Financial Services

THE COMPANY: One of the oldest investment holding companies in Oman, Ominvest was established in 1983 by private business groups, public sector institutional investors and the general public. It has seen steady growth since being listed on the Muscat Securities Market in 1989. Reflecting solid...

THE COMPANY: Omani Qatari Telecommunications Company (Ooredoo), a leading provider of telecoms services in Oman, was founded in 2004 with its headquarters in Muscat. In February 2005 it was awarded a mobile licence in Oman for 15 years, and in June 2009 it was granted a 25-year fixed licence. Its...

THE COMPANY: Phoenix Power’s core activity is to develop, finance, operate, maintain and insure a gas-fired power generating plant located in Sur Industrial Estate between the Oman LNG terminal and Oman India Fertiliser Company plant. The plant has been in full commercial operation since December...

Oman’s stock exchange, the Muscat Securities Market (MSM), saw an uptick in equity listings in 2014. Although 2015 has been more subdued, several firms have announced plans for initial public offerings (IPOs). Market capitalisation is small by regional standards and the market also has comparatively low levels of trading, although regulatory...

The creation of Oman’s Islamic banking segment dates back to 2012, when the Central Bank of Oman (CBO) launched the Islamic Banking Regulatory Framework. The following year the regulator issued licences for the country’s first two sharia-compliant banks, alizz islamic bank and Bank Nizwa. Islamic windows have also been launched at six...

As part of the effort to diversify Oman’s economy, the authorities are keen to boost growth in the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) segment, which is comparatively underdeveloped. The segment is thought to contribute 16-20% of national GDP, which the Central Bank of Oman (CBO) in a 2014 report described as “indicative of a sector with...