Saudi Telecom expands into Europe

On 20 April 2023, Saudi Telecom Co. announced it had signed a 20-year agreement with The United Group to acquire a portfolio of 4,800 towers across three European Union member states - Bulgaria, Slovenia and Croatia. The United Group, based in The Netherlands, is a telecoms provider across Southeast Europe. The deal, worth EUR 1.22 billion, marks Saudi Telcom’s first foray into Europe and was negotiated through its ICT infrastructure division, TAWAL.

April 26, 2023

Saudi Arabia strengthens energy cooperation with The Netherlands

As the war in Ukraine continues the European Union (EU) and its Member States are pursuing efforts to secure alternative energy supplies. In 2022, Germany turned to the Gulf States, more particularly Qatar, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia to sign cooperation agreements for the supply of green hydrogen, a move that also aligns with Europe’s green ambitions to combat climate change. More recently, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Catherine Colonna, travelled to Saudi Arabia and the UAE to strengthen energy cooperation. Romania and Serbia followed suit and also signed energy cooperation deals with Abu Dhabi in early 2023.

April 19, 2023

Bahrain’s non-oil sector experiences exceptional growth

Even though the Kingdom of Bahrain is regarded as an oil and gas producer, it is also one of the most diversified economies of the Gulf region. In 2021, the country unveiled a major economic reform plan aimed at investing no fewer than USD 30 billion in a variety of high added-value projects to accelerate the post-covid economic recovery and increase youth employment through its Tamkeen national training programme. The plan also seeks to greatly improve the business environment to attract foreign direct investments.

April 17, 2023

QatarEnergy joins TotalEnergies for major gas project in Iraq

Since September 2021, the French energy giant TotalEnergies has been negotiating a major energy agreement with the Iraqi government. The multiple political crises that the country had been grappling with since the last legislative elections were held in October 2021 have slowed the negotiation process.

April 13, 2023

UAE’s Masdar to issue green bonds

Green finance has the wind in its sails in the Gulf region. On 26 January, Masdar, Abu Dhabi’s renewable-based company, announced it would soon raise funds by issuing its first-ever green bond.

January 31, 2023

Oman to build the Middle East’s first spaceport

In mid-January, Oman revealed plans to build the first spaceport of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. It is hoped that the first rocket will be launched in 2024 even though works are expected to go on till 2025. According to the information released by the Omani government, the space rocket launch centre, to be called the “Etlaq Space Launch Complex,” will be developed by the National Aerospace Services Company (NASCOM) and is set to be located in the city of Duqm in the south of the country.

January 25, 2023

Saudi Arabia scales up investment in the mining sector supporting economic diversification

Home to an abundant supply of metals and minerals in high demand worldwide, Saudi Arabia is set to become a global leader in the mining sector and a hub for green metal industries. The growth of the mining sector will greatly facilitate the implementation of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 which calls for significant economic diversification alongside more sustainable energy production.

January 18, 2023

UAE’s ADNOC to allocate EUR 14 billion to decarbonisation projects

In 2022, the government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) unveiled its national strategy to achieve Net Zero emissions by 2050. In support of this objective, several major Emirati banks have issued green bonds to help to accelerate environmentally friendly initiatives. A significant development has come with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) announcement this month that it would allocate no fewer than EUR 14 billion to decarbonisation projects by 2030.

January 11, 2023