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Mena Insights

A window into business and investments in the MENA region

10/08/2025

A new report from Bloomberg is highlighting that rich Middle Eastern families are set to transfer nearly $1 trillion to the next generation, fueling demand for professional money managers and more sophisticated asset allocation.

Dubai now hosts 70+ hedge funds, while Abu Dhabi attracts global players like Brevan Howard and Marshall Wace, as banks from Citi to Barclays scale Gulf wealth units to capture this shift.

Surveys show 70% of regional single-family offices invest in private equity, and nearly 60% in venture capital, with rising allocations also flowing to the US, Europe, and Asia.

10/04/2025

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) is spearheading a $36 billion deal to take Electronic Arts (EA) private, rolling over its existing $5 billion stake and injecting additional capital alongside Silver Lake and Affinity Partners.

EA, publisher of the global football franchise EA Sports FC (formerly FIFA), gives Saudi Arabia a controlling foothold in one of the world’s most valuable gaming IP portfolios. This builds on ~$30 billion already invested by PIF into the sector, including a 5% stake in Nintendo, a majority investment in SNK (maker of Metal Slug and King of Fighters), and a $4.9 billion stake in Activision Blizzard before Microsoft’s acquisition; the fund also owns Savvy Games Group, which pledged $38 billion to grow Saudi gaming, including $13 billion earmarked for major acquisitions.

From a strategic standpoint, Saudi Arabia is assembling control across the gaming value chain: it now owns one of the largest Western publishers (EA), has invested in Japanese IP pipelines (Nintendo, SNK), holds stakes in game engines and esports platforms, and is building physical gaming infrastructure such as four new dedicated esports arenas inside a planned gaming city. Combined with Vision 2030’s mandate to create 39,000 gaming jobs and lift the local market to $13 billion in annual revenue, the kingdom is taking lead in the $200 billion+ global gaming economy.

09/26/2025

Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), Qatar’s $510B+ sovereign wealth fund, will partner with Blue Owl Capital (OWL), a $174B+ alternative asset manager known for permanent capital and credit solutions, to launch a digital infrastructure platform initially seeded with over $3 billion in data center assets.

The venture aims to expand global compute capacity for hyperscalers as cloud and AI demand accelerates.

09/25/2025

Abu Dhabi’s Technology Innovation Institute (TII) and NVIDIA have launched the region’s first Nvidia AI Technology Center (NVAITC) Lab for AI and Robotics, focused on developing humanoids, autonomous robotic platforms, and advanced AI models for industrial and defense applications.

The partnership positions the UAE as a testbed for applied AI, complementing the recent US–UAE AI Acceleration Partnership and reinforcing Abu Dhabi’s goal of building sovereign tech capabilities.

09/16/2025

NextEra, a joint venture between LTIMindtree and Aramco Digital, has partnered with ServiceNow to accelerate digital transformation in Saudi Arabia and the wider MENA region.

The collaboration includes a proximity center at Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University and a ServiceNow Centre of Excellence to train the local workforce in digital skills.

The partnership will deploy generative AI and agentic automation tailored for the region, including an Arabic interface and localized solutions for enterprise needs.

Pictured: ServiceNow CEO Bill McDermott

09/13/2025

Saudi Arabia’s fintech Tamara is finalizing at least $1.4 billion in asset-backed financing from lenders including Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, and Apollo Global Management, with the deal potentially rising to $2.4 billion.

The transaction will refinance and expand a prior Goldman-arranged facility, making it one of the Middle East’s largest financings of its kind.

Tamara is a leading “buy now, pay later” unicorn backed by Saudi sovereign wealth funds and Checkout.com.

09/04/2025

Saudi Aramco is preparing to issue $3–4 billion in US dollar-denominated sukuk as early as this month, aiming to leverage its balance sheet amid weaker oil prices.

The company, which raised $5 billion in May, is pursuing new borrowing while cutting costs and divesting assets.

Despite a 22% profit drop in Q2, Aramco reaffirmed its $85.4 billion annual dividend commitment, underscoring its focus on shareholder returns.

Based on yields of Aramco’s recent bonds, the sukuk is estimated to price in the 5–6% range.

08/26/2025

Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund–backed AI firm, Humain, has begun building its first large-scale data centers in Riyadh and Dammam, set to launch in 2026 with an initial capacity of up to 100 megawatts each.

The company has secured approval to purchase 18,000 of Nvidia’s latest AI chips, while also pursuing a $10 billion partnership with AMD to accelerate domestic AI infrastructure.

Alongside this, Humain has released “Humain Chat,” an Arabic-first chatbot trained on one of the largest Arabic datasets to date.

Pictured: Tareq Amin, CEO

08/19/2025

Robinhood has reportedly applied for a Category 4 license from the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA), which would enable it to onboard clients in the UAE and wider MENA region.

The broker plans to operate from the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), the emirate’s special economic zone.

Pictured: Founders Baiju Bhatt and Vlad Tenev (NYT)

08/17/2025

Saudi Arabia has launched the qualification phase for the Prince Faisal bin Fahad Sports City project in Riyadh, structured as a Public-Private Partnership under a long-term DBFOM model.

The development includes a new 47,000-seat stadium near King Abdullah Park, positioned to host both domestic matches and key international events such as the 2034 FIFA World Cup.

08/13/2025

Talabat Holding’s Q2 2025 net income rose 33% year-on-year to $119 million.

Revenue for the quarter jumped 35% to $982 million, with growth across both GCC and non-GCC markets and in food as well as grocery & retail segments.

For H1 2025, net profit surged 90% year-on-year to $222 million on a 34% revenue increase to $1.8 billion.

08/10/2025

Turkey welcomed a US-brokered peace deal between Azerbaijan and Armenia that includes a strategic transit corridor linking Azerbaijan to Nakhchivan via Armenia, with exclusive US development rights.

The corridor, alongside a Qatari-funded gas export project, would expand Azerbaijani energy flows into northern Syria and potentially Homs.

The gas line is expected to deliver up to 2 billion cubic meters annually to Syria—covering roughly 40% of its pre-war demand—while giving Turkey a direct stake in a transport and energy network handling billions of dollars in trade each year.

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