Investment in infrastructure is essential to modernise economies. It is estimated the world will have to spend $3.7 trillion every year through to 2035 on infrastructure.
This includes the expected cost for all types of infrastructure needed, from roads to newer types of infrastructure such as sustainable electricity, fibre optics and data centres that are now critical to the economic development of every country.
Additionally, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic's effect on their nation's economies, governments globally have increased investment in infrastructure by allocating a sizeable portion of their record $10tn-plus stimulus response to this sector.
Moreover, additional stimulus allocations are expected to be assigned towards infrastructure during the economic recovery period.
The Middle East has placed significant emphasis on infrastructure investment as well, with digital innovation and technology driving change in the sector's development.
Developing a digital and sustainable infrastructure is also a part of countries' economic strategies, such as the UAE's Vision 2021 and Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030.
The value proposition for investing in infrastructure assets is increasingly compelling.
Such investment has the potential for relatively high yields, as private infrastructure assets have offered a yield of about 7.2 per cent.
Furthermore, this type of investment can also provide better returns than other asset classes, with an expected return of 6.1 per cent and annual volatility of 10.8 per cent over a 10-year to 15-year investment horizon.
Thus, infrastructure investment presents significant opportunities for private investors.
Driven by the rising population, urbanisation, digitisation and the sustainable focus of modern economies, this market requires an annual investment of about $4tn.
Infrastructure is a fairly broad asset class and it is the newer infrastructure, in particular, that offers some of the most exciting investing potential.
A digital future
The global "datasphere" is on track to quadruple during the next five years, urging companies and consumers to store, retrieve and transfer all of their data efficiently.
This mega-trend is expected to bring about a "fibre decade" as it steers a significant rise in the use of fibre-optic cables in our connectivity networks.
At present, about 55 per cent of enterprises are connected by fibre-optic cables. However, as companies are increasingly adopting artificial intelligence and machine learning, collecting and analysing larger data sets, they require additional processing power and faster connectivity.
The global fibre-optic market was valued at about $4 billion in 2019 and is now set to grow to $7bn by 2024. Additionally, spending on global data centres is projected to reach $200bn this year, up from an estimated $188bn in 2020.
In the Middle East, spending on data centre systems is expected to increase by 6.8 per cent in 2021 and by an additional 2.8 per cent in 2022, according to a forecast by Gartner.
Moreover, many telecoms companies are investing in fibre assets to deliver 5G connectivity more widely.
Currently covering only 5 per cent of the global population, 5G connectivity is expected to rise to between 55 per cent and 65 per cent by 2023.
Making networks greener
In the last five years, the number of large data centres worldwide has doubled to 550. These use up more than 2 per cent of the world's electricity and emit as much carbon dioxide as the airline industry.
Electricity and transport are a couple of major contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for 26.9 per cent and 28.2 per cent of emissions, respectively.
Therefore, governments around the world are emphasising the "decarbonisation" of the transport and electricity sectors.
This means that investment in the power sector should likely be angled towards renewable energy such as wind and solar energy.
In the next five years, $1.6tn will be invested towards expanding wind and solar electricity generation capacity globally.
Renewable energy use is also gaining ground in the Middle East. Countries are increasingly working towards expanding renewable energy capacities.
For example, Saudi Arabia plans to reach 40 gigawatts of solar photovoltaic, 16 gigawatts of wind and 2.7 gigawatts of concentrated solar power capacity by 2030.
Additionally, the UAE's Energy Plan 2050 has set a goal of 44 per cent renewable energy use, largely relying on solar power.
Smarter movements
Technological advancements in passenger mobility, freight transport, logistics automation and clean energy will significantly transform the transport and shipping industries.
On the horizon are self-driving cars and cargo ships that dock themselves at ports where unmanned cranes unload containers on to self-driving vehicles.
Electrification of the logistics and transport sectors is the way forward. While most of the world's largest deep-sea ships continue to depend on traditional energy resources, some countries adopt all-electric and hybrid technology and invest in electric ferries to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
The global shipping industry would need to invest a total of $1tn to $1.4tn between 2030 and 2050 in technology that could halve emissions by 2050.
Overall, investing in infrastructure presents significant opportunities for growth and creates new avenues for sustainable investing as well. While governments in the region emphasise developing their digital, energy and construction sectors, private investors can also contribute to these long-term economic visions by playing their part. It can be both enthralling and profitable to imagine and help build the future.
Steven Rees is head of investment for the Mena region at J P Morgan Private Bank
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
How to get there
Emirates (www.emirates.com) flies directly to Hanoi, Vietnam, with fares starting from around Dh2,725 return, while Etihad (www.etihad.com) fares cost about Dh2,213 return with a stop. Chuong is 25 kilometres south of Hanoi.
Know before you go
- Jebel Akhdar is a two-hour drive from Muscat airport or a six-hour drive from Dubai. It’s impossible to visit by car unless you have a 4x4. Phone ahead to the hotel to arrange a transfer.
- If you’re driving, make sure your insurance covers Oman.
- By air: Budget airlines Air Arabia, Flydubai and SalamAir offer direct routes to Muscat from the UAE.
- Tourists from the Emirates (UAE nationals not included) must apply for an Omani visa online before arrival at evisa.rop.gov.om. The process typically takes several days.
- Flash floods are probable due to the terrain and a lack of drainage. Always check the weather before venturing into any canyons or other remote areas and identify a plan of escape that includes high ground, shelter and parking where your car won’t be overtaken by sudden downpours.
Founders: Abdulmajeed Alsukhan, Turki Bin Zarah and Abdulmohsen Albabtain.
Based: Riyadh
Offices: UAE, Vietnam and Germany
Founded: September, 2020
Number of employees: 70
Sector: FinTech, online payment solutions
Funding to date: $116m in two funding rounds
Investors: Checkout.com, Impact46, Vision Ventures, Wealth Well, Seedra, Khwarizmi, Hala Ventures, Nama Ventures and family offices
The years Ramadan fell in May
The biog
Birthday: February 22, 1956
Born: Madahha near Chittagong, Bangladesh
Arrived in UAE: 1978
Exercise: At least one hour a day on the Corniche, from 5.30-6am and 7pm to 8pm.
Favourite place in Abu Dhabi? “Everywhere. Wherever you go, you can relax.”
Zayed Sustainability Prize
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
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The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
Building boom turning to bust as Turkey's economy slows
Deep in a provincial region of northwestern Turkey, it looks like a mirage - hundreds of luxury houses built in neat rows, their pointed towers somewhere between French chateau and Disney castle.
Meant to provide luxurious accommodations for foreign buyers, the houses are however standing empty in what is anything but a fairytale for their investors.
The ambitious development has been hit by regional turmoil as well as the slump in the Turkish construction industry - a key sector - as the country's economy heads towards what could be a hard landing in an intensifying downturn.
After a long period of solid growth, Turkey's economy contracted 1.1 per cent in the third quarter, and many economists expect it will enter into recession this year.
The country has been hit by high inflation and a currency crisis in August. The lira lost 28 per cent of its value against the dollar in 2018 and markets are still unconvinced by the readiness of the government under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to tackle underlying economic issues.
The villas close to the town centre of Mudurnu in the Bolu region are intended to resemble European architecture and are part of the Sarot Group's Burj Al Babas project.
But the development of 732 villas and a shopping centre - which began in 2014 - is now in limbo as Sarot Group has sought bankruptcy protection.
It is one of hundreds of Turkish companies that have done so as they seek cover from creditors and to restructure their debts.
The Specs
Engine 3.8-litre, twin-turbo V8
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 582bhp (542bhp in GTS model)
Torque: 730Nm
Price: Dh649,000 (Dh549,000 for GTS)
Why are asylum seekers being housed in hotels?
The number of asylum applications in the UK has reached a new record high, driven by those illegally entering the country in small boats crossing the English Channel.
A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation while their claim is assessed.
The Home Office provides the accommodation, meaning asylum seekers cannot choose where they live.
When there is not enough housing, the Home Office can move people to hotels or large sites like former military bases.
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Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Paatal Lok season two
Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy
Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong
Rating: 4.5/5
Australia men's Test cricket fixtures 2021/22
One-off Test v Afghanistan:
Nov 27-Dec 1: Blundstone Arena, Hobart
The Ashes v England:
Dec 8-12: 1st Test, Gabba, Brisbane
Dec 16-20: 2nd Test, Adelaide Oval, Adelaide (day/night)
Dec 26-30: 3rd Test, Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne
Jan 5-9, 2022: 4th Test, Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney
Jan 14-18: 5th Test, Optus Stadium, Perth
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 201hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 320Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 6-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 8.7L/100km
Price: Dh133,900
On sale: now
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TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
About Krews
Founder: Ahmed Al Qubaisi
Based: Abu Dhabi
Founded: January 2019
Number of employees: 10
Sector: Technology/Social media
Funding to date: Estimated $300,000 from Hub71 in-kind support
War 2
Director: Ayan Mukerji
Stars: Hrithik Roshan, NTR, Kiara Advani, Ashutosh Rana
Rating: 2/5
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
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The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
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The years Ramadan fell in May
Rocketman
Director: Dexter Fletcher
Starring: Taron Egerton, Richard Madden, Jamie Bell
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
The specs: Fenyr SuperSport
Price, base: Dh5.1 million
Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo flat-six
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 800hp @ 7,100pm
Torque: 980Nm @ 4,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 13.5L / 100km
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
New Zealand T20 squad
New Zealand T20 squad: Tim Southee (captain), Finn Allen, Todd Astle, Hamish Bennett, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway (wicketkeeper), Lockie Ferguson, Martin Guptill, Adam Milne, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Ish Sodhi, Will Young
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
