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Outspoken younger generation businessman (and blogger) Sheikh Sultan Bin Saud Al-Qasimi has written an article in Abu Dhabi’s The National newspaper, saying there should be no space for elitism in the Gulf

Crown Prince Al-Qasimi has held talks with Zambia’s Finance Minister.

In September, Dubai’s ETA Star Holdings was named as part of a consortium awarded the 10,957km2 Block B in Mozambique. Other members are Pakistan-focused Orient Petroleum International (run by Pakistan’s wealthy Hashwani family) and the local Osho Energia Limitada.

Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency governor Hamad Saud Al-Sayari has said the Kingdom’s economy is not in recession and that the central bank will do what is necessary for the domestic economy.

With unsubstantiated rumours of a potential bid for Liverpool FC splashed across the UK newspapers, and a new deal to work with Gazprom, Kuwait’s prominent Al-Kharafi family is receiving more attention than usual.

Eritrea, a county with more than eight decades of exploration history but not much recent success, in late 2008 assigned two offshore blocks to a local/Chinese joint venture called Defba Oil Share Company, set up through a partnership of the Asmara government and Bahrain-registered Energy Alliance Company WLL.

A joint investment fund between State Bank of India (SBI) and the government will be launched formally in March.

Among the Gulf investors that have looked for upside in the Maghreb’s hydrocarbons industries, London-based Xtract Energy Plc, which has Australian and Central Asian energy interests, last year announced a joint venture with the Saudi-owned Alraed Limited Investment Holding Company.

Prince Sultan Bin Fahd Bin Abdelaziz has attracted some unwelcome attention following a reported outburst against journalists who were participating in a live call-in programme.

The Investment Stability Fund (ISF), intended by the government to restore confidence in the Muscat Securities Market (MSM), was expected to be launched on 1 February.

The credit crunch is slowing down the pace of investments, but the announcement that a Dubai government flagship is to ‘invest $16bn’ in Nigeria serves as a reminder of the extent to which Gulf investors have sought out new business in Africa. GSN has tracked the move of Gulf business players into the continent over a long period, and can record some real investments as well as the usual welter of statements of intent that mark the entry of apparently ever more Arab investors into African business.

Dubai Ruler Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum (MBR) and his sons Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan and Dubai Culture and Arts Authority chairman Sheikh Majid have held talks with Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmed Badawi.

Ahmed Bin Saeed Al-Maktoum

Busy as usual; Ever prominent, Al-Abdullah alliance; Marriage to KBS daughter; Kuwait visit; Funerals of prominent mothers; Marriages in the cadet branches

Regional tour spurs Petrobras talk; Algerian business and Congo-B visit; Spring marriage