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  • Saudi Arabia taps Islamic banking to shore up mega-project financing

    Saudi Arabia has borrowed $7bn through Islamic loans as it looks to shore up financing to press ahead with costly mega-projects designed to diversify the kingdom’s economy from relying on energy revenue. The kingdom’s Public Investment Fund, or PIF, announced on Monday that it raised $7bn through "Murabaha" loans supported by a syndicate of 20 international and regional financial institutions. Murabaha is a type of Islamic financing mechanism in which the interest on a loan is already built into the final price paid by the borrower to avoid the payment of interest, which is barred by Islamic law. Investment in sectors such as alcohol, pornography and gambling are prohibited.

  • US, Arab mediators make some progress in Gaza peace talks, no deal yet, sources say

    U.S. and Arab mediators have made some progress in their efforts to reach a ceasefire accord between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, but not enough to seal a deal, Palestinian sources close to the talks said on Thursday. As talks continued in Qatar, the Israeli military carried out strikes across the enclave, killing at least 17 people on Thursday, Palestinian medics said. The deaths brought to 70 the number of people killed by Israeli strikes across Gaza Strip in the past 24 hours, according to the territory's health ministry.

  • Saudi leadership offers condolences to Chinese president for earthquake victims

    King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman expressed their condolences in separate messages to Chinese President Xi Jinping regarding the victims of the earthquake that hit Dingri County in the Xizang Region of southwest China. The Saudi leadership extended heartfelt condolences and sincere sympathy to the Chinese president and the families of those who died in the natural disaster, wishing a speedy recovery to the injured. On Tuesday, a 6.8-magnitude earthquake hit southwest China, leaving more than 120 people dead and over 100 injured.

  • Saudi Aramco and Sonatrach cut LPG prices for January

    Oil producer Saudi Aramco and Algeria's Sonatrach lowered January's official selling prices (OSPs) for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) by between 1.6% and 6% from December because of weaker demand for the fuel, traders said on Thursday. Aramco's January OSP for propane decreased by $10 to $625 a metric ton while butane dropped by $15 to $615 a ton, the traders said. Propane and butane are types of LPG with different boiling points.

  • Saudi Oil Exports to China Set for February Decline

    According to a Reuters report citing unnamed trade sources, Saudi oil shipments to China next month would stand at 43.5 million barrels, which would be down from 46 million barrels this month. Aramco is seen reducing deliveries to CNOOC and PetroChina while boosting deliveries to Sinopec and Sinochem. Earlier this week, Aramco raised the price of its flagship crude grade, Arab Light, by $0.60 per barrel to a premium of $1.50 a barrel over the Oman/Dubai average, the benchmark off which Middle Eastern crude oil going to Asia is priced, a price list seen by Bloomberg showed on Monday.

  • UAE, Saudi markets eye fresh wave of blockbuster IPOs after record 2024

    This comes as the Gulf region’s two largest economies build on a year that saw Saudi Arabia list 57 companies while the UAE raised $6 billion from just seven IPOs. The UAE’s IPO pipeline could include potential landmark deals such as national carrier Etihad Airways, online marketplace Dubizzle, hospitality firm Five Holdings, and IT company Alpha Data, though none have officially confirmed listing plans. Saudi Arabia kicked off 2025 with the successful listing of Nice One Beauty Digital Marketing Company on Wednesday, the kingdom’s first unicorn tech company to debut on the Main Market, while United Cartons Industries and Umm Al Qura for Development have secured approvals for upcoming listings. Budget airline Flynas is awaiting regulatory approval for what could be the kingdom’s first airline IPO.

  • Trump reveals $20bn from Sajwani for US data centres

    Incoming US president Donald Trump and Hussain Sajwani, the billionaire chairman of Damac Properties, announced on Tuesday that the emirati will invest “at least” $20 billion in data centres across the US. The move represents the official entry of EDGNEX, Damac’s specialised subsidiary, into the American market as demand for cloud computing and artificial intelligence – and the supporting infrastructure – grows rapidly around the world. Last month EDGNEX announced it was to put $3 billion into data centres in Southeast Asia.

  • Saudi startup funding tumbles as era of cheap money ends

    Funding for startups in Saudi Arabia dropped 44 percent to $750 million last year, the sharpest decline in the Middle East and North Africa, according to data analyst Magnitt. Across Mena, venture capital was down 29 percent to just under $2 billion, reflecting global trends of high interest rates and investor caution. Saudi Arabia was the region’s leader for funding value, Magnitt said, but late-stage dealmaking – a significant driver of growth – was noticeably absent.  The UAE’s funding total dropped by 8 percent in 2024, to $613 million. The Emirates still led the region in deal count with 188 transactions – a 9 percent rise on 2023. “The decline broadly has been led by the removal of cheap money, which led to overvaluations and too much rubbish in startup portfolios,” said Bhaskar Dasgupta, chairman of the board at financial services provider Apex Middle East & India.

  • Saudi Aramco leads $30m investment in tech startup

    Wa’ed Ventures, the $500 million venture capital fund owned by Saudi Aramco, and Japanese conglomerate Sumitomo have invested in Zension Technologies, a consumer electronics startup. Wa’ed led the funding raise of $30 million, which also included Dubai-based Global Ventures. Based in Riyadh, Zension provides consumers with access to the latest tech devices. Instead of purchasing devices outright, customers can subscribe to use them for a monthly fee, with options to upgrade, switch brands or return devices as needed.

  • Saudi airports kick off world’s largest passenger flow tech rollout

    Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) and airport operator MATARAT are rolling out an advanced LiDAR and passenger flow management solution across the country’s 27 airports—the world’s largest implementation of its kind—as part of the Kingdom’s vision to lead the region in airport technology and innovation. SAMI Advanced Electronics, a leading Saudi ICT provider, has partnered with DTP to deliver the solution, which uses Veovo’s Queue and Flow Management system alongside DTP’s tNexus smart mobile platform. This collaboration provides insights into passenger movement, dwell times, and queuing patterns within terminals. The solution is being rolled out to all airports in a phased approach over the next 18 months, with technology already installed at Jeddah and Riyadh airports.