Dubai is holding on to its promise list more state-owned companies with two more IPOs in the pipeline. IT firm Starlink plans to list on the Nasdaq Dubai in 1Q2022 in a transaction quarterbacked by our friends at EFG Hermes, marking the first listing of an IT firm on the city’s exchange, Bloomberg reported. The IPO of Dubai’s flagship carrier Emirates and its units could soon follow, Chairman Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum told Asharq (watch, runtime: 8:46). Dubai recently announced plans to publicly list 10 state-owned firms, including its toll system Salik, in an effort to raise trading volumes on its bourse to AED 3 tn and keep up with competition from neighboring Riyadh and Abu Dhabi.

Dubai is offering incentives to IPO in efforts to catch up with the Abu Dhabi and Saudi exchanges. The city’s attempt to increase private sector share sales saw it announce financial support for companies during and following IPOs. Among the incentives, which come as the Dubai market attempts to get in on the Gulf’s recent IPO rush, are a three-year waiver on various fees associated with listing and dividend distribution.

Are Saudi’s FDI plans pie in the sky? Saudi Arabia says it wants FDI to hit USD 100 bn annually by 2030, but missed targets are fuelling a credibility problem among potential investors, analysts tell Reuters. The country’s Vision 2030 roadmap hinges on raising bns of USD in foreign investment, but after knockbacks from political scandals and the pandemic, FDI amounted to just USD 5.5 bn in 2020, less than the USD 8 bn recorded in 2015, and well below a near-USD 19 bn target set in 2016. Authorities say the plans are still at an early stage and kinks are being ironed out. But the new target “does raise eyebrows as to how it looks quite unattainable,” Capital Economics economist James Swanston told the newswire.

Royal Dutch Shell to drop the Dutch, move HQ to tax-friendlier UK: Anglo-Dutch energy giant Shell will say goodbye to the European half of its identity as it moves its HQ from the Netherlands to the UK, according to a company statement.

THE CLOSING BELL-

The EGX30 fell 0.7% yesterday on turnover of EGP 939 mn (36.4% below the 90-day average). Foreign investors were net sellers. The index is up 5.2% YTD.

In the green: Orascom Development Egypt (+1.9%), TMG Holding (+1.4%) and Oriental Weavers (+0.8%).

In the red: Pioneers Properties (-7.2%), Aspire Capital (-6.9%) and Egyptian Resorts Company (-6.8%).

Asian markets are mostly in the green in early trading this morning though futures suggest a mixed open in Europe and the US, with shares largely expected to open in the red.