The sustainable finance market in Mena region has witnessed tremendous growth over the last five years with its issuance expanding sevenfold to hit $35 billion led by financials and energy, said a report. Saudi Arabia emerged as the region’s largest sustainable finance issuer in 2025, reaching $19.7 billion.
Mastercard has announced that it has sealed a partnership deal with STC Bank, a subsidiary of state-owned Saudi Telecom Company, to empower its customers in the kingdom with greater access to a broad range of cross-border payment services.
The Sultanate of Oman, through a royal decree, has announced the establishment of the International Financial Centre of Oman (IFC Oman) aimed at diversifying the national economy, strengthening the country's position as a global hub for financial services, attracting capital and supporting innovation.
The Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) revealed that gross banks’ assets, increased by 0.8% at the end of October 2025 to AED5.25 trillion ($1.43 trillion) at the end of November 2025. This increase in banks’ deposits was driven by the growth in resident deposits by 1.4%, said a report.
The Brazilian natural stone industry ended 2025 with an all-time high performance with exports reaching $1.48 billion, an increase of 17.5% in revenue compared to 2024.
Vennre, the private markets investment platform headquartered in Riyadh and London, has announced its first Saudi real estate deal through a regulated development fund within the Masar project in Makkah, thus marking a milestone in the firm’s expansion within the kingdom.
Beyon Connect, a part of the Beyon Group, has announced that CFI Financial, a regional provider of online trading and investment services, has become the first investment platform in Bahrain to go live with eKey for Business, the national biometric digital identity and eKYC platform for the private sector.
Burgan Bank has joined hands with Kamco Invest to host the third edition of their exclusive Investment Conference in Kuwait. This year’s conference brings together decision-makers, economists and industry experts to examine the forces redefining capital allocation and opportunity identification.
The GCC region witnessed the launch of 40 initial public offerings (IPOs) in 2025 that raised a total of $5.1 billion in proceeds, said a report. Saudi Arabia led the region raising a total of $4.1 billion, which constituted 79% of the total GCC IPO proceeds during the year.
The global economy has shown resilience amid turbulence during the past year, including shifting trade policies – yet growth remains subdued and far below pre-pandemic levels, the UN said in a landmark report. The global economic output will be slightly below the 2.8% estimated for 2025.
