Legacy: Gulf - AL-Monitor: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

Legacy: Gulf

The PwC Tower, or Libeskind Tower, Milan, March 12, 2021.

Analysis

Can Gulf states slash costly reliance on Western consultancies?

A one-year ban on PwC acquiring work in Saudi Arabia has highlighted the Gulf states' dependency on Western firms and the need to develop local consultancies and talent.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Employees of Aramco oil company work in Saudi Arabia's Abqaiq oil processing plant on September 20, 2019.

Analysis

Can Saudi Arabia afford giga-projects with oil prices under $75 per barrel?

Riyadh could soon run a current account deficit as oil revenue declines amid huge spending commitments toward ambitious Vision 2030 projects. Saudi-led OPEC has also deferred an output increase plan to allow more time to reach desired oil prices.

Jennifer Gnana

Samuel Wendel

By Jennifer Gnana , Samuel Wendel

GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images

UAE's final unit of Barakah nuclear reactor hooked to grid: What we know

The Emirates is the only Gulf country with a nuclear power program, though neighboring Saudi Arabia also has atomic power ambitions.

United Arab Emirates

A cargo ship is docked at the port of Yemen's Huthi-held city of Hodeida on July 28, 2024. Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

Saudi entity denies its ship hit as Houthis claim attack on Greek tanker

Saudi Arabia's national shipping company Bahri denied reports that its tanker Amjad came under attack by the Houthis, the Yemeni armed group that has stepped up attacks on oil tankers in the Red Sea.

Latest News

Analysis

Telegram CEO's arrest spotlights UAE’s investment-based citizenship laws

MUNICH, GERMANY - JANUARY 24: Pavel Durov of Vkontakte speaks during the Digital Life Design conference (DLD) at HVB Forum on January 24, 2012 in Munich, Germany. ence and culture which connects business, creative and social leaders, opinion-formers and investors for crossover conversation and inspiration. (Photo by Nadine Rupp/Getty Images)

Jennifer Gnana

By Jennifer Gnana

In Dubai, reporting on Gulf energy policy and politics

Heavy floods hit Dubai, airport as Oman toll rises to 18

Dubai's roads were badly hit by the heavy downpours

Agence France-Presse

Oman launches $5 billion 'Future Fund' in sign of economic progress

HAITHAM AL-SHUKAIRI/AFP via Getty Images

Al-Qaeda attack in Yemen kills 2 members of southern forces

Security forces deploy near Aden International Airport in Yemen's southern city on April 14, 2023 during a prisoner exchange between the internationally recognised-government and the Sanaa-based Huthi rebels.

China's President Xi Jinping attends the 29th APEC Economic Leaders Meeting (AELM) during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Bangkok on Nov. 19, 2022.

China’s Xi heads to Saudi Arabia, adding strain to US ties

Xi's visit to Saudi, the first in six years, will include two summits with Arab and GCC leaders and could see an agreement on nuclear technology

OPEC+ decision to maintain production marks end of oil’s turbulent year

The Saudi- and Russian-led cartel has both increased and decreased oil production this year, affecting global oil prices and relations with the United States in the process.

The United Arab Emirates' (UAE) minister of industry and advanced technology, Sultan al-Jaber (L), looks on as John Kerry, the US president's climate envoy, tours the Global Manufacturing and Industrialisation (GMIS) Summit in Dubai on November 22, 2021. (Photo by AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

Middle East climate tech startups to be hot investment in 2023, but market still lags

Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

A picture shows the UAE's al-Badia Farms in Dubai, an indoor vertical farm using innovative hydroponic technology.

Another vertical farm comes to Saudi Arabia

Vertical farming has great potential to help alleviate rising desertification in the Middle East, which could threaten the region’s food supply in the future.

Saudi Arabia Aseer

Saudi wealth fund to invest in mountainous Aseer region

Aseer receives the most rainfall in Saudi Arabia and has some tourism potential, but the kingdom is not close to meeting its tourism goals at present.

A Saudi soldier mans a turret on a border guards' vehicle as it patrols the fence separating Saudi Arabia and Iraq, in the area around Arar city along the Saudi-Iraq border, March 12, 2017.

Iran-linked militia in Iraq threatens Saudi Arabia as Iraqi PM visits Tehran

Kataib Hezbollah are calling for more attacks on Saudi Arabia amid wrangling over who should protect the country’s borders.

Soccer fans watch a live broadcast of the Qatar 2022 World Cup soccer match between Brazil and Switzerland, near the museum of the Future in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Nov. 28, 2022.

Culture

Cafes, hotels in Dubai raise prices during World Cup

Thousands of Dubai restaurants and hotels are hosting the thousands of World Cup soccer fans who are using the emirate as a base.

A picture taken on Nov. 3, 2019, shows a sign of Saudi Aramco's initial public offering.

Saudi Arabia announces new natural gas discoveries

The kingdom is already a major oil exporter, but it could also start exporting natural gas in the near future.

Mideast solar

Dubai’s AMEA Power advances wind, solar projects in Egypt

The project is one of many that Emirati entities have announced this year. Egypt could benefit from more renewable energy, but already has some solar and wind plants in the country.

A man sits next to a currency exchange office at Istanbul's Grand Bazaar on May 5, 2022.

Turkish government banks on Gulf financial support to save economy

As crucial elections near, Ankara pins hope on financial support from “friendly” countries to ease its foreign currency shortfall and rein in inflation.

IVAN PISARENKO/AFP via Getty Images

Saudi Arabia to build giant solar power plant

The plant, which will be partially owned by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, will have more output than other solar energy facilities in the region if all goes to plan.

Yemen's national soccer team sing the national anthem ahead of the 2021 FIFA Arab Cup qualifier match between Mauritania and Yemen at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar, June 22, 2021.

Culture

Yemenis' passion for soccer undimmed by war

The seven-year war in Yemen has not wiped out the people's passion for soccer, and the Yemenis' reaction to the World Cup in Qatar is proof.