meed-logo

line1 line2 line3
SIGN IN / REGISTER

Kuwait looks to capitalise on consolidation of power

12 August 2025

 

The passing of the debt law in March 2025 appeared to herald a new page being turned in Kuwait’s turbulent history, after a five-year period that witnessed 10 cabinet resignations, four parliamentary elections and repeated gridlock hamstringing decision-making.

Members of parliament (MPs) had previously blocked the government’s attempts to bring in legislation to allow the state to issue debt. However, more than one year on from emir Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah’s dissolution of the National Assembly and the suspension of key elements of the Kuwaiti constitution, the leadership managed to unshackle itself from traditional constraints on policymaking and pass the law.

Such reforms have real-world impacts on Kuwait. The public debt law allows the sovereign to issue up to KD30bn ($98bn) over 50 years, releasing funds to support centrepiece economic projects. Given that past political logjams had delayed economic reforms – contributing, according to Fitch Ratings, to a reduction in real GDP of 2.8% in 2024 – there should at least be some upside from moves that have drawn criticism for setting Kuwait on a path towards autocracy.

What would provide further reassurance that the emir’s consolidation of power is having a positive impact would be for the proposed residential mortgage law to be approved, which would allow banks to offer housing loans to Kuwaiti citizens.

Political uncertainty

Much is still unclear about the path forward. Parliament’s suspension is intended to be limited to its four-year term. This should allow for further measures of constitutional change designed to prevent a repeat of the impasse and delays that have frustrated ordinary Kuwaitis for many years.

The situation is not helped by the advanced age of Sheikh Meshal, who is about to turn 85. That leaves questions as to whether the legislature will ever return to its former status as an independent chamber able to scrutinise government actions, and whether a reformed parliament will emerge from the process – without the attendant political dysfunction that has marked its performance.

As one Kuwaiti analyst tells MEED, there is no evidence that radical political change is on the emir’s agenda. “The public does not expect the parliament’s suspension to last long. The system is broadly the same as before.”

Other analysts see a status quo setting in over the near- to medium-term, giving the leadership some room to manoeuvre.

“There’s no realistic prospect of a return of the National Assembly in the coming year, and the broader public’s dissatisfaction with MPs, viewed as largely responsible for the impasse and failure to support the country’s development, means there is less pressure on Sheikh Meshal to revive the legislature anytime soon,” says Kristian Ulrichsen, Middle East fellow at Rice University. 

There is a strong sense in the leadership’s circle that decision-making is now proceeding more smoothly, and that popular frustrations with MPs’ actions over successive years leaves the executive with more leeway to develop a bold political and economic platform.

“Many Kuwaitis believed that allowing the broken system to continue as before would have achieved nothing. This has given Sheikh Meshal a level of support in his moves to consolidate power,” says Ulrichsen.

That does not mean that Sheikh Meshal’s proposed path will lead to success. “Suspending parliament was still a high-risk move by the emir, as with the legislature out of the way, there’s no-one but himself to blame if things go wrong,” says Ulrichsen.  

Many Kuwaitis believed that allowing the broken system to continue as before would have achieved nothing

The extension of executive power has not meant an end to Kuwait’s political turbulence. The resignation of Finance Minister Nora Al-Fassam on 4 August, just weeks before she was due to compete here first year in office, is the latest in a series of high-level cabinet departures. No reason has been given for her quitting the cabinet.

Contentious rulings

A more lasting source of political turmoil is the controversial decision to remove the citizenship of an estimated 42,000 Kuwait citizens since September 2024, when the government enforced changes to the country’s Nationality Law.

This is proving the most contentious of the changes wrought by Sheikh Meshal since he took power in December 2023.  Those affected include individuals who have been accused of creating fake family relationships to win citizenship and women naturalised via marriage to Kuwaitis.

The citizenship revocation campaign reflects a populist agenda to strengthen nationalist sentiment around conceptions of citizenship. While it may have won public support in its targeting of foreigners who have been accused of attempting to secure generous welfare entitlements that are the birthright of Kuwaitis of ancestral citizenship, its broad scope means it also risks incurring wider opposition, say analysts.

“The citizenship issue risks becoming the biggest challenge in Kuwait, more even than the suspension of parliament,” says Ulrichsen.

The Kuwaiti analyst sees the citizenship move as not explicitly politically motivated, but that it may over time inveigle regime supporters who are seen as more likely to marry people from outside Kuwait.

The citizenship issue risks becoming the biggest challenge in Kuwait, more even than the suspension of parliament

Kuwait’s political gaze is not just turned inward. Relations with its neighbours have also come into view recently, most notably with Iraq, with whom a dispute over a joint waterway has reignited.

A group of Iraqi politicians have claimed that a bilateral agreement from 2012 regulating navigation in the 120-kilometre-long Khor Abdullah channel separating the two countries infringes on Iraqi sovereignty. They have persuaded the Supreme Court in Baghdad to rule that approval of the scheme by the country’s parliament failed to meet constitutional requirements.

Iraqis have more recently accused Kuwaiti vessels of entering Iraq’s waters, ignoring Iraqi Navy requests for their withdrawal. Kuwait and its GCC partners have signalled their anger at this expression of Iraqi nationalist sentiment. Officials are hoping it does not escalate further, but if it does become an issue around which Iraqi political factions unite, Kuwait’s achievement in building a lasting understanding with Baghdad may be under threat – just three years after Iraq concluded its UN-instituted financial compensations relating to the occupation of Kuwait in 1990.

For now, the Kuwaiti approach is to dial down the hostility and let diplomacy take its course, however renewed friction with its large neighbour is not a prospect that will fill Kuwait’s leadership with joy.

Domestically, however, Sheikh Meshal may have reason to feel more confident. For now, he has sufficient political space to continue on his chosen path. The anticipated passing of a mortgage law in coming months would be one more signal to the public that his decisions have improved their lives. That focus on delivery would go a long way to ensuring that Kuwait’s critical voices remain dimmed for a while longer.

Momentum builds in Kuwait construction

READ THE AUGUST 2025 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDF

Gulf heads into a new era of aviation; Maghreb’s resilience rises despite global pressures; GCC banks expand issuance amid demand

Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the August 2025 edition of MEED Business Review includes:

> MAGHREB MARKET FOCUS: Maghreb pushes for stability
To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here
https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/14451847/main.jpg
James Gavin

Register for MEED's guest program now to access this article.

Click here to register
Exclusive from Meed
Related Articles
  • Contractors submit prices for Upper Zakum expansion project

    16 March 2026

     

    Contractors have submitted commercial proposals for the next expansion phase of the Upper Zakum offshore field development in Abu Dhabi, aimed at increasing the asset’s oil production potential to 1.5 million barrels a day (b/d).

    The offshore oil and gas production business of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc Offshore) has divided the UZ 1.5MMBD project’s engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) scope of work into three packages, MEED previously reported.

    Contractors submitted commercial bids for package 1 by the 23 February deadline and for packages 2 and 3 by the 27 February deadline, according to sources. The previous deadline for submission of commercial bids was 15 January.

    Adnoc Offshore is understood to have issued the main tender for EPC works for the UZ 1.5MMBD project in the third quarter of last year.

    Contractors submitted technical bids for package 1 by 21 November, while proposals for packages 2 and 3 were submitted by 14 November, MEED previously reported.

    In November 2024, MEED reported that Adnoc Offshore had awarded a contract for front-end engineering and design (feed) and pre-feed services on the project to France-headquartered contractor Technip Energies.

    A kick-off meeting between Adnoc Offshore and Technip Energies took place on 21 November 2024.

    Located 84 kilometres offshore in Abu Dhabi, Upper Zakum is the world’s second-largest offshore oil field and fourth-largest oil field.

    The UZ 1.5MMBD project is the latest crude output expansion undertaken by Adnoc Offshore at the Upper Zakum field development.

    Upper Zakum expansion

    The first phase of the programme to raise the Upper Zakum offshore field development’s oil production capacity to 1.2 million b/d was launched in 2019. The initial goal was to increase the field’s output potential to 1 million b/d by 2024, which was later increased to 1.2 million b/d, with the project execution timeline eventually extended.

    In April last year, MEED reported that Adnoc Offshore had awarded the main EPC contract for the UZ 1.2MMBD EPC-1 project to UAE-based Target Engineering Construction Company. The value of the contract was estimated to be $825m.

    The project’s main scope involved the EPC of several surface facilities and plants at the Upper Zakum offshore development’s four main artificial islands: Al-Ghallan, Umm Al-Anbar, Ettouk and Asseifiya – also known as Central Island, West Island, North Island and South Island, respectively.

    Spanish contractor Tecnicas Reunidas won the contract for the feed works on the UZ 1.2MMBD EPC-1 project in 2019. UK-headquartered Wood Group was appointed as the project management consultant for the EPC phase.

    In November 2024, MEED reported that Adnoc Offshore had also selected Target for the second phase of the Upper Zakum 1.2 million b/d project (UZ 1.2MMBD EPC-2). The value of the contract was estimated to be about $500m, according to sources.

    Target began work on the project in December last year, MEED previously reported.

    The scope of work on the UZ 1.2MMBD EPC-2 project covers the EPC of several structures on Assefiya Island.

    Adnoc Offshore performed the feed work on the UZ 1.2MMBD EPC-2 project in-house.

    Upper Zakum oil production

    Adnoc Offshore has committed to a total capital expenditure budget of approximately $30bn, along with its operating partners in the Upper Zakum hydrocarbons concession, Japan Oil Development Company (Jodco) and US-based ExxonMobil.

    The strategic objective is to first raise the asset’s oil output from 640,000 b/d to 750,000 b/d through the UZ 750 project, then to 1.2 million b/d through the two phases of the ongoing UZ 1.2MMBD project, and eventually to 1.5 million b/d.

    Zakum Development Company (Zadco), which later merged into Adnoc Offshore, awarded EPC contracts for the UZ 750 project in 2012 and early 2013.

    The $817m first package was awarded to a consortium of Abu Dhabi’s NMDC Energy (then known as National Petroleum Construction Company) and Technip Energies. Package two, the project’s largest EPC package, worth $3.7bn, was awarded to a consortium of UK-headquartered Petrofac and South Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding & Engineering.

    EPC work on UZ 750 began in 2014 and was completed in 2022.

    In October 2022, Adnoc Group subsidiary Adnoc Drilling set a world record for drilling the longest oil and gas well at the Upper Zakum concession, stretching 50,000 feet.

    The extended-reach wells will tap into an undeveloped part of the Upper Zakum reservoir, potentially increasing the field’s production capacity by 15,000 b/d without expanding or building any new infrastructure, Adnoc said.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/15996020/main.jpg
    Indrajit Sen
  • Neom cancels The Line tunnels contracts

    16 March 2026

     

    Register for MEED’s 14-day trial access 

    Neom has cancelled the contracts related to the construction of the tunnel sections of The Line in northwest Saudi Arabia.

    In a stock exchange announcement filed on 13 March, South Korean contractor Hyundai E&C said that Neom cancelled its contract on 29 December last year.

    Hyundai E&C was executing the drill-and-blast section of The Line’s tunnels in a joint venture with Greece’s Archirodon and South Korean counterpart Samsung C&T.

    The firm said its share of the joint venture was about 35%, amounting to $483m.

    Neom awarded contracts for constructing the mountain tunnel sections of The Line in June 2022.

    The drill-and-blast works were split into four packages, with two contracting teams winning two packages each.

    The other joint-venture team comprised Spain’s FCC, the local Shibh Al-Jazira Contracting Company (Sajco) and Beijing-based China State Construction Engineering Corporation. 

    The tunnels formed part of the infrastructure backbone of Neom’s 170-kilometre The Line development, launched in January 2021.

    What began as Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s defining symbol of a post-oil Saudi Arabia unravelled with quiet finality over roughly two years. By April 2024, planners were reportedly being forced to cut the initial phase to just 2.4km by 2030.

    By July last year, with the sovereign wealth fund facing tightening liquidity, the kingdom was reported to have conducted a “strategic review” to determine whether The Line was feasible – a process described as a “recalibration” of Vision 2030.

    Resources are now being directed to projects essential for the Fifa World Cup 2034, Expo 2030, and critical housing, healthcare and education targets.

    According to media reports, the government has pivoted towards repositioning what remains of Neom as an industrial and data centre hub, leveraging the Red Sea coastline’s access to seawater cooling for artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure.

    READ THE MARCH 2026 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDF

    Riyadh urges private sector to take greater role; Chemical players look to spend rationally; Economic uptick lends confidence to Cairo’s reforms.

    Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the March 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes:
    To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here
    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/15995688/main.gif
    Yasir Iqbal
  • Bidders get more time for Riyadh East sewage treatment plant

    16 March 2026

     

    State water offtaker Sharakat, formerly Saudi Water Partnership Company (SWPC), has extended the bid submission deadline for the Riyadh East independent sewage treatment plant (ISTP).

    The new deadline is 30 June. The original deadline was 2 April.

    The project will be developed under a build‑own‑operate‑transfer (BOOT) model with a 25‑year concession term.

    The plant will have a treatment capacity of 200,000 cubic metres a day (cm/d) in its first phase, expanding to 500,000 cm/d in the second phase.

    It includes the development of a treated sewage effluent transmission pipeline, forming part of the kingdom’s wider programme to expand wastewater treatment capacity through public-private partnerships.

    The request for proposals (RFP) was issued last October. 

    In 2024, Sharakat prequalified 53 companies that could bid for the Riyadh East ISTP, part of seven planned ISTP projects it said it would procure between 2024 and 2026

    WSP is the technical adviser and KPMG Middle East is the lead and financial adviser on the project.

    The targeted commercial operation date for the facility is 2029.

    ISTP plans

    Sharakat’s current ISTP portfolio includes 10 large plants that are operational, under construction or under tendering, with a combined initial treatment capacity of 1.79 million cm/d.

    These projects include North Taif, Jeddah Airport, West Dammam, Madinah 3, Buraydah 2, Tabuk 2, Al-Haer, Arana, Hadda and Riyadh East. 

    In December, two consortiums were selected for contracts to develop and operate the Hadda and Arana ISTP projects in Mecca province.

    That same month, Sharakat prequalified 63 developers for upcoming ISTP projects under a revised prequalification process.

    According to Sharakat’s newly released seven-year statement, it has identified six additional large ISTPs in the development pipeline.

    These include:

    • Kharj (75,000 cm/d)
    • Abu Arish (50,000)
    • Hafar Al-Batin (100,000)
    • Riyadh North (TBD)
    • Najran South (50,000)
    • Khamis Mushait (50,000)

    The company is also pursuing a nationwide small sewage treatment plant programme covering about 139 smaller ISTPs grouped into seven clusters.

    These are designed to add roughly 521,450 cm/d of additional treatment capacity across the kingdom.

    READ THE MARCH 2026 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDF

    Riyadh urges private sector to take greater role; Chemical players look to spend rationally; Economic uptick lends confidence to Cairo’s reforms.

    Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the March 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes:
    To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here
    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/15993509/main.jpg
    Mark Dowdall
  • Modon launches Tara Park on Abu Dhabi’s Reem Island

    16 March 2026

    Abu Dhabi-based Modon Holding has launched the Tara Park residential project in the Reem Island area.

    The project comprises two residential towers with a total of 340 residential units.

    The development includes a 527-metre jogging track.

    The latest project launch follows Modon Holding’s launch of the Bashayer residential waterfront community on Hudayriyat Island.

    The project will comprise 157 four- and five-bedroom villas centred around a clubhouse with a rooftop infinity pool, and 330 one- to four-bedroom apartments across two low-rise buildings.

    The development comprises a 3.5-kilometre waterfront promenade and a park.

    In October last year, Modon Holding launched the Maysan residential development on Abu Dhabi’s Reem Island.

    This development covers an area of about 600,000 square metres.

    Maysan is being developed in several phases. The project’s first phase involves developing two districts: Mayar and Thoraya.

    The first district, Mayar, consists of 132 mansions. The four-storey mansions will be located within a gated community featuring a central park and walking trails.

    The second district, Thoraya, features 184 townhouses. It will include gardens, play areas, a gym and other associated facilities.

    READ THE MARCH 2026 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDF

    Riyadh urges private sector to take greater role; Chemical players look to spend rationally; Economic uptick lends confidence to Cairo’s reforms.

    Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the March 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes:
    To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here
    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/15993317/main.jpg
    Yasir Iqbal
  • Jordan begins prequalification for Amman water project

    16 March 2026

    Jordan’s Ministry of Investment has issued a request for qualifications (RFQ) for a non-revenue water (NRW) reduction project in the southern and southeastern areas of Amman.

    The project will be delivered under a public-private partnership (PPP) model using a design, build, finance, operate and maintain structure. It aims to reduce water losses and improve the efficiency of water distribution networks in the targeted areas.

    The initiative is being led by the Ministry of Investment through its PPP unit in collaboration with the Ministry of Water & Irrigation, the Water Authority of Jordan and Miyahuna.

    The procurement is expected to attract international water operators, engineering contractors and infrastructure investors with experience in NRW reduction programmes.

    The bid submission deadline is 23 April.

    Jordan has prioritised reducing NRW as part of efforts to improve the efficiency of its water sector. The country is among the most water-scarce in the world, and losses from distribution networks are estimated to account for about 45% of water supplied.

    NRW reduction programmes typically involve measures such as network rehabilitation, leak detection, pressure management and improved metering to reduce physical and commercial losses across water systems.

    Jordan is also advancing its $6bn Aqaba-Amman water desalination and conveyance project that aims to meet about 40% of Jordan’s municipal water demand by 2040.

    As MEED recently reported, the project is nearing financial close. Once complete, it will supply about 300 million cubic metres of potable water a year from the Red Sea to Amman and other regions.

    In February, the Water Authority of Jordan signed a four-year performance-based management contract with France’s Veolia to support water and wastewater services in the country’s northern governorates.

    Under the contract, Veolia will provide operations, maintenance and management services to Yarmouk Water Company, the public utility responsible for water supply and wastewater services in the region.

    READ THE MARCH 2026 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDF

    Riyadh urges private sector to take greater role; Chemical players look to spend rationally; Economic uptick lends confidence to Cairo’s reforms.

    Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the March 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes:
    To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here
    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/15993071/main.jpg
    Mark Dowdall