Gulf

1. Noon raises $500M
2. EU-UAE trade talks
3. Abu Dhabi payments play
4. UAE netbank’s expansion
5. Riyadh-Doha express
6. Record Gulf airline profits

How Abu Dhabi became the “capital of capital,” and other weekend reads.

Anyone curious about trends in Africa’s relationships with the rest of the world need only look at the contrast between Washington and Abu Dhabi in the last week.

The White House’s new National Security Strategy presented a very brief assessment of US priorities when engaging with the continent: in essence, it will chase deals on critical minerals and energy. Here in the UAE, where I’ve been attending Abu Dhabi Finance Week, it’s clear the Emirate is positioning itself as the center of global finance — the relentless branding of Abu Dhabi as the “capital of capital” is a giveaway. But, crucially, that marketing story features Africa as a chapter, rather than a footnote.

The numbers point to a level of commitment: The UAE is one of the biggest investors in Africa — it recently said its total investments there were over $118 billion between 2020 and 2024. Last month, it said it will invest $1 billion to expand AI infrastructure and services across the continent.

The UAE’s relationship with Africa has a deeply problematic dimension, of course. It has repeatedly faced accusations by human rights groups of providing military and financial support to the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan, accused of committing genocide in the country’s civil war; Abu Dhabi has denied the claims. Some of the Emirate’s business dealings in Africa have also highlighted the challenges of investing on the continent, raising questions of how many of this week’s grand announcements will translate into activity on the ground. This year I reported on a troubled $1 billion data center project in Kenya, spearheaded by UAE AI firm G42, that has faltered due to the lack of a viable business model. A carbon credit deal in Liberia has similarly stalled.

Still, many in Africa’s business community see benefits in forging closer ties with the UAE. At a time when Europe and the US are making it increasingly onerous to secure a visa, business leaders say it is relatively straightforward to visit the Gulf state to secure deals, financing, and investment. Ali Abulhasan, CEO of Kuwait-headquartered fintech Tap Payments, told me during a panel at Semafor’s Next 3 Billion on Tour event that “a lot of investment bridging between African countries is happening from the UAE.”

Mideast Amazon rival Noon raises $500M

The Middle East’s homegrown Amazon rival, Noon, has raised $500 million in additional funding as it eyes a potential stock market listing, according to people familiar with the matter. The backers included Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund PIF and Noon’s founder Mohammed Alabbar, the people said. PIF declined to comment, while Noon and Alabbar — who is also chairman of Dubai real estate developer Emaar Properties — didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Noon, headquartered in Riyadh, faces increasing competition from the likes of Amazon and China’s Meituan, who are eager to tap into the Gulf’s young, wealthy, and tech-savvy population. Saudi startup Ninja, which also operates grocery deliveries, raised $250 million earlier this year to fuel expansion, too. All that rivalry has prompted a price war, as firms battle for market share.

Noon has previously raised $2.7 billion and its most recent valuation was close to $10 billion, Alabbar told the Financial Times in September. The company is working on an IPO within two years, he said.

UAE advances EU trade deal

Frustrated by decades of unproductive trade negotiations between the Gulf Cooperation Council and the EU, Abu Dhabi is finding that going it alone can be more efficient. Talks with the EU on a comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA) have been “advancing rapidly” since their start this year, UAE Minister of State Lana Nusseibeh said at a briefing in Abu Dhabi on Thursday, alongside an EU commissioner.

The UAE is the EU’s largest export destination for goods and services in the Middle East and North Africa. The deal will build on the UAE’s more than 30 CEPAs — free-trade-style pacts that incorporate services and other forms of economic cooperation. Such deals helped the UAE hit a record non-oil trade volume of $816.7 billion last year, up about 15% annually, The National reported.

The move reflects Abu Dhabi’s broader shift toward one-to-one economic and strategic alliances, including with major powers: The UAE is among a small group of close US allies attending the White House’s Pax Silica summit today. The meeting is focused on deepening collaboration in AI, energy, critical minerals, and digital infrastructure. For the Trump administration, it’s a potential win that could reduce allies’ dependence on China, and for the UAE, it’s central to its diversification push.

— Kelsey Warner

LuLu Financial looks beyond remittances

A currency exchange affiliated with the UAE supermarket chain LuLu has quickly become a top player in the market, moving $19.7 billion in remittances last year and on track for around $22 billion this year, one of its top executives said at Semafor’s Next 3 Billion event during Abu Dhabi Finance Week. That makes LuLu responsible for around 2% of global remittance flows and more than 14% of volumes in the Gulf, with an ambition to reach a double-digit global market share by 2030.

While remittances remain the core business — driven by workers sending money home to the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, Africa, and the UK — the bigger opportunity for firms like LuLu is in company transactions, Lulu Financial Holdings’ Managing Director Adeeb Ahamed said.

— Mohammed Sergie

UAE digital lender’s secret? Speed

UAE digital lender Wio Bank is growing quickly, driven by a focus on small and medium-sized businesses, and has yet to exhaust opportunities in the relatively small and crowded market, its chief executive Jayesh Patel said at Semafor’s Next 3 Billion event during Abu Dhabi Finance Week. What began as a pandemic startup aiming to fix the slow and expensive process of opening a business account has become the biggest player in the SME space.

Wio cut average account opening times to about two days by plugging into the UAE’s national ID systems, company registries, and mature digital infrastructure. Backed by prominent institutions in the capital — sovereign fund ADQ, telecom e&, First Abu Dhabi Bank, and investment company Alpha Dhabi — Wio is positioning itself within a broader UAE effort to remove friction for businesses, a theme that was on full display in Abu Dhabi this week.

— Mohammed Sergie

A Saudi-Qatar rail link

Seven years after Saudi Arabia suggested digging a canal between the kingdom and Qatar and filling it with nuclear waste, the two governments are now planning a cross-border, high-speed rail link. The canal project — which was always more bluster than reality — was quietly shelved as the rift between the Gulf countries healed. This week, Saudi Arabia’s crown prince and Qatar’s emir met in Riyadh and agreed to build an electric passenger railway to connect their two capitals’ airports, passing through the Saudi cities of Al-Hofuf and Dammam. Officials said the trip would take around two hours, compared to a 90-minute flight, and services are expected to begin in six years.

— Mohammed Sergie

Gulf airlines to outpace global rivals

The profit Middle East airlines are expected to earn per passenger next year, according to the International Air Transport Association. That’s more than triple the global average and reflects the region’s strong demand and massive state investment in aviation. The sector is on track for $6.6 billion in net profit in 2025 as carriers like Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar Airways dominate long-haul traffic.

The growth comes as Gulf governments double down on airport expansion, from Dubai’s $35 billion DWC terminal to Riyadh’s planned King Salman International Airport. Middle East carriers are expected to remain the most profitable in the world through 2026.

Cities

• Saudi Arabia is cooling the outdoors: Diriyah Gate, the PIF-backed giga-project, is preparing air conditioning to bring temperatures in plazas and dining areas down to about 28 degrees Celsius (82 degrees Fahrenheit). Highs in Riyadh regularly exceed 45℃ in the summer. In addition to cooling, the developer will use trees, reflective roads, and traditional mud-brick design to keep the district walkable year-round. — AGBI

Crypto

• The UAE will launch a digital version of its currency “very soon” according to the Central Bank’s chief fintech officer; Paul Kayrouz told Abu Dhabi Finance Week the digital dirham would be introduced in phases, with tourists among the groups being targeted. — The National
• BlackRock has agreed with the UAE’s Finstreet and blockchain organization ADI Foundation — both part of Abu Dhabi conglomerate International Holding Company — to explore initiatives around tokenized investment products and other digital financial assets.

Real Estate

• Some Dubai property developers are starting to doubt the value of attaching luxury brand names to their new apartments and villas, particularly those of non-hospitality partners. Branded residences often command a hefty price premium, but also far higher service charges. — AGBI

Trade

• Annual trade between the UAE and Russia could double to $20 billion over the next five years, with data analytics, financial services and technology, food processing, and space exploration seen as the sectors with the greatest potential to drive cooperation. — The National

Sport

• The UAE’s Mohammed Ben Sulayem was elected to a second term as president of FIA, the governing body of world motorsport, at a meeting in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on Dec. 12. The former rally champion has turned around the body’s financial position since taking charge in 2021.

Diplomacy

• China’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi was due to land in the UAE on Dec. 12, at the start of a regional tour taking in Saudi Arabia and Jordan.

• An awareness of “tectonic” global shifts, combined with sovereign capital and power, helped Abu Dhabi emerge over decades as the “capital of capital,” Taufiq Rahim writes in an essay in the Geopolitico newsletter.
• The Gulf is positioned to be the world’s third largest hub for AI — after China and the US — with computing power joining oil as a key pillar in the US-Gulf relationship, Daniel Benaim, a former official in the US Department of State, writes for Foreign Affairs.
• The story of Kenyan single-mother Edith, and her years-long battle to escape Saudi Arabia with her young daughter, offers a sharp insight into how tough life can be for the Gulf’s working classes, as documented by The New York Times’ Abdi Latif Dahir and Vivian Nereim.

A column in the Dec. 10 issue incorrectly referred to Mubadala as Abu Dhabi’s biggest sovereign wealth fund. The largest state investor in the Emirate is Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.