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RIYADH: Bond issuance in the Middle East and North Africa surged 20 percent year on year in the first nine months of 2025 to $125.9 billion, according to data from the London Stock Exchange Group. 

In its latest report titled ‘Investment Banking Review,’ LSEG stated that �������� led the region with $67.6 billion in offerings — more than half of total proceeds — marking a 37 percent increase from a year earlier. 

The UAE followed with $32.7 billion, while Qatar, Bahrain, and Morocco accounted for smaller shares, as did Egypt, Kuwait, and Oman.

��������’s debt market has expanded rapidly in recent years as domestic and global investors seek diversification and steady returns.

A separate analysis by Kamco Invest in December projected the Kingdom will lead the Gulf Cooperation Council region in bond maturities over the next five years, with about $168 billion due between 2025 and 2029. 

“MENA bond issuance totaled $125.9 billion during the first nine months of 2025, 20 percent more than the value recorded last year at this time and the highest January-September total since our records began in 1980,” said LSEG in the report.

It added: “The number of issues increased 27 percent over the same period, besting all previous first nine-month tallies.”  

In the UAE, bond issuances totaled $32.71 billion in the first nine months of this year, representing a marginal decline of 4 percent compared with the same period in 2024. 

In Qatar, bond issuances stood at $10.97 billion, followed by Bahrain at $4.57 billion, Morocco at $4.16 billion, and Egypt at $2.59 billion. 

Kuwait recorded bond issuances amounting to $2.55 billion in the first nine months, while in Oman, it stood at $750 million. 

The report revealed that the largest DCM deals in the MENA region during the period included two Saudi sovereign issuances in January and September, which raised $11.95 billion and $5.5 billion, respectively, followed by Saudi Aramco’s $4.95 billion transaction in May. 

LSEG further noted that financial issuers accounted for 58 percent of proceeds raised during the first nine months of 2025, while government and agency issuers made up 25 percent. 

Islamic bonds in the region raised $48.2 billion during the first nine months of 2025, 28 percent more than last year’s total, reaching an all-time record. 

Sukuk accounted for 38 percent of total bond proceeds raised in the region from January to September, compared with 36 percent during the same period in 2024. 

Also known as Islamic bonds, sukuk are Shariah-compliant debt instruments that allow investors to gain partial ownership of an issuer’s assets until maturity. 

Earlier this month, a separate report by Fitch Ratings said global sukuk outstanding crossed $1 trillion by the end of the third quarter of 2025, representing a 15.5 percent year-on-year increase, driven by steady Islamic investor demand and issuers’ diversification needs. 

According to the LSEG report, HSBC took the top spot in the MENA bond bookrunner ranking during the first nine months of 2025 with $13.18 billion of related proceeds, or a 10.5 percent market share. 

Standard Chartered ranked second, followed by JPMorgan, Citi, and Goldman Sachs. 

Mergers and acquisitions 

The value of announced mergers and acquisitions transactions in the MENA region reached $157.3 billion during the first nine months of 2025, up 166 percent compared with the same period last year. 

“Boosted by the $49 billion acquisition of US gaming firm Electronic Arts by a consortium of buyers, including ��������’s Public Investment Fund, the total is higher than any other January to September period since our records began in 1980. The number of deals announced in the region increased 13 percent to an all-time high,” said LSEG. 

The report showed that M&A deals involving a MENA target reached $56.9 billion in the first nine months, representing a 143 percent increase compared with a year earlier. 

MENA outbound M&A totaled $93.8 billion during the first nine months of 2025 — an all-time record for the period — despite a 2 percent decline in the number of deals from year-ago levels. 

Goldman Sachs took first place in the M&A financial adviser league table for the MENA region during the first nine months of 2025 for advisory work on deals worth a combined $104 billion. 

Investment banking fees 

An estimated $1.3 billion of investment banking fees were generated in the MENA region during the first nine months of this year, marking a 14 percent increase compared with the same period in 2024, according to the LSEG data. 

The report said �������� and the UAE together accounted for 80 percent of investment banking fees generated in the region during the period. 

HSBC earned the most investment banking fees in the region during the first nine months, amounting to $93 million, or a 7 percent share of the total fee pool. 

Debt capital markets underwriting fees increased 22 percent to $422.3 million, an all-time high, while equity capital markets underwriting fees rose 7 percent to $247.4 million, the highest in three years. 

LSEG added that advisory fees earned from completed M&A transactions totaled $337.1 million in the first nine months of this year, marking a year-on-year rise of 86 percent. 

However, syndicated lending fees declined 22 percent compared with year-ago levels to $315 million. 

NASHVILLE, USA: Companies have blindly invested in artificial intelligence before establishing their actual needs, which has led to millions of dollars being “wasted,” a leading expert has told Arab News.

A recent survey revealed that sentiment in AI technology had dropped in the Middle East as companies began to realize they had onboarded the technology without first establishing its role within their organizations.

But in projects such as the design of ��������’s 2034 World Cup stadiums, the technology was being put to good use, including how to give the perfect view from every seat. This is something many football clubs around the globe will admit has not been previously achieved.

Depending on who you listen to, the AI bubble is either about to burst or diversify.

Journalist Will Lockett wrote in Medium.com on Sept. 15 that the “AI bubble is ripe for bursting,” adding that the “AI models we have now are about as good as they will ever be.”

But Amazon founder Jeff Bezo took a more optimistic line, CNBC reported last week, saying the “technology is real” and would bring “big benefits to society.”

It is a view shared by Steven Schain, founder of AI Performance Partners, who speaking on the sidelines of the recent Autodesk University 2025 in Nashville.

Schain said Gulf nations were adopting the correct approach by properly training organizations and individuals in using AI.

Officials in �������� and the UAE have said in recent months that they plan to invest heavily in AI training and education.

Schain said that if sentiment in AI had dropped, it was an indication that it was being overused in the first place. “What is happening now is that there is a more refined use of AI,” he said.

He added: “The design and building of the Saudi World Cup stadiums is being enhanced as a result.

“Because basically, rather than people messing around with AI, these guys are able to go and look at different stadiums and design the ultimate stadiums so that, for once, every single seat has the perfect view; they’re still doing the research work.”

There has been a slight decline in the region’s enthusiasm for the technology but the outcome has been quite positive, he added.

“From what I’ve seen, people are starting to finally realize what AI can do in their companies.”

He said that previously the view among certain firms had been to invest large amounts of money and working hours into AI without having any real direction to their approach.

And now “a lot of people are realizing they wasted a lot of time and money.”

“So what’s happening is now these companies are taking a step backwards and looking at where it fits.”

He said companies were starting to say: “‘We just did this all wrong. We put it out there too fast. We’ve wasted time, we wasted all this money.’”

Instead, Schain said, business chiefs were beginning to create teams of people that understand AI — ultimately saving time and potentially millions of dollars.

With any research there is a cost, but Schain said the Gulf was the perfect place because of its wealth.

“AI is a great tool because you can do 10 times the amount of work within the same amount of time. And you can solve problems that you would have never thought of.”

Schain said this was what was happening with AI in design.

“It’s coming up with concepts and ideas that an engineer or a product designer or architect would never have thought of, or not had the time to think of.”

As AI is developed, especially by companies such as Autodesk, he said the process of design to production and build had the potential to become more cost efficient.

Technology such as 3D imaging, made possible through AI, would help take a one-dimensional image from an idea on paper to its creation. AI was also useful for quality control.

He did not believe this would lead to widespread job losses. People would have to adapt and there would always be a role for them.

In the US alone there was a need for 500,000 new jobs in the trade professions over the next 10 years.

“AI can’t replace those jobs ... physical labor,  such as plumbers, electricians, welders. Those are jobs that AI is not taking.”

Instead he said the first jobs starting to go are white collar roles such as programmers, artists and concept designers — those in conceptual fields and visual arts.