The annual cost of net-zero emissions in developing countries: USD 1 tn. Developing economies will need more than USD 1 tn in clean energy investments each year by 2030 if the world is going to achieve net-zero emissions by the middle of the century, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said yesterday. This is a 7x increase from the USD 150 bn that was invested last year.

“A major catalyst is needed to make the 2020s the decade of transformative clean energy investment,” IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said. “Governments need to give international public finance institutions a strong strategic mandate to finance clean energy transitions in the developing world.”

The IEA said last month that new fossil fuel projects must not be given the go-ahead if the world is going to hit its targets. Energy-related emissions from developing countries are predicted to grow by 5 bn tonnes over the next two decades, making clean energy investment a top global priority.

Saudi Aramco raised USD 6 bn in its first USD-denominated sukuk bond issuance — after receiving subscription requests worth USD 60 bn — in an effort to fund part of its USD 75 bn dividend payout, Reuters reports. In 2019, the state oil giant received USD 12 bn in its maiden bond issuance, before completing a follow-up USD 8 bn sale in November last year.

Low liquidity, falling prices, and stagnant trading activity has been driving a spate of real estate delistings in Dubai: Damac Properties is the latest to consider taking its business private, after Hussain Sajwani made a USD 599 mn “voluntary conditional offer” yesterday to buy out the company’s minority shareholders at a price 31% below the average share price over the past five years, Bloomberg reports.

This comes a few months after Emaar Properties said it would delist one of its subsidiaries for only two thirds of its IPO price, as well as government-controlled Meraas Holding’s offer to acquire DXB Entertainments at a discount of a third. Observers say this trend could hurt an already struggling industry, with Dubai planning to add 62k new homes to the market this year and 63.5k in 2022.

The EGX30 rose 0.8% at today’s close on turnover of EGP 1.38 bn (5.8% above the 90-day average). Regional investors were net sellers. The index is down 7.4% YTD.

In the green: Edita (+6.0%), Sidi Kerir (+5.8%) and Orascom Financial Holding (+4.5%).

In the red: Telecom Egypt (-2.3%), Oriental Weavers (-1.5%) and TMG Holding (-1.0%).

Asian markets are in the green this morning, while futures suggest that European and US shares will follow them later today.