UAE-Africa Tourism Summit Delivers USD 6bn Investment Roadmap

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum reaffirmed the UAE’s commitment to strengthening economic partnerships with Africa at the UAE-Africa Tourism Investment Summit 2025, held at Expo City Dubai. Welcoming delegates from 53 African nations, Sheikh Mohammed emphasized tourism as a driver for sustainable economic growth and cultural cooperation. The summit resulted in a USD 6bn tourism investment roadmap expected to create 70,000 employment opportunities across the continent. As Africa’s fourth largest global investor, the UAE has deployed USD 110bn over four years, serving as a vital gateway connecting Africa to international markets.

Saudi Arabia and Pakistan have launched an Economic Cooperation Framework to strengthen their partnership across economic, trade, investment, and development sectors. The framework focuses on key areas including energy, industry, mining, information technology, tourism, agriculture, and food security. Both countries are evaluating joint projects, including energy interconnection and infrastructure initiatives through memorandums of understanding. The agreement aims to boost private sector engagement and bilateral trade, marking a strategic new phase in economic cooperation between the two nations.

President Trump will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping tomorrow in South Korea, their first face-to-face meeting since 2019. Trump announced potential reduction of China’s fentanyl-related tariff from 20% to 10% in exchange for strengthened controls on precursor chemicals. The leaders will also discuss Nvidia’s Blackwell AI chip amid ongoing U.S.-China technology export restrictions. The summit follows weekend negotiations between Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese officials that removed the threat of additional 100% tariffs, signaling potential de-escalation in trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies.

Today’s Economic Data and Events

• 17:45 Bank of Canada Rate Decision forecast: 2.25%
• 22:00 FOMC Rate Decision forecast: 4%

Fixed Income

The UAE issued AED 550m in a 2027 sukuk with a yield of 3.49% at a coverage ratio of 4.2x and AED 550m in a 2030 sukuk at a yield of 3.65% with a coverage ratio of 4.1x.

US Treasuries closed flat on Tuesday with the 2yr yield at 3.4898% and the 10yr yield at 3.9756%.

FX

The dollar spot index closed down 0.12% on Tuesday. EURUSD rose 0.05% to 1.1651. GBPUSD declined 0.5% to 1.3272 . USDJPY closed down 0.5% to 152.11.

In emerging markets, USDTRY declined 0.12% to 41.9352. USDINR closed flat at 88.2663. USDEGP declined 0.18% to 47.365.

Equities

US equities market continued to reach record highs on Tuesday. The S&P 500 climbed 0.2% to 6,890.89, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3% to 47,706.37. The Nasdaq Composite surged 0.8% to 23,827.50.

In Europe, The Eurostoxx 50 and the DAX declined 0.1%. The CAC 40 declined 0.3% while the FTSE 100 grew 0.4%.

In local markets, DFM grew 0.5% while ADX declined 0.3%. Saudia’s Tadawul closed up 0.5%.

Commodities

Oil prices continued to drop on Tuesday. Brent futures and WTI fell 1.9% to USD 64.4/b and USD 60.15/b.

Gold prices continued to decline, closing in the red for the third consecutive day. Gold fell 0.8% to close at USD 3,952.14/troy oz, while silver made a 0.4% gain to USD 47.06/troy oz.