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Economy & Business

A picture taken from a station of Dubai's Palm Monorail shows traffic on a road in Palm Jumeirah on Aug. 28, 2025.

Feature

Cheap oil, tighter finances, wars constrained Mid East economies in 2025

Low oil prices, tighter financial conditions and elevated geopolitical risk hampered growth across much of the Middle East and North Africa this year.

In Bristol, reporting on regional business, climate change, AI, tech

View of Damietta Segas LNG Terminal, in Damietta, Egypt, which is an export terminal belong to Spanish Egyptian Gas Company.

Analysis

Egypt’s $35B Israel gas deal buys time, tests fragile energy partnership

The agreement is a critical stopgap as Cairo grapples with domestic power demands, but the last two years have tested Egypt-Israel energy cooperation in unprecedented ways.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Employees install new solar panels at the Kalyon Energy's Karapinar Solar Power Plant on December 02, 2021 in Karapinar, Turkey.

Turkey hits renewable milestone as solar surpasses gas in power capacity

Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said in a statement that wind and solar capacity combined had risen to 39,215 megawatts by the end of November.

Latest News

Analysis

Gulf finance hubs race to expand as hedge funds flock to Dubai, Abu Dhabi

Traffic moves on Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai on March 24, 2025.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Maersk resumes Red Sea passage after two-year halt amid easing Houthi threat

A ship sails along Egypt's Suez Canal near Ismailia, April 16, 2025.

Egypt lands $572M UAE-backed solar deal, expanding Gulf's clean-energy footprint

Solar panels in a Sinai desert, Egypt.

Samuel Wendel

Senior Market Research Analyst

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Adam Lucente

News and Business Correspondent

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

Jack Dutton

Chief Business Correspondent

In Bristol, reporting on regional business, climate change, AI, tech

Sabena Siddiqui

In Karachi, reporting on South Asia, Middle East, Iran

Sebastian Castelier

In Dubai, reporting on regional business

Jennifer Gnana

Gulf Correspondent

In Dubai, reporting on Gulf energy policy and politics

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund

US rate hikes make Gulf sovereign wealth funds go-to source for capital

Gulf sovereign wealth funds are flush with cash from an oil windfall, controlling more than $3 trillion worth of assets. Here's how they'll invest it.

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund

US rate hikes make Gulf sovereign wealth funds go-to source for capital

Sebastian Castelier

Sebastian Castelier

In Dubai, reporting on regional business

VLADIMIR SIMICEK/AFP via Getty Images

Kuwait, Saudi Arabia deny supporting OPEC oil production increase

Oil prices dropped after news broke of a potential production increase but have since rebounded.

Delegates gather at the Sharm el-Sheikh International Convention Center in Egypt.

Egypt, Israel seek to boost trade exchange following COP27

Israel offered Egypt to develop rice cultivation using the latest technologies and curb the water shortage crisis in Cairo, within the framework of the two countries’ efforts to increase trade exchange.

A policeman regulates traffic at an intersection during a power outage in Tehran, on May 23, 2021.

Iran begins linking electricity with Russia

Tehran is seeking help from neighboring states in part due to the impact of US sanctions on Iran’s power grid.

Google invests more than $15 million in Israeli high-tech training

World Cup stadium in Qatar

New PRO Memo: 3 scenarios for Qatar's record-breaking World Cup investment

Qatar can capitalize from pouring $300 billion into hosting the World Cup...if it can avoid more controversy.

World Cup stadium in Qatar

Qatar’s record-shattering $300B World Cup bet will deliver returns, despite missteps

Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

DENOUR/AFP via Getty Images

Gas deal strengthens Qatar-China ties

China’s connections to the Gulf continue to expand.

A doctor in the oncology department of the Hotel-Dieu de France reviews anticancer drugs in the hospital pharmacy, Beirut, Lebanon, Oct. 7, 2022.

Lebanese turn to alternative medicine as health care costs soar

Many in Lebanon are opting for alternative medicine to treat physical and psychological maladies after no longer being able to afford health services.

Journalists take images of Peugeot 207 and 206 car production lines at the Iran Khodro auto plant.

Iran sanctions French carmakers

Peugeot, Renault and Citroen all do considerable business in Iran. The move follows new European Union sanctions against Iran in relation to the anti-government protests in the country.

Al-Monitor business correspondent Salim A. Essaid moderates a panel with global regulators from the US, India, Italy, and the UAE at Abu Dhabi Finance Week (ADFW) on November 15th 2022.

Who’s to blame for FTX, future cryptocurrency failings?

As the crypto world reels from the FTX currency exchange's bankruptcy, how can the industry protect the cryptocurrency market?