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Bloomberg Saudi Arabia wants to get oil prices near $80 a barrel to pay for the government’s policy agenda and support the valuation of state energy giant Aramco before an initial public offering. In conversations with OPEC delegates and oil market participants, Saudi officials had been careful to avoid pinpointing an exact price target. Yet people who have spoken to …

Abu Dhabi / Emirates Business The current MENA fintech market is estimated at $2 billion (AED7.35 billion) and expected to witness an annual growth of $125 million (AED459 million) until 2022, according to Mena Research Partners (MRP), a leading research company in the region. Increasingly compelling business models of fintech are expected to drive the market growth further. Going forward, …

CAIRO / WAM The UAE labour market is one of the most flexible markets at the regional and global scale, securing jobs to more than five million people from different nationalities in 2017 and receiving 1.35 million highly skilled workers for the private sector, stated Nasser bin Thani Al Hamli, UAE Minister of Human Resources and Emiratisation. According to the …

KHARTOUM / WAM Since it began operations in March 1975, the Arab Bank for Economic Development of Africa (Badea) provided over $5.8 billion in development finance for sub-Saharan African countries, according to a statement on its website. At the end of March, after just over 13 years of operations, BADEA had made commitments of $5,824.77 million, covering finance for 653 …

RIYADH / Reuters Saudi Arabia’s stock exchange expects an influx of foreign funds to smooth the listing of national oil firm Saudi Aramco, despite concern among some analysts about whether the market can absorb the huge offer, the exchange’s chief executive said. “Foreign investors are putting in more money — every day we have improved liquidity capacity,” Khalid al-Hussan said …

MANILA / Reuters The Philippines is looking to seal a pact with China within a few months to jointly explore for oil and gas in a part of the busy South China Sea waterway claimed by both countries, a Philippine official said on Monday. In February, the two countries agreed to set up a special panel to work out how …

LONDON / Reuters Oil rose on Monday, recovering some of the decline on the potential impact on global growth from a trade dispute between China and the United States as well as rising US output. Markets were also eyeing the situation in Syria after reports – denied by the Pentagon – that US forces had struck a major air base …

LAGOS / Reuters Nigerian energy company Neconde has launched an arbitration case against Royal Dutch Shell, the West African firm’s chief executive said, alleging the oil major continued to lift crude and failed to remit funds after a lease had been sold. The oilfield in question, Oil Mining Lease (OML) 42, is also at the centre of corruption allegations. Shell …

Bloomberg The Middle East is emerging as a potential beneficiary of the brewing trade war between the US and China as the Asian nation strikes back with retaliatory tariffs on American petrochemical products. If China goes ahead with its proposal to slap a 25 percent tariff on polyethylene and liquid propane, which were among 106 American goods targeted, buyers in …

Bloomberg Saudi Basic Industries Corp plans to boost production capacity 70 percent by 2025 as the Middle East’s dominant chemical maker works with new joint-venture partners and expands its footprint in the heart of the US shale boom. Increasing chemical production is crucial to Saudi Arabia’s “Vision 2030” blueprint, which envisions creating higher-value products and jobs, Yousef al Benyan, chief …