Tag: Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia’s Sandsoft to Cater Gaming to Middle Eastern Players

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Seeking to address the lack of localization in video games and capitalize on the growth of gaming in the MENA, Sandsoft has announced it will begin producing games tailor-made for the region’s players. The company plans to start with mobile games, a very popular playing format in the MENA. 

Producing culturally sensitive games should see Sandsoft, led by CEO Mo Fadl, avoid the controversies international gamemakers face when presenting content that does not respect regional specificity. Earlier this month, Tencent’s PUBG caused outrage across the region due to the inclusion of a totem worship feature. 

Many equated the feature to idolatry, viewing it as disrespectful to the teachings of Islam and, in particular the Tawhid. Tencent eventually removed the feature, but some players deleted the game over its inclusion.

A strategic choice 

Gaming in the MENA has a growth rate that is double that of other markets, something upon which Sandsoft is hoping to capitalize. CEO Fadl says, “I believe within the next three to four years, the big players will understand that MENA is one of the world’s major markets.” Sandsoft hopes to be well established by that time, gaining a strategic edge on the competition. 

Underwriting Sandsoft is one of the MENA’s largest private sector employers, Ajlan & Bros Group. The group can assist Sandsoft with the critical infrastructure it needs to be a success including retail presence and cloud and payment infrastructure. The group has recently expanded into the entertainment sector with gaming at the center of their plans. 

Abdulaziz Alajlan, managing director of Ajlan & Bros Group and a board member of Sandshoft sees the project as part of the broader modernization of the region, stating that the “MENA is going through an incredible transition, with the region being modernized and video games will play a key role.” 

Gaming has already seen phenomenal growth in the region, with the MENA being the fastest-growing gaming region in the world. Growth is expected to triple in size to an estimated $4.4 billion by 2022. 

To benefit from the regional dynamism, Sandsoft is putting together an expansive team. Currently, the team has 24 four employees across three offices and is looking to grow to 64 over the coming months. Sandsoft will offer a suite of publishing services across mobile, PC, and console platforms. In addition to producing original games the company will all localize foreign content and work on marketing and user acquisition. 

Whilst the immediate goal is to conquer the MENA region, the arrival of Sandsoft could see regional perspectives introduced into other markets too, educating American and European audiences about local societal and cultural values through gaming. 

Meet the 8 Best ‘Bad Girls’ Paving the Way for Female Arab Rappers

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In a largely male-dominated industry, the world of rap has opened up considerably in recent years under the impulse of many women who want to make their voices heard — even in the Arab world, where little space has been made for female rappers who are too often held to a different standard than their male counterparts.

After scouring both the mainstream and underground rap scene, here are eight of the best Arab female rappers you need to listen to. Strong, passionate, and politically engaged, these women are challenging social norms and stealing the spotlight.

Shadia Mansour

Shadia Mansour Everipedia

The British-Palestinian musician is one of the pioneering women of Arab rap. Dubbed “the First Lady of Arab Hip Hop,” Shadia Mansour has been performing from an early age, singing classical music before shifting to rap music.

Her songs are political statements that carry her passion for Palestinian liberation with a rapping style reminiscent of the 80s and 90s.

Malikah

Malikah Picture By Edoardo Small

Despite her sparse releases, Lebanon’s rapping queen Malikah has been in the game for over a decade.

Born Lynn Fatouh, she started her journey rapping both in English and French, and then, in 2006, she switched to Arabic after reinventing herself as Malikah, the Arabic word for queen, a title she has kept ever since.

She has collaborated with many central figures of the Arab rap scene and has made her way into the international festival circuit with cross-cultural projects such as Lyrical Rose, her trio with Kenyan artist Nazzi and Columbian rapper Diana Avella.

Meryem Saci

Meryem Saci On My Way (1)

Montreal-based singer and rapper Meryem Saci is considered one of Algeria’s first female rappers.

Her sound is eclectic, mixing together various influences such as jazz and reggae with  Middle-Eastern undertones and Gnaoua-style music.  

The Algerian rapper never fails to impress with new aspects of her art and defines her style as “Afro-Arab.”

Mona Haydar

Mona Haydar Feda Eid

Syrian-American rapper Mona Haydar ventured into the music industry in 2017 and found immediate success.

Her first song “Hijabi” totals a whopping 7.2 million views on YouTube.

Far from being a one-hit-wonder, she has since released many songs and has racked up impressive views, making her one the most prolific and female rappers in the Arab world. Her songs speak of feminism, denounce racism, and advocate self-love, tolerance, and world peace.

Asayel Slay

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The rapper shot to fame with her debut song, “Bint Mecca” (“Mecca Girl”), a song in which she celebrates women from Mecca, Islam’s holiest city.

Conservatives slammed her song along with the music video, accusing the rapper of undermining the customs and traditions of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. This led to the singer’s arrest, but she was released shortly after.

The controversy only made Asayael Slay’s hit even more popular as people went online to show support and solidarity with the rapper through the hashtag #بنت_مكة_تمثلني. (“Mecca girl represents me”).

Soultana

Youssra Oukaf A Rapper Better Known As Soultana

Soultana is one of the first female rappers in Morocco and the MENA region and has paved the way for a generation of Arab and North African women in the rapping industry.

Well-known for her a passionate rapping style and energetic delivery, Soultana rose to international prominence as part of Moroccan girl group Tigress Flow, before branching out as a solo artist.

Her biggest hit to date, Sawt Nssa, or “Voice of Women,” is a feminist manifesto in which she condemns street harassment and gender-based violence.

Medusa

Medusa Lp Aug 14 Photo 1 2 900x600
Medusa Lp Aug 14 Photo 1 2 900×600

Boutheina El Alouadi, known as Medusa, is a rapper and dancer who has been immersed in Tunisia’s burgeoning hip-hop scene from the age of 10.

She is also the first woman rapper from Tunisia to break out onto the international scene. Her songs touch on topics ranging from abortion rights and revolution to world peace.

Mayam Mahmoud

140321134428 Mayam Mahmoud Graffiti Dress Horizontal Large Gallery

She made a name for herself on the popular “Arabs Got Talent” television show, but Mayam Mahmoud is much more than a hijab-wearing rapper: She is a women’s rights activist who made it her mission to combat sexual harassment in Egypt, a mission that got her the 2014 Index Art Award in London.

Just like her advocacy, her songs tackle harassment, sexism, and victim-blaming.

 

Read also: Exploring Portugal’s Muslim History

COVID-19 Clusters Shutter Yemen, Philippines Embassies in Saudi Arabia

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With over 123,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19, Saudi Arabia has one of the highest counts in the Gulf, and the latest embassy closures show that even diplomatic missions have not managed to escape the novel virus.  

The Embassy of Yemen, located in the Diplomatic Quarter of Riyadh, announced its closure through its official Facebook page at 6 p.m. on the evening of Saturday, June 13. 

“The Embassy of the Republic of Yemen in Riyadh announces suspension of work from tomorrow Sunday, 14/6/2020 indefinitely due to the emergence of a number of cases of Coronavirus-19,” the post read.

“The embassy wishes everyone good health and wellness,” it concluded. The Yemeni Embassy had long been closed to the public due to the COVID-19 outbreak in Saudi Arabia and only began accepting consular appointments again on June 11. 

Meanwhile, on June 10, the Embassy of the Philippines, also located in Riyadh’s Diplomatic Quarter, said it would also be forced to close again, “effective June 14 2020 until further notice,” after identifying a coronavirus cluster among staff of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO).  

“POLO-Riyadh officials and staff need to undergo quarantine processes after several of them recently tested positive for COVID-19,” the embassy said in an official press release. 

“Embassy personnel who recently came in contact with the infected POLO-Riyadh employees shall also undergo quarantine and COVID-19 testing to ensure the safety of the transacting public,” it added.    

The statement did not specify how many staff members were infected with COVID-19, but Arab Times reports six staff members tested positive for the virus. The office will be subject to deep cleaning and sterilization while staff work from home, according to the same source.  

Services at the Embassy of the Philippines, which only reopened on June 7, will not be affected. POLO-Riyadh personnel will continue to offer client services and counselling over the phone, the embassy added.

Read also: A New Caste: Houthis Divide Yemen with Tax Reform

Has Saudi-Arabia Won the Oil Price War?

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Riyadh will likely celebrate in receipt of a new report by investment bank JP Morgan Chase. “Saudi Arabia will come out on top in the fight for market share as non-OPEC and U.S. production fades,” Christyan Malek, a managing director at JP Morgan Chase told Reuters. The report predicts that Saudi Arabia’s share of the oil market will be the highest since the 1980s.

It appears Saudi Arabia has increased its market share because of a decline in higher-cost oil production around the world, a development unimaginable even a year ago. The development will be much-needed positive news for most OPEC countries who have collectively seen a dramatic drop in government revenue because of a historic drop in oil prices.

Amid low oil prices, investment in the development of new fields drops and higher-cost oil production such as American shale gas or oil produced from Canadian tar-sands is no longer profitable. Because of the massive global scale of oil production, even a temporary dip in investment or bankruptcies of competitors can give low-cost producers an advantage for the foreseeable future.

Oil price war

Saudi Arabia and Russia together drove down oil prices by refusing to curb production even before the COVID-19 pandemic drove down demand to unprecedented levels. The combination of high production levels and dropping demand meant oil prices crashed to hit an absolute first: They fell to negative $40 as the expiration date for oil futures approached with no buyers for the actual crude.

While low oil prices are extremely painful for the state budgets of both Russia and Saudi Arabia, for countries where oil is produced at a much higher cost, like in the US shale gas industry, such low prices are potentially lethal.

Large-scale state-owned oil producers such as Saudi Arabia’s Aramco can dial back production without too much long-term damage, but for smaller producers that depend on a few wells or fields, closing down wells can mean buckling under debt and going bankrupt.

Saudi market share

By keeping production high while demand was dropping, Saudi Arabia directly influenced global oil prices. Media reported on the decision to continue high production levels as a price war between Russia and the Saudis continued until both countries agreed on production cuts in April.

However, both countries ultimately stood to benefit much more from a drop in production in the US than any fathomable end-game of a Russo-Saudi dispute could have realized. This begs the question if their “disagreement” was ever the real underlying motivation.

Russia and Saudi Arabia were both declining in market share as the US enjoyed its “shale gas revolution” over the last decade, with no end in sight. Although Russia likely has unexplored oil and gas reserves, the Saudi reserves have little way to go but down.

Their gamble to continue oil production and even send cheap crude to the already overflowing US oil market appears to have paid off in the long-run.

US shale gas decline

The victims of the geopolitical plays to influence oil prices will be those working in the US shale gas industry. While environmental groups will likely cheer the decline of shale gas, or “fracking,” millions of Americans are employed in the industry, working-class people who have been part of the essential workforce that has kept America running throughout the first wave of the pandemic.

Adopting a Green New Deal would more than offset these jobs with new positions in industries that support a healthy environment and provide good working conditions. However, hope for such a legislative move runs thin amid entrenched partisan tensions.

The international supermajors have already written off previously cherished gas assets in a sign of the time, yet the fate of Chesapeake Energy, one of the US shale gas pioneers, could signal what World Oil called “the end of an era.”

Because of the absence of available credit that saved many smaller oil firms during the last oil crash in 2015-2016, many smaller companies are now facing bankruptcies. The continued uncertainty over the future value of oil assets makes mergers and acquisition a risky game.

Between January and May, 18 oil and gas firms filed for bankruptcy protection in North America with more expected as “lower for longer” becomes the expectation.

The Saudi-led OPEC bloc has now promised to extend production cuts with an additional one-month voluntary cut, which is enough to prevent a new crash in oil prices, but likely not enough to help US producers.

Culture in Crisis: Easing the Burden of COVID-19

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In Abu Dhabi the Louvre has led the way in pioneering digital offerings, creating a diverse range of ways for audiences to engage with the museum’s collections. These offerings include digital tours and talks by artists and curators. 

The museum also created a podcast that uses a sci-fi narrative to explore its futuristic architecture. In May, the museum partnered with streaming service Anghami to launch a series of playlists based on its collections. The playlists contain 20-30 songs each and have been crafted to reflect the era and region of the art presented in the associated exhibition. 

A cultural and artistic hub, Abu Dhabi has a plethora of galleries and art institutions and many have joined Abu Dhabi Louvre in offering online activities, including workshops and film screenings. As previously reported by Arabia Policy, the Sharjah Art Foundation is screening works by female Arab filmmakers throughout June for a virtual audience. 

In Morocco, the Moroccan National Foundation of Museums has mobilized to offer online virtual visits with accompanying explanatory texts to some of the country’s most famous museums. The virtual visits commenced with the Mohammed VI Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art’s “In Front of Picasso” collection. 

Beyond museums 

The museums in Morocco are joined by the national library, which is offering free online access to all its e-books, and the Moroccan Philharmonic Orchestra (OPM), which is streaming concerts on social media, in offering online access to culture and the arts. 

In Egypt, the country’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities has launched a series of online guided tours of archaeological sites, in addition to museums. The initiative has the dual purpose of promoting tourism to foreigners and educating Egyptians on their country’s rich history. 

The tours, which are available through the ministry’s social media, include the Menna Tomb in Theban Necropolis and the tomb of Queen Meresankh III. The latter features some of the best preserved examples of burial art. Tours of more contemporary sites, including the Red Monastery, the 14th-century Mosque-Madrassa, and the Ben Ezra Synagogue, are also online. 

Socially distant cultural events 

In Saudi Arabia, the King Abdulaziz Centre for World Culture made sure residents were able to experience the joy of Eid despite the lockdowns through a series of lockdown parades. 

Over 100,000 people enjoyed the parades, which featured traditional Saudi songs and dances such as Ardha, Sahrqi music, folk songs related to fishing and pearl diving, and Eid songs, from their balconies or windows.

As coronavirus lockdowns continue across the region, the ability to explore art and culture online or from a distance is a welcome relief for many.

Saudi Arabia’s Anti-Mine Program “Masam” Works to Make Yemen Safer

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A Saudi Arabia-led land-mine removal program neighboring war-torn Yemen removed 852 deadly explosive devices in the first week of June alone, the initiative reports. Hundreds of innocent Yemenis have been killed and maimed by some of the estimated 1.1 million mines laid by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels during the country’s five-year civil war.  

The Saudi Project for Landmine Clearance, known as “Masam,” says it has cleared 168,155 mines, unexploded ordnance, and explosive devices since it began in late June 2018. 

“Masam” says it has an “ironclad determination” to continue its important humanitarian work. Despite making “tremendous progress in its combat against mines” so far, the initiative says it will continue to work towards its goal of a “mine-free Yemen.” 

In addition to posing a threat to Yemenis’ lives and obstructing their movements, the explosive devices have also prevented crucial aid and development assistance from reaching vulnerable populations. 

“Masam” is forging ahead with its lifesaving work at a time when the United Nations programs in Yemen are in doubt after a recent fundraising initiative fell $1 billion short of its target.

The June 2 pledging conference, co-hosted by the United Nations and Saudi Arabia, hoped to raise $2.41 billion but only managed to secure $1.35 billion in urgently-needed funds.  

As a result, many vital UN-run food, health, education, and internally displaced person’s (IDP) programs will have to be wound back or cut, placing lives at risk. Yemen is considered the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with approximately 80% of citizens requiring some form of humanitarian protection or assistance, and is now facing dual hunger and COVID-19 crises.  

“Without more money, we face a horrific outcome,” said the UN’s Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Mark Lowcock.

“Yemen needs peace. In the meantime, we must keep people alive,” Lowcock said during the Yemen Conference 2020 last week. 

“We welcome the pledges made today. But this still falls far short of what is needed to alleviate the suffering,” said Secretary-General of the Norwegian Refugee Council Jan Egeland after the fundraiser.

“Millions of Yemeni people are staring down the double barrel of starvation and a global pandemic,” Egeland stressed. “The money pledged today needs to be disbursed immediately and donors who failed to put their hands in their pockets must step up.”

Read also: Yemen Donor Drives Raise Only Half of Required Funds

Egypt’s Peace Plan for Libya Gains Ground in Arab World

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On Saturday evening, Egyptian President Abdel Fatah el-Sisi fronted the media in Cairo to announce a political solution to the Libyan civil war, dubbed the “Cairo Declaration.” El-Sisi was flanked by Libyan House of Representatives Counselor Aguila Saleh and Libyan National Army (LNA) Chief Khalifa Haftar as he outlined the bold proposal.

“There can be no stability in Libya unless peaceful means to the crisis are found that include the unity and integrity of the national institutions,” el-Sisi said on June 6.

The first step of the plan calls for the implementation of a ceasefire on June 8 and the expulsion of all foreign militia from Libya. It would also see militias disbanded and military authority handed back to the Haftar-led LNA.  

Under el-Sisi’s plan, a transitional government composed of representatives from the country’s three regions would reign for 18 months to stabilize the country, paving the way for elections. Rival, parallel parliaments have been operating in Libya’s east and west for the last five years and the Egyptian plan would see Tripoli and Tobruk reunited.  

“We warn against the insistence of any party on continuing to search for a military solution to the crisis in Libya,” el-Sisi stressed.  

The Egyptian president framed the “Cairo Declaration” as a continuation of the frameworks set out through previous rounds of UN talks, urging the United Nations to lead renewed political discussion in Geneva. The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) has yet to comment on the proposal.  

The UN-recognized Government of National (GNA) is also yet to comment on the political plan and was not represented at the Cairo summit. The GNA has instead pushed ahead with a military offensive to retake the coastal town of Sirte, south of Tripoli, which Haftar’s forces captured in April. 

Approximately 16, 000 civilians were displaced in 24 hours as fighting in southern Tripoli and Tarhouna intensified on June 5, the UNSMIL Libya reported on June 6. 

Arab world support, Turkish rejection 

Meanwhile, Egypt has been busy gaining regional support for its peace plan. Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry reached out to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, African Union Chair Moussa Faki, as well as the leaders of Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Jordan, Niger, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), according to Egypt’s State Information Service (SIS).  

A number of Arab countries have already thrown their support behind the “Cairo Declaration;” in particular, the ceasefire. The governments of Saudi Arabia, the UAE,

Bahrain, Kuwait, and Jordan welcomed the political plan and encouraged all sides of the Libyan conflict to negotiate a peaceful solution to the ongoing crisis.

Turkey, who supports the GNA with militiamen and weapons, rejected the proposal, instead claiming it was Egypt’s support for Haftar that is undermining the political process in Libya.  

“It is not surprising that those who have taken over their administration by a coup support a putschist,” Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy said, referring to el-Sis’s rise to power.  

“Egypt’s years-long military support to putschist Haftar constitutes a clear violation of the relevant UN Security Council resolutions,” Aksoy added.

The spokesman said Turkey will continue to back “the legitimate government in Libya [GNA] and pursue relevant UN resolutions. Its ally and financial backer Qatar is yet to comment on the “Cairo Declaration.”

Read also: US Signals Potential Renewed Involvement in Libya

Saudi Arabia’s Sad Milestone: First COVID-19 Doctor Death

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Pakistani doctor Naeem Chaudhry, who worked at a hospital in the holy city of Mecca, is the first medic to die of COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia.

Dr Chaudhry died two days ago after contracting COVID-19 through his work at the Hira General Hospital in Mecca, Arab News reports. 

The doctor worked in the hospital’s General Surgery Department, where he was considered one of the facilities most skilled surgeons.  Director General of Mecca Health Affairs Dr Wael Hamzah Mutair said the Hira General Hospital team is greatly saddened by Chaudhry’s passing.  

Mutair emphasized that the doctor contracted the virus during the course of his work, not outside the hospital and, apart from having high blood pressure, suffered no other underlying health conditions.  

The Pakistani Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Raja Ali Ejaz, expressed his sympathy to Dr Chaudhry’s wife and three daughters who live in Mecca, saying he too was “deeply saddened,” by the doctor’s death. 

“He laid down his life for the humanitarian cause in these difficult circumstances. His services will always be remembered,” Ejaz said in a condolence message.

“May Allah Almighty rest the soul in eternal peace, and give you and the bereaved family the courage to bear this irreparable loss (Ameen).”

Chaudhry is one of the many Pakistani doctors and health professional’s working to fight the novel coronavirus pandemic in Saudi Arabia. On June 4, the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Health said the country has 23,581 active cases of COVID-19 and recorded 611 deaths from the disease.

Read also: Egyptian Coronavirus Denier Dies From Disease, Infects Family

OPEC Countries Face Difficult Choice as Volatile Oil Prices Rise

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With oil prices now close to $40 per barrel, member states of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) have a difficult choice to make. Oil prices have benefited from voluntary and involuntary production cuts amid a global demand slump that is slowly easing.

However,with countries gradually reopening their economies and some airlines restarting national and international flights, oil prices are likely to rise as demand steadily increases.

The significant impact that production cuts have had on the volatile oil markets has not gone unnoticed and OPEC’s contribution to global cuts has been significant. The budgets of OPEC member states have also been impacted by the effects of production cuts as oil-dependent states have seen their revenue evaporate with mounting deficits and painful austerity in national social welfare spending.

Volatility

Global oil industry experts and commodity traders have been closely monitoring the developments around an upcoming meeting between Saudi Arabia and Russia, in order to discuss a potential one month extension to its production cuts. When news broke that the meeting could be delayed, global oil prices dipped again.

However, the Saudi-led OPEC bloc has not been able to universally cut production. Iraq, for instance, has little power over its production levels as most oil is extracted by international oil companies. The country has negotiated with these supermajors but has been unable to sufficiently cut back production, a situation similar to Nigeria’s. The fate of an upcoming OPEC meeting now hangs on whether these non-complying nations can meet their pledged cuts or not.

Dependence

For many countries that are dependent on oil for significant parts of their state income, the current prices are tempting. With prices at their highest since March 6, many countries would like to crank up production and increase revenues. But doing so might cause oil prices to fall again as global demand has not reached sufficient levels to justify a free-for-all in oil production.

Low prices do have a long-term strategic advantage as they would exacerbate the widespread bankruptcies and consolidation in the US shale gas industry and potentially reduce investment in high-cost oil production like off-shore and tar-sand extraction. While traditional low-cost producers in the Middle East and North Africa would stand to benefit from increased market-share in the long-term, current budget difficulties and plummeting state revenue could prompt countries to favor a more short-term solution.

Short-term pain

The other option is to continue with cuts, suffer another month of pain with an eye on a recovery in oil prices once demand picks up. This means that 2020 national budgets could suffer less and austerity can be minimized.

In the long-term this would mean that traditional low-cost oil producers in the Middle East would have to continue to compete with more expensive producers that have taken a large chunk of market-share in the last decades.

The short-term pain of continuing production cuts could help raise the price of oil to levels where national budgets produce lower deficits, and unrest associated with austerity can be avoided. Choosing to increase national production could create a few weeks of income at current levels before prices go down once again, with the potential of increased market-share in the long-run.

With no easy options, the coming OPEC meetings and another possible Saudi-Russian agreement will likely have widespread effects on global oil markets for years to come.

IIF: Gulf Countries Facing Historic Economic Crisis

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The six nations that comprise the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) are facing heavy impacts from the coronavirus pandemic and a drop in oil prices amid a sudden demand slump. Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates are in for a difficult period according to the International Institute for Finance (IIF), a global association of financial institutions.

The Institute had already announced that emerging markets are facing an “unparalleled sudden stop,” with capital leaving the economies of developing nations at never-before-seen rates. Capital is flowing from emerging markets to developed ones at over five times the rate at the worst point of the 2008 global financial crisis.

Triple threat

For the six GCC countries, local economies are suffering from a trifecta of bad news. Capital flows are moving to developed nations and oil revenues have cratered while tourism, hospitality, retail, and travel sectors are all facing unprecedented difficulties due to stringent COVID-19 measures.

Despite the overall relatively successful containment of the coronavirus, GCC countries are set to see a contraction in real gross domestic product (GDP) of 4.4% according to IIF predictions. The World Bank in 2019 had predicted GDP growth between 1% and 4% for most GCC countries, an improvement over the previous year. Oman was considered one of the Council’s members most likely to grow, with an increase estimated at 3.7% due to increased natural gas production.

Oil revenue and state budgets

But the coronavirus and an international “war” over oil prices means the region is now in for a contraction in GDP. The IIF is cheering on unpopular austerity measures as a means to stop deficits from growing as cuts in public spending “could more than offset losses stemming from reduced oil exports.” Even with unpopular and painful spending cuts, the Gulf Council’s aggregate deficits are expected to increase to 10.3% of GDP.

Oman, which the World Bank touted as the GCC country most likely to grow significantly in 2020, is now considered “an increasingly vulnerable spot in the region in light of its mounting debt.” The country could face an economic contraction of 5.3% while its deficit is likely to widen to 16.1%, according to the IIF.

Opportunity to reform?

The crisis also poses an opportunity to build up resilience according to Alain Bejjani, CEO of Emirati retail operator Majid al Futtaim. “In the coming two to three years, we’re going to see, certainly, a very, very large impact that’s going to be asymmetric, depending on the readiness of countries,” Bejjani told CNBC on May 5.

“I think this is a golden opportunity to really change, to reform and to transform our economies into more resilient economies that have (the) ability to bounce back faster,” Bejjani stated. The current crisis could easily accelate reforms and diversification that have resulted in broader opportunities and even improved conditions for women in GCC countries.

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