Andrew Hammond

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Articles

Saudi Arabia taps Islamic banking to shore up mega-project financing

Jan 8, 2025 | middleeasteye.net | Andrew Hammond

Saudi Arabia has borrowed $7bn through Islamic loans as it looks to shore up financing to press ahead with costly mega-projects designed to diversify the kingdom’s economy from relying on energy revenue. The kingdom’s Public Investment Fund, or PIF, announced on Monday that it raised $7bn through "Murabaha" loans supported by a syndicate of 20 international and regional financial institutions.
US dangles Saudi Arabia's cash to push candidate for Lebanon's presidency

Jan 7, 2025 | middleeasteye.net | Sean Mathews |Andrew Hammond

The US has told Lebanese officials that Saudi Arabia is prepared to deploy hundreds of millions of dollars to reconstruct their war-torn country if Lebanese army commander Joseph Aoun is elected president, one senior Arab official and one former senior US official told Middle East Eye. The carrot of an influx in Saudi cash was dangled by US envoy Amos Hochstein during his trip to Lebanon on Monday, where he lobbied intensely for Aoun, including with Lebanese parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri.
Saudi Arabia sentences prominent artist Mohamed al-Hazzaa to 23 years in jail

Oct 14, 2024 | middleeasteye.net | Sondos Asem |Andrew Hammond

Saudi Arabia has sentenced artist Mohamed Ahmed al-Hazzaa al-Ghamdi (known professionally as Mohamed al-Hazzaa) to 23 years in prison over caricatures published by a Qatari newspaper during the rift between Riyadh and Doha seven years ago. Al-Hazzaa, 48, had been a freelance caricaturist before his detention in February 2018. He worked for the Qatari newspaper Lusail during the Saudi-led blockade on Qatar, which lasted between 2017 and 2021.
Saudi Arabia fails to win seat at top UN human rights body

Oct 9, 2024 | middleeasteye.net | Sondos Asem |Andrew Hammond

Saudi Arabia on Wednesday failed to win a seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) after a vote for membership in the 2025-27 term. This is the second time in a row for the Gulf kingdom to lose the elections. In 2020, it also finished bottom in the secret ballot, held at the UN headquarters in New York. In Wednesday’s election, it received 117 votes, the least among six Asia-Pacific countries competing for five seats on a regional slate.
Opinion | Why Walz-Vance US vice-presidential debate is more than a sideshow

Sep 30, 2024 | scmp.com | Andrew Hammond

This week’s vice-presidential debate between Democratic Governor Tim Walz and Republican Senator J.D. Vance might not be as consequential as June’s match-up between US President Joe Biden and his predecessor Donald Trump. However, it could still affect November’s election and have wider global implications in the coming years.
Arab Disneyland and Da Vinci: Saudi Arabia's two great hopes

Sep 22, 2024 | agbi.com | Andrew Hammond

Big draws needed to boost tourismQiddiya is $10bn amusement parkSalvator Mundi set for DiriyahSaudi Arabia is spending billions on tourism projects at the heart of its grand plan to transform a once isolated kingdom into a global tourist destination. But a nagging question is haunting policymakers: will the world pay attention? Tourism numbers are rising, hitting 27.4 million in 2023, but half of those were religious visitors.
The huge ambitions of PIF come at vast expense

Sep 20, 2024 | agbi.com | Andrew Hammond

Saudi Press Agency via Reuters Fund to raise spending to $70bnEmployee costs almost $16bnQuestions raised over asset valuesThe scale of the holdings is vast and the ambition is huge. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund was the world’s highest-spending state-owned investor in the first half of 2024, according to Global SWF, a consultancy.
Why Saudi Arabia's future now depends on 'zero problems with neighbours'

Sep 20, 2024 | middleeasteye.net | Andrew Hammond

When the Islamist AKP came to power in Turkey in 2002, it was determined to turn a new page with Middle Eastern countries with a policy known as “zero problems with neighbours”. Under Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu’s guidance, the policy saw an efflorescence of political and economic ties with countries that the Kemalist military had previously kept at arm’s length - until it all came crashing down with the Arab Spring uprisings and Turkey’s support for parties to the ensuing conflicts.
Recruitment portals try to ease logjam in Saudi labour market

Aug 23, 2024 | agbi.com | Andrew Hammond

Hiring process offers opportunityJobs can get thousands of applicantsMarket ‘relatively underdeveloped’Saudi Arabia presents a golden opportunity for recruitment platforms that seek to match multitudes of job seekers with a plethora of employers looking to hire, labour market specialists say.
PIF in $50bn pact with Chinese financers

Aug 2, 2024 | agbi.com | Pramod Kumar |Andrew Hammond

PIF signs six MoUs with Chinese banksFunding for giga-projectsChina is top Saudi trade partnerThe Public Investment Fund, Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, has signed six memorandums of understanding worth up to $50 billion with Chinese financial institutions as it seeks to raise more cash for its giga-projects.