Amid clearing skies after Dubai’s record rainstorm, the vision for taxis in the city got a little sharper on Wednesday as London-based Skyports clinched funding to start building the futuristic aircraft’s take-off and landing areas.

Skyports, which is running the project, announced that Spain’s ACS infrastructure company is the lead equity investor in a $110 million Series C fundraising round.

In March, Skyports inked a deal with Dubai and federal regulators as well as U.S. aircraft company Joby Aviation to get Joby’s aircraft into service by 2026.

A spokesperson for Skyports told The Circuit at the time that the four planned takeoff locations – near Dubai International Airport, Downtown, Dubai Marina, and Palm Jumeirah – would cost around $10 million each to construct.

A typical journey from DXB to Palm Jumeirah is expected to take 10 minutes by air taxi compared with 45 minutes by car.

UAE supermarket chain Spinneys said on Tuesday it will sell 25% of its shares in an IPO on the Dubai Financial Market.

The company, which also operates in Oman and plans to enter the Saudi market, expects to start trading in May after a subscription period for investors that ends April 30.

The announcement follows reports that Lulu Group International, one of the biggest retail operators in the Middle East, is planning a dual listing later this year on the Riyadh and Abu Dhabi exchanges.

Rothschild & Co. Middle East is the independent financial adviser for Spinneys, while Emirates NBD Capital, Merrill Lynch and HSBC Bank Middle East are joint global co-ordinators and bookrunners.

Microsoft will invest $1.5 billion in Abu Dhabi artificial intelligence firm G42, providing one of the biggest inbound investments from an outside player yet and lending credibility to the UAE’s ambitions to become a world-leading technology hub.

The deal gives Microsoft a minority stake in G42 and offers Vice-Chair and President Brad Smith a seat on its board.

“Microsoft’s investment in G42 marks a pivotal moment in our company’s journey of growth and innovation, signifying a strategic alignment of vision and execution between the two organizations,” Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed, Chairman of G42, said in a statement.

Sheikh Tahnoon, who also serves as UAE National Security Advisor and Chairman of sovereign wealth funds ADQ and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, was photographed at a signing between Smith and G42 CEO Peng Xiao. 

The commercial partnership is “backed by assurances to both governments” for secure AI development, the companies said, a signal to critics that the U.S.-UAE technology partnership is strong and that G42 has severed ties to China.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, traveled twice to the UAE to talk about security arrangements for the Microsoft deal and other partnerships, The New York Times reports.

The firms also agreed to a further $1 billion development fund to support training an AI workforce and talent pool in the UAE and for the wider region.

“Our two companies will work together not only in the UAE, but to bring AI and digital infrastructure and services to underserved nations,” Smith said. “We will combine world-class technology with world-leading standards for safe, trusted and responsible AI, in close coordination with the governments of both the UAE and the United States.”  

Last month, G42 alongside Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund Mubadala, launched an AI investment company called MGX with the ambition of building up $100 billion in assets under management within a few years.

The fund is reportedly now in early talks with Sam Altman, whose OpenAI is backed by Microsoft, to invest in his multi-trillion-dollar chip venture.

Saudi Arabia will host the women’s WTA Finals tennis tournament for the next three years under a contract announced on Thursday.

The deal between the WTA and the Saudi Tennis Federation will boost prize money for the championship in November to a record $15.25 million, a 70% increase from the purse for last year’s event that was played in Cancun, Mexico.

WTA Chairman Steve Simon told the Associated Press that public objections to the Saudi bid from Hall of Fame players Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova received serious consideration before the decision was made to hold the annual event in Riyadh.

ATP, the men’s professional tennis tour, agreed on a five-year sponsorship deal in February with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.

Standard Chartered is shaking up the executive ranks amid a new push to develop its Middle East business.

Leading the team, Reuters reports, is Torry Berntsen, who was promoted to Executive Vice-Chairman for corporate and investment banking in Europe, the Americas, the Middle East and Africa.

Rola Abu Manneh was named chief of the UAE office, with authority over the wider Middle East region and Pakistan. Kariuki Ngari will oversee Africa.

Meanwhile, Financial News reported this week that Nick Philpott, co-founder of Zodia Markets, the London-based crypto firm backed by Standard Chartered, is relocating to Abu Dhabi as part of its Middle East expansion.

The UAE and Saudi Arabia made big jumps this year in an influential ranking of the world’s most desirable places for foreign investors to put their money.

Kearney’s 2024 Foreign Direct Investment Confidence Index placed the UAE in eighth place globally and Saudi Arabia at No. 14, both rising 10 spots from 2023. 

The ranking augurs well for Saudi Arabia in particular – Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has set an ambitious target to attract $100 billion in foreign investment within the next six years to pull off the massive economic transformation plans dubbed Vision 2030.

Gaining traction with outside financiers is crucial as the Public Investment Fund is currently the largest backer of Saudi mega-projects spanning from NEOM to Downtown Riyadh.

Despite progress, analysts remain skeptical the kingdom can hit its 2030 deadline and financing needs will continue to be met by the PIF, according to Bloomberg. 

“It’s effectively still a public sector-led development model,” Monica Malik, chief economist at Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, told Bloomberg in an interview.

“At the moment they’re using all their pockets of strength for this transformation plan and I think going forward it will still be predominantly a Saudi-led development plan.”

Growing cash needs at home will have knock-on effects to how the PIF chooses to spend abroad, analysts predict. 

ADQ has launched a new healthcare holding company named Arcera that consolidates the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund’s pharmaceutical interests in Switzerland, Turkey and Egypt, making it one of the MENA region’s largest life sciences businesses.

The new company, based in Abu Dhabi, intends to double its revenue over the next five years through international acquisitions and partnerships, ADQ said in a statement on Monday. 

Arcera’s portfolio will consist of 2,000 branded medicines, addressing illnesses in the areas of neurology, gastroenterology, cardiovascular, pain relief, rheumatology and infection. The holding company owns ADQ’s stakes in Switzerland’s Acino International, Turkey’s Birgi Mefar Group and Egypt’s Amoun Pharmaceutical Co.

Abu Dhabi has taken a forward-leaning stance on healthcare investments coming out of the Covid-19 pandemic and today aims to become a regional hub for life sciences — one of the hottest areas of investment that covers everything from genomics and pharmaceuticals to clinical trials and personalized medicine. ADQ, chaired by UAE National Security Advisor Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed, is spearheading a number of those efforts under its mandate to be the lead investor driving the UAE’s economic transformation from petro-state to a knowledge-based economy.

The formation of Arcera follows a familiar playbook: In January 2022 ADQ merged its healthcare subsidiaries with Alpha Dhabi’s Pure Health Medical Supplies to create PureHealth, the country’s largest healthcare provider. ADQ is planning to list the new entity, Bloomberg reports, as it did with Purehealth last December. The firm’s $1 billion listing surged 84% on its debut. 

Non-oil economic growth appears strong in the Middle East amid diversification efforts by Saudi Arabia, the UAE and other states, helped by government support and reforms to attract private capital, according to the latest PwC Middle East Economy Watch.

Oil prices are expected to drop this year amid supply and demand growth uncertainty.

“Strong growth in the non-oil sector is expected to counterbalance these impacts,” said Richard Boxshall, Partner and Chief Economist, PwC Middle East.

Inflation cooled in the GCC last year, with PwC composite data for the region averaging 2.6% and ending the year at 1.7% YoY, down from a post-Covid high of 4.3% in July 2022.