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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

Egypt finance

Abu Dhabi bank withdraws offer to buy Egypt's EFG Hermes

The Russian invastion of Ukraine has promted a shift away from emerging markets worldwide.

Egypt wheat

Egypt bans export of key staples to cushion blow of Ukraine war

To contain the repercussions of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Egypt banned for three months the export of wheat, flour, rice, pasta, oils and beans.

Egyptian farmers harvest wheat in Saqiyat al-Manqadi village in the northern Nile Delta province of Menoufia, Egypt, May 1, 2019.

Russia, Ukraine trade barbs over obstruction of wheat shipments to Egypt

As Egypt’s strategic wheat reserves continue to decline, Russia and Ukraine exchanged accusations over obstructing the movement of a ship loaded with wheat and bound for Egyptian ports.

A picture taken on Sept. 29, 2021, shows Russian tourists in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

Egypt hopes Israeli tourists will make up losses from Ukraine war

At a time when Egypt’s tourism sector has suffered a setback due to the war in Ukraine, the first direct flight from Israel is set to land in Sharm el-Sheikh this month, which may boost the number of Israeli tourists in the Egyptian coastal resorts in the Sinai Peninsula.

Egyptians smile for a photo as they buy fruits from a street vendor at a market in the Menufiya province north of Cairo on Feb. 22, 2018.

Gulf states give Egypt $22 billion to mitigate fallout from Ukraine war

Cairo has secured $22 billion from the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia to cover Egypt's current account deficit.

AHMAD HASSAN/AFP via Getty Images

Kuwait, Egypt explore railway to Sudan

The Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development has also started projects in Iraq and Yemen.

A farmer ploughs a wheat field in the countryside of the northeastern city of Qamishli, on Sept. 18, 2021.

Syria’s bread basket lies empty

Deir ez-Zor province in eastern Syria is facing a water and bread crisis that is likely to become even worse during the month of Ramadan.

Syrians buy food supplies ahead of the Muslim month of Ramadan, at a shopping street in the northwestern rebel-held city of Idlib, on April 1, 2022.

Price hikes make life harder in Idlib

Prices have increased dramatically ahead of Ramadan in opposition-held areas of Syria, where residents accuse Hayat Tahrir al-Sham of failing to help.

An Egyptian man arranges fruits at a shop in a market in Cairo, on March 17, 2022. Soaring bread prices sparked by Russia's invasion of Ukraine have bitten into the purchasing power of consumers in Egypt, a leading importer of wheat from the former Soviet states.

Middle East reels from historically high food prices

World food prices in March reached their highest levels ever, according to the United Nations.

Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid (L) welcomes the United Arab Emirates' Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan upon his arrival for the Negev summit, at Sde Boker in the southern Negev desert, Israel, March 27, 2022.

Free trade agreement opens new horizons for Israel, UAE

The economy and trade ministers of Israel and the United Arab Emirates concluded last week negotiations on a ground-breaking agreement for a free trade zone, the first of its kind Israel has ever reached with an Arab country.

A member of an Israeli tech delegation uses his phone in a video call during an evening meeting with Emirati counterparts at a hotel in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Oct. 25, 2020.

Israel's tech future lies with Arab entrepreneurs

An increasing number of Israeli Arabs are taking the bold step of launching their own startup companies.

Workers stand outside the Dubai International Financial Center in the Gulf emirate on Nov. 29, 2009.

Dubai regulator announces increased protection for whistleblowers

The UAE is working to increase its financial transparency after being linked to sanctions evasion and the flow of dark money.

United Arab Emirates