Category: Talking Point

Dangote Cement Plc is favouring London over Dubai for a planned international listing, arguing that the UK market offers a faster route to investors and better suits the group’s expanding cement business.Mariya Dangote, a board member and executive director responsible for the group’s cement and food businesses, said the company had considered a secondary listing in Dubai but concluded that completing the process there could take several years.“It’s compatible with our business,” she said in Lagos on Thursday, referring to

A Saudi-owned oil products tanker was struck in the Red Sea, triggering a fire at its bow and raising fresh concerns over the security of energy shipments along one of the world’s most important maritime corridors.All crew members aboard the Encelia were safe after the attack, the Transport General Authority said on Thursday. Emergency measures were taken to secure the vessel, contain the fire and prevent damage to the marine environment. The ship remained afloat, with no casualties reported.Yemen’s Houthi

Dubai has launched a tourism campaign offering UAE residents benefits worth more than Dh3,000 when friends or relatives they nominate travel to the emirate before the end of October.The “A Dubai Invite” programme, led by the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism, aims to use personal recommendations to attract additional international visitors. Residents can register overseas guests through an online nomination form and receive hotel, dining, attraction and lifestyle offers after their arrival is verified.The campaign covers visitors entering Dubai

Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem has taken direct charge of MMC Port Holdings following the immediate departure of group chief executive Azman Shah Mohd Yusof, placing Malaysia’s largest port operator under the control of its Emirati executive chairman.An internal company memorandum dated July 12 instructed employees to direct matters previously handled by the group chief executive to Bin Sulayem’s office. It did not explain Azman Shah’s departure or indicate when a permanent successor would be appointed.Bin Sulayem said the priority during

India has barred shipping companies from assigning the country’s seafarers to vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz, tightening safety measures after deadly attacks on merchant ships in the Gulf.The Directorate General of Maritime Administration issued the instruction through Circular No. 36 of 2026, dated July 15, directing shipowners, ship managers and recruitment and placement service companies to stop fresh deployments on voyages involving the strategic waterway until further orders.The decision follows the deaths of two seafarers from India in

The US military has disabled an oil tanker sailing towards Iran’s main crude export terminal, marking the first publicly disclosed attack on a commercial vessel since Washington renewed its blockade of Iranian ports.A US aircraft fired Hellfire missiles into the smokestack of the empty, Curaçao-flagged M/T Belma after the vessel ignored repeated warnings while crossing international waters towards Kharg Island. The strike left the tanker unable to continue its voyage, while no information was immediately released about casualties or serious

Masdar has reached financial close on a $6.1 billion renewable energy project in Abu Dhabi, securing $5.1 billion in debt financing for a solar and battery complex designed to supply clean electricity around the clock.The Abu Dhabi-based clean energy company will provide $1 billion in equity for the development, which is being undertaken with Emirates Water and Electricity Company. A consortium of 13 local and international banks is funding the remaining investment.The project combines a 5.2-gigawatt solar photovoltaic plant with

Dubai’s plan to launch commercial air taxis has moved closer to operation after the UAE aviation regulator certified a purpose-built vertiport for electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft near Dubai International Airport.The facility, registered as VDX under the General Civil Aviation Authority’s certification process, is being positioned as the primary hub for the emirate’s first air taxi network. Skyports Infrastructure, which developed the site with Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority, said the approval makes it the first purpose-built commercial vertiport

The UAE’s first Etihad Rail passenger service has begun carrying travellers between Fujairah and Abu Dhabi, opening a new phase in the country’s transport infrastructure and giving residents a rail alternative to long inter-emirate road journeys.The inaugural service left Fujairah’s Al Hilal City station at 5.34am on June 30 and arrived at Mohamed bin Zayed City station in Abu Dhabi at 7am, ahead of its scheduled journey time. Regular travel between the two emirates is expected to take about one

Tehran opened weeklong funeral ceremonies for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday, turning public mourning for the slain former supreme leader into a carefully staged display of endurance after months of war, political uncertainty and pressure on the Islamic Republic’s ruling establishment.The body of Khamenei, killed on 28 February during US and Israeli strikes at the start of the war, was placed at the Imam Khomeini Grand Mosalla mosque complex for public visits over the weekend. Authorities expect the ceremonies to

Dubai’s off-plan office market surged to a record AED13.1 billion in the first half of 2026, surpassing the combined value of transactions recorded across the previous seven years and signalling a decisive shift in the emirate’s commercial property cycle.Developers sold 1,668 off-plan office units between January and June, compared with AED5.48 billion generated from 1,821 transactions between 2019 and 2025. The jump reflects a sharp acceleration in demand for high-quality commercial space as companies expand their regional operations and investors

Kuwait has opened a $4.25 billion three-year term loan to a wider group of lenders, using the Kuwait Investment Authority as borrower on behalf of the Ministry of Finance in a transaction that underlines the Gulf state’s broader return to international financing markets.The facility has moved into general syndication after a group of major international banks was appointed to lead the deal. Mizuho Bank, HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation are acting as mandated lead arrangers and

UAE investors are moving into the second half of 2026 with stronger risk appetite as easing energy-market stress and lower geopolitical risk premiums reshape sentiment across the Middle East, Standard Chartered has said.The bank’s latest market outlook points to a more constructive backdrop for regional portfolios after the US-Iran interim deal helped cool fears of a prolonged disruption to Gulf energy flows. The retreat in oil volatility has given investors room to refocus on earnings, income opportunities and long-term diversification,

Iraq has signalled that it may reconsider its position inside OPEC unless its production quota is lifted sharply, opening a new dispute inside the oil producers’ group at a time when war-related disruption in the Gulf has strained export revenues and weakened confidence in the cartel’s cohesion.The warning marks an unusually direct challenge from one of OPEC’s five founding members and its second-largest producer after Saudi Arabia. Officials familiar with Iraqi oil policy said Baghdad had weighed the option of

GEMS Education has recorded a modest slowdown in registrations at its UAE schools as families reconsider overseas moves amid uncertainty linked to the Iran war, though the Dubai-based operator says its expansion plans remain unchanged.Chief executive Dino Varkey said the private education group had secured about 90 per cent of its targeted new sales for the next academic year, including fresh admissions and re-enrolments. The level is a couple of percentage points lower than the same stage last year, mainly

Abu Dhabi sovereign investor Mubadala is reviewing a potential commitment to a private equity project fund seeking to acquire control of MNC Solution, a listed South Korean defence components maker, in a deal that would deepen Gulf exposure to Seoul’s expanding weapons supply chain.The proposed investment would be made through a fund being assembled by Korea Investment & Securities Co. Partners Private Equity Division, which was selected in March as the preferred bidder for MNC Solution. The target is a

United States and Iranian negotiators ended their first round of high-level talks in Switzerland on Monday with an agreement to pursue a final settlement within 60 days, easing immediate fears of a wider regional confrontation after a volatile opening shaped by threats, maritime disruption and pressure from Gulf mediators.A joint statement by Qatar and Pakistan said the two sides had accepted a roadmap for technical negotiations, with further sessions scheduled through the week at Bürgenstock, the Swiss mountain resort owned

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company has opened another spot crude tender, offering buyers the option to load cargoes inside the Strait of Hormuz as Gulf exporters test confidence in a shipping route still shadowed by security, insurance and transit concerns after an interim U. S.-Iran peace arrangement.The tender, issued on Friday, covers Upper Zakum, Umm Lulu and Das crude for June, July and August loading, with buyers able to bid for up to 2 million barrels. It is the company’s

Dubai International Financial Centre has opened a 30-day consultation on proposed amendments to its Data Protection Regulations, setting out tougher governance requirements for artificial intelligence systems that process personal data across the financial centre.The proposals, published under Consultation Paper No. 3 of 2026, are aimed at reinforcing the framework for autonomous and semi-autonomous systems, clarifying certification obligations and defining the responsibilities of Autonomous Systems Officers. Stakeholders have until 18 July 2026 to submit comments before the amendments move towards the

Gulf economies are forecast to stage a sharp rebound in 2027 after a conflict-driven contraction this year, as energy exports recover, travel demand returns and business confidence improves across the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council.The latest ICAEW-Oxford Economics Economic Insight report projects GCC gross domestic product to shrink 2.4 per cent in 2026, before expanding 8.1 per cent in 2027. The forecast marks one of the starkest short-term reversals in the region’s outlook since the pandemic, with the downturn tied to

Abu Dhabi’s AED55 billion public-private partnership programme is set to redraw the emirate’s infrastructure funding model by bringing private capital deeper into transport, water, flood protection, education, healthcare and community assets over the next two years.The pipeline, launched on May 11 by the Abu Dhabi Investment Office and the Abu Dhabi Projects and Infrastructure Centre, covers 24 projects scheduled to be brought to market during 2026 and 2027. S&P Global Ratings said the plan marks a shift in the emirate’s

Dubai is preparing to award strategic contracts worth more than Dh55 billion for the expansion of Al Maktoum International Airport, marking a decisive step in turning Dubai World Central into the emirate’s main aviation gateway.Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai, said work on the airport expansion was progressing in line with the approved schedule, with phase one due to begin operations in 2032. The next round

Global peace has deteriorated for a 12th consecutive year as armed conflicts, military build-ups and geopolitical fragmentation deepen instability across much of the world, the 2026 Global Peace Index has found.The latest index, covering 163 countries and territories, recorded a 0.7 per cent decline in the average level of peacefulness over the past year, the 15th deterioration in 18 years. Ninety-nine countries became less peaceful, while 62 improved, underlining a widening imbalance between states able to maintain social stability and

The Persian Gulf Strait Authority has said the Strait of Hormuz will be “completely closed” to transit traffic, escalating fears of a wider maritime disruption at the world’s most sensitive energy chokepoint as tensions involving US military operations intensify.The notice, issued through a post on X, cited “aggressive US forces” and an announcement by the IR Armed Forces as grounds for the planned closure. It told companies and vessel operators that had already obtained transit permits to remain patient and