Good morning, ladies and gents. We have a meaty issue for you this morning, bringing a nice balance of news updates and reports that zoom out to look at the real estate and startup spaces in the Kingdom. Cityscape Global in Riyadh leads our news well this morning, with SAR 180 bn of announcements and agreements coming out of the first day of the event.

^^ We have more details in this morning’s news well, below.

HAPPENING TODAY-

IPO WATCH- The offering period for Multi Business Group’s Nomu IPO kicks off today, and concludes on Monday, 18 November. The local contractor is guiding on a price range of SAR 13-15 per share for its offering of a 20% stake on Nomu. Qualified investors can book a minimum of 10 shares and a maximum of 750k apiece.

The Riyadh Global Medical Biotechnology Summit wraps up today. The three-day event — which is held at Faisaliah Tower’s Prince Sultan Grand Hall — brought together top health, tech, and investment organizations in a push towards revamping the Kingdom’s medical biotechnology sector. Organized by the National Guard’s Health Affairs in collaboration with the Investment Ministry, the summit spotlighted vaccine development, bio-manufacturing, genome research, and agricultural biotech, creating avenues for biotech innovation and investment.

NEWS TRIGGERS-

A handful of news triggers coming up in the next few weeks:

  • Inflation rate for October (Thursday, 14 November);
  • Trade balance for September (Sunday, 24 November);
  • Riyad Bank PMI for November (Tuesday, 3 December);
  • State budget approval and release (December).

WEATHER– Riyadh is looking at a high of 30°C and a low of 19°C today. Over in Jeddah, the mercury will peak at 34°C and hit a low of 27°C. Meanwhile, Madinah is looking at a high of 34°C and a low of 21°C.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1- The world’s first Golf Umrah? Almosafer’s Discover Saudi and the Muslim Golf Association (MGA) signed an MoU to launch the world’s first Golf Umrah travel package, according to a press release (pdf). Race to Makkah will offer inbound and domestic golf enthusiasts a three-day tournament at Royal Greens Golf and Country Club, following visits to Makkah and Madinah. Discover Saudi will provide accommodation and transport services to the event, which is expected to draw visitors from the US and UK after MGA’s recent expansion into the US.

#2- The National Water Company is gearing up to award the West of Medina sewage network projects by early March 2025, Zawya reports citing a source it says is familiar with the matter. The projects are slated for completion by late 2026, the source added. The tender — which was issued late last month — sets the bid submission deadline for Wednesday, 27 November.

#3- The Kingdom launched the Young Researchers Award at the UNCCD COP16 Science Pavilion, aiming to drive research on land degradation, desertification, and drought, according to a press release (pdf). With a prize pool of USD 70k, the initiative will reward seven early-career researchers (up to 35 years of age) across key areas like land restoration, sustainable agri-food systems, and climate resilience.

Submissions are open until Friday, 22 November at the UNCCD website. Awardwinners will be announced in a special ceremony as part of the event in Riyadh. They will receive USD 10k each — plus travel and accommodation — and mentorship from leading environmental experts.

#4- Sanabil Investments and 500 Global launched the eight round of the Sanabil Accelerator, selecting nine startups from over 430 MENA applicants in sectors such as agritech, healthtech, and fintech. The 12-week program, focused on scaling pre-seed and seed-stage startups, offers strategic mentorship, networking, and resources, culminating in a demo day on 4 December, 2024 at Riyadh’s Four Seasons Hotel.

Meet the startups: Saudi Arabia is represented by Equiptal, which optimizes idle construction machinery; Sahl, which streamlines digital compliance for sensitive data; Scooply, offering gamified F&B workforce training; and Yasmina, a licensed provider of embedded insurance for online businesses. From the UAE, Hakeem Health provides a 24/7 prescription delivery app; Neo Mobility offers electric fleet solutions for delivery and taxi firms; Orbii AI supports B2B lenders with credit decision-making; and Smart Bricks, which maximizes real estate investment returns through AI-powered data analysis. From Egypt, Cultivaet provides farmers with data-powered agricultural practices.

OIL WATCH-

Saudi Arabia remains among Russia’s top fuel oil and vacuum gasoil buyers, despite shipments to the Kingdom falling 9% m-o-m to 0.65 mn tons in October on the back of falling demand as summer heat subsides, Reuters reports.

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THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

It’s another morning where the international news cycle is broadly led by US president-elect Donald Trump as he starts working on the cabinet that will kick off his second stint at the White House.

Among the highlights: Trump tapped Florida Rep. Mike Waltz, who is a war veteran, to be his national security adviser and take on a portfolio that includes Russia’s war with Ukraine, Israel attacking multiple countries at the same time in a multi-front military campaign, and rising military buildup in China, among others, the Wall Street Journal reports. The president-elect also picked New York Congresswoman Elise Stefanik as the US’ ambassador to the UN and immigration hardliner Tom Homan as “border czar” to oversee border crossings and deportations, according to the WSJ. Meanwhile, Susie Wiles will be chief of Staff, Reuters and the New York Times report. The Associated Press and Reuters also have rundowns of who’s been selected and the other candidates Trump is currently considering.

GAZA UPDATE- Israel killed another 37 Palestinians in Gaza in the past 24 hours, including seven near Khan Younis and 20 people in Nuseirat, “including some in a tent encampment,” Reuters reports.

Meanwhile, US-mediated talks for an Israeli ceasefire in Lebanon are “making progress,” despite Qatar recently saying that separate talks for a ceasefire in Palestine have stalled. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has pointed to Russia as a potential part of enforcing the ceasefire in Lebanon by mitigating the flow of weapons to Hezbollah through Syria. Reuters, Bloomberg, and the Guardian have the story.

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

The Saudi Rail Conference and Exhibition will take place on 20-21 November at the Riyadh International Convention and Exhibition Center. The event will showcase developments in the railway sector and provide insights from over 150 local and international speakers.

The Black Hat MEA 2024 cybersecurity conference and exhibition will take place between 26-28 November at the Riyadh Exhibition & Conference Center in Malham. The event will gather cybersecurity professionals and technology developers. Speakers include information security leaders from Bayer, SoftBank Investment Advisors, the US Intelligence Community, the CIA, and Knostic.

The two-day Zakat, Tax and Customs Conference 2024 will kick off on 4 December at the King Abdullah Financial District. The event will bring together over 50 speakers and 10k attendees to chew over some of the solutions for the applications of zakat, tax and customs.

The two-day Impact Makers Forum (ImpaQ) is set to open its doors on 18 December, bringing together media influencers, industry experts, and digital content creators in Riyadh’s Mayadeen Hall.

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