The Most Highlighted News
The chairperson of Enara Capital, Sherif El-Gabaly , announced that they are negotiating with the Egyptian government to implement solar power plants with a capacity of 200MW and investments worth 200 MM USD . This is along with the projects that the company is implementing in Benban, Aswan, in the feed-in tariff projects. He also added that:
  • The company aims to implement 130MW plants on IPP and 70MW plants on net metering.
  • The three solar power plants with a capacity of 150MW in the second phase of the feed-in tariff projects, will be completed by Q1-2019.
  • The solar energy projects in Benban put Egypt on the map as one the leading countries in the field of new and renewable energy, and one of the most important projects of foreign direct investments.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry as well as the Ministry of Education and Technical Education have signed an MoU with Siemens, to improve the competitiveness of Egyptian industry, by providing world-class digitization and automation solutions in order to enhance Egypt industrial workforce. As part of ongoing support to Egypt Vision 2030, industrialization was identified as a central pillar of the country’s economic transformation strategy.
Egypt will present mining law amendments to parliament within three months to make the industry more attractive to investors. The law is focusing on investors due to Egypt potential gold production , with much of the country's gold unexploited because of restrictive commercial terms.
The Venture lab at The American University in Cairo (AUC), Temenos, the world’s no.1 banking software company, and Commercial International Bank, have announced a collaboration to strengthen the fintech ecosystem in Cairo. This cooperation was covered at a joint “ Meet the Marketplace ” event which took place at the AUC on 23 October 2018.
  • The event gave global fintechs who are existing members of Temenos Marketplace the opportunity to showcase and demo their solutions to a number of Egyptian financial institutions.
  • These fintechs demonstrated solutions which can provide opportunities and challenges relevant to the Egyptian market such as financial inclusion and literacy, digital engagement, security, risk and compliance encouraging entrepreneurs to start new fintech enterprises, and supporting fintech startups as they develop, pilot and launch their products and services.
Egypt will present mining law amendments to parliament within three months to make the industry more attractive to investors. The law is focusing on investors due to Egypt potential gold production , with much of the country's gold unexploited because of restrictive commercial terms.
  Saudi Arabia foreign reserves increased by 4.5% y-o-y registering 1.902 TR SAR (507.21 BN USD) in Q3-2018 compared to 1.819 TR SAR (485.22 BN USD) in Q3-2017.
  • Saudi Arabia foreign cash and overseas deposits increased by 18.6%, reaching 569.61 BN SAR (151.8 BN USD) in Q3-2018, compared to 556.02 BN SAR (148.19 BN USD) in Q3-2017.
  • On the other hand, the Saudi Central Bank investments in international securities decreased by 1.7% to 1.204 TR SAR (321.27 BN USD) in Q3-2018, compared to 1.226 TR SAR (326.88 BN USD) in Q3-2017.

Saudi Aramco has set its November 2018 contract price for propane and butane per ton in US dollars. Propane price was set at 540 USD per ton , compared to 655 USD in October 2018. Moreover, the butane price was set at 525 USD per ton compared to 655 USD in October 2018. The price provides a benchmark against which Middle East sales of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to Asia. 

Saudi Arabia Alkhabeer Capital plans to list a property trust on the stock exchange. The Saudi capital market authority earlier this month approved Alkhabeer's request to list the Real Estate Investment Trust ( REIT ) units.
  • Saudi Arabia Tadawul stock exchange has witnessed a burst of REIT activity in 2018, with eight listings in H1-2018.
  • SABIC has also confirmed the appointment of BNP Paribas and Citigroup as global coordinators on the sale, alongside HSBC Bank, Mitsubishi UFG Securities EMEA and Standard Chartered Bank acting as joint lead managers, in its Tadawul note. 
 Saudi Arabia and South Korea have jointly invested more than 487 MM SAR (129.8 MM USD) in developing and designing compact-sized nuclear plants. The aim of investing in the SMART ( System-Integrated Modular Advanced Reactor Technology ) nuclear plants is to diversify energy sources. The pre-project engineering to build two units of SMART will be completed in November 2018.

SABIC , a Saudi diversified manufacturing company, reported net profits increase of 24.2% amounting to 18.3 BN SAR (4.87 BN USD) for the first nine months of 2018, compared to 14.73 BN SAR (3.92 BN USD) in the same period in 2017.
  • Gross profits reported an increase of 20.058% amounted to 44.95 BN SAR (11.9 BN USD) compared to 37.44 BN SAR (9.97 BN USD) in the same period in 2017.
  • SABIC strong performance is attributed to higher levels of reliability in operations and cost efficiency ant it is also optimistic about the state of the global and Saudi economies, with the outlook for growth in each being strong.
UAE ranks top globally across five Islamic economy sectors while Malaysia once again tops the Global Islamic Economy Indicator in the State of the Global Islamic Economy Report 2018/2019.
  • The five sectors dominated by the UAE include halal food, halal travel, modest fashion, halal media and recreation, and halal pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. In 2017, the UAE came top in three sectors only.
  • Dubai have been positioned as a global hub of Islamic economy with the sector's contribution to the emirate's GDP registering 14% growth in 2018.
UAE has issued a new law governing the central bank , the regulation of financial institutions and activities in an effort to strengthen monetary performance and confidence in the economy.
  • The new law raises the central bank's capital to 20 BN AED (5.45 BN USD) and allows for the establishment of a general reserve of up to four times the paid-up capital.
  • As well as ensuring prudent management of foreign reserves, the new rules are designed to protect stability of the financial system and help stability of the currency. Meilenstein, a real estate developer that traces its origin in Germany, has announced its venture in UAE real estate market with eight projects in a development value exceeding 1.2 BN AED (327 MM USD).
  • The projects are to be built in several locations across Dubai, including Mohammed Bin Rashid City (MBR City) within Meydan City, Al Furjan, Dubai Studio City and Dubai Sports City.
  • The company has already invested 500 MM AED (136 MM USD) in company formation, office set up, talent acquisition, land acquisition, infrastructure and other ground works, etc.
Abu Dhabi Government economic diversification plan will boost the stock of its economy by 108 BN AED (29.4 BN USD) as foreign direct investment ( FDI ) and 331.13 BN AED (90 BN USD) as foreign trade.
  • Abu Dhabi, which has a proven oil reserve of 92 billion barrels, will serve its economy for the next 93 years, as per the current production rate.
  • Abu Dhabi, under the Vision 2030, is utilizing its oil wealth to diversify economy to make it more sustainable by expanding downstream petrochemicals and associated industries, manufacturing, tourism, healthcare, aviation and financial services.
Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa ) has announced the completion of the second phase of its ‘ Green Charger’ initiative, which included the installation of an additional 100 EV (Electric Vehicle) Green Charger stations across Dubai. With the completion of the project, the total number of charging stations in Dubai has doubled from 100 to 200.
The Sharjah Economic Development Department ( SEDD) , announced the issuance and renewal of 14,140 business licenses , reporting a growth of 20% in Q3-2018 compared to Q3-2017 showing that:
  • Industrial licenses came first in terms of issued and renewed licenses with a 47% growth rate.
  • They were followed by professional and commercial licenses with a growth rate of 19% each.
  • As for the Eitimad license, the growth rate reached 22%.
Qatar Commercial Bank has announced that it will finance subscriptions in the initial public offering ( IPO ) of 273,425,880 shares in Qatar Aluminum Manufacturing Company ( QAMCO ). The IPO, representing 49% of QAMCO’s issued share capital, remains open between 30 October 2018 and 12 November 2018 closing 1:00 pm, at an offer price of 10.1 QAR per Share (10 QAR nominal value plus 0.1 QAR offering and listing costs).
  • Commercial Bank is offering tailored financing of up to 65% of the total value of the QAMCO shares which customers wish to purchase, to help them take full advantage of this opportunity. This financing is offered at 0% interest until the allocation of surplus shares of the IPO is complete.

Aspire Zone Foundation ( AZF ), the world-renowned sports city, signed an MoU with Qatar Financial Centre ( QFC ), one of the world’s leading and fastest growing onshore business and financial centers, in order to establish Qatar Sports Business District (QSBD). The new national project aims to create the premier sports business cluster in Qatar and the Middle East.  
Mazaya Qatar Real Estate Development Company posted a 41.8% y-o-y increase in profits in Q3-2018 amounted to 5.9 MM QAR (1.6 MM USD), compared to 4.2 MM QAR (1.1 MM USD) in Q3-2017. For the first nine months of 2018, Mazaya net profits rose 25.5% reaching 22.1 MM QAR (6 MM USD), compared to 19.6 MM QAR (5.3 MM USD) for the same period in 2017.
  • Earnings per share (EPS) amounted to 0.19 QAR for the nine-month period ended September compared to 0.15 QAR for the same period in 2017.
  • It is worth noting that Mazaya profits levelled up 20.5% y-o-y to 16.21 MM QAR (4.4 MM USD) in H1-2018.
Qatar Fuel (Woqod) announced the opening of two new petrol stations in Al Kharaitiyat and Al Thumama as part of its expansion plan to cover every area in Qatar, covering an area of 11,300 and 7,000 square meters respectively and each one of them has 3 lanes with 9 dispensers that will serve Al Kharaitiyat and Al Thumama neighborhoods. By opening the new stations, Woqod raised its network of various petrol stations to 72. The Qatari firm is trying to meet the rising demand for petroleum products and provide customers with access to best-in-class products and services at their convenience and comfort.
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