Gulf

1. Saudi taps Chinese builder
2. Consumer fintech boom
3. UAE’s AI gas stations
4. Abu Dhabi space deal
5. Global gangs sour on Dubai

Qatar’s revenge against reckless drivers.

Riyadh’s construction boom continues

Saudi Arabia’s construction boom is accelerating, with Riyadh emerging as the focal point of the kingdom’s giga-projects. Diriyah Co. — backed by the Public Investment Fund — awarded a $202.2 million contract to China Harbour Engineering Co. for bulk excavation in the second phase of the $62.2 billion Diriyah project.

One of the kingdom’s five giga-projects, Diriyah — located a 15-minute drive from downtown Riyadh — plans to include more than 40 hotels, as well as arts districts, museums, and major sporting venues. The project aims to attract tourists and is expected to be completed by 2030, timed for the kingdom’s hosting of the World Expo.

While Saudi Arabia plans to cut government spending in 2025 amid lower oil prices, it’s prioritizing investments in economic diversification. Real estate consultancy Knight Frank projects Saudi Arabia’s construction market will become the world’s largest by 2028.

China is aggressively securing a foothold in this booming sector as the kingdom races to complete key projects in time for Expo 2030 and the 2034 men’s soccer World Cup, fueling a gold rush for construction firms.

Private credit fuels Gulf fintech boom

Global private credit funds and banks are stepping in to fund Gulf startups, particularly in payments and consumer lending. In the latest example, Citigroup provided $500 million in asset-backed securitization financing to Quantix Technology Projects, the operator of the CashNow consumer lending platform.

Historically, the Middle East has seen few private debt deals, according to Bloomberg, with funds typically raising less than $500 million. Local banks have largely avoided consumer finance, leaving room for global players to plug the gap. The trend reflects a welcome shift in Gulf investment flows — instead of simply raising capital from regional sovereign wealth funds and family offices, global funds like BlackRock and Blackstone are now actively investing in local growth opportunities.

ADNOC Distribution eyes non-fuel growth

ADNOC Distribution is expanding non-fuel services in the UAE and considering adding stations in Saudi Arabia and Egypt, CEO Bader Saeed Al Lamki told Semafor. With 540 stations and the country’s largest convenience store network, the company already controls two-thirds of the UAE’s fuel market. To grow, it is using artificial intelligence to mine insights from 220 million transactions and 2.1 million loyalty program members to deliver more targeted offers and improve experiences. Customers can preorder coffee, for example, delivered via license plate recognition upon arrival. “We want to sweat the assets to the maximum,” Al Lamki said, adding services like car washes and other fuels in the UAE.

UAE backs next-generation satellites

The amount that the UAE government will pay Abu Dhabi-based satellite operator Space42 for services until 2043. The deal will also fund the construction of two new satellites — Space42 will receive $1 billion in advanced payments and plans to launch the new satellites with Elon Musk’s SpaceX in 2027 and 2028. Space42 said that another planned geostationary satellite, Thuraya 4, arrived at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida last week, where it will be launched into orbit by SpaceX this year.

The UAE is bullish on space. Its $200 million Hope Probe, which reached Mars orbit in 2021, is an accomplishment only the US, Russia, China, India, and the EU have achieved. The country also is building a new lunar rover after its first attempt to safely land on the moon failed in 2023.

Dubai cracks down on drug lords

Dubai is shedding an unwanted reputation as a haven for Europe’s drug lords. Recent arrests — including Sean McGovern of Ireland’s Kinahan cartel and Faissal Taghi of the Dutch-Moroccan Mocro Maffia — signal a crackdown on organized crime. Alleged European drug traffickers have lived openly in Dubai, dining at glitzy restaurants and purchasing luxury real estate, AFP reported. Now increased enforcement is prompting European gangs to shift their money-laundering operations to Turkey, North Africa, and Indonesia, according to experts.

Energy Transition

• A key resource for batteries may come from the hydrocarbon fields that spurred the energy transition. Saudi startup Lithium Infinity has extracted lithium from brine samples in Aramco’s oilfields and plans to start a pilot program soon.
• Egypt and UAE-based AMEA Power plan to build a 500-megawatt wind farm in the Gulf of Suez. Valued at $600 million, the project aims to support Egypt’s goal of generating 42% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030. — Arab News

Tech

• Keeta Drone — a unit of Chinese technology and retail company Meituan — launched a food and medicine delivery service in Dubai. The drones can fly up to 100 meters and cover a 3-kilometer range. By 2030, aerial delivery is expected to serve one-third of the city. — The National
  

Qatar is sending a message to reckless drivers: It’s willing to go medieval on violators. The Ministry of Interior posted a video on X of a driver doing donuts among traffic on a highway. The car, a Toyota Supra, was impounded, snatched by a claw excavator, and then fed into a car crusher machine. (The driver could face a fine and imprisonment of up to $13,600 and three years). While few commenters disputed the need to punish the driver, there’s widespread confusion on why the car had to be destroyed. Maybe it’s a warning shot to the autonomous vehicles of the future.

After Kamala Harris became the Democratic nominee, deputy campaign manager Rob Flaherty turned to sports to reach those who aren’t obsessed with politics, he told Semafor’s Max Tani.

The campaign’s failure to completely crack the sports sphere was, to Flaherty, ominous. “When it’s not cool to talk about politics,” he said, “you’re kind of afraid of the audience.”