As home to the world’s most important Islamic sites – including the Masjid Al Haram, or Grand Mosque, which houses the Kaaba – the holy cities of Makkah and Medina are at the centre of religious life for the world’s 1.2bn-strong Muslim population. Located near Jeddah, in western Saudi Arabia, each year the two cities attract millions of...
Over the last five years several major public transport development programmes have been launched in the cities of Makkah and Medina. Now in the design, tendering and construction phases, these initiatives have the potential to transform the way residents and pilgrims travel to, from and within Islam’s most important sites. The SR62bn ($16.5bn...
With one of the highest population growth rates in the world outside Africa, and an insurance penetration level of only 1.5% in 2015, compared to the global average of around 6.3%, there is serious room for sector growth and development in Saudi Arabia. Societal attitudes to some forms of cover and the industry as a whole may present obstacles...
Collectively, the Saudi Arabian insurance industry has seen five years of double-digit growth in both revenue and net profit. However, the positive performance of a few of the Kingdom’s largest insurers masks more modest results from many of its smaller firms, some of which have accumulated debts over many years. Although industry experts...
One of the most standout alternative investment stories to emerge from Saudi Arabia over the past two years is the growing interest in initial public offering (IPO) funds as investment vehicles. The Kingdom has long been a centre of mutual fund activity, thanks to the size of the domestic market and the community of sophisticated investors...
The story of the Kingdom’s alternative investment market is one of potential. While Saudi Arabia is a regional leader in mutual fund activity and has led the recent GCC expansion of the segment both in terms of fund classes and volumes, in areas such as private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC), growth has been less brisk. Recent years,...
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