A firm backed by global investment giant KKR has bought a stake in one of the Gulf’s most reputable fertility clinics.

IVI RMA Global, the world’s biggest provider of infertility treatments, which was bought by KKR three years ago, is re-acquiring ART Fertility Clinics’ Middle East operations from Abu Dhabi-based Gulf Capital, which had acquired the business for $100 million from IVI RMA Global in a carve-out of its Middle Eastern clinics five years ago.

Financial details were not disclosed, but Gulf Capital said the deal was one of its most successful exits to date, Bloomberg reports.

The sale comes amid rising demand for fertility services in the region, as legal systems adapt to changing demographics and social norms.

In the UAE, IVF laws were recently updated to allow unmarried non-Muslim couples to use IVF and to store embryos. Single women are also now allowed to freeze their eggs for future use.

The sale covers four clinics in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, while Gulf Capital will continue to own operations in India.

Abu Dhabi’s Space42, Microsoft and Silicon Valley-based Esri have launched the “Map Africa Initiative,” a five-year effort to develop high-quality digital base maps across all 54 African nations.

The project, unveiled at the 2025 Esri User Conference in San Diego, aims to strengthen local mapping infrastructure and deliver geospatial data to support governments, businesses and communities.

The companies said this effort could benefit more than 1.4 billion people and boost institutional capacity across the continent.

By providing high‑precision base maps, the initiative is expected to enhance route planning for ports and logistics, optimize renewable energy deployment, improve security and disaster response, and underpin the development of smart cities and digital economies. 

Saudi Arabia has doubled down on its ambition to dominate the global green hydrogen market, with plans to build a second multi-billion dollar plant, even as it struggles to sell the output from its first large-scale hydrogen project.

ACWA Power, which is backed by the kingdom’s Public Investment Fund, has awarded a front-end engineering design contract for the 4 gigawatt Yanbu plant to Madrid-based engineering firm Tecnicas Reunidas and China’s Sinopec Guangzhou Engineering, Bloomberg reports.

The new plant, which is expected to go online in 2030, will generate 400,000 tons of green hydrogen per year using wind and solar power, almost double the 219,000 tons expected from its first $8.5 billion NEOM plant, which is estimated to be about 85% complete.

Green hydrogen, which is produced using renewable energy to split water molecules, is seen as a key to decarbonizing industries including steelmaking, shipping and fertilizer production. For export, it can be converted into more stable green ammonia and later reconstituted at its destination – a process known as “cracking.”

However the nascent industry has faced uncertainty and supply chain issues across multiple fronts, as it remains expensive compared to fossil fuels and industries have been slow to commit to building the infrastructure needed to use it.

Earlier this month, ACWA’s partner in the NEOM plant, U.S.-based Air Products & Chemicals, which has an exclusive off-take agreement, paused its $2.7 billion hydrogen cracking terminal in the English port town of Immingham over uncertainty related to obtaining U.K. subsidies.

The Saudi decision to press ahead with the Yanbu plant is a strong bet on the future of the green industry at a time when the kingdom needs to wean itself off fossil fuels. New analysis by Bloomberg Economics suggests Saudi’s dependence on oil revenue is largely unchanged from 2016 – and may have even grown deeper on some measures.

NEOM Port has managed to cut cargo transit times in half during a pilot run of a new trade corridor that links Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Iraq, while sidestepping the Houthi-threatened waters of the southern Red Sea.

The trial shipment began in Cairo, traveled by truck to Safaga Port on Egypt’s Red Sea coast, crossed the sea’s northern end to NEOM Port in Saudi Arabia, and then continued overland for more than 900 kilometers (560 miles) to Erbil in northern Iraq.

NEOM took over the modest regional Duba port and rebranded it in 2022, launching an expansion and automation program to turn it into a central logistics hub for the mega-project and a regional gateway connecting global trade routes between Asia, Africa, Europe and the Middle East.

With the addition of deepwater berths, a 900-meter (3,000-foot) quay wall and advanced cranes, which were delivered in June, the port is now capable of handling the world’s biggest container ships.

The trial run, carried out with the kingdom’s Logistics Partnership Council and multiple Saudi government agencies, demonstrated high operational efficiency at every stage, from customs processing to cargo transfer, according to the Saudi Press Agency.

“This pilot project is a pivotal step in implementing a long-term vision to enhance NEOM Port’s role as a major logistics and maritime hub in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” the SPA said.

The test comes as Yemen’s Houthis vowed on Sunday to escalate their attacks on vessels in the Red Sea. By crossing only the relatively-secure Gulf of Aqaba section of the sea, the new route could offer a faster alternative for some regional freight at a time when ship operators are avoiding the narrow Bab el‑Mandeb Strait at the southern end.

ADNOC’s $14 billion bid to acquire German plastic maker Covestro may be in trouble.

European Union regulators announced a formal investigation on Monday over concerns that the Abu Dhabi oil company’s state funding gives it an advantage that could hamper fair competition.

The acquisition of Covestro was previously approved, but the investigation adds a new wrinkle to the deal.

EU regulators issued a statement saying that a guarantee by the UAE to support the purchase of Covestro may have enabled ADNOC to make an offer with a valuation and financial terms that competitors couldn’t match.

The Abu Dhabi company said it will contest the findings.

The influx of hedge funds, asset management firms and family offices to Dubai is gaining momentum as the city becomes a more powerful magnet for international wealth.

The number of funds setting up shop in the Dubai International Financial Centre grew 72% in the first half of the year, compared to the same period in 2024, to reach 85, the DIFC said on Monday. Among those were RV Capital and Silver Point Capital, which joined Millennium, Point72 and other hedge funds in Dubai.

Also flocking to the city were wealth and asset management firms, which increased 19% to 440 in the first six months of 2025, including Bluecrest Capital, PIMCO and TransAmerica Life Bermuda. The number of family offices in the DIFC jumped 72%.

“Dubai has entered a new and greater phase of growth, and these results highlight the competitiveness, attractiveness, and global confidence it enjoys,” Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed, the President of the DIFC, who is also UAE Finance Minister and First Deputy Ruler of Dubai, said in a post on X.

Nearly 10,000 high-net-worth individuals are likely to move to the UAE this year, more than to any other country in the world, according to London-based wealth consultants Henley & Partners.

Netflix will team up with MBC Group’s Shahid, the world’s biggest Arabic content streaming platform, to offer a joint subscription bundle via MBCNOW.

The offer is already available in Saudi Arabia, with a wider rollout planned across the MENA region, The National reports.

The first regional agreement of its kind steps up the increasingly-fierce competition for Arabic-language viewers, after U.S. media giant Warner Bros. Discovery bought a one-third stake in Dubai streaming company OSN in March for $57 million.

Demand for Arabic-language content grew by 16 times between 2020 to 2024, according to research by Parrot Analytics and Rise Studios.

The UAE is earning its reputation for offering ultra-luxurious hospitality to provide accommodations for those who seek a higher standard of living.

Aldar, the country’s largest residential developer, shattered records by selling an eight-bedroom mansion in Abu Dhabi for $109 million, the UAE capital’s most expensive home ever.

Located in the exclusive beachfront community of Faya Al Saadiyat, the 6,561 square-meter estate boasts a private car gallery, golf simulator, home cinema, wellness suites, and direct beach access, The National reports. 

In the northern emirate of Ras Al Khaimah, a new Hard Rock Hotel is hitting the high notes with plans to open in 2028 near Al Marjan Island, where the Gulf’s first casino resort is under development. The hotel, backed by RAK Hospitality and Malta’s db Group, will feature 300 rooms, 395 branded homes, and a vibrant events venue.

Outside of the country, Dubai’s Jumeirah Group operates a $50,000-a-night private island resort off Tanzania that is part of a surge in global investor interest in Africa’s luxury hospitality market, Bloomberg reports.

Etihad Airways, meanwhile, Abu Dhabi’s flag carrier, which is owned by sovereign wealth fund ADQ, announced on Thursday that it has received the first Airbus A321LR, featuring rare first-class seats on a narrow-body jet. It’s part of a 30-aircraft expansion that will form the backbone of the airline’s growth through 2028.