Dubai’s government has stepped in to stabilize governance at the parent company of Majid Al Futtaim, the conglomerate behind the Mall of the Emirates and brands including Carrefour and Lego in the region.

A special judicial committee has restructured MAF Capital’s board and converted it into a public joint stock company, The Financial Times reports.

This is not the first time the government has assisted the group. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Ruler of Dubai, oversaw inheritance matters after the founder’s death in 2022.

The latest overhaul aims to safeguard one of the Gulf’s most prominent privately owned companies and could pave the way for a future stock exchange listing, the FT reports.

Family-run businesses across the Gulf frequently encounter similar challenges after a founder’s death.

Under its late founder, MAF built a reputation for forward-thinking management, pioneering projects like the region’s first indoor ski slope in Mall of the Emirates and raising capital in global bond markets to fund its expansion.

Dubai-based beauty entrepreneur and influencer Huda Kattan is buying back full control of Huda Beauty, making her eponymous brand fully independent again in a move to “stay true to our roots.”

Private equity firm TSG Consumer Partners acquired a minority stake in the brand in 2017, and a year later, it was valued at more than $1 billion by Forbes.

Now Kattan, who launched the brand in 2013 with a $6,000 loan from her sister, has bought back all the shares for an undisclosed sum.

Huda Beauty has become one of the most recognized cosmetic brands in the Middle East and North America, based on a digital-first strategy and viral product drops.

Gulf investors are doubling down on Turkey’s digital future, with UAE-based Khazna planning a major AI hub and 100MW data center in Ankara.

The facility marks the latest in a wave of high-profile investments transforming Turkey into a regional tech powerhouse, Arabian Gulf Business Insight reports.

E-commerce giant Trendyol, meanwhile, has joined forces with Castle Investments, led by Gulf Data Hub founder Tarek Al Ashram, to develop a $500 million data center in Turkey’s capital.

Dubai Islamic Bank and Emirates NBD are fueling the expansion further, committing over $260 million to bolster Turkcell’s infrastructure. 

Dubai has agreed to establish a digital incubator and international economic zone in Ghana as the UAE continues to deepen its strategic presence in Africa.

The initiative aims to accelerate the West African country’s transformation into a regional technology powerhouse, according to WAM.

The Dubai state-owned Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation signed an initial agreement, reported to be worth $1 billion, to develop a 25 square kilometer zone near Tema Port on the outskirts of the capital Accra, where it will lead operations to attract global technology companies.

Ghanaian media outlet Graphic Online reported that the tech hub would target more than 11,000 foreign companies, including tech giants Microsoft, Oracle, Meta, IBM and Alphabet.

Saudi Aramco is going to the debt market again amid a slide in oil prices that has chopped the cost of the industry’s benchmark Brent crude almost in half over the past three years.

Aramco, the world’s largest oil company, said on Monday that it raised $5 billion in a London bond sale that was the U.K.’s largest this year and followed the sale of Islamic bonds a year ago that raised $6 billion.

The record borrowing should enable the state-owned oil colossus to continue generating the level of funding that the kingdom has been counting on to finance its drive to diversify the economy. 

The price of Brent crude has fallen 20% this year and 45% since June 2022. It was trading at $62 a barrel this morning.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has put the country on an expensive course of investing in massive infrastructure projects such as the $1 trillion-dollar Neom development, while  deepening its interests in a variety of industries including minerals, electric vehicles and sports.

At the same time, Saudi Arabia has tightened its dominance over OPEC+, pushing through a significant increase in production across the bloc of oil producers despite opposition from other powerful members such as Russia, Oman and Algeria, Bloomberg reports.

Financial influencers are now required to register for official “Finfluencer” status with the UAE’s Securities and Commodities Authority.

The regulator has launched an official authorization scheme mandating compliance with strict content and conduct standards, in a move to ensure transparency and protect investors in digital financial markets.

Approved finfluencers will be permitted to share investment insights and recommendations, with a three-year waiver on registration fees offered to encourage uptake.

The SCA said it also urges the public to verify finfluencer credentials and report unlicensed activity, as it steps up oversight of financial content amid rising digital engagement.

Stepping inside any of the UAE’s palatial-sized attractions – from Dubai’s 163-story Burj Khalifa and metal-domed Louvre Abu Dhabi to the gleaming white Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque – visitors hit a wall of cool air that provides relief from the Gulf’s scorching sun.

The company responsible for keeping the heat at bay is National Central Cooling, known as Tabreed, which looks likely to expand its portfolio of district cooling contracts soon to include a large swathe of Abu Dhabi’s offices and residential buildings. Tabreed is backed by the French electric utility company, Engie.

Abu Dhabi’s Multiply Group has entered exclusive talks to sell its PAL Cooling unit to Tabreed, and private equity firm CVC for $1.1 billion, Reuters reports. With it will come long-term agreements with Abu Dhabi master developers, including Aldar Properties and Reem Developers.

Multiply, the Abu Dhabi-based investment company controlled by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed’s IHC, was first reported to be working with the Standard Chartered bank on finding a buyer for the cooling unit earlier this year. 

District cooling, described as “chilled water” on utility bills in Abu Dhabi, is a system of centralized cooling that pumps cold water via insulated pipes into many of the UAE capital’s skyscrapers and residential buildings to keep them comfortable.

The system is viewed as more environmentally friendly than traditional air conditioning and has become a critical utility in the Gulf, where the hot season is growing longer every year, with extreme temperatures driving the population indoors for months at a time.

The UAE and the European Union are moving closer to a trade agreement that would give the emirates consolidated access to the world’s largest trading bloc while reinforcing the country’s own status as a global logistics hub.

A deal between the UAE and the EU could also be key to unlocking a wider agreement between the 27-member bloc and the Gulf Cooperation Council, a stop-start negotiation which has not yielded consensus in the 35 years since talks started.

Dr. Thani Al Zeyoudi, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade, met with the EU’s trade chief Maros Sefcovic in Dubai on Wednesday to launch the talks officially over a potential Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, the UAE’s framework for the dozens of trade deals it has made since 2021 to diversify its economy. 

During his visit to the emirate, Sefcovic also met with the private sector to discuss opportunities for increased investment flows. The EU currently accounts for $67.6 billion in non-oil trade with the Emirates, 8.3% of the UAE’s total trade.

Speaking to reporters alongside Sefcovic, Al Zeyoudi said the UAE wants to seal a deal with the EU “in a very short period, three to six months from now.”

The Emirati cabinet minister added he did not see the talks as a hurdle for a future EU deal with the GCC and noted that bilateral talks with New Zealand and South Korea had led to trade agreements with the GCC, Reuters reports.

“We are seeing it’s a flow which is going to be starting from here and moving to the GCC,” he said. “Usually, the blocs are much slower than the bilateral, and that’s why we’re starting here, so we can move quickly.”