Tariq Al-Mansouri, Author at icnlive

Saudi Arabia

How PIF Is Investing in EVs: Lucid’s $1.4bn Turnaround Plan Takes Shape

How PIF is investing in EVs comes into sharper focus this week, as Lucid Group laid out a $1.4bn plan to trim cash burn and steady its business. The electric vehicle maker posted second-quarter revenue of $405m, up 56 per cent from a year earlier. It built 4,774 cars and delivered 3,953, gains of 24 and 19 per cent. The results land as the company works to prove it can turn engineering strength into steady sales. Chief executive Silvio Napoli put it bluntly. “Lucid has leading technology, compelling products and deeply committed people, but potential is not performance,” he said. “We are going back to basics, with a clear focus on cash, customers, and culture,” Napoli added.

The plan leans on three areas: cash and cost, customer and quality, culture and team. Napoli also halved the number of people reporting straight to him.

Where the savings come from

Lucid mapped out $1.4bn in cash flow improvements for 2026. Roughly $600m to $800m comes from smaller inventories. Around $500m sits in capital spending, with close to $200m in operating costs. A US workforce cut announced in June should save about $158m a year. The company slowed production on purpose to match output with demand and hold on to cash. It ended the quarter with $3bn in liquidity, which it says covers needs well into 2027.

For newcomers, think of it as a household trimming subscriptions before payday. Less waste now buys time later.

How PIF is investing in EVs through Saudi factories

The Saudi Public Investment Fund owns most of Lucid and has poured more than $8 billion into it since 2018. That backing sits at the heart of PIF’s Lucid investment strategy, and it connects the carmaker to Vision 2030 electric vehicles goals. The fund treats Lucid as a way to diversify a crude-reliant economy and build skills at home. Saudi Arabia wants a homegrown auto industry, and Lucid Group Saudi Arabia operations are a big part of that push.

The clearest sign of how PIF is investing in EVs stands in King Abdullah Economic City. Lucid’s AMP-2 King Abdullah Economic City plant has moved from construction to industrialisation. Crews are installing and testing systems for stamping, body, paint and final assembly ahead of production trials. Lucid says the site will export cars beyond the kingdom as output grows. The Saudi government has agreed to buy up to 100,000 vehicles over a decade.

“The actions underway are intended to strengthen the company’s execution, improve the customer experience, and translate Lucid’s technology and product leadership into long-term value,” chairman Turqi Alnowaiser said.

What comes next

Lucid names four must-win priorities: the $1.4bn savings plan, AMP-2, a robotaxi programme, and a midsize model. The company frames these as the base for its next chapter. The robotaxi work with Uber and Nuro has entered active testing, with close to 100 vehicles running across the San Francisco Bay Area and Houston. Production-validation Gravity cars are already reaching Nuro.

So how PIF is investing in EVs looks less like a quick bet and more like patient money tied to a national plan. The near-term test is simple. Can Lucid turn its technology into steady output and healthier cash? The next few quarters will show whether the reset holds.

By Tariq Al-Mansouri
3 min read

Business

Abu Dhabi’s Disneyland business impact could ripple across the wider Gulf

Abu Dhabi’s Disneyland business impact will reach far past the park gates, and the whole Gulf is watching. Disney plans to open its first Middle East park on Yas Island in the early 2030s. Six years is a long runway. Yet developers, hoteliers and property owners are already lining up for what comes next.

The region’s attractions industry runs at roughly $19 billion, and Disney lands as the anchor everyone else builds around. Picture a shopping mall. One big-name store pulls the crowd, and the smaller shops nearby live off the overflow. That is the bet behind Abu Dhabi’s Disneyland business impact right now.

Why care about a 2030s opening today? Because the money moves first. Land deals, hotel plans and hiring pipelines take shape years ahead of a ribbon cutting.

One park, a full regional pull

Mike Rigby, regional vice president and director of the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions, sees room for everyone. Parks will compete at times, he said, but the pie can still grow for all of them. It is not a zero-sum game.

The other parks in the GCC will likely serve a more regional set of tourists, Rigby said, with Disney the anchor. “I think the GCC, the Mena region as a whole, is coming to the point where we can go for two weeks to the Middle East, and there is plenty to do,” he said.

Disney carries the brand and the gravity. Rivals across the Gulf are moving too. Saudi Arabia is building Qiddiya, an entire theme park city. Bahrain has set its sights on the Six Flags brand. Qatar is lining its coast with large waterparks. Rigby likened the emerging cluster to Orlando, where visitors hop between attractions over several days. That kind of spread is what could push Abu Dhabi tourism into a longer, multi-stop trip.

When the park was announced last year, Disney chief Bob Iger called the emirate the crossroads of the world. He pointed to half a billion potential customers within a four-hour flight. No firm Disneyland Abu Dhabi opening date exists yet, though the company has pointed to the early 2030s.

Abu Dhabi’s Disneyland business impact on homes and jobs

The clearest signal so far shows up in housing. On Yas Island, the annual rent for a one-bedroom apartment climbed from AED55,000, about $15,000, in 2023 to AED92,000 this year. That is a 67 percent jump, according to government figures. Authorities stepped in with a rental freeze earlier this year to cool prices. Yas Island real estate has become a live test of how fast one project can move a market.

Work follows the walls going up. Beyond the rides, the project could create more than 30,000 Disneyland Abu Dhabi jobs across construction, operations and tourism services, according to estimates from staffing group TASC. The roles would span hospitality, retail, food service and ride operations, the kind of work that keeps hiring long after opening day.

What comes next for the region

Domestic visitors give the sector a cushion. Regional conflict can dent arrivals, Rigby said, but many attractions here target local families who still need things to do. People stay, and they keep spending.

Aldar, Abu Dhabi’s government-owned developer, told AGBI last year it expects to gain from the park. Entertainment can anchor the real estate, the population and the hospitality around it, Rigby said, and the rest tends to follow. The full Abu Dhabi Disneyland business impact will take years to land. The groundwork is being laid today.

By Tariq Al-Mansouri
3 min read

Kuwait

Kuwait Oil Company $16 billion pipeline lease opens door to global capital

The $16 billion pipeline lease signed by Kuwait Oil Company gives three of the world’s biggest investors a share of the oil arteries that have carried Kuwaiti crude for decades. Kuwait Petroleum Corporation announced the agreement on Saturday. Its subsidiary, KOC, leases usage rights to all 13 of its pipelines into a newly formed Kuwaiti joint venture. Backing that venture: Blackstone, Brookfield and KKR.

Here’s the clever part. The pipelines never leave Kuwaiti hands.

How the $16 billion pipeline lease works

The structure is a lease-and-leaseback agreement, and it runs 20.5 years. KOC leases the network to the joint venture, then the venture leases the same pipelines straight back to KOC. In return, KOC keeps exclusive rights to use, operate and maintain every kilometre, and pays a tariff tied to the volume of crude that flows through. Roughly 320 kilometres of pipe sit inside the deal.

Ownership splits cleanly. KOC holds 51% of the joint venture and full operational control. Blackstone, Brookfield and KKR share the other 49%, each taking an equal one-third slice. The State of Kuwait still decides how much oil the country pumps and refines. No investor gets a vote on that.

Why $7.85 billion matters now

Cash is the point. The $16 billion pipeline lease is expected to generate $7.85 billion in upfront proceeds for KOC once the transaction closes. That money feeds Kuwait Petroleum Corporation’s spending plans, including a target of 4 million barrels of crude production capacity a day by 2035.

Think of it like remortgaging a house you fully intend to keep living in. You pull cash out today against an asset you still control, and you agree to steady payments over time. Kuwait gets funding without selling the pipelines or handing over the taps.

A signal to global investors

The timing tells its own story. Shaikh Nawaf Saud Al-Sabah, Deputy Chairman and CEO of KPC, called Project Peregrine the largest foreign direct investment in Kuwait’s history. He said the deal shows Kuwait rising as a destination for global capital, even amid a challenging regional environment.

That environment is real. The agreement lands as regional tensions weigh on the Gulf, yet three major asset managers still committed long-term money. Blackstone plans to open an office in Kuwait on the back of it.

The Kuwait Oil Company pipeline deal follows a path other Gulf producers already walked. Saudi Arabia’s Aramco and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company ran similar pipeline fundraisings, pulling private capital into infrastructure while keeping control of the barrels. The $16 billion pipeline lease puts Kuwait firmly in that company.

What happens next

The transaction is governed by Kuwaiti law. It still needs customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals before the money moves. Centerview Partners, HSBC and J.P. Morgan advised KPC on the deal.

For you as a reader watching where oil money flows, the message is direct. Gulf producers now treat their pipelines as financial assets, not fixed furniture. The $16 billion pipeline lease shows how a state oil company can raise billions today while keeping its hands on the wheel. Expect more deals shaped like this one.

By Tariq Al-Mansouri
3 min read

Tariq Al-Mansouri