Blacklane and EVIQ partner to expand EV charging network in Saudi Arabia
Initiative aims to support development of sustainable infrastructure, focusing on clean technologies
Deal includes development of dedicated charging stations for vehicle fleets
Updated 09 July 2025
MOHAMMED AL-KINANI
JEDDAH: Electric vehicle charging infrastructure is set to expand across Saudi Arabia following a strategic partnership between Blacklane and EVIQ, accelerating the Kingdom’s shift toward clean and sustainable mobility.
Under the agreement, EVIQ — a joint venture between the Public Investment Fund and Saudi Electricity Co. — will collaborate with the international chauffeur-driven transport firm to support the expansion of the Kingdom’s EV charging network across key cities and mobility hubs, according to a press release.
The initiative aims to support the development of sustainable infrastructure in line with Saudi Vision 2030, focusing on clean technologies and environmental responsibility. It also supports the Kingdom’s goal to transition 30 percent of vehicles in Riyadh to electric by 2030 and achieve net-zero emissions by 2060 — a target it aims to reach ahead of schedule.
Mohammed Bakr Gazzaz, CEO of EVIQ, said: “By integrating national charging infrastructure with premium fleet operations, we aim to reinforce the foundation for a scalable, future-ready transport ecosystem aligned with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030.”
يسرنا أن نعلن عن توقيع عقد شراكة جديد مع شركة بلاك لين، والتي من شأنها تهدف إلى تعزيز اعتماد المركبات الكهربائية في المملكة العربية السعودية، في خطوة تسهم في تحقيق التنقل الذكي والمستدام تماشيًا مع رؤية المملكة 2030.
The deal includes the development of dedicated charging stations for vehicle fleets, most notably an integrated charging center at Blacklane’s new regional headquarters for the Gulf region in Riyadh.
“As we rapidly scale operations across the nation, we’re thrilled to have EVIQ on-board to actively support our expanding electric fleet. Together we are setting new benchmarks for sustainable innovation and success,” said Jens Wohltorf, CEO and co-founder of Blacklane.
Blacklane will incorporate EVIQ’s public charging network into its operations in Saudi Arabia to support its growing electric vehicle fleet. Both companies also plan to explore opportunities for system integration aimed at improving network functionality and user accessibility.
The partnership follows Blacklane’s recent introduction of Lucid electric vehicles into its Saudi fleet, as part of efforts to expand its EV offerings. EVIQ’s fast-charging network supports the company’s goal of enhancing its electric mobility services in the Kingdom, the release added.
As part of the partnership, the companies will co-develop training programs under Blacklane’s Chauffeur Training Academy, focusing on EV charging best practices to support service quality, safety, and sustainability.
Blacklane’s expansion in Saudi Arabia is backed by TASARU Mobility Investments, a wholly owned investment arm of PIF.
New $80m fund to bridge Chinese industry and key Saudi sectors
Updated 31 October 2025
Miguel Hadchity
RIYADH: Digital technology, advanced manufacturing, and logistics are among the Saudi sectors set to benefit from an $80 million investment partnership between ewpartners and Chinese industrial hub Tianjin Binhai New Area.
Formalized in the presence of the Kingdom’s Public Investment Fund and its fund-of-funds platform Jada at the Future Investment Initiative conference in Riyadh, the move aims to introduce mature Chinese industrial projects and technologies into Saudi Arabia and the wider Gulf region.
This partnership directly supports Saudi Vision 2030 by leveraging Tianjin Binhai’s capabilities in alternative energy, smart manufacturing, and port logistics, combined with ewpartners’ network and investment expertise in the Middle East, according to a press release.
Jada CEO Bandr Mohammed Al-Homaly said: “Jada is committed to building a vibrant private capital ecosystem in Saudi Arabia, for example through bridging global expertise with local opportunities.”
He added: “The momentum we see from the partnership between ewpartners and Tianjin Binghai New Area, across logistics and technology for instance, reflects our shared dedication to Vision 2030 and to building a thriving private capital ecosystem in the Kingdom.”
The goal is to accelerate industrial upgrading, enhance local supply chains, and strengthen the Kingdom’s manufacturing competitiveness.
Wu Di, vice chairman of the Administrative Commission of Tianjin Binhai Hi-tech Industrial Development Area, said: “We look forward to leveraging Tianjin’s strengths in smart manufacturing, technology, and port logistics to deepen cooperation with Saudi Arabia and the Middle East, and to build a long-term, open, and mutually beneficial international partnership.”
Jerry Li, co-founder and managing partner of ewpartners, said the partnership is not just about connecting capital— but bringing together industries and innovation capabilities.
He added:: “Through this fund, we aim to bring China’s proven expertise in manufacturing and technological innovation to the Middle East, driving high-quality regional development.”
The fund marks a strategic step in strengthening industrial and investment ties between Asia and the Middle East, positioning Saudi Arabia as an emerging global hub for cross-border industrial cooperation.
Saudi Arabia leads GCC fixed-income issuances in Q3, Markaz says
Updated 31 October 2025
Nirmal Narayanan
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia dominated the Gulf Cooperation Council region’s primary debt market in the third quarter of 2025, raising $20.32 billion through 36 issuances, representing a 62.7 percent year-on-year increase in value, according to a new analysis.
In its latest report, Kuwait Financial Center, also known as Markaz, said that primary issuances of bonds and sukuk across the GCC totaled $38.74 billion through 137 issuances during the third quarter, marking a 32.4 percent increase from the same period in 2024, when issuances reached $29.29 billion.
The debt market in the region — particularly in Saudi Arabia — has expanded significantly in recent years, driven by economic diversification efforts that have strengthened investor demand for fixed-income instruments.
“As for issuance preferences, the third quarter of 2025 saw an increased appetite for sukuk issuances in the GCC, representing 52.6 percent of total issuances for the year. This is a change in issuance preferences from the third quarter of 2024, where more conventional bonds were issued,” said Markaz.
According to the report, UAE-based issuers raised $5.82 billion through 57 offerings in the third quarter, marking a 47.3 percent decline compared with the same period in 2024.
Qatar ranked third in terms of issuance value, with $5.69 billion raised through 29 issuances, followed by Kuwait, where issuers raised $3.42 billion through eight issuances, reflecting a 118.4 percent increase year on year.
Issuances in Bahrain surged 539 percent from a year earlier to $2.55 billion across four issuances, while Omani entities recorded the lowest total, raising $0.94 billion through three issuances.
Markaz added that total GCC corporate primary issuances grew 4 percent in the third quarter to $26.59 billion. Conventional issuances decreased 18.6 percent to $18.37 billion, while sukuk issuances rose sharply — up 202.7 percent during the quarter — reaching a total value of $20.37 billion for the year to date.
The financial sector led all GCC bond and sukuk issuances in the third quarter, with a total value of $21.53 billion, followed by government issuances at $11.1 billion, the report said.
RIYADH: Initial public offerings across the Middle East and North Africa raised $700 million in the third quarter of 2025, according to an EY MENA IPO Eye report.
A total of 11 IPOs were recorded during the period, marking a 120 percent year-on-year increase in the number of listings, driven by mid-market activity.
The strong performance extended to regional stock exchanges, with the MSCI Emerging Markets Index rising 25 percent, followed by the EGX 30 Index, which gained 23.3 percent, and the Boursa Kuwait Premier Market Index, which climbed 19.6 percent.
The surge in IPO activity across MENA reflects broader economic diversification efforts and deepening capital markets. In Saudi Arabia, real GDP grew 5 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier, driven by strong gains in both oil and non-oil sectors, official data showed.
In Egypt, the economy expanded 4.77 percent in the third quarter of fiscal year 2024/25, supported by an 18.8 percent year-on-year increase in non-oil manufacturing.
According to Brad Watson, EY-Parthenon MENA leader, the recent quarter “reflects the increasing depth and maturity of MENA capital markets, supported by a steady pace of listings across multiple sectors and geographies.”
He added that companies are “becoming increasingly strategic with market timing — carefully assessing investor sentiment and macroeconomic conditions before going public.”
Saudi Arabia accounted for the majority of IPO activity, completing eight listings that raised a combined $637 million.
Dar Al Majed Real Estate Co.’s $336 million listing on the Tadawul Main Market led the region, followed by Marketing Home Group for Trading Co. with $109 million and Sport Clubs Co. with $69 million.
An additional $124.1 million was raised through IPOs on the Nomu parallel market, spanning sectors such as retail, healthcare, and industrial services. Real estate accounted for 55 percent of proceeds on the main exchange.
Egypt recorded IPOs from Bonyan For Development & Trade SAE and National Printing Co., while Morocco saw the listing of Vicenne S.A., signaling growing regional diversification.
Gregory Hughes, EY-Parthenon MENA IPO leader, noted that “with lower oil prices, we continue to see economic diversification from non-oil revenues, and the sector focus in Saudi Arabia has shifted from healthcare and mobility to real estate, hospitality, construction, and retail.”
Looking ahead, the pipeline for the fourth quarter of 2025 and beyond remains robust, with 19 entities across various sectors preparing to list.
Saudi Arabia leads with 13 planned listings, including Almasar Alshamil Education Co. and Al Romansiah Co., both of which have secured Capital Market Authority approval. In the UAE, ALEC Holdings PJSC debuted on the Dubai Financial Market in October.
Outside the Gulf Cooperation Council, Algeria’s Diar Dzair and Morocco’s Gharb Papier Et Carton SA are awaiting regulatory approvals for planned IPOs.
The outlook is supported by positive policy momentum, diversified investor interest, and increasing integration of environmental, social, and governance principles.
Meanwhile, regulatory environments across the region continue to evolve.
In the UAE, updated governance reforms now permit the combination of board chair and CEO roles under specific conditions, while in Saudi Arabia, the Capital Market Authority has launched consultations on changes to market-making rules and foreign ownership limits aimed at enhancing liquidity and accessibility.
PIF and JLL forge strategic partnership to boost Saudi real estate sector
Updated 31 October 2025
Miguel Hadchity
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund has entered into a strategic partnership with global real estate firm Jones Lang LaSalle, in a significant move set to reshape the Kingdom’s urban landscape.
According to a press release, the Public Investment Fund and JLL signed a memorandum of understanding at the final day of the Future Investment Initiative conference in Riyadh, formalizing a collaboration aimed at driving innovation and increasing efficiency within the Kingdom’s booming real estate industry.
“Through this MoU, PIF and JLL will combine their expertise to spur innovation and increase efficiency in the industry, supporting Vision 2030’s goals to diversify the domestic economy and enhance the quality of life nationwide,” the press release said.
By combining PIF’s transformative national projects with JLL’s global expertise, the partnership seeks to accelerate the development of a sophisticated and sustainable real estate ecosystem.
The statement added that the MoU is set to strengthen collaboration in important areas such as market insights, valuation and project management. “It will lead to greater private sector participation, develop local talent, and accelerate the adoption of new technologies to help achieve sustainable real estate growth,” said the press release.
The agreement was signed by Saad Alkroud, head of the Local Real Estate Investment Division at PIF, and Sue Asprey Price, EMEA CEO and global head of Portfolio Services, Work Dynamics at JLL.
For PIF, this partnership is a key component of its local real estate strategy, which is focused on driving economic transformation, advancing urban innovation, and enhancing the quality of life for citizens and residents.
The sovereign wealth fund is the driving force behind the development of the Kingdom’s transformative giga-projects and other landmark real estate initiatives.
JLL is a Fortune 500 company with over 200 years of history in commercial real estate and investment management.
Saudi Arabia scales AI ambitions amid infrastructure realities
Kingdom balancing global collaboration with domestic capability building
Updated 31 October 2025
Ghadi Joudah
RIYADH: As global powers accelerate artificial intelligence investments, Saudi Arabia is confronting a defining moment in realizing its digital transformation ambitions.
Through Vision 2030, the Kingdom has made foundational investments in sovereign cloud infrastructure, high-performance computing, and international partnerships, positioning itself as a regional AI frontrunner.
However, industry experts caution that translating these ambitions into nationwide impact requires addressing three core challenges: modernizing legacy hardware systems, creating unified data architectures, and cultivating specialized compute talent.
The central question remains: Does Saudi Arabia possess the infrastructure needed to deliver AI at visionary scale?
Fadi Kanafani, general manager for SoftServe in the Middle East, said the Kingdom’s progress is already tangible. “Saudi is beyond the announcement stage; now we have action on the ground,” he told Arab News.
Fadi Kanafani, general manager for SoftServe in the Middle East. (Supplied)
Kanafani cited Humain’s AI-driven public service automation and AdopTech’s industrial sandboxes for manufacturing innovation as examples of execution beyond strategy. He also noted Aramco Digital’s alliances with hardware pioneers such as Groq — known for ultra-low latency inference engines — and Cerebras, a leader in wafer-scale computing, as evidence of cutting-edge capacity being embedded directly into the national ecosystem.
Global cloud providers are amplifying this momentum through substantial infrastructure commitments. Oracle’s second Riyadh region enhances sovereign data capabilities for government entities, while Amazon Web Services’ upcoming 2026 regional hub marks one of the Middle East’s largest cloud investments, Kanafani said.
At the academic front, Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure have launched AI innovation labs at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, while Salesforce’s decision to base its regional headquarters in Riyadh signals growing international confidence in the Kingdom’s digital roadmap.
Suhail Hasanain, NetApp’s senior director for the Middle East and Africa, echoed that alignment.
Suhail Hasanain, senior director for NetAppfor the Middle East and Africa. (Supplied)
“Saudi Arabia has made remarkable progress in establishing foundations for AI-driven transformation,” he said. “Vision 2030’s prioritization of data sovereignty and advanced compute resources embeds artificial intelligence at the heart of national development — from Neom’s cognitive city ambitions to the National Data Bank’s unified information architecture.”
Legacy systems and talent gaps
Despite robust infrastructure growth, large-scale enterprise adoption still faces operational barriers. Outdated financial systems, fragmented electronic health records, and siloed industrial datasets continue to constrain AI’s full potential.
Kanafani pointed to these friction points: “Most organizations remain anchored to legacy systems fundamentally incompatible with AI’s data requirements. Critical information exists in disconnected silos — patient records isolated from diagnostic AI tools, equipment maintenance logs separated from supply chain optimization algorithms.”
Regulatory complexity compounds the challenge. “Governance frameworks vary significantly across healthcare, financial services, and critical infrastructure sectors, creating compliance uncertainty during scaling,” Kanafani added.
Hasanain stressed the human capital dimension. “Beyond physical infrastructure, we confront a severe shortage of specialized talent — data engineers capable of curating trusted datasets, machine learning operations specialists to productionize models, and AI governance experts to ensure ethical deployment.”
He outlined three pillars for closing these gaps: establishing benchmark datasets, building hybrid systems that balance performance with sovereignty, and developing comprehensive workforce pipelines to operationalize AI across sectors.
From pilots to real-world impact
Across energy, healthcare, and logistics, real-world applications are already demonstrating AI’s potential when aligned with national priorities.
In energy, Aramco uses predictive maintenance algorithms to anticipate equipment failures before they disrupt operations. In healthcare, institutions like King Faisal Specialist Hospital leverage computer vision tools for faster, more accurate medical imaging analysis. Meanwhile, Neom’s Oxagon industrial zone applies digital twin technology to simulate logistics before implementation.
Aramco's AI hub, where predictive maintenance algorithms are used to anticipate equipment failures before they disrupt operations. (Aramco photo)
NetApp underpins such innovations through adaptable infrastructure solutions. “We empower organizations to orchestrate AI workloads seamlessly across sovereign cloud environments like STC’s and global hyperscalers like Microsoft Azure,” Hasanain explained.
He added: “For a major Riyadh-based financial institution, we integrated transaction data across 200 branches into a unified real-time fraud detection platform — significantly enhancing security while reducing operational costs.”
SoftServe, meanwhile, applies a co-creation model. “We partner deeply with Saudi organizations to build purpose-driven solutions,” Kanafani said.
“For a Tabuk agricultural enterprise, we developed a custom AI model that optimizes irrigation by synthesizing satellite imagery, soil moisture sensors, and weather pattern analysis – delivering measurable water conservation outcomes.”
Kanafani emphasized that organizational culture must evolve alongside technology. Their approach embeds change management from the outset, ensuring readiness for transformation.
Accelerated by NVIDIA AI Blueprints, SoftServe Gen AI Industrial Assistant streamlines the navigation of equipment manuals, speeds up troubleshooting, and simplifies maintenance tasks. (Softserve photo)
Balancing sovereignty and collaboration
The interplay between national priorities and international innovation continues to define Saudi Arabia’s AI journey.
“Data sovereignty remains non-negotiable for sensitive applications in national security, central banking, and citizen services,” Hasanain said. “Yet strategic collaborations with global technology leaders accelerate capability development – such as deploying NVIDIA’s advanced DGX systems while simultaneously training Saudi engineers to manage them locally.”
Kanafani pointed to hybrid models gaining traction: “Leading Saudi manufacturers increasingly adopt blended architectures — maintaining proprietary process data on localized secure servers while leveraging global cloud scalability for supply chain optimization and market intelligence applications. This harmonizes control with flexibility.”
As Saudi Arabia develops national AI ethics guidelines, Kanafani underscored proactive design: “Responsible innovation requires embedding bias detection and algorithmic transparency mechanisms directly into AI systems during development — not attempting remediation after deployment reveals ethical shortcomings.”
Saudi Arabia launched the Principles of AI Ethics developed by #SDAIA during the #GlobalAISummit in September 2022. (X: @globalaisummit)
Building the AI workforce
The Kingdom’s Future Skills initiative aims to train 20,000 AI specialists by 2030 through academic partnerships and hands-on industry experience.
Hasanain noted the importance of integrating learning with real-world exposure. “Oracle’s developer academies provide vital theoretical foundations, but sustainable capability requires integrating graduates into real-world industry projects where they confront practical scaling challenges.”
Still, both experts warn that success will hinge on disciplined execution. “Underestimating cybersecurity requirements or data governance complexity undermines even the most sophisticated AI initiatives,” Kanafani cautioned.
Launch of the Future Skills Initiative as part of the Saudi-British Strategic Partnership Council and coinciding with the Human Capability Initiative Conference last April. (SPA)
As the global race for AI infrastructure intensifies, Saudi Arabia’s investments have positioned it to translate ambition into regional leadership. Yet, as Hasanain noted, sustaining momentum will require operational focus.
“Our trajectory is clear, but achieving scalable impact demands relentless focus on data accessibility and talent density — transforming pilot potential into nationwide transformation.”
Kanafani concluded with a vision of distinction: "The Kingdom’s unique opportunity lies in synthesizing global technological excellence, local problem-solving ingenuity, and deeply rooted ethical traditions. This fusion could position Saudi Arabia as the world’s first values-led AI superpower — where technological leadership serves societal advancement.”
