Economy & Business - AL-MONITOR: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

Business and Economy Cover Image

Economy & Business

People walk past a cryptocurrency exchange office with a screen featuring US President Donald Trump holding cryptocurrency coins in Hong Kong on March 12, 2025.

Trump earns $810M from UAE-backed crypto firm: What to know

According to the disclosure, Trump earned $810 million from crypto token sales and sales of interests in UAE-backed World Liberty Financial.

United Arab Emirates

Omar Albaw / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images

Kuwait's Zain eyes $1.5B mobile network in postwar Syria: What to know

The Kuwaiti company is planning to invest more than $1.5 billion in Syria after securing a license to operate there, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.

AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP via Getty Images

Here's what to know about Iraq's corruption as Zaidi launches crackdown

Watchdogs and financial institutions regard Iraq as a significantly corrupt country as the new prime minister works to recover public funds.

Latest News

Traffic plummets through Strait of Hormuz after Iran, US trade fire

AFP via Getty Images

Interview

Saudi labor localization will take ‘generation or two': Armada CEO

A student attends a training seminar at the Tourism Ministry Training center in the city of Riyadh on August 30, 2022.

Olivier Badard

CEO of Armada Holding

Analysis

Why the Hormuz oil shock never became an energy catastrophe

A tourist boat passes near crude oil tankers, bulk carriers, and other vessels anchored off Port Sultan Qaboos in Muscat, Oman, June 19, 2026.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Explainer

Gulf states push incentives for investors, expats after war dents image

FADEL SENNA/AFP via Getty Images

United Arab Emirates

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

Vanessa Ghanem

In Dubai, reporting on business, energy and politics

Francisco Serrano

In Lisbon, reporting on North Africa business

BudZero

Qatar reverses course, bans alcohol at World Cup

Budweiser had obtained exclusive rights to sell beer in the stadiums, but can now sell it only in luxury boxes.

UAE solar farm

Gulf states chart own investment course in climate finance

Sebastian Castelier

Sebastian Castelier

In Dubai, reporting on regional business

Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry (R) speaks as UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres listens at a press conference during the COP27 climate conference, Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, Nov. 17, 2022.

Egypt reaps economic, political gains from COP27

Egypt has achieved several major deals as well as boosted its foreign policy by hosting COP27.

An Etihad Airways Boeing 787-9 "Dreamliner" aircraft lands at Israel's Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, on Oct. 20, 2020.

Etihad launches initiative on sustainable aviation fuel to decarbonize flights

Sustainable aviation fuel, which is sourced from biological materials, has great carbon reduction potential. However, airlines' reluctance to spend more on fuel is hampering its development, according to some observers.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (L) speaks with South Korean President Moon Jae-In (not pictured) during a meeting at the Presidential Blue House, Seoul, South Korea, June 26, 2019.

Saudi Aramco makes $7 billion investment in South Korea during crown prince’s visit

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is seeking to boost energy, defense and investment cooperation with Seoul during his trip.

YASIN AKGUL/AFP via Getty Images

Turkish exporters, tourism sector cut prices

Amid the dramatic slump of the lira, Turkish exporters have sold goods at lower prices, while the country’s imports, chief among them energy, have grown more expensive, official data show.

Carbon market

Egypt launches Africa’s first carbon credit market

Access to development financing solutions is being boosted through a new platform that will help the African private sector to lower its carbon emissions.

Israel housing

Israeli housing prices expected to continue to rise

Short supply of new units and high demand will outweigh increases in interest rates, most observers say.

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao sits on the main stage at Abu Dhabi Finance Week (ADFW) in an interview with Mike Novogratz, the CEO of Galaxy Digital Holdings.

The Business & Tech Briefing: Binance CEO takes heat at Abu Dhabi event after FTX fall

In this weekly newsletter, Greg Cohen rounds up the biggest business and technology stories from the region.

AL-MONITOR Staff

By AL-MONITOR Staff

A woman takes a photo of a display at the Sharm el-Sheikh International Convention Center during the COP27 climate conference, Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, Nov. 15, 2022.

Middle East startups rise to challenges of climate change

With COP27 underway in Egypt, climate adaptation startups in the Middle East and North Africa work to create new platforms in the face of the urgent action required to combat climate change.

A Moroccan farmer walks past solar panels that are connected to a generator which feeds a pump extracting water from underground in Tafoughalt, a little village deep in the mountains of Morocco's eastern Berkane province, on October 31, 2016. As the Cop22 gets underway in Marrakesh, negotiators are thrashing out the details of a landmark global agreement designed to stave off disastrous climate change, but in Tafoughalt that impact is being felt already. Rising temperatures are among the factors making the

New PRO memo: Morocco’s transition to renewable energies to accelerate amid high hydrocarbons prices

Morocco is on track to have renewable sources account for more electricity generation than fossil fuels by 2025.

A Moroccan farmer walks past solar panels that are connected to a generator which feeds a pump extracting water from underground in Tafoughalt, a little village deep in the mountains of Morocco's eastern Berkane province, on October 31, 2016. As the Cop22 gets underway in Marrakesh, negotiators are thrashing out the details of a landmark global agreement designed to stave off disastrous climate change, but in Tafoughalt that impact is being felt already. Rising temperatures are among the factors making the

Morocco’s transition to renewable energies to accelerate amid high hydrocarbons prices

Francisco Serrano

Francisco Serrano

In Lisbon, reporting on North Africa business