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  • Saudi Arabia’s PIF Seeks $11 Billion Loan, FT Reports
     

    Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) is set to choose international banks to lend the wealth fund $11 billion, according to a report in the London-based Financial Times. The FT reports that there is strong interest from major international lenders in participating in the loan to the PIF, including “[s]ome of the most senior names in international banking, including JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon, Morgan […]

     
  • Report: Saudi-backed SoftBank Earnings Surge on Vision Fund Valuation
     

    SoftBank has reported a 49.2 percent surge in its latest quarterly earnings due in part to a $2.2 billion gain at its tech-focused Saudi-backed Vision Fund, Zawya reports. According to Zawya, the fund’s investment gain was a result of the sale of the Indian e-commerce company Flipkart to US chain Walmart. An increase in the value of the fund’s […]

     
  • ACWA Power to Build 100MW Solar Project in South Africa Following Major Investment Announcements from Saudi, UAE
     

    ACWA Power says it will begin construction this year on a 100MW solar energy plant in South Africa as Saudi Arabia and the UAE announced that the two countries will invest a combined $20 billion into the country, according to reports. The 100MW Redstone concentrated solar thermal power (CSP) plant, whose construction had initially been scheduled […]

     
  • MIT Professional Education Launches New Collaboration with Saudi Arabia’s Al Yamamah University
     

    MIT Professional Education is launching a new collaboration with Al Yamamah University (YU) aimed at “promoting diversity at institutions of higher education and supporting the country’s overall development and sociocultural evolution,” the prestigious university announced on its website. As part of the initiative, MIT Professional Education will “develop and teach professional education courses on leadership and innovation […]

     
  • Exclusive: Engineering Giant Bechtel Launches New Women’s Empowerment Program in Saudi Arabia
     

    Global engineering and procurement giant Bechtel Corporation will launch a new pioneering program for women’s empowerment in Saudi Arabia, set to be announced this month and rolled out this fall, SUSTG has learned. Working with Al Khaleej Training and Education organization, the program aims to increase women’s participation in the country’s workforce through training and […]

     
  • The Race is On for Ride Sharing Apps in Saudi Arabia to Hire Saudi Women ‘Captinahs’
     

    As Saudi women settle into the driver’s seat, ride-sharing apps like Uber and Careem are gearing up for a race to hire women, according to reports. Careem — the Middle East’s answer to Uber — is recruiting Saudi women to take the wheel and has received over 2,000 applications since announcing it would recruit so-called […]

     
  • Saudi Women Take the Wheel as Kingdom Marches to More Vibrant Society
     

    Saudi women exercised their new legal right to drive across the Kingdom for the first time in decades this weekend, with many taking to social media to document their experience. The new law allowing women to drive took effect on June 24th, with some newly licensed women drivers in the kingdom doing so right at […]

     
  • Saudi Arabia, Russia to Jointly Invest $2 Billion in Tech Following Crown Prince, Putin Meeting
     

    Saudi Arabia and Russia will jointly invest $2 billion in technology projects next year, according to reports, following the visit of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to Russia at the start of the World Cup last week. Russia’s RIDF, the country’s sovereign wealth fund, and Saudi Arabia have already allocated $10 billion for investment with $2 billion […]

     
  • Saudi Digital Media Startup Raises $9 Million Series A Round with 20m Subscribers
     

    A Saudi Arabia-based digital media company raised $9 million in a Series A round of funding, according to reports. Telfaz11, with over 20 million subscribers on their network, and reporting more than 2 billion views on YouTube, is a leading Arabic Multi-Channel Network (MCN) which seeks to change the face of home-grown online entertainment. “As a pre-eminent […]

     
  • Will Trump’s JCPoA Decision Affect U.S.-Saudi Nuclear Talks?
     

    President Trump’s decision to withdraw the United States from the so-called Iran deal may have an effect on the ongoing negotiations between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia, according to analysts, as Energy Secretary Rick Perry hopes to steer Saudi nuclear negotiators into an “acceptable 123 agreement with additional protocols.” The U.S. is hoping to position Westinghouse among […]

     

MUST-READS

  • Saudi Arabia’s $100bn tech investment shows global leadership on AI, says Microsoft executive

    Saudi Arabia’s plan to invest $100 billion in technology is propelling the Kingdom to the forefront of innovation and talent development worldwide, said a senior Microsoft Arabia executive. In February, the Kingdom launched Alat, a technology and artificial intelligence firm backed by the Public Investment Fund, with the aim of pouring funds into Saudi Arabia’s technological sector.

  • Saudi Arabia broadens e-visa eligibility to include visitors from three new countries

    Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Tourism announced on Wednesday it has expanded its e-visa ambit to include nationals from three new countries, as the Kingdom moves forward with its efforts to boost its tourism sector. Nationals of Barbados, Commonwealth of Bahamas, and Grenada can now apply for a visitor visa electronically or upon arrival at one of the Kingdom’s ports, the ministry said in a post on X.

  • Saudi Arabia leads Q1 IPO activity in MENA: EY report

    Saudi Arabia emerged as a dominant force in initial public offering activity for the region in the first quarter of 2024, according to multinational professional services EY. With nine IPOs launched during this period, the Kingdom, along with the UAE, contributed to a total of 10 listings, generating combined proceeds of $1.2 billion, as detailed in the MENA IPO Eye Q1 2024 report.

  • Saudi Arabia records 16% surge in credit card loans in Q1 2024

    Saudi Arabia recorded a 16 percent annual surge in credit card loans in the first quarter of 2024 to reach SR27.25 billion ($7.3 billion), the latest central bank data showed. The Saudi Central Bank, also known as SAMA, figures indicate a shift in consumer behaviors about cashless payment options and show that the Kingdom is on track to become a cashless society. Advertisement In an April report by GlobalData, Ravi Sharma, a banking and payments analyst, emphasized the transition from cash to electronic payments, noting: “While cash has traditionally been a preferred method of payment in Saudi Arabia, its usage is on the decline in line with the rising consumer preference for electronic payments.”

  • Saudi Industrial Production Index drops 8.7% in March

    Saudi Arabia’s Industrial Production Index (IPI) declined by 8.7% year-on-year (YoY) in March. Data issued by the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) showed that Saudi IPI fell to 104.48 points in March 2024, according to the base year 2021, compared to 114.47 points in March 2023. The index was directly affected by the decline in the mining and quarrying activity, which accounts for 61.4% of the index, the authority said. The IPI measures the relative change and reflects the production quantities of materials and goods, which have been converted from raw materials to consumables in their final form as goods, for the purpose of achieving a return.

  • UN Warns of Four-Month Lean Period in Yemen

    The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned that Yemen would be facing a lean period from June to September due to a decrease in humanitarian food assistance in Houthi-controlled areas and a projected increase in food prices in areas held by the legitimate government. In its quarterly food security update, the FAO said that despite a brief relief experienced from mid-March through April this year due to augmented social support (zakat) during the holy fasting month of Ramadan, food security is anticipated to deteriorate from June to September, marking “the peak of the lean period in the country.” FAO noted that during the first quarter of 2024, the food security situation deteriorated compared to the same period last year.

  • PGA Championship invites 7 LIV players to get top 100 in the world

    The PGA Championship officially has Tiger Woods in a field released Tuesday that includes invitations to seven players from Saudi-funded LIV Golf, giving the major 99 of the 100 in the world ranking at Valhalla next week. The PGA of America strives to have the top 100 in the world to maintain its reputation for having the strongest field of the four majors, although it is not part of the criteria. Those hopes ended late Tuesday when Rikuya Hoshino (No. 94) withdrew. The PGA leans on a catch-all category of “special invitations.” The group of LIV players includes Patrick Reed, whose tie for 12th in the Masters moved him inside the top 100. He is at No. 92, and the invitation keeps alive his streak of playing every major since the 2014 Masters.

  • Italy and Libya sign co-operation agreements

    Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni signed three agreements with Libya during an official state visit on Tuesday, in which she met officials from the Tripoli and Benghazi-based governments in the conflict-torn country. The agreements are part of the Mattei plan, a project in which Italy promised a €5.5 billion ($5.92 billion) investment package for projects in Africa at a summit in Rome in January. Ms Meloni initially met Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, who leads the National Unity Government in Tripoli.

  • Podcast: A Plan to Remake the Middle East

    If and when Israel and Hamas reach a deal for a cease-fire, the United States will immediately turn to a different set of negotiations over a grand diplomatic bargain that it believes could rebuild Gaza and remake the Middle East. Michael Crowley, who covers the State Department and U.S. foreign policy for The Times, explains why those involved in this plan believe they have so little time left to get it done.

  • US believes Hamas, Israel can break Gaza ceasefire impasse; Israeli forces cut Rafah aid route

    The U.S. said negotiations on a Gaza ceasefire should be able to close the gaps between Israel and Hamas while Israeli forces seized the main border crossing in Rafah on Tuesday, closing a vital route for aid. Hamas official Osama Hamdan, speaking to reporters in Beirut, warned that if Israel's military aggression continued in Rafah, there would be no truce agreement. The Palestinian militant group accused Israel of undermining ceasefire efforts in the seven-month-long war that has laid waste to Gaza and left hundreds of thousands of its people homeless and hungry.