Author: Sam Allcock

A German blockchain infrastructure provider arrived in Abu Dhabi in recent weeks, joining a queue of fintech platforms and fund managers setting up regional operations. The company needed clarity on licensing across multiple jurisdictions. It found it. Since January 2026, financial services and adjacent sectors have accounted for 19.32% of total client leads in the UAE, according to data from Sovereign PPG Corporate Services. That’s nearly one in five inquiries. Fund managers, fintech platforms, SPV structures, and holding companies dominate the pipeline, clustering around Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) and Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). The numbers tell part of…

Someone paid AED422 million for a property at Aman Residences Tower 2 during the first quarter of 2026. The most expensive villa? AED350 million at Jumeirah First. Those eye-watering figures bookend a three-month period that saw Dubai’s property market rack up 47,996 sales transactions worth AED176.7 billion, according to analysis released Thursday by fäm Properties. Transaction volumes climbed 5.5% year-on-year, but values surged 23.4%—a divergence that tells its own story about where buyers are placing their bets. Off-plan properties dominated the landscape. They accounted for 70% of all sales by volume and 71% by value, reflecting a steady pipeline of…

AED 10 will buy you a coffee at Risen Café every morning this month, provided you arrive between 7am and 10am. The Dubai-based bakery chain rolled out the offer across all its locations on Tuesday, kicking off a month-long promotional blitz it’s calling Community First. The discounted window runs until 30th April. Guests who miss the morning slot can claim a second deal: hot or iced chocolate for the same AED 10 price, available from 1pm to 4pm. Both drinks can be bundled with any freshly baked croissant for AED 29, turning the promotion into a grab-and-go breakfast or afternoon…

Water availability is now dictating where the world’s largest data centers can be built. Gradiant, the Boston-based water treatment specialist, secured a contract on 2nd April to design and install a full-cycle water facility for a hyperscale data center in Didcot, Oxfordshire—a project that underscores how physical resources are becoming the brake on AI infrastructure expansion. The facility will rise on the site of a former power station. Gradiant’s system will handle treatment, recycling, and zero liquid discharge for one of the world’s major AI and cloud infrastructure providers, whose identity remains undisclosed. The approach represents a shift from traditional…

Only 24% of UAE rear-seat passengers buckle up. That’s the finding from a January 2026 survey of 1,010 residents—and it’s not ignorance driving the problem. Some 95% of respondents understand that seat belts protect people in front seats. Even rear-seat protection is widely recognised, with 82% acknowledging the life-saving potential. Yet when those same people slide into the back of a taxi or a friend’s car, three-quarters leave the belt dangling unused. The consequences are measurable in morgues, not just statistics. Abu Dhabi Police data reveals that 60% of road fatalities in the emirate stem from one decision: not wearing…

Neoterra Developments turned the first shovel on its ELMORA residential project this week with 80 per cent of units already gone. The 85-apartment tower at Jumeirah Garden City won’t finish until February 2028, yet studios and one-bedroom flats sold out entirely before construction began. The location tells most of the story. ELMORA sits minutes from the Dubai International Financial Centre and five minutes from the recently announced AED 100 billion DIFC 2.0 expansion. For a boutique developer with a AED 130 million project, proximity to that scale of infrastructure investment proved enough to move inventory fast. Two-bedroom residences remain available,…

Fewer than 10,000 students attended Saudi universities in the 1970s. Today, that figure exceeds two million—a 200-fold increase that has left accommodation infrastructure scrambling to catch up. The Myriad, a purpose-built student living operator backed by a recently announced SAR 2 billion war chest, is now in advanced talks with an unnamed Saudi institution. The discussions mark the platform’s first formal push into the Kingdom, where dormitory-style housing has historically dominated campus life but purpose-built models are gaining traction among administrators rethinking student experience. The move follows Dedicated Housing Company’s capital allocation announcement in late March, earmarking funds specifically for…

Renewable energy investment in the Middle East climbed to $12.9 billion last year, up 28% from 2024’s $10.1 billion. The surge reflects a regional bet that integrated infrastructure—building power generation and transmission simultaneously—can outpace Western markets now choking on permitting delays and grid bottlenecks. AI’s voracious energy appetite is rewriting investment priorities. With data centres projected to consume 409 terawatt-hours by 2030 in the United States alone, and over $500 billion in AI infrastructure spending anticipated this year, the scramble for dispatchable renewable capacity has intensified. Globally, renewable energy investment reached $496 billion, according to research from Ansarada, an M&A…

Mirwais Azizi handed the trophy to jockey Connor Beasley on Saturday afternoon, marking a ritual the property developer’s founder has repeated for nine consecutive years. Native Approach had just stormed home in the Al Quoz Sprint. The partnership endures. Azizi Developments confirmed its ninth straight year backing the $1.5 million G1 sprint at the Dubai World Cup, a commitment that now spans nearly a third of the event’s 30-year history. Since 2017, the UAE developer has sponsored the 1,200-metre turf race that draws champions from six continents. Few corporate partnerships in Dubai sport have lasted this long. The Al Quoz…

Boats will slide directly from workshop floor into open water. That’s the advantage Gulf Craft gains from its new 10,000 sq m production facility in Ajman, positioned on the emirate’s waterfront with immediate sea access for launching and testing vessels without the logistical tangle of road transport. The Emirati boat builder is weeks from opening the dedicated factory for its Leisure Craft division, manufacturing Oryx cabin cruisers and SilverCat power catamarans at a site close to where the company first launched in 1982. The investment targets surging global appetite for multihull recreational boats—twin-hulled catamarans that deliver wider beam, greater stability,…