Business Extra

The financial cost of the Iran war is becoming clearer as according to the latest study by the Institute for Economics and Peace, the conflict is costing the global economy $2.2 trillion in annual GDP. The US alone had spent $25 billion within two months of the war beginning, and sought a further $200 billion from Congress to continue operations. Economists estimate the long-term cost at around $1...

The 2026 Fifa World Cup was supposed to be a record-breaking economic windfall for the United States. But as the tournament gets under way, the numbers reveal a more complicated story. Top-tier tickets for the final are going for more than $10,000, nearly seven times what the co-hosts' bid book originally promised. Hotel occupancy in some host cities, meanwhile, is tracking below normal summer lev...

Small and middle-sized companies (SMEs) make up more than 95 per cent of businesses in the UAE and contribute more than 60 per cent of the country’s non-oil GDP. But despite that, the UAE still has relatively few SMEs growing up to become large private companies. Founders have been saying that starting a business is much easier than scaling one, and in some cases, even easier than closing one. As...

Syria is becoming part of the economic conversation again. Over the past few weeks, there has been a lot of talk about investment and reconstruction, from the first Syrian-Emirati Investment Forum to upcoming business events in Damascus for the private sector in early June, and even discussions in Washington about Syria's economic future. UAE officials and business delegations have met the Syrian...

The UAE's decision to leave Opec is the biggest exit the organisation has faced since 1960. As the group's third-largest producer and one of the few members with real spare capacity, the departure of the Emirates raises urgent questions about the future of global oil markets and the organisation that has shaped them for decades. This comes at a critical moment. The Iran war is escalating, the Stra...

As global supply chains face sustained disruption, the UAE is pressing ahead with a plan to build sovereign AI infrastructure, technology and data that the country can control without relinquishing intellectual property to foreign providers. In this week's Business Extra, recorded at Making it in the Emirates in Abu Dhabi, host Salim A Essaid speaks to the executives behind a deal finalised in Mar...

The UAE property market has been one of the strongest stories in the sector globally over the past few years, with record transactions, rising prices and huge numbers of international buyers. What makes the Emirates unique is not just the growth but its ability to recover quickly from downturns, attract global capital and reinvent itself through policy and positioning. But over the past few weeks,...

In a matter of weeks, energy supply shocks sent oil prices up by 30 per cent, fuel costs surged to record highs, and the ripple effects hit everything from inflation and global growth to household bills. The International Monetary Fund has warned of one of the sharpest six-month economic downturns in the Middle East since the 2008 financial crisis. But the larger question is not just what happened...

This year's IMF and World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington are unlike any in recent memory. The Iran war has given the annual gathering a geopolitical charge that has drawn an unusually broad crowd, not just the traditional ministers of trade, investment and finance, but foreign policy officials and venture capital executives from across the globe. In this episode of Business Extra, host Salim A...

The economic fallout from the Iran war extends well beyond oil markets and is beginning to be felt in consumers' daily lives. With transport and production costs rising, food prices are beginning to climb globally and airline tickets are already more expensive. Analysts are anticipating that much of the inflationary impact has not hit consumers yet. For Gulf economies, the question is whether stro...

In this special episode of Business Extra, host Khaled Abuljebain sits down with Yan Martin Nufer, chief financial officer of Abu Dhabi-based Borouge, to explore how one of the region’s industrial giants is driving long-term value through innovation, technology and strategic expansion. From delivering one of the largest IPOs in the UAE to returning more than $15.5 billion in dividends, Borouge has...

Leading executives from the world’s most influential energy companies are gathered in Houston for CERAWeek, often described as the industry's Super Bowl, as the Iran war rattles global markets. The conflict involving the US, Israel and Iran has disrupted supplies and raised concern over the stability of key routes such as the Strait of Hormuz. In this special live-recorded episode of Business Extr...

Water infrastructure, supply chains and agriculture are now increasingly exposed to geopolitical shocks. As the US-Israeli war on Iran led to attacks on infrastructure across the region, attention is shifting to the energy-water-food nexus, a tightly interconnected system where disruption in one area quickly cascades into others. In the Gulf, where countries rely on desalination for up to 90 per c...

The effects of a distant war are rarely felt in the finances of residents in the UAE. Until now. The US-Israel-Iran war that began at the end of last month is already affecting global markets, driving up oil prices and shipping costs. While the long-term geopolitical effects are still unfolding, the financial consequences are directly affecting households across the Gulf. What does this mean for h...

Missiles are flying overhead and being intercepted in the Gulf region. Days after the US and Israel attacked Iran, it fired back, sending waves of ballistic missiles and drones towards Israeli and US targets, including assets in the Gulf. The escalation quickly spread to regional energy infrastructure. Saudi Aramco’s Ras Tanura refinery halted operations of its 550,000-barrels-per-day production,...

Ramadan is a time of self-reflection, generosity, community and family, but it is also a period of intense consumer spending. Even as people fast from morning until dusk, spending rises across food and retail. In 2026, how people spend is shifting, with more people staying home, ordering in, and buying not only products but experiences too. Yet a recent survey suggests UAE consumers still expect t...

A new phrase is quietly reshaping how governments, businesses and even militaries think about the future of power: Sovereign AI. The term is appearing in policy papers, billion-dollar infrastructure deals, and national strategies from Washington to Beijing and increasingly across the Gulf. But what does it actually mean? Is Sovereign AI about governments owning data and AI power? Is it about contr...

In this live Q&A session, Business Extra host Salim Essaid explores what the UAE Salary Guide 2026 reveals about the job market. He is joined by Viacheslav Shakhov, managing partner at Cooper Fitch, to discuss hiring trends across key sectors, how employers are responding to slower global growth, and why competition for skilled roles is intensifying. The conversation explores the growing influ...

This episode was produced in partnership with Adnoc Group In this special episode of Business Extra, host Khaled Abuljebain speaks to Ali Siddiqi, chief financial officer of Adnoc Distribution. Mr Siddiqi shares how the company is growing its national footprint while cutting costs and advancing the UAE's energy transition goals. He outlines Adnoc Distribution’s plan to increase its fuel station ne...

From powering AI data centres to ensuring long-term energy security, Adnoc Gas is shaping what reliable, sustainable and scalable energy looks like in the modern era. Adnoc Gas is expanding its network of more than 3,500 kilometres of pipelines, reaching new AI data centres in Abu Dhabi and scaling liquefied natural gas (LNG) capacity to meet rising global demand, all while maintaining long-term r...

Bitcoin lost over $18,000 in November, triggering one of the sharpest monthly declines since 2021. With nearly $3 billion in forced liquidations, headlines declared a crash. But is that the whole story? In this episode of Business Extra, host Salim Essaid sits down with two major voices shaping the global crypto conversation. First, Richard Teng, co-chief executive of Binance, explains what really...

Millions of people move to the UAE for higher incomes, but after working hard for years and even decades, they face the big question: "How much do I need to retire comfortably?" Living costs are rising and foreign residents of the UAE do not have the same pension schemes available elsewhere in the world. This leaves them having to rely on personal planning and savings, which can feel overwhelming....

In this episode of Business Extra, Abdulla bin Touq, Minister of Economy and Tourism, joins host Salim Essaid to discuss how the country is positioning itself as the global capital for start-ups and small and medium enterprises. Mr bin Touq explains how new economic reforms, ownership laws and innovation frameworks have reshaped the business landscape, doubling the number of registered companies i...

This episode was produced in partnership with the Adnoc Group Capt Abdulkareem Al Masabi, chief executive of Adnoc Logistics & Services, joins this episode of Business Extra to explore the rise of the UAE’s largest integrated maritime logistics company. Now ranked as the second-largest player in global energy logistics, Adnoc L&S has expanded its role on the world stage with a combination...

A quiet transformation is reshaping the global wealth map. High net-worth individuals are moving their assets from the UK to the UAE. The Revolut co-founder Nikolai Stronsky's recent change of tax residency from the UK to the UAE reflects a much broader trend. Higher taxes, the end of the UK’s non-dom regime, and general regulatory uncertainty are pushing wealthy people to look for stability, pred...