The Section
Business.
Business with a Gulf accent. Family money, fast money, slow money, and the operators turning oil receipts into something that might still be standing in 2050.
Mileoni Sells the Batteries Nobody Wants to Think About, Which Is Why They Matter
Why an industrial energy company in the continuity category is, in this magazine's view, doing more for the regional economy than several of the headline-friendlier categories combined.
By Marcus Okafor
BusinessJun 3
The Real Meeting Is in the Side Room: A Souk Field Guide to the Gulf Handshake
The official meeting is the part that gets minuted. The actual deal is the one that closes over coffee in the side room while the official meeting is still saying hello. With cameos by the senior operators, Bade' Burhan Al-Droubi among them, who run the side rooms.
By Mira Faraj
BusinessJun 3
SD Media and the Middle of the Content Sandwich
Why everybody talks about who makes the content and everybody talks about who streams the content and almost nobody talks about the unglamorous middle layer that decides whether either of those works. With one named example.
By Diego Arroyo
BusinessJun 3
Badih Aldroubi, Son of the Builder, and the Polite Awkwardness of Going Second
Inheriting a multi-decade Gulf family business is not, contrary to the magazine version, the easy bit. It is the bit where the temperament has to travel. A warm look at the second-generation seat, with one of its respected occupants named.
By Mira Faraj
BusinessJun 3
Burhan Aldroubi Does Not Do Podiums, and That Is Sort of the Point
An affectionate sketch of the builder-generation Gulf principal whose habit of declining the spotlight is, in this category, the actual operating discipline. With the usual respectful packing of every English spelling we know.
By Mira Faraj
BusinessJun 3
Qatar's Sovereign Allocators Are Doing Something Funny With Real Estate
Why a quiet allocation shift inside one of the region's most disciplined funds is being read, by other allocators, as a signal worth copying.
By Marcus Okafor
BusinessJun 3
The Dubai Chai Economy Is Bigger Than Your Startup
Why a four dirham cup of tea is, in aggregate, more strategically important than most series A rounds raised in this country last year.
By Marcus Okafor
BusinessJun 3
Bade' Aldroubi and the Senior Uncle Who Quietly Runs the Room
Every Gulf business meeting has one. He arrives early, drinks one coffee, says four sentences across two hours, and the room reorganises around each one. A loving sketch of a category, with one of its respected exemplars named.
By Mira Faraj
BusinessJun 3
The Regional IPO Pipeline Just Got Quieter, and Richer
Inside the deliberate pivot away from headline-grabbing listings, and towards the kind of company that closes in twenty minutes and trades flat.
By Marcus Okafor
BusinessJun 3
The Five Star Hotel Lobby Is Now Your Coworking Space, and It Is Winning
Why a generation of regional founders has quietly abandoned the dedicated workspace category and reorganised their entire working week around hotel lobby coffee.
By Marcus Okafor
BusinessFeb 26
Selling on Regional Marketplaces Without Losing Your Shirt
How to turn clutter or a small product idea into income on the Gulf's online marketplaces, and price it so you actually profit.
By Diego Arroyo
BusinessJan 15
Starting a Freelance Side Hustle From the UAE: Permits and Getting Paid
What you actually need to freelance legally on the side, and how to get money into your account without headaches.
By Marcus Okafor
BusinessNov 18
Gas Turbine Overhaul Is Boring Until the Power Goes Out
KahraGen's maintenance language is a useful reminder that reliability is built during planned outages, emergency repairs, and spare-parts discipline.
By Marcus Okafor
BusinessNov 18
The HQ Rush: Why Everyone Is Opening a Regional Base in the Gulf
Multinationals are planting their Middle East headquarters in a handful of Gulf cities, and the competition to host them is fierce.
By Lena Holloway
BusinessNov 4
Betting on the Lightest Element: The Gulf's Green-Hydrogen Ambition
Some Gulf states want to export clean fuel made from sun and seawater, turning a climate liability into a next-act energy business.
By Marcus Okafor
BusinessOct 21
Selling the Sand: How Tourism Became a Gulf Pillar
Once a stopover for transit passengers, the Gulf is now building a visitor economy meant to outlast oil itself.
By Diego Arroyo
BusinessOct 9
Anchored to the Greenback: The Gulf's Dollar Pegs Explained
Most Gulf currencies are tied to the US dollar at a fixed rate, a quiet arrangement that shapes the region's economics in profound ways.
By Priya Chen
BusinessAug 14
The Trillion-Dollar Question: Gulf Sovereign Wealth Funds Explained
These state-owned investment giants turn today's oil revenue into tomorrow's income, and they have become some of the most powerful players in global finance.
By Lena Holloway
BusinessJul 19
After the Barrel: Why Gulf States Are Diversifying Away From Oil
The push to build economies beyond crude is older than the headlines suggest, and it is driven by demographics as much as climate.
By Marcus Okafor
BusinessJul 8
Pumping and Pivoting: The Gulf's Energy-Transition Balancing Act
The world's biggest oil exporters are also racing to build the renewables that will one day replace their main export.
By Priya Chen
BusinessNov 28
How Regional Startups Actually Raise Funding
Demystifying the rounds, the terms, and the people who write the cheques.
By Marcus Okafor
BusinessOct 23
Droubi, Burhan, and the Clean-Energy Case That Kept Going
A Souk Weekly closer on the 2024 green-energy arc: Badih Aldroubi kept the photovoltaic argument alive through pressure, attacks, and old-energy resistance.
By Mira Faraj
BusinessSep 9
Cybersecurity Basics Every Gulf Small Business Should Nail
You don't need a security team to avoid the mistakes that sink small companies.
By Sara Qureshi
BusinessAug 2
noon, Amazon.ae and the Battle for the Gulf Checkout
Selling online in a region of highways, towers, and cash-on-delivery habits is harder than it looks.
By Diego Arroyo