👋 Hello from the Middle East! 

This week we’re looking at Qatar’s technology deal with Nvidia, the U.S. Commerce Department’s world trade jamboree on the banks of the Potomac, Lunate Capital’s ETF for Islamic bonds and the Silicon Valley-inflected strategy of Mubadala VC chief Ibrahim Ajami. But first, ADNOC convenes a one-day huddle with energy sustainability officers from around the world.

Abu Dhabi’s state oil company ADNOC has invited scores of executives who lead corporate climate mitigation efforts for its annual Global Sustainability Forum next week. 

Co-hosted by the New York Stock Exchange and the UAE’s Chief Sustainability Officers Network, the one-day gathering in Abu Dhabi on Monday, July 1, is set to bring together the energy, finance and technology industries. Local players like AI firm G42, telecom e&, venture capital investor VentureSouq alongside Deutsche Bank, HSBC and IBM are set to discuss sustainable technologies, the role of AI in climate and how data can quantify the impact of climate risk.

The broader Middle East is a laggard in the transition to renewable energy compared to the U.S. and Europe, according to a 2024 report on energy investment from the International Energy Agency. The IEA found that of the $175 billion the region is expected to invest in energy projects this year, only 15% is earmarked for clean energy.

While Gulf countries have been exceptions – driving billions in international and domestic investments in solar and wind – they have a “dual approach” to the energy transition, according to Aisha al-Sarihi, a research fellow at the National University of Singapore’s Middle East Institute, speaking to the Financial Times. “One is to continue with the fossil fuel industry and… invest in clean energy technologies and other resources like hydrogen,” she said. 

The Gulf states continue to drive capital toward expanding fossil fuels because they  “believe they will be the last man standing because they will sell the lowest carbon intensity fuel in the future,” al-Sarihi added, based on the rationale that compared with other sources of oil, those in the region require the least amount of energy to extract.

Welcome to The Weekly Circuit. Read on for the stories, deals and players at the top of the news across the MENA business landscape. Please send comments and story tips to [email protected].

TRADE FAIR

SelectUSA summit lures Gulf business to the Potomac

Gulf trade officials, executives and entrepreneurs descended on suburban Washington D.C. this week for the SelectUSA Investment Summit, the U.S. government’s annual dog-and-pony show aimed at drumming up business partnerships around the world, The Circuit’s Jonathan Ferziger reports.

Middle East Focus: The four-day conference in National Harbor, Maryland, which drew close to 5,000 participants last year, kicked off on Sunday with a smorgasbord of panel discussions that included a “data dive” on foreign direct investment into the U.S. from the Middle East and Africa.

Chosen Partner: Representing the UAE at the U.S. Commerce Department-sponsored confab, was Dr. Thani Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade, and executives from some 35 Emirati companies. “With over $1 trillion invested across America, the UAE has already ‘Selected the USA,’ and we look forward to deepening this important trade and economic relationship,” Al Zeyoudi said in a statement.

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DEPLOYING DATA

Nvidia shares AI technology with Qatar’s Ooredoo telecom group

Nvidia has agreed to share its artificial intelligence technology with Qatar’s Ooredoo telecom group while stopping short of disclosing the specifics, The Circuit reports.

Chipping in: The Silicon Valley chipmaker signed a deal that allows Ooredoo to use its equipment at data centers it owns in Qatar, Algeria, Tunisia, Oman, Kuwait and the Maldives, Reuters reports.

First steps: The agreement marks Nvidia’s first large-scale launch in a region to which Washington has curbed the export of sophisticated U.S. chips to stop Chinese firms from using Middle Eastern countries as a backdoor to access the newest AI technology.

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Mubadala: The Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund’s Mubadala Capital asset management firm has acquired an expansion team representing Brazil in the international boat competition SailGP. Brazil will be the league’s 11th team and its first from South America. It will be operated by IMM, a Brazilian sports and entertainment firm led by former Olympic sailor Alan Adler. Shareholders of grocery delivery startup Getir, meanwhile, have backed a restructuring plan that will see the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund inject up to $250 million of new capital and acquire control of the Turkish-founded business. Meanwhile, Masdar, the Abu Dhabi-based green energy company backed by Mubadala and ADNOC, is on the hunt for more European acquisitions after buying Greece’s biggest renewables company last week, the Financial Times reports. And PT Perusahaan Gas Negara, Indonesia’s largest natural gas transportation and distribution company, is in talks with Mubadala and Japan’s INPEX about expanding supplies of liquified natural gas, Petromindo reports.

International Holding Co.: IHC, the $240 billion Abu Dhabi conglomerate led by Sheikh Tahnoon Bin Zayed, held its General Assembly Meeting last week, during which shareholders approved a AED 5 billion ($1.4 billion) share buyback program, representing 0.6% of the company’s total shares.

Abu Dhabi Investment Authority: ADIA is backing Bobby Jain’s new $5.3 billion multistrategy hedge fund, Bloomberg reports. The ex-Millennium Management executive has traveled the world to secure the record-setting fund, initially aiming to raise as much as $10 billion. That target was trimmed, with Jain cutting client fees and reducing his target, the news agency reports. Jain Global has lined up wealth banking platforms including Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, UBS and HSBC and will start trading July 1.

ADQ: Lunate Capital, which counts ADQ as a client, is launching the Chimera JPMorgan Global Sukuk ETF, an exchange-traded fund tracking global Islamic bonds, which is scheduled to list on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange on July 8.

Public Investment Fund: Saudi Global Ports, a PIF subsidiary, signed an agreement worth about $1.9 billion with China’s SANY Group to bolster environmentally sustainable capacities at King Abdulaziz Port in the coastal city of Dammam. Reliance Industries, one of India’s largest conglomerates, has reappointed Yasir Al Rumayyan, PIF Governor and Saudi Aramco Chairman, as an independent director on its board for a second term. Meanwhile, the PIF-owned LIV Golf league is how Phil Mickelson would like to be remembered, the pro golf hall of famer said this week on Fairway to Heaven, a LIV-backed podcast. “Helping get the game to a younger crowd, helping get the game to younger players and giving them infrastructure to become great, helping to grow the game on a global basis,” he said.

Qatar Investment Authority: Qatari Diar, a wholly owned unit of the QIA, has signed a deal with Egypt’s Organi Group to deliver three real estate projects in the North African country, according to Ibrahim Al Organi, Founder and Chairman of Organi. Projects include the 5th settlement of the CityGate project in New Cairo, the recently launched $1 billion St. Regis Residences project, along with hotels in Sharm El-Sheikh and Hurghada. Mohammed Al-Sowaidi, the QIA’s Chief Investment Officer for Region Americas, described the $475 billion fund’s investment approach to artificial intelligence as a long-term strategy, speaking on Tuesday at the Bloomberg Invest conference in New York.

💳 Digital Cash: Connect Money, an Egyptian fintech startup that facilitates digital payments, raised $8 million in a seed-stage funding round from firms including Disruptech Ventures, Algebra Ventures and Lorax Capital Partners.

🏢 Growth Plan: Dubai property developer Omniyat will increase investment and seek to more than double the value of its portfolio to exceed $27 billion over the next five years, Chairman and CEO Mahdi Amjad said on Monday.

💶 Private Credit: Blackstone, one of the most active U.S. asset managers in the Gulf, plans to double the size of its European Private Credit Fund after raising €1 billion ($1.07 billion) in the region to invest in the $1.7 trillion market in private corporate loans, the Financial Times reports.

🏭 Steel Plant: India’s Essar Group is awaiting final approval from Saudi authorities to build a low-carbon steel plant in the kingdom at a total investment of $4.5 billion, the Press Trust of India reports.

🐶 Pet Platform: FirstVet, an online pet health services platform, announced the closing of a €20 million ($21.5 million) Series C funding round, led by TELUS Global Ventures and with participation from Mubadala Capital.

🌍 Regional HQ: EY, the London-based accounting and consulting firm, will establish a regional headquarters in Riyadh, managing a workforce of 8,000 across 15 countries from its office in the King Abdullah Financial District.

🏦 Merger Talks: The National Bank of Bahrain appointed Goldman Sachs as a financial adviser for its negotiations on a potential merger with rival Bank of Bahrain & Kuwait, Arab News reports.

👪 Family Affair: The Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development and United Arab Emirates University are launching the Abu Dhabi Family Business Index, which will measure and rank various metrics related to family-owned businesses in Abu Dhabi such as performance and influence, with plans to expand across the region.

🏦 Bank Stake: Kuwait Finance House has been exploring the purchase of a significant stake in Saudi Investment Bank, which is valued at $4.3 billion, Bloomberg reports.🇸🇦 Cash Hungry: Amid Saudi Arabia’s debt sales, share offerings and tech divestments that have raised $54 billion this year, the Wall Street Journal looks at how the kingdom will pay the growing bills for planned futuristic megaprojects and an economic overhaul.

Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Executive Council, issued a government decision forming a Board of Trustees for the new Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government.

Saudi Prince Khalid bin Bandar, Ambassador to the U.K., advised investors at the U.K.-Saudi Sustainable Infrastructure Summit in London on Monday to seize opportunities in the kingdom, warning against the assumption that, “I can miss this boat and get on the next one,” Independent Arabia reports.

Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Abdullatif Al-Zayani and Iran’s Acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani agreed during a meeting in Tehran on Sunday to start talks aimed at resuming political relations between the two countries.

Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Future Foundation, has approved the launch of the next phase of the “Dubai Future Solutions” initiative, which “serves as a comprehensive platform to support innovators and designers of future solutions around the world,” a government statement said.

UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed hosted a visit to Abu Dhabi on Sunday by Indian Minister of External Affairs Dr. Subramaniam Jay Shankar, where they discussed ”various pathways of bilateral cooperation” including strategic and economic partnerships, the UAE foreign ministry said in a statement.

➿ On the Circuit

Ibrahim Ajami, Head of Ventures at Mubadala Capital, discusses how he’s trying to adapt the Silicon Valley mindset for nimble investment decisions to the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund, in an interview with The Information. “The way founders speak about Sequoia – why not, 20 years from now, won’t they speak that way about Mubadala?” Ajami said.

Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, the UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, CEO of ADNOC and President of the COP28 climate conference, spoke with Microsoft President Brad Smith on the Tools and Weapons podcast, saying artificial intelligence and the energy sector “are interdependent, and I don’t think they can ever be separated.”

Todd Boehly, Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO of Eldridge Industries discussed plans for a new asset management business and his view of Saudi Arabia’s efforts to regulate its emerging insurance industry amid the kingdom’s infrastructure construction boom. He was interviewed onstage at the Bloomberg Invest conference in New York on Tuesday.

John Forrester, former CEO of Chicago-based Cushman & Wakefield, was hired by Dubai’s Innovo construction firm to lead its property development arm and investments in the U.K.

Joanne Norman, Head of Compliance at G42, talks about why she is taking on the “Ocean Seven Challenge,” one of the world’s toughest challenges in swimming, including spanning the English Channel and circumnavigating of Manhattan, elaborating in a LinkedIn post shared on Monday.

Ali Al Majid, the professional wrestler known as “Classy Ali,” talks about Qatar’s growing presence in the sports-adjacent world of body slams, bad guys and blowing the minds of pre-teen fans.

🎶 Culture Circuit

🎬 On-screen Action: Image Nation Abu Dhabi will launch a Screenlife Accelerator Program in the UAE in partnership with L.A.-based Russian-Kazakh director Timur Bekmambetov, Deadline reports. Four projects from the program, which will see local talent trained in Bekmambetov’s emerging low-budget digital filmmaking format, will be developed into feature films. It is hoped the accelerator program will establish the emirates as a regional hub for digital filmmaking.

🕹️ Game Play: A new video competition launched in the UAE will aim to celebrate cultural heritage while inspiring the next generation of game developers across the emirates. The UAE Game Makers Competition 2024 was organized by Matt Dalio, the chief executive of Endless Studios and son of billionaire hedge funder Ray Dalio, in collaboration with government defense entity Tawazun Council and geospatial AI company Bayanat. Participants are invited to integrate UAE cultural elements into their game designs, competing for a total prize pool of Dh100,000 ($27,230). Dalio told The National that the mission was to teach skills for the digital economy. “We do so by harnessing this generation’s enthusiasm for games. By teaching participants to build games, we teach them to build software.”

📷 Photo of the Week

🗓️ Circuit Calendar

June 26-30, Tan-Tan, Morocco: Tan-Tan Moussem Cultural Festival. Annual gathering held since 1963 by more than thirty tribes from southern Morocco, with participation from the UAE and other Middle East nations.

June 29-30, Cairo, Egypt: Egypt-EU Investment Conference. Business leaders and investors from Egypt and Europe engage around themes including green energy, nearshoring, digitization and tech startups. Al Manara International Conference Center.

July 1-3, Milan Italy: The Global Energy Transition Congress & Exhibition. An event bringing together thought leaders, innovators, and industry experts to address the challenges of accelerating the global energy transition. Milano Convention Centre.

July 10-11, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Global EV and Technology Forum. The inaugural summit in Saudi Arabia bringing together policymakers, companies and investors focused on sustainable urban mobility solutions. Riyadh International Convention & Exhibition Center.

July 15-26, Granada, Spain: ADIA Lab International Summer School. A course of lectures and case studies to explore the critical role of trust and safety in AI, examining the ethical, technical and societal implications of AI applications. University of Granada. 

Aug. 12-15, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Saudi Food Expo. One of the kingdom’s largest trade shows for the food & beverage industry. Riyadh Front Exhibitions.