Sudani makes fitful progress as Iraq’s premier
10 May 2023
Mohammed al-Sudani has served almost 200 days as Iraq’s prime minister since being sworn into office in late October.
In that time, he has launched a high-profile anti-corruption drive, sought to repair relations between Baghdad and the Kurdistan region, find an amiable balance in relations with Iran on the one hand and the Arab Gulf states and Western powers on the other, as well as giving greater stability to the state’s finances.
These are challenging issues and it remains too soon to judge if he can succeed, but progress on many fronts has often appeared fitful at best.
Soon after coming into office, Sudani threw his weight behind a high-profile anti-corruption drive, prompted by the multibillion-dollar ‘Heist of the Century’, which emerged just before his government took charge. The scandal involved the theft of an estimated ID3.7tn ($2.5bn) from the General Commission for Taxes.
However, after some early positive signs, observers say that the anti-graft drive appears to be losing momentum. One of the main suspects, Haitham al-Jubouri, was released on bail in January. The assets of another suspect, Nour Zuhair Jassim, were unfrozen by a court in April.
Corruption has been endemic in Iraq for years and continues to hobble the economy. There has also been limited progress in other areas of economic activity.
As the Washington-based IMF pointed out in its most recent Article IV report on Iraq, issued in early February, the economy has been growing, but that is in large part due to high oil prices. Indeed, it said Iraq’s dependence on oil revenues has increased rather than decreased.
Gas deal success
The importance of the energy sector is unlikely to diminish anytime soon, given current project activity. Sudani was involved in broking a deal with French oil major TotalEnergies in early April over the $10bn Gas Growth Integrated Project (GGIP), following four meetings with its chief executive Patrick Pouyanne.
The mammoth scheme had been announced in September 2021, but had stalled amid a dispute between Baghdad and Total over what size holdings each side would have. A resolution was helped by the arrival of QatarEnergy, which has taken a 25 per cent stake, leaving Iraq with 30 per cent (held via state-owned Basra Oil Company) and Total with 45 per cent.
That should enable more productive use of the country’s gas resources in the future and will also see the development of a 1GW solar power plant.
On the other hand, oil exports through Turkey have stopped since the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) arbitration court in Paris ruled in favour of Baghdad in late March over Kurdish oil flows to Turkey via a cross-border pipeline.
Sudani has been building good publicity and a positive image for himself domestically and abroad, but it’s a rather thin veneer, behind which the machinery of entrenched interests is carrying on as usual
Omar al-Nidawi, Enabling Peace in Iraq Centre
Mixed reception
The former Iraqi ambassador to the US, Rend al-Rahim, has described Sudani as an “energetic and shrewd politician” – both necessary qualities to rise to the top in Baghdad and even more important to survive. Others have been less impressed by Sudani’s performance, though.
“He has been building good publicity and a positive image for himself domestically and abroad, but it’s a rather thin veneer, behind which the machinery of entrenched interests is carrying on as usual,” says Omar al-Nidawi, director of programmes at the Washington-based Enabling Peace in Iraq Centre (Epic).
Sudani came to power due to the support of former prime minister Nouri al-Maliki and the Coordination Framework, the grouping of Shia-majority parties with close links to Iran. They and their related militias remain influential to this day – part of a political system in which groups continue to use the state’s resources to entrench their own influence.
Budget concerns
Sudani’s budget plans have prompted concern among some about how that system of patronage might grow even larger. A three-year budget covering the period 2023-25 was finalised by the cabinet in mid-March and then sent to parliament in what was his administration’s first major piece of legislative action.
It included record spending of some ID198tn ($152bn) a year, including current spending of ID150tn and capital expenditure of ID48tn, as well as record annual deficits of some ID63tn, based on an average oil price of $70 a barrel and output of 3.5 million barrels a day (b/d). The plans include a sharp rise in the public sector wage bill, taking that item to a total of ID88tn.
That approach was the opposite of what the IMF had urged Sudani to do. In February, it said the government should save “the bulk of the oil windfall” and added that the 2023 budget “should avoid a procyclical spending boost and aim to increase savings with a gradual tightening of the fiscal stance”.
According to Nidawi, the budget plans point to a government that is more focused on using the state’s resources to bolster its support and minimise criticism rather than rebuild the economy. He described the budget as “exceptionally disappointing”, adding that the spending measures “threaten to waste the financial surplus from high oil prices by expanding the already bloated public payroll”.
The budget also included an attempt to find a new modus vivendi with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), allowing for a 12.7 per cent budget share for Kurdistan and joint management of some 400,000 b/d of oil from the region. Sudani said on 13 March that Baghdad and Erbil had reached “a comprehensive agreement”. However, it remains to be seen if the system they have agreed will work effectively in practice.
In addition, Sudani’s budget has yet to be passed by parliament, and MPs could still force him to change his approach – a final vote may not happen until late May. What is not expected to change, for a time at least, is the parliament itself. When Sudani took office, it was amid speculation that an early election could be called, following the resignation of Moqtada al-Sadr’s bloc of MPs.
Since then, the idea of an early poll has faded and Sadr has remained in the background. Should he decide to change tack once again, Sudani could quickly face a far more challenging political situation, given Sadr’s past ability to quickly fill the streets with his supporters. At that point, Sudani’s political strengths and weaknesses will become far more apparent.
Iraq power projects make headway
Register for MEED's guest program now to access this article.
Exclusive from Meed
-
-
Masdar signs renewables deals in Montenegro28 July 2026
-
-
-
All of this is only 1% of what MEED.com has to offer
Subscribe now and unlock all the 153,671 articles on MEED.com
- All the latest news, data, and market intelligence across MENA at your fingerprints
- First-hand updates and inside information on projects, clients and competitors that matter to you
- 20 years' archive of information, data, and news for you to access at your convenience
- Strategize to succeed and minimise risks with timely analysis of current and future market trends
Related Articles
-
Local firm submits $515m lowest bid for Kuwait water project
28 July 2026
Kuwait’s Combined Group Contracting has announced it has submitted the lowest bid for a contract to develop a major treated water system in the country’s southern region.
The contractor submitted a price of KD159.96m ($515m) for the scheme, according to a company disclosure dated 27 July.
The project covers the development, construction, completion, operation and maintenance of a treated water system in southern Kuwait.
Kuwait’s Ministry of Public Works (MPW) is the client for the project. MPW issued the tender on 22 March and bids were submitted on 26 July.
The scope includes infrastructure to collect and transmit treated sewage effluent in southern Kuwait. This covers pipelines, pumping stations, storage reservoirs and distribution infrastructure, as well as associated mechanical, electrical, instrumentation and control systems.
The scheme is intended to support Kuwait’s food security system. The contract has a duration of 1,825 days, equivalent to about five years. Combined Group said it has not yet received an official notice of award.
MPW issued a similar tender in March covering the construction of a treated water system in northern Kuwait. Bids for this tender were also submitted on 26 July.
Separately, Kuwait’s Public Authority for Housing Welfare (PAHW) has extended the bid submission deadlines for two tenders covering power transmission works at the South Saad Al-Abdullah residential development, as exclusively reported by MEED.
The first tender covers the supply, installation and maintenance of 10 main 132/11kV transformer substations for the third phase of the development.
The second tender covers the supply, installation and maintenance of 10 main 132/11kV transformer substations for the fourth phase of the project.
https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/17794219/main.jpg -
Masdar signs renewables deals in Montenegro
28 July 2026
Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) and Montenegro’s state power utility Elektroprivreda Crne Gore (EPCG) have signed agreements to advance renewable energy projects in Montenegro.
The agreements cover the joint development of two solar projects with a combined capacity of 150MW.
The companies have also signed a framework agreement to explore the development of more than 400MW of pumped hydro energy storage projects.
The projects will be the first to be progressed through a 50:50 joint venture planned by Masdar and EPCG.
The two companies signed a joint venture agreement in April as part of a wider 2GW renewable energy partnership in Montenegro.
The latest agreements were signed in the presence of Sultan Al-Jaber, UAE minister of industry and advanced technology and chairman of Masdar, and Admir Sahmanovic, Montenegro’s minister of energy and mining.
Masdar has an existing presence in Montenegro through its investment in the 72MW Krnovo wind farm.
European expansion
The developer has been accelerating foreign investment plans in 2026. As part of its European expansion plans, it signed an agreement with Spanish energy firm Repsol in June to acquire a 49.99% stake in a local renewable energy portfolio.
The deal valued the portfolio at €849m ($982m).
The portfolio comprises 705MW of operational capacity, including 13 wind farms with a combined capacity of 402MW and six solar photovoltaic solar parks with a total capacity of 303MW.
All the assets entered operation in 2025 and the first quarter of 2026. The portfolio also includes a pipeline of future wind, solar and battery storage projects with a combined capacity of more than 565MW.
Growth in Asia
In April, Masdar signed a binding agreement with France’s TotalEnergies to establish a $2.2bn joint venture to develop, build and operate renewable energy projects across Asia.
The combined business will have 3GW of operational capacity and 6GW of projects in advanced development, targeted for commissioning by 2030.
In June, Masdar broke ground on a 1GW wind farm in Kazakhstan’s Zhambyl region, marking the company’s first renewable energy project in the country.
The $1.4bn development is one of the largest integrated wind and battery energy storage projects in Central Asia. It will combine a 1GW wind farm with a 600 MWh battery energy storage system.
Masdar is targeting a global renewable energy portfolio of 100GW by 2030. It recently reached 65GW, two-thirds of the way to that target.
The company plans to deploy an additional $30bn-$35bn in equity and project finance by 2030, adding an average of 10GW of new capacity each year.
https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/17792896/main.jpg -
Geopolitics tests Dubai property with hotels hardest hit
28 July 2026
Dubai’s residential market cooled sharply in the second quarter of 2026, and the hospitality sector recorded its steepest downturn in years, according to US-based real estate research firm CBRE’s latest UAE market review. Office and industrial real estate, however, continued to defy a weaker macroeconomic backdrop, the report said.
The figures, published on 28 July, mark a turning point for a residential sector that has driven much of Dubai’s post-pandemic growth story.
Transaction volumes fell 29% year-on-year to just under 37,000 sales in the second quarter, down from more than 51,000 in the same period last year.
Total transaction values dropped even further, to AED88bn ($24bn) from close to AED154bn ($42bn) in the second quarter of 2025.
Rents have moved into negative territory faster than prices. While sales values were still up 1.9% year-on-year, average residential rents fell 2.6% annually and 6.2% quarter-on-quarter.
About 18,000 new units were completed in the first half of the year, adding to supply just as demand and transaction activity were softening.
The contrast with Abu Dhabi is stark. The capital’s residential values rose 21.6% year-on-year, powered by 24.4% growth in apartment prices, while rents climbed a further 3.6%.
Sales values reached AED32bn ($8.7bn), up 150% on the same quarter last year, with transaction volumes up around 80%.
Off-plan sales accounted for roughly 83% of deals and 85% of value, underscoring investor appetite for new launches even as Dubai’s own off-plan pipeline slows.
Hospitality bears the brunt
The hospitality sector recorded the most pronounced downturn of any asset class tracked in the review. Regional geopolitical disruption weighed heavily on international travel demand and airline operations through the first half of the year, with UAE-wide hotel occupancy down 27.7 percentage points year-on-year to June and revenue per available room (RevPAR) down 31.8%, according to CoStar data cited in the report.
Dubai absorbed the sharpest declines, reflecting its greater reliance on international visitor flows, while Abu Dhabi held up comparatively better on the strength of domestic demand and events-led tourism.
Operators have responded with staycation packages, domestic tourism campaigns and refurbishment programmes aimed at protecting market positioning ahead of an anticipated recovery in international arrivals.
Office and industrial hold strong
Away from housing and hotels, the picture is markedly different. Dubai office rents rose 13% year-on-year, with prime rents up 16% and occupancy at about 94%, as demand concentrated in DIFC, Tecom and DMCC continues to outpace the delivery of new Grade A stock.
Abu Dhabi’s office market performed even more strongly, with rents up nearly 16% and occupancy at 96%, driven by ADGM-based financial services firms including hedge funds.
With less than 300,000 square metres (sq m) of new office space due between 2026 and 2027, both emirates face a supply squeeze that is likely to sustain rental growth into next year.
Retail occupancy remained resilient at about 98% in Dubai and 95% in Abu Dhabi despite softer tourism flows and shifting consumer spending, with Dubai rents up around 3% year-on-year.
A new wave of retail supply is in the pipeline, led by Al-Khail Avenue in Dubai and the first phase of Saadiyat Grove in Abu Dhabi.
Industrial and logistics stand out
Underpinned by government-led localisation programmes, the UAE industrial exports reached AED262bn ($71bn) in 2025, with Operation300bn and Make it in the Emirates (MIITE) continuing to draw manufacturing and logistics investment.
Abu Dhabi secured AED48.5bn ($13.2bn) in commitments through MIITE alongside new logistics agreements at Kezad. At the same time, Dubai recorded strong rental growth across Dubai Industrial City, Dubai Investments Park and National Industries Park.
CBRE now forecasts a marginal UAE GDP contraction of 0.04% for 2026, reflecting disruption to trade, tourism and aviation, though it expects a strong rebound in 2027 as regional conditions normalise.
READ THE JULY 2026 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDFStress test for Gulf aviation; Mixed performance as country outlooks diverge in the Levant; GCC tourism sector pivots from crisis to recovery mode.
Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the July 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes:
> AIRPORTS: Dubai and Riyadh reaffirm airport ambitions> INDUSTRY REPORT: Dubai eyes tourism sector recovery> DATA CENTRES: Big Tech falls short on data centre promise> LEADERSHIP: Aramco’s citizen developers accelerate digital changeTo see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click herehttps://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/17792437/main.jpg -
Kuwait extends deadlines for power infrastructure packages
28 July 2026
Kuwait’s Public Authority for Housing Welfare (PAHW) has extended the bid submission deadline for two tenders covering power transmission works at the South Saad Al-Abdullah residential development.
The first tender covers the supply, installation and maintenance of 10 main 132/11kV transformer substations for the third phase of the development.
The bid deadline has been extended to 19 August. The original deadline was 5 August.
The second tender covers the supply, installation and maintenance of 10 main 132/11kV transformer substations for the fourth phase of the project.
The bid deadline for this project has also been moved to 19 August.
Both projects were initially tendered in May. As reported by MEED, PAHW previously issued addendums for both substation tenders, revising the qualification requirements for bidders.
According to the revised requirements, contractors must be approved by Kuwait’s Ministry of Electricity, Water & Renewable Energy and have experience supplying and installing at least 10 132kV substations in Kuwait.
The addendums also introduced requirements related to transformer and gas-insulated switchgear manufacturing approvals, as well as operational performance records for installed equipment
Sabah Al-Ahmad residential city
Meanwhile, bids were submitted on 16 July for two 132kV underground cable tenders for the South Sabah Al-Ahmad residential development.
PAHW had tendered the contracts in May.
The first cable tender covers the supply, extension and maintenance of 132kV underground cables feeding eight main transformer substations serving the N1, N6 and N11 districts in the project’s fourth phase.
According to sources, Egytech Cables, a subsidiary of Egypt’s Elsewedy Electric, was the lowest bidder with an offer of $42.37m.
The other bidders include:
- TBEA Shandong Luneng Taishan Cable (China, $44.06m)
- Riyadh Cables (Saudi Arabia, $44.57m)
- The Contractor General Trading & Contracting (Kuwait, $46.26)
The second cable tender covers the supply, extension and maintenance of 132kV underground cables linked to substations serving the N5, N6, N8 and N10 districts in the project’s third phase.
Egytech Cables submitted the lowest offer of $39.95m. TBEA Shandong Luneng Taishan Cable submitted a bid of $41.89m along with Riyadh Cables ($42.05m) and The Contractor General Trading & Contracting ($44.97m).
https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/17786669/main.jpg -
Ashghal tenders northern Smaisma infrastructure consultancy
28 July 2026
Qatar’s Public Works Authority (Ashghal) has issued a tender for consultancy services related to infrastructure development in the northern Smaisma area.
The tender was issued on 19 July, with a bid submission deadline of 8 September.
The scope covers construction supervision consultancy services for package seven (A and B).
According to local media reports, the scope of package seven A includes the airstrip road, the coastal road and connections to the existing Al-Khor Expressway, spanning an area of about 18.5 kilometres.
Ashghal floated the main contract tender for this package in March, as MEED reported.
The contract duration is four years from the start of construction.
Package seven B includes foul sewer infrastructure, drainage networks and road development works spanning more than 1.3km.
The latest tender follows Ashghal’s announcement of contract awards for 12 new projects, with a total value exceeding QR4.5bn ($1.2bn).
According to a notice published on its website, these include six building projects, most notably the redevelopment of Hamad General Hospital, with a contract value of about QR1.1bn ($301m).
Other projects awarded include the construction of a post office building in Al-Thumama; renovation works at the Qatar Racing & Equestrian Club and the Qatar Equestrian Federation; and the implementation of Phase 4 of the Al-Uqda Equestrian Complex development.
In the roads and infrastructure sector, four projects have been awarded, led by packages one and two of the road and infrastructure development works in Izghawa and Al-Thumaid.
The awards also include a landscaping project and an air-conditioned walkway at Qatar University, as part of broader public-facilities improvement initiatives.
UK analytics firm GlobalData forecasts that Qatar’s construction industry will expand by 4.3% in 2026, supported by investments in renewable energy and transportation infrastructure.
Meanwhile, the Planning & Statistics Authority reports that Qatar’s construction value-added grew by 6.6% year on year in the first half of 2025.
GlobalData also expects the industry to grow at an average annual rate of 4.6% in 2027-29, supported by investment in construction, energy and infrastructure projects.
https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/17791590/main.gif