While the rapid development of the global Islamic banking sector has generated plenty of media headlines in recent years, the growth of the takaful industry has attracted comparatively less attention. There are several reasons that can go some way to explain the relatively unheralded expansion of the world’s sharia-compliant insurers. For...
Over 2014, there has been a welcome recovery of initial public offering (IPO) activity in the GCC region. According to PwC, 16 GCC companies went to regional markets, raising a total of $10.8bn. The tail end of the year proved to be a particularly fruitful time, accounting for $7.3bn of the total and raising hopes that 2015 would see the...
The corporate governance regimes of Saudi Arabia’s family-owned businesses (FOBs) are a salient talking point in financial circles, for obvious reasons. Estimates as to their contribution to GDP vary, but a 2012 study by the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce & Industry claimed that the Kingdom’s FOBs in that year accounted for around SR350bn ($93...
Thanks to its large population, a renowned hydrocarbons industry and an increasingly diverse non-oil sector, Saudi Arabia is one of the world’s wealthiest nations and a member of the G20 group of major economies. IMF data shows its GDP to be larger than that of advanced economies such as Sweden, Norway and Austria, as well as those of Middle...
Following the costly price competition of 2013, which eroded profitability across the sector, the market has responded to regulatory intervention and returned to a trajectory of sustainable growth over the course of 2014. With expansion potential emerging from both big-ticket projects and the high-volume, low-value business at the retail end...
Home to the holiest site in Islam – the Grand Mosque and the Kaaba contained within it – and a place of pilgrimage for millions of Muslims, Makkah is a unique city. Its special status also presents local authorities with a unique set of challenges, not least how to expand capacity and facilities in a way that both satisfies the needs of...
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