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Quick Hits

security concerns

Mideast conflict stokes Gulf investment in defense, energy

The Daily Circuit: Gulf invests in defense + Lucid gets $750M

CLOUDY FORECAST

IMF cuts MENA growth outlook as war disrupts trade, energy

slow recovery

UAE tourism urged to ‘reinvent itself’ as war hits visitor numbers

pied-à-terre

Gulf expats shop for second homes, safe haven in Europe

The Daily Circuit: KBM meets Xi in Beijing + OPEC production slide

TROUBLED Brands

Slow Dubai mall sales threaten luxury shopping recovery

Alternate route

Saudi Arabia repairs East-West oil pipeline after war damage

The Daily Circuit: Saudi pipeline patched up + Etihad’s China expansion

SKIN IN THE GAME

China’s Iran support restrained by investments in Middle East

war toll

Saudi Aramco-TotalEnergies refinery damaged in Iran attack

The Daily Circuit: Aramco-TotalEnergies refinery hit earlier this week

bulking up

Mubadala’s assets under management grow 17% to $385B

perilous passage

ADNOC’s Al Jaber says Strait must open with ‘no strings attached’

The Daily Circuit: ADNOC’s Al Jaber says Strait must open + Mubadala asset growth

The Daily Circuit: Markets surge on fragile truce + Shippers eye Hormuz

Ticking clock

Gulf braces for violent night as Trump deadline on Iran looms

up stream

Abu Dhabi-backed Banijay aims to challenge streaming titans

The Daily Circuit: Gulf braces for Trump deadline + PIF war costs

hollywood billions

Paramount Skydance seeks $24B from Gulf funds to buy Warner

Quick Hits

INVESTOR TRIFECTA

Abu Dhabi’s MGX envisions $10 billion in annual spending on AI

The fund expects to reach $100 billion in assets under management and help the UAE convert its oil wealth into global technological influence

WAM

UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed and MGX Chairman Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed met in Abu Dhabi last year with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman

By
Jonathan H. Ferziger
February 18, 2026
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After plowing billions of dollars into Anthropic, OpenAI and xAI, Abu Dhabi’s MGX fund is rapidly emerging as one of the world’s most active investors in artificial intelligence.

The emirate-owned vehicle, barely two years old, is now prepared to deploy as much as $10 billion a year to reach dominant positions in the global AI industry even while the market is full of uncertainty, MGX Chief Investment Officer Ali Osman tells Bloomberg. “We are in the business of the not-obvious,” he said.

The fund is targeting more than $100 billion in assets under management, positioning MGX as a central pillar of the UAE’s push to convert its oil wealth into long-term technological influence. 

MGX moved into OpenAI in 2024, participating in a major funding round and later joining with the ChatGPT maker on its multibillion-dollar Stargate AI infrastructure venture.

Last month, MGX joined a massive fundraising for Elon Musk’s xAI, alongside investors including Nvidia and Cisco. Last week, the fund emerged as a co-lead investor in Anthropic’s latest multibillion-dollar financing round, completing a rare trifecta by backing the three rivals.

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EGYPT RISES

Cairo stocks top emerging markets, buoyed by Gulf investments, economic reforms

The turnaround has been fueled in part by $35 billion in Abu Dhabi sovereign fund investment that helped ease Egypt’s foreign-currency crunch

MOHAMMED ABED/AFP via Getty Images

The skyline of Cairo's Nile river island

By
Omnia Al Desoukie
February 17, 2026
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Egyptian stocks are outperforming most emerging markets as investors warm to signs of economic stabilization following months of reform and fresh capital from the Gulf.

The turnaround has been fueled in part by $35 billion in Abu Dhabi sovereign fund investment at Ras El Hekma that helped ease Egypt’s foreign-currency crunch and restore market confidence, Bloomberg reports. 

IMF support, including an expanded multibillion-dollar program tied to currency flexibility and fiscal reforms, has bolstered the recovery and drawn renewed foreign interest in Egyptian assets. 

Saudi Arabia has reinforced Egypt’s recovery through a $10 billion central bank deposit and plans by the Public Investment Fund to channel about $5 billion into Egyptian companies including eFinance and Misr Fertilizers.

Egypt’s benchmark EGX30 index is up 27% in dollar terms this year, building on a previous 50% gain in 2025. The government devalued the currency by 40% two years ago and adopted a free-floating exchange rate system, a move that helped secure the IMF bailout

“Current valuations are still cheap,” Allen Sandeep, director of equities at ACT Financial in Cairo, told the news agency. “The EGX is right now on a positive re-rating path.”

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DATA CORRIDOR

$700 million undersea cable to connect UAE, Turkey and Iraq

WorldLink would provide a high-speed line, running underwater from Fujairah in the UAE to Iraq’s Faw Peninsula, then overland to Turkey

GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images

Waters of the Gulf of Oman off the coast of the eastern UAE emirate of Fujairah

By
Jonathan H. Ferziger
February 17, 2026
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An Iraqi-Emirati consortium is planning a $700 million high-speed cable linking the UAE to Turkey through Iraq, aiming to ease pressure on crowded east-west data routes.

The project, called WorldLink, would run underwater from Fujairah in the UAE to Iraq’s Faw Peninsula, then continue overland to the Turkish border.

Backers say the network will be built in stages over about five years to serve big cloud and AI companies while offering a faster alternative to routes that pass through the Suez Canal, Reuters reports.

The plan underscores intensifying Gulf competition to become a regional hub for digital connectivity and data-center investment.

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SPACE SHOT

UAE launches first homegrown rocket to conduct space research

The flight was a test of the UAE’s ability to launch a reusable research rocket equipped with its own engine, injectors, tanks, control systems and avionics

Technology Innovation Institute

The rocket soared to an altitude of 3 kilometers before parachuting into the UAE desert

By
Omnia Al Desoukie
February 16, 2026
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The UAE has successfully launched its first homegrown rocket to conduct space research.

The tiny projectile, weighing 13 kilograms (29 pounds), blasted off on Friday from a remote island off Abu Dhabi and soared to an altitude of 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) before a parachute opened and the vessel landed in the UAE desert, The National reports.

The flight itself was a test of the UAE’s ability to launch a reusable research rocket, which was equipped with an engine, injectors, tanks, control systems and avionics that were designed and built by the government’s Technology Innovation Institute.

“This launch is a defining moment for science and engineering in the UAE,” said Najwa Aaraj, the institute’s CEO.

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SErViCEs cEnTer

Abu Dhabi’s IHC merges holdings to establish Judan Financial

Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed, the UAE National Security Adviser, will serve as Judan’s Chairman, Investment Minister Mohamed Alsuwaidi as CEO

Giuseppe CACACE / AFP via Getty Images

A flock of pigeons flies along a promenade overlooking the Abu Dhabi skyline

By
Jonathan H. Ferziger
February 16, 2026
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Abu Dhabi’s International Holding Co., the UAE’s largest publicly traded company, said it plans to launch Judan Financial Holding, a new international financial services firm with $237 billion in assets under management.

The new conglomerate will consolidate IHC’s largest finance businesses, including Alpha Dhabi, 2PointZero Group and Sirius International, providing services in banking, insurance, asset management and fintech. 

Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed, the UAE National Security Adviser, will serve as Judan’s Chairman, as he does at IHC. Investment Minister Mohamed Alsuwaidi will be CEO, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, according to a government statement.

Creating Judan as an umbrella holding company comes amid a broader restructuring in Abu Dhabi’s investment holdings and reflects IHC’s push to build up its financial services globally. The firm will control more than 20 operating companies and serve over 11 million clients in 13 countries.

Last month, Abu Dhabi’s newest sovereign wealth fund, L’Imad Holding, took control of ADQ, creating an investment firm chaired by Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed. ADQ, which managed $263 billion before the merger, had been chaired by Sheikh Tahnoon and headed by Alsuwaidi, who now leads asset management firm Lunate.

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CLAUDE BILLIONS

Abu Dhabi’s MGX co-leads $30 billion funding round in AI startup Anthropic

Anthropic, founded in 2021, has rapidly grown its revenue run rate to $14 billion, focusing on safer AI applications for sectors like finance, healthcare, and software.

Samuel Boivin/NurPhoto via Getty Images

The Anthropic logo

By
Omnia Al Desoukie
February 13, 2026
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Abu Dhabi tech investor MGX co-led a $30 billion funding round in U.S. firm Anthropic, the maker of the Claude AI chatbot.

The deal, led by Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC and Coatue Management, roughly doubled Anthropic’s valuation to $380 billion.

Anthropic, founded in 2021, has rapidly grown its revenue run rate to $14 billion, focusing on safer AI applications for sectors like finance, healthcare, and software.

MGX, which was set up less than two years ago with support from Mubadala and tech conglomerate G42, has been expanding its U.S. tech footprint, including stakes in OpenAI and Elon Musk’s xAI, and participation in a $40 billion acquisition of Aligned Data Centres.

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POWER SHIFT

Saudi Arabia makes changes to dozens of senior roles in shakeup

Prince Rakan bin Salman, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s youngest full brother, was made Governor of Diriyah

KARIM SAHIB/AFP via Getty Images

Investment Minister Khalid al-Falih

By
Louise Burke
February 13, 2026
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Saudi Arabia performed a sweeping reshuffle on Thursday evening, replacing more than 40 senior and regional government positions, as the kingdom continues to overhaul its financial priorities in light of falling oil revenues.

Leading the changes was the removal of Investment Minister Khalid Al Falih, one of the most recognizable faces of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 plan and a former Energy Minister and Chairman of Saudi Aramco. 

Al Falih, who has held the role since 2020 and was a regular on the global conference circuit, has been replaced by Fahad Al Saif, a senior executive at the Public Investment Fund. Al Falih will remain in the cabinet and serve as a Minister of State.

Dozens more appointments were made in the kingdom’s biggest reshuffle since 2022, including Dr. Khalid Al Yousef, the president of the Board of Grievances, being promoted to the role of Attorney General. He replaced Sheikh Saud Al Muajab, who joined the royal court as an advisor with the rank of minister. 

Royal watchers were quick to point to the appointment of Prince Rakan bin Salman, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s youngest full brother, as the Governor of Diriyah, an area considered the crown jewel of the kingdom and the birthplace of the Saudi state. 

Other regional changes included Prince Saud bin Nahar moving from Taif Governor to Medina Deputy Governor, with Prince Fawwaz bin Sultan taking over Taif, and Prince Mohammed bin Abdullah being named Northern Borders Deputy Governor.

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royal decree

Saudi Investment Minister Al-Falih replaced by banker Al-Saif

Move comes as Public Investment Fund prepares five-year strategic plan, addressing new era of declining oil revenue and budget shortfalls

Wang Dongzhen/Xinhua via Getty Images

Saudi Minister of Investment Khalid al-Falih is being replaced by Fahad al-Saif

By
Jonathan H. Ferziger
February 12, 2026
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Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Investment Khalid al-Falih, the former chief of Aramco, was dismissed today by King Salman in a cabinet reshuffle announced by royal decree.

Fahad al-Saif, Chairman of Gulf International Bank, was appointed to replace Al-Falih, who held the post for six years. Al-Falih will remain in the cabinet and serve as a Minister of State.

The move comes amid expectations that Saudi Arabia’s $925 billion Public Investment Fund will shortly release a new five-year plan, outlining its strategy as the kingdom struggles with declining oil revenue and budget shortfalls.

Al-Falih, 65, was previously Chairman and CEO of Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil company. He also served as Minister of Energy and Minister of Health.

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