Al Sudani struggles to maintain Iraq’s political stability
9 May 2024
Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed Al Sudani is now more than halfway through his term. While there have been some notable economic developments, such as the massive energy deal with TotalEnergies signed in July 2023, his main accomplishment may well be maintaining a fragile political settlement.
When he took office in late October 2022, it ended a year of tense political infighting following the 2021 election. The next national poll is expected in October 2025, but while the government itself may appear secure, Iraqi politics is as turbulent as ever.
The Council of Representatives has not had a permanent speaker since November, when Mohammed Al Halbousi was dismissed by the Federal Supreme Court and forced to step away from parliament. Mohsen Al Mandalawi was named acting speaker, but fierce debate continues over handing the job to anyone else on a more formal basis.
The latest figure to be proposed is Salem Al Issawi, who is backed by three Sunni blocs but opposed by the largest Sunni group, Al-Halbousi’s Taqaddum (Progress) party.
Under Iraq’s ‘muhasasa’ system of dividing the political spoils along religious and ethnic lines, the speaker’s job goes to a Sunni politician, while the federal presidency goes to a Kurd and the prime minister is Shia.
Al Sudani is now also facing a fresh challenge on the domestic front in the shape of a mooted return to the political scene by rival Shia leader Moqtada Al Sadr, who announced his retirement from frontline politics in August 2022. Earlier that year, he had pulled all his MPs from parliament, effectively handing power to Al Sudani’s Coordination Framework.
Al Sadr now looks set to change course. On 10 April, he renamed his organisation from the Sadrist Movement to the National Shiite Movement and further statements since then point to a possible return to the electoral battlefield. Given his past ability to mobilise large numbers of followers, he could have a significant impact on the next election and events leading up to it.
“Al Sadr maintains strong support from parts of the street, but it may prove difficult for him to reassert himself after ceding control over powerful institutions to the Coordination Framework,” said Winthrop Rodgers, an independent analyst focused on Iraq. “However, his return will certainly complicate dynamics within Shia politics.”
His likely return will also test Iranian influence on Baghdad. Tehran has been able to exert huge influence over Iraqi politics through its allied Shia politicians and militia groups, but Al Sadr has been the most prominent Shia figure to resist such ties in recent years.
Al Sudani has, though, been reaching out to other neighbours, too. In April, he hosted Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was making his first trip to the country since 2011. The visit resulted in more than 20 agreements and memoranda of understanding, including one covering the contentious issue of cross-border water resources, as well as security and trade. However, there was no sign of progress on re-opening an oil export pipeline from Iraqi Kurdistan to Turkey.
Trade route
Under Al Sudani, Baghdad and Ankara have also managed to get Abu Dhabi and Doha on board with the Development Road initiative, a $17bn plan to develop a 1,200km trade route from the Gulf through Iraq to Turkey and, from there, on to Europe. The UAE had previously thrown its weight behind the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor initiative, launched in New Delhi in September – but that plan involves using Israeli ports.
“In light of the Gaza war, a trade route through Israel is unlikely to be something that many Gulf rulers want to be too closely associated with at the moment,” said one regional analyst.
For the Iraqi trade route to build up real momentum, the security situation around the country will need to improve further. While the Islamic State has been largely defeated, other pro-Iran groups continue to be active, including several that have banded together as the Islamic Resistance in Iraq (IRI).
Many of that umbrella group’s recent actions have been directed against Israel, including a cruise missile attack on 2 May, which targeted Tel Aviv. Such actions hold the potential for Iraq to be drawn into any expansion of the Israel-Hamas conflict, perhaps as a proxy battleground between Iran and Israel.
Other apparent IRI attacks have been directed at local targets, such as a drone attack on the Khor Mor gas field in the Kurdistan region in late April, which killed four Yemeni workers and forced UAE-based operator Dana Gas to suspend operations for several days.
Kurdistan election in doubt
Kurdistan, meanwhile, has other all-but-intractable political problems. Most recently, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) insisted it will not participate in the regional parliamentary election planned for 10 June – two years after it should have been held.
That stance was prompted by a Federal Supreme Court ruling in February that ended the practice of reserving 11 seats for minority groups including Turkmen, Christians and Armenians after ruling that the quota was “unconstitutional”. The MPs holding those seats had generally voted in step with the KDP – something that led its rival, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), and others to file a court case arguing that the communities were no longer properly represented.
The KDP has emerged as the largest party from every election in the region over the past two decades and its pledge to sit out this election creates a thorny issue for Baghdad, which is now in charge of the process – after the Supreme Court also ruled in February that oversight of the elections should be handed over from the Kurdish authorities to the federal Independent High Electoral Commission.
“If the KDP does not participate in the election, the Kurdistan Regional Government will effectively cease to function as a cohesive political entity; if Baghdad gives into the KDP’s gamesmanship, it sets a bad precedent that a single party can prevent an election if it feels it will be disadvantaged,” said Rodgers.
No solution has been found as yet. Kurdistan region president Nechirvan Barzani was in Tehran on 6 May, where he held talks with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, among others. Trade and cross-border security issues were at the top of the agenda, but some reports suggested Barzani had also tried to persuade Tehran to put pressure on the PUK to agree to a delay to the June poll.
On 8 May, a further element of chaos was leant to the proceedings when the High Electoral Commission suspended preparation for the Kurdish election in response to a lawsuit filed by the KDP over the distribution of constituencies.
Together, the prospect of a major rival Shia bloc returning to Baghdad politics ahead of the 2025 Iraqi parliamentary election and the risk of the breakdown of the political process in Kurdistan threaten to disrupt the relative political calm that Al Sudani has worked to cultivate. Handling the shifting political landscape will require astuteness.
Image: مكتب اعلامي لرئيس الوزراء, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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PPP schemes to drive Jordan construction
13 June 2025
There is cause for optimism in Jordan’s construction and infrastructure sectors after the government took steps to implement its Economic Modernisation Vision (EMV) 2023-25.
The EMV – Amman’s flagship vehicle for its reform proposition – aims to increase average real income per capita by 3% a year, create 1 million jobs and more than double the country’s GDP over 10 years. The programme calls for the private sector to take the lead, accounting for 73% of the total $58.8bn of required investment.
For the vision to be realised, a large pipeline of public-private partnership (PPP) schemes is needed, covering areas such as water desalination, school construction, clean energy, green hydrogen, transport improvement and road construction.
Earlier this year, the PPP unit at Jordan’s Ministry of Investment announced that it is targeting seven key PPP projects in 2025.
Construction projects
One of the primary components of the PPP initiative is the scheme to build 17 schools under a PPP model. Being overseen by the Ministry of Education, the scheme will be developed using a design, build, finance, operate, maintain and transfer model and will be undertaken in several phases across the country.
The UAE-backed Marsa Zayed mixed-use project in Aqaba is the other large-scale construction scheme that has made a head start this year and is expected to provide opportunities in the short term. In February this year, Abu Dhabi’s AD Ports Group selected Dubai-based real estate developer Mag Group to lead the first phase of the project, which is called Riviera Heights.
The scheme will be developed as a beachfront resort and residential community on the Red Sea coast in Aqaba and will cover an area of 3.2 million square metres. The first phase comprises four residential towers, a marina with 1,260 residential and 117 retail units, a hotel and hotel apartments with a beach club, an old souq marketplace with 50 retail shops, a yacht club and a visitors’ centre. It also includes the restoration of Aqaba’s minaret.
The other major project progressing in Jordan is the second phase of the Abdali mixed-use project in Amman. In May, the client announced that it had started the infrastructure work for the second phase, paving the way for the project to move forward.
The second phase is expected to include constructing a multi-use conference centre that can accommodate 25,000 people, as well as two towers housing hotels, residential apartments, commercial centres and advanced medical facilities.
Infrastructure improvements
Jordan is also developing some major infrastructure schemes in the country, most on a PPP basis. The most prominent is the construction of a phosphate railway line, which is being developed by the UAE’s Etihad Rail.
The detailed study on the railway alignment and requirements for handling potash and phosphate is expected to be completed by the end of this year, followed by the main contract tenders early next year.
In September last year, Etihad Rail announced that it had signed a memorandum of understanding worth $2.3bn with Jordan’s Transport Ministry and local companies to develop the project on a build, operate and maintain basis.
The other significant project out in the market is the new silica terminal in Aqaba. In May, Jordan’s Aqaba Development Corporation set 25 May as the deadline for firms to express interest in developing the project.
The project will be developed on a build, operate and transfer (BOT) basis with a 20-year concession period.
For airports, a key move came in February, when Jordan extended Airport International Group’s BOT concession of Queen Alia International airport until 2039. The agreement is a crucial step in securing long-term investments in the airport’s infrastructure, expansion and operations.
Some of the key projects that will be undertaken to boost the airport’s passenger capacity to 18 million annually include installing nine security gates, upgrading the water supply, enhancing security checkpoints, developing a solar farm and conducting studies for runway rehabilitation.
Another major project that is currently in the market is the construction of a light rail between Amman and Zarqa, which will extend to Queen Alia International airport.
In July last year, Jordan’s Hejaz Railway Corporation issued a tender to conduct a feasibility study for the project. The rail line will have a length of about 65 kilometres and the capacity to transport 40,000-50,000 passengers daily.
Other infrastructure PPP schemes that Jordan says it is negotiating this year include the development of the 15.82km-long King Abdullah II Road, the 14.7km-long Amman-Ajloun toll road, the rehabilitation and toll operation of the first segment of the 42km Amman Development Corridor, a bus rapid transit project and the King Hussein bridge land border crossing terminal project.
On the back of these schemes, the short-term outlook for Jordan’s construction infrastructure market will be buoyed by a confluence of positive opportunities that promise to invigorate what have been largely dormant construction and infrastructure sectors in the past decade.
With the government’s commitment to large-scale infrastructure and construction projects, there is a renewed sense of optimism among investors and stakeholders. The anticipated influx of foreign direct investment, coupled with strategic partnerships in public-private ventures, is set to create a ripple effect that will stimulate job creation and enhance Jordan’s economy.
MEED’s July 2025 report on Jordan also includes:
> ECONOMY: Jordan economy nears inflection point
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> WATER: Record-breaking year for Jordan’s water sectorhttps://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/14065176/main.gif -
African Development Bank backs Egypt solar scheme
13 June 2025
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The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) has approved a financing package worth up to $184.1m to support the development of the Obelisk solar photovoltaic (PV) project in Egypt’s Qena Governorate.
The power project is the largest solar power plant in Africa and comprises a 1GW solar plant, along with a 200 megawatt-hour (MWh) battery energy storage system.
The total estimated investment in the project will be more than $590m.
The financing package includes $125.5m from AfDB’s ordinary resources, in addition to concessional funding of $20m from the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa and $18.6m from the Canada-African Development Bank Climate Fund.
An additional $20m is provided by the Clean Technology Fund under Climate Investment Funds, complemented by further investments from development finance institutions.
The Obelisk project will encompass design, construction, operation and maintenance of a PV facility.
The project has been granted a Golden Licence through Egypt’s Nexus of Water, Food and Energy (NWFE) platform due to its importance in addressing energy shortages and advancing the country’s energy transition efforts.
Egypt’s Minister of Planning, Economic Development and International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat stated: “The Obelisk solar project is another important milestone for Egypt under the energy pillar of the NWFE programme, which has, since its launch in November 2022 at Cop27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, delivered 4.2GW of privately financed renewable energy investments, worth about $4bn, with the support of partners such as the Africa Development Bank.
“The goal of NWFE’s energy pillar is to add 10GW of renewable energy capacity with investments of approximately $10bn and phase out 5GW of fossil fuel power generation by 2030.”
The Obelisk project will be fully operational in Q3 2026 and is expected to produce 2,772GW of electricity annually. In early May, MEED reported that Norwegian renewable energy firm Scatec had commenced construction on the first phase of its 1.1GW Obelisk solar and 100MW/200MWh battery energy storage project.
It is expected to reduce CO₂ emissions by around 1 million tonnes each year and create 4,000 jobs during the construction phase, with 50 permanent anticipated positions once operational.
Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company will purchase all generated power from the project under a 25-year agreement.
African Development Bank power, energy, climate and green growth vice-president Kevin Kariuki stated: “Obelisk is another landmark development under NWFE that leverages on Egypt’s and the African Development Bank’s leadership as well as commitment to harnessing the country’s renewable energy to enhance the resilience of the country’s energy supply to meet its fast-growing energy demand sustainably.
“This project also contributes to Egypt’s ambition of producing 42% of its power generation capacity from renewable energy sources by 2030 while spurring economic growth and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.”
In January 2025, the Mission 300 programme, an initiative launched by the World Bank and the AfDB, secured $8bn in funding pledges.
The programme aims to supply electricity to 300 million people across Africa by 2030.
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UCC and Ashghal start 3D printing schools
13 June 2025
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The local UCC Holding, in partnership with the Public Works Authority (Ashghal), has commenced the printing phase of the 3D Printed Schools Project.
The initiative involves building two public schools, each spanning 20,000 square metres.
UCC Holding has described it as the world’s largest construction project using 3D printing technology – reportedly 40 times bigger than the largest 3D-printed building constructed to date.
The schools are part of the second package of the Qatar Schools Development Programme, delivered under a public-private partnership model, which includes 14 schools in total.
The two schools are being designed as two-storey buildings on plots measuring 100 metres by 100 metres each.
To achieve this scale, UCC Holding engaged COBOD, a 3D construction printing company based in Denmark, to supply two customised BODXL printers.
Each printer measures 50 metres in length, 30 metres in width and 15 metres in height, approximately the size of a Boeing 737 hangar.
After completing preparation, which included site development, equipment assembly and operational simulations, printing operations have now officially begun.
UCC Holding has put together a 3D construction team comprising architects, civil engineers, material scientists and printer technicians.
Over the past eight months, this team has conducted more than 100 full-scale test prints using a BOD2 printer at a dedicated trial site in Doha.
In May 2025, the team completed training alongside COBOD engineers. The training covered printer operation, print sequencing, structural layering strategies and live quality control.
The schools’ design is inspired by Qatar’s natural desert formations, with curved walls resembling sand dunes.
The schools are expected to be completed by the end of 2025.
Earlier this year, Ashghal began construction of the Qatar Sidra Academy project in Education City, which will accommodate nearly 1,800 students.
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Morocco appoints contractors for Casablanca stadium construction
13 June 2025
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A joint venture of local contractors Travaux Generaux de Construction de Casablanca (TGCC) and Societe Generale des Travaux du Maroc (SGTM) has been awarded the $320m contract for the next stage of construction works for the Grand Stade Hassan II stadium, which will serve as one of the venues for the 2030 Fifa World Cup tournament.
The two contractors submitted the only offer ahead of the tender deadline on 10 June.
The contract duration will be 30 months from the start of construction.
SGTM won a $35m contract last year to undertake the early works.
The stadium is being built on a 100-hectare site in the El-Mansouria area of Benslimane Province, 38 kilometres north of Casablanca.
In March last year, MEED reported that Morocco had appointed US-based architectural firm Populous and France's Oualalou+Choi to design the stadium.
The construction works are expected to be completed by 2028.
State-owned fund Caisse de Depot et de Gestion (CDG) signed a deal worth about $500m to finance the stadium’s construction.
Six other stadiums will be renovated in the cities of Agadir, Casablanca, Fez, Marrakech, Rabat and Tangier, to host the African Cup of Nations in 2025 and the 2030 Fifa World Cup.
Morocco will be the second African country to host the World Cup after South Africa in 2010. It is hosting the tournament jointly with Spain and Portugal.
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World Bank’s nuclear U-turn is an opportunity for Middle East projects
13 June 2025
Commentary
Colin Foreman
EditorThe World Bank’s decision to end its 65-year ban on financing nuclear power projects is a significant policy change and has the potential to help planned nuclear projects across the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region move forward.
On 11 June, World Bank President Ajay Banga confirmed the policy revision, which recognises a commonly held view that nuclear energy is an important part of the solution for meeting climate targets and rising electricity demand.
Planned nuclear projects in the region, like those elsewhere in the world, face complex challenges that include regulatory hurdles, funding, delivery and geopolitics.
While these issues apply to all projects in the region, the financial challenges differ. For countries such as Egypt and Jordan, the challenge is securing affordable capital for such large-scale projects. In Egypt’s case, this problem was overcome with government support from Russia.
For the wealthier GCC states, the main challenge is not funding, but rather securing the necessary regulatory approvals, managing the complexities of delivering nuclear projects and attracting the right international partners.
The World Bank’s return to nuclear may help address both these obstacles. For countries that need funding support, it can be a direct lender. For others, it can be a useful partner offering validation and technical expertise.
The World Bank could also provide a further catalyst for the development of small modular reactors. Its role as a lender could be crucial in making these projects financially viable. A new source of financing, particularly at the early project development stage, could prove vital in moving these plans into actual projects.
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