Global supply chains for critical minerals now sit at the centre of industrial policy. Lithium, cobalt, nickel, and rare earth elements underpin electric vehicles, semiconductors, and defence systems. The International Energy Agency estimates that demand for lithium could grow more than 40 times by 2040 under net-zero scenarios, while rare-earth demand may increase up to sevenfold. At the same time, supply remains geographically concentrated. The U.S. Geological Survey repor

Rare earth elements sit at the centre of a rapidly shifting geopolitical and industrial landscape. Governments now treat these materials as strategic inputs for energy transition technologies, advanced manufacturing, and defence systems. Electric vehicles, offshore wind turbines, and high-performance magnets depend on a narrow set of minerals that are concentrated in only a few geographies. This concentration has pushed governments and institutional investors to rethink how t

Modern economies depend on critical minerals embedded inside electronic devices. Smartphones, data centre hardware, electric vehicles, and renewable energy infrastructure require rare earth elements, cobalt, lithium, palladium, and high-purity copper. Supply chains for these materials face geopolitical concentration, long project timelines, and volatile pricing. At the same time, a rapidly expanding secondary resource base is accumulating in discarded electronics. According

For decades, companies operating across the Gulf structured contracts and investments around the expectation of relative stability. Escalating geopolitical tensions are now forcing firms to reconsider that assumption, as disruptions to shipping routes, logistics networks, and regional trade flows are beginning to influence commercial decision-making. Firms across sectors, including energy, chemicals, logistics, and gems and jewellery, are reviewing contractual commitments, c

Energy transition markets are creating a new class of investment opportunity: transition assets. These include industrial facilities, legacy energy infrastructure, and power systems that require capital upgrades to align with decarbonisation goals. Global capital flows toward the transition continue to expand rapidly. The International Energy Agency estimates that global energy investment reached about US$2.8 trillion in 2023, with more than US$1.7 trillion directed toward cl

Missiles move faster than diplomacy, but markets move faster than both. The latest direct military exchanges between Israel and Iran, alongside attacks affecting US-linked assets in the Gulf region, have triggered immediate repricing across oil, equities, sovereign debt, and currency markets. Within hours, energy benchmarks shifted, safe-haven flows strengthened, and regional risk premia widened. This sequence reflects more than headline volatility. It reveals how tightly co