding may stay supported by large rounds for the rest of the year,” Bahoshy says. The clearer test will be whether more UAE startups are actually making it through the funding funnel — rather than a smaller pool of established businesses simply attracting ever-larger checks.

Mair acquires Espressolab owner

Mair Group buys majority stake in Turkey’s Espressolab: Abu Dhabi-based Mair Group signed a share purchase agreement to acquire 70% of Eslab, owner of Turkish specialty coffee chain Espressolab, according to a company statement (pdf) and a disclosure (pdf) to the ADX. Financial terms were not disclosed. Eslab’s founders and existing shareholders will keep the remaining 30% and stay on to support the business. The acquisition is still pending regulatory approvals in the relevant jurisdictions.

About Espressolab: Founded in 2014, the chain Espressolab has more than 400 coffee shops across 21 countries as of August, including more than 310 in over 50 Turkish cities. Most of the network is franchised. Beyond running coffee shops, Eslab handles brand management, franchising, coffee sourcing and roasting, product supply, and retail and digital sales.

Who is Mair? The group was formed when the Abu Dhabi Cooperative Society converted into a public joint stock company, and it was direct-listed on the ADX in December 2024. It runs two main businesses: grocery retail, via its Adcoop stores network and Spar supermarket chain in Abu Dhabi, and commercial real estate via Makani, which operates more than 70 malls and community hubs, including Mall of Al Ain.

This is Mair’s first international acquisition since listing and its first step beyond grocery and property into a consumer brand. Mair says combining Espressolab’s international reach with its own investment capabilities will create “strategic synergies,” but it hasn’t disclosed further details.

Adia adds another Indian firm to its growing portfolio + Dubai shisha maker Air upsizes debt issuance

Adia’s still shopping in India

Adia buys into Officer’s Choice maker: The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (Adia) picked up a little over 1.5 mn shares, or roughly 0.5%, in Indian liquor producer Allied Blenders and Distillers (ABDL) — known for Officer’s Choice whiskey — at an average price of INR 650 apiece, according to bulk transaction data on the BSE. That puts the purchase at about INR 975 mn (USD 11 mn). SBI Mutual Fund bought another 3.4 mn shares in the same block.

The sellers: Promoter Bina Kishore Chhabria offloaded 5.5 mn shares, a 1.96% stake, for about INR 3.6 bn. That cut the promoter group’s combined holding to 78.95% from 80.91% as the company works toward India’s minimum public shareholding rules. ABDL shares rose as much as 5.1% after the transaction, even though the company’s net income fell 18.7% y-o-y to INR 454 mn in the April-June quarter on global supply chain disruptions.

IN CONTEXT- Adia has been active in India’s listed market this month: the sovereign fund offloaded more of its stake in eyewear retailer Lenskart earlier this week.

Air upsizes its debut bond

Dubai shisha maker Air priced its senior unsecured notes at USD 425 mn, USD 25 mn above the initial USD 400 mn it set out to raise when launching the offering earlier this week, Zawya reports. The five-year notes, which can’t be called for the first two years, carry a 7.875% coupon. That is tighter than initial price thoughts of 8.25-8.5%, after books topped USD 850 mn (including USD 20 mn in JLM interest), making the issuance roughly twice covered.

The details: The notes are backed by Nasdaq-listed parent Air Global and some of the issuer’s subsidiaries. S&P is expected to rate them BB-, alongside Moody’s existing Ba3 rating. The issuance settles on 1 October and will list on the International Stock Exchange. Proceeds will repay outstanding term loans and revolving credit facilities, with the remainder going to general corporate purposes.

ADVISORS- Goldman Sachs International and Citi are joint global coordinators and bookrunners, with Citi also serving as billing and delivery bank. Deutsche Bank and Cantor Fitzgerald are joint lead managers and bookrunners.

Banks threaten to look beyond London as windfall tax talk grows

International lenders say they’ll put their money elsewhere if the UK raises taxes on the banking sector, according to a UK Finance survey picked up by the Financial Times. Fourteen foreign banks with big UK footprints and a combined 35k staff in the country said London is no longer their automatic pick for a European base, as it was before Brexit, adding that heavier tax and tighter visa rules would make them rethink their UK presence.

Why now? Lenders are worried next month’s budget will include a windfall levy, with Chancellor John Healey hunting for cashflows to cover the rising cost of government debt since the Iran war began. Bank earnings make the sector an obvious candidate. Britain’s four largest high-street lenders (NatWest, Lloyds, and the domestic units of Barclays and HSBC) booked GBP 13 bn in combined pre-tax income in 1H 2026, up 16% y-o-y. Union leaders cite last year’s GBP 25 bn in bonuses as proof banks can shoulder more. But UK Finance chief David Postings warned that additional tax could push the industry past a “tipping point.”

The banks’ side: PwC analysis commissioned by UK Finance puts the total tax take on London’s corporate and investment banks at 46.5% of income. No other major US or European hub is higher: Amsterdam sits at 42%, Dublin at 29% and New York at 28%, while Germany’s reforms will bring Frankfurt down to 34% from 39% by 2032.

The wealthy are heading out too: Macro hedge fund founder Chris Rokos, among the UK’s three largest individual taxpayers, is relocating to Athens and setting up an office there. Greece caps annual tax on foreign income at EUR 100k for as long as 15 years, in exchange for at least EUR 500k invested locally, making it a more tax-friendly option for high-net-worth individuals. Millennium Management is also said to be considering a Greek office. The departures come after the UK scrapped the non-dom regime and raised taxes on inheritance, capital gains and private equity.

Where the Gulf fits in: The UAE is still drawing wealth. The likes of Millennium Management and Rokos Capital have set up shop in the UAE, alongside their other hubs. But the field of rivals is widening. Turkey rolled out tax breaks for wealthy expats and investors in August; Hong Kong is moving to widen its tax exemption on carried interest beyond private equity to other fund strategies, with the bill expected to go to a final vote later this year; and Greece’s flat-tax regime has now landed one of London’s biggest names.

MARKETS THIS MORNING-

Asian markets are mixed this morning, with Japan’s Nikkei gaining 0.3% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng down 1.5%. Mainland China’s CSI 300 and South Korea’s Kospi are closed for holiday. Meanwhile, Wall Street futures point to a weaker open after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq finished the day flat yesterday.

ADX	10,206	-0.6% (YTD: +2.1%)
DFM	5,983	-0.4% (YTD: -1.1%)
Nasdaq Dubai UAE20	4,953	-0.7% (YTD: +1.3%)
USD : AED CBUAE	Buy 3.67	Sell 3.67
EIBOR	3.7% o/n	5.1% 1 yr
TASI	10,599	-0.8% (YTD: +1%)
EGX30	53,777	-0.8% (YTD: +28.6%)
S&P 500	7,704	-0.0% (YTD: +12.5%)
FTSE 100	10,680	-0.2% (YTD: +7.5%)
Euro Stoxx 50	6,273	-0.4% (YTD: +8.3%)
Brent crude	USD 105.79	-0.8%
Natural gas (Nymex)	USD 3.17	-3.9%
Gold	USD 4,325	+0.6%
BTC	USD 84,312	-0.1% (YTD: -5%)
Lunate JP Morgan UAE Bond UCITS ETF	AED 3.55	0.0% (YTD: -1%)
S&P MENA Bond & Sukuk	147.98	-0.6% (YTD: -2.6%)
VIX (Volatility Index)	15.67	+3.2% (YTD: +4.8%)

THE CLOSING BELL-

The ADX fell 0.6% yesterday on turnover of AED 1.2 bn. The index is down up 2.1% YTD.

In the green: Hayah Ins. (+7.5%), Mair (+2.5%), and Pure Health Holding (+2.2%).

In the red: National Bank of Fujairah (-5%), Americana Restaurants (-4.1%), and Invest Bank (-3.1%).

Over on the DFM, the index fell 0.4% on turnover of AED 583 mn. Meanwhile, Nasdaq Dubai fell 0.7%.

CALENDAR

SEPTEMBER

26 September-1 October (Saturday–Thursday): UN Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, Adnec Center, Abu Dhabi.

28-29 September (Monday-Tuesday): Al Ain Future Business Forum, Adnec, Al Ain, Abu Dhabi.

29-30 September (Tuesday-Wednesday): AFCM Annual Conference, Abu Dhabi.

OCTOBER

1-2 October (Thursday-Friday): MEIRA Annual Conference, Atlantis the Royal, Dubai.

4-10 October (Sunday-Saturday): World Space Week, Abu Dhabi.

5-7 October (Monday-Wednesday): AI Everything Global, Adnec Center, Abu Dhabi.

12-14 October (Monday-Wednesday): Airport Show, Dubai World Trade Center, Dubai.

14-15 October (Wednesday-Thursday): Sharjah Investment Forum, Jawaher Reception and Convention Center, Sharjah.

13-15 October (Tuesday-Thursday): Annual Meeting of Global Future Leaders, Dubai.

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

21 October (Wednesday): Reuters NEXT Gulf, St. Regis Saadiyat Island Resort, 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.

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 Medicine, Adnec Center, Abu Dhabi.

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

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;
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;
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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