MEED
Issue No 51 21 - 27 December 2007
View all stories from this issue.
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Agenda: Bush's Iraq compromise
The White House has dropped its ideological goals in Iraq, trading reform for stability. -
Baghdad opens Umm Qasr port to foreign operators
The management of Iraq’s deep-sea port at Umm Qasr is to be thrown open to foreign operators in 2008 in a $500m deal. -
Baghdad struggles to finance rail network redevelopment
The Iraqi government is struggling to restart a $10bn redevelopment programme for the nation’s railways because of a lack of funding. -
Baghdad to privatise national airline
The Transportation Ministry in Baghdad has agreed with US government officials to open up three business units at the flag carrier to private ownership. The ground handling, maintenance and catering divisions will be sold, with the government retaining a stake of 35-40 per cent in each. The ministry hopes to raise up to $100m from the sales, which will be reinvested in the business. -
Banks must offer Islamic finance
In the past two years, 16 banks have disappeared from the Egyptian market, more than a quarter of the total, leaving 41. -
Corporate governance: An incentive to improve checks and balances
The global credit crunch should act as a catalyst to increase transparency and raise standards in the region's banking sector. -
Credit crunch: Getting used to lower returns
The cost of borrowing will increase as the global credit squeeze continues into 2008. But if investors can learn to adjust their expectations, deals in the region should pick up. -
Delaying projects risks raising costs
High oil prices have been a recurring theme throughout 2007. Unfortunately, so have rocketing development prices and project delays. This is leading to bouts of indecision, which will have a long-term impact. -
Food subsidies need a rethink
Wheat is the Middle East’s most popular foodstuff, and arguably its biggest political challenge. From flat breads to couscous, Arab cuisine revolves around the crop, yet most countries rely on imports. Only Iran and Syria are net exporters. -
Food subsidies soar as wheat hits high
Egypt and Morocco, the region’s biggest wheat importers, face rising debts unless cuts are made elsewhere -
Fresh cost fears hit Gulf energy projects
Critical shortages in equipment and labour threaten to delay Khursaniyah, Al-Zour and Duqm schemes -
Hawala: Trading on trust
Despite continued innovation in products and services in the UAE banking sector, an ancient financial practice is growing in popularity. -
Injazat Capital targets family businesses with $250m fund
Sharia-compliant investment bank Injazat Capital is to target underperforming family businesses with a $250m investment fund. It is one of two funds it plans to launch in the first quarter of 2008, and comes as the region’s private equity industry shows increasing signs of maturity. -
International banks: Building a global reputation
GCC markets are becoming increasingly sophisticated as regional investors make more high-profile foreign acquisitions and international banks target the region. -
Interview with Rasheed Mohammed al-Maraj, Governor, Central Bank of Bahrain
Internal rivalries and the falling dollar will need to be addressed as the GCC seeks to create a unified economic bloc. -
Interview: Muhammad Ikhwan - The Savola Group’s senior vice-president for mergers and acquisitions
Muhammad Ikhwan joined the group in 1995 as a general manager for special projects -
Iraq can now make progress
The ill-conceived planning for post-war Iraq is a familiar stick with which to beat the Bush administration. Stripped of its assets and expertise, the country’s industrial and economic infrastructure collapsed and the nation lurched into a savage insurgency. -
Islamic finance: Cairo's missed opportunity
Despite being home to 66 million Muslims, Egypt lags far behind the GCC in terms of Islamic banking, and foreign institutions are stepping in to fill the gap. -
Manmade river to flow for 200 years
Libya’s scheme to bring drinking water from the south of the country to the north will run for two centuries, four times longer than previously expected, according to the latest studies. -
Palestinians need more than money
The $7.4bn aid package granted to the Palestinian Authority by international donors on 17 December is a further welcome step in the peace process restarted at Annapolis, but on its own it is far from decisive. -
Power shortages lead to project delays
Dubai’s real estate projects are facing delays as the emirate’s electricity grid fails to keep pace with the city’s rapid growth. Developers claim completion dates will be postponed by several months until substations are in place to supply power to mega-project developments. -
Ras al-Zour budget spirals by $1.5bn
Competition for contractors and equipment adds 20 per cent to smelter project costs -
Red tape holds back mining expansion
The successful development of Algeria's mining resources is being jeopardised by bureaucracy, according to leading industry figures working in the country. -
Rising costs put Saudi energy scheme on verge of collapse
A Saudi scheme to build an independent power plant in Iran is close to collapse because of rising costs, says a source close to the project. Talk of its demise comes despite claims by Tehran that the project will go ahead. The 1,200MW power plant was due to be built by Saudi Arabia’s Xenel Company for Iran’s Power Generation, Transmission & Distribution Company (Tavanir) at Heris. Mohammad Ahmadian, Deputy Energy Minister for Power Affairs and Tavanir chairman, said in mid-December that Tavan -
Risk management: High-risk lending undoes banks
The sub-prime lending crisis and subsequent tightening of global credit markets shows that financial institutions need to make effective risk management a priority. -
Russian and Indian firms vie for stakes in Azadegan field
Russia’s Lukoil and India’s Reliance Industries are holding talks with National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) to buy stakes in the country’s giant Azadegan oil field, which has reserves in excess of 40 billion barrels. Lukoil entered talks after the collapse of a previous bid to develop the field by a joint venture of Japan’s Inpex and the state-run oil firm in October 2006. Reliance is thought to have started negotiations in the past few months. -
Saudi Arabia's six top construction contractors
The six top contractors in Saudi Arabia’s construction industry: Bakr bin Laden, Saudi Binladin Group; Farid Chaker, Saudi Oger; Khaled Musaed al-Seif, El-Seif Engineering Contracting; Said Bahjat Said, Al-Arrab Contracting Company Group; Nehme Thome, Almabani General Contractors; Fawwaz al-Khodari, Al-Khodari Sons Company. -
Saudi Electricity launches first independent power project
Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) has launched its first independent power project (IPP), inviting expressions of interest for the 1,200MW plant at Rabigh on the Red Sea coast. -
Services sector falls behind rivals
The IT services industry is growing more slowly in Egypt than in other emerging markets, such as Eastern Europe and East Africa, despite Cairo’s efforts to make growth in the industry a priority. -
Special report: Banking - The impact of the credit squeeze
The importance of effective risk management and strong corporate governance has been clearly demonstrated by the collapse of the US sub-prime mortgage market. The lack of both has plunged international financial institutions into crisis and cost them billions of dollars. -
The Savola Group
Saudi Arabia’s second-largest industrial conglomerate, after Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic), is one of the kingdom’s widest held stocks, and is steadily building up its regional presence with acquisitions from Morocco to Kazakhstan. It is also extending its footprint into new sectors, such as petrochemicals and telecommunications -
The Savola Group: MEED Assessment
Higher international commodity prices are set to eat into earnings -
Trends: Riyadh transforms port sector
The kingdom’s sea ports will receive a $50bn boost as it bids to reposition itself as a trans-shipment hub. -
Unwieldly Algeria mining model deters bidders
Prospects in Algeria’s latest mining bid round are proving too small to attract major companies, but costs are too high for smaller firms. -
Wealth management: Gulf's super-rich return home
Competition to provide wealth management services is growing as the Gulf's high net worth investors turn away from traditional offshore banking centres in favour of local bourses.
