The startup scene across the Middle East and North Africa is gathering pace again, and the money is following clear themes. Recent dealmaking shows investors concentrating their bets on artificial intelligence, consumer brands, and climate technology, the three areas widely seen as…
The story of Gulf wealth is often told through governments and sovereign funds, but a quieter narrative runs alongside it: the rise of the region’s self-made business titans. Across the Gulf, entrepreneurs who built fortunes in finance, retail, logistics, and technology have…
The most important buildings in the Gulf’s technology push are also among the least glamorous. Data centres, the vast, humming facilities that store and process the region’s digital life, have quietly become strategic infrastructure, as central to economic ambition as ports and…
The Saudi Pro League has kicked off its 2026-27 season, and with it the region’s boldest experiment in football continues. What began as a headline-grabbing splurge on ageing superstars has evolved into something more considered, a sustained attempt to build one of…
Some of the most consequential moves in global finance this year have originated not in New York or London but in the Gulf. The region’s vast pools of capital have become a force that markets everywhere must reckon with, and the way…
For Bahraini football, continental competition is where reputations are made, and Riffa are preparing for another shot at it. The club awaits the draw for the Gulf Champions League, a tournament that offers the kingdom’s leading sides a rare chance to test…
Trade has always been the Gulf’s oldest business, and the region is using it again to remake its place in the world. A wave of new agreements and deepening commercial ties is redrawing the map of economic alliances, positioning the Gulf states…
Amid the noise of lavishly funded club competitions, the Arabian Gulf Cup remains a reminder of football’s older, simpler appeal. The tournament, contested between the national teams of the Gulf, carries a significance that money cannot manufacture, rooted in regional pride and…
Property markets from London to Dubai have a common thread running through their most significant recent deals: Gulf capital. The region’s investors, both sovereign and private, have made real estate a cornerstone of their global strategy, and the scale of that appetite…
Every year, the Forbes Middle East 30 Under 30 list offers a preview of who will shape the region’s business future, and each edition tells a story about where its energy is heading. The young entrepreneurs, creatives, and innovators it highlights represent…
