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Inform strategy with evidence: Usage independent information on market confidence, development, and customer demand to guide your strategic direction. Validate financial investment plans: Make sure resource allotment and initiatives are backed by credible market insight. Accelerate confident choices: Equip members of your executive team with clear, actionable insight to reach arrangement quickly and take decisive action.
Capital is tighter. And the quality of conference room judgment will increasingly determine which organisations sustain growth and which fall behind. In action, Ascent Club, an exposure launchpad curating access and opportunities for board- and C-level women, in cooperation with BusinessDay, is launching a new monthly conference room dialogue assembling accomplished African female executives who actively serve at the greatest levels of governance and business leadership and who are members of Ascent Club.
This inaugural session combines board practitioners to examine the genuine pressures forming board agendas today: INSIDE THE CONFERENCE ROOM: The Strategic Risks and Concerns Forming 2026 Financial discipline in constrained markets Progressing regulatory and governance expectations Technology disturbance and cyber resilience Long-lasting value creation and sustainability imperatives Management decisions boards need to prioritise heading into 2026 Ascent members and speakers consist of: Moderator Nnoli Akpedeye MD/CEO, Contego Servo Limited Speakers Sarah Ajose-Adeogun Managing Partner, Teasoo Consulting Ochanya R.
Deborah David CFO, Powergas It is a convening of executives contributing directly to governance, danger oversight, and tactical direction within their organisations. Through this partnership, Climb Club and BusinessDay are intentionally producing a recurring forum that surface areas board-level insight, magnifies reliable female governance voices, and expands access to the tactical thinking emerging from Africa's conference rooms.
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Total properties held broadly stable over the quarter, while trading levels pointed to continued repositioning and as a response to geopolitical news rather than a meaningful new capital release. International macro conditions set a difficult background.
The GCC ETF universe made up 39 ETFs with an overall AUM of $9.35 billion (as of Q1 2026). Performance across the marketplace was broadly unfavorable, with just 13 ETFs providing favorable returns compared to 26 in decline. Overall, the data shows a market that is active however narrow, with capital and liquidity focused in a little subset of products.
How Is Business Excellence Vital for Future Expansion?Performance in Q1 2026 was driven by a narrow group of distinctive winners, rather than broad market strength. The leading ETFs were focused in specific nation direct exposures and products, particularly Turkey, Saudi petrochemicals, gold, and Egypt. Countries like Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Egypt were durable during the quarter. Saudi Arabia's oil direct exposure supported its local market, with Aramco reaching brand-new highs in the middle of higher oil rates, in addition to its continued capability to export oil through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which remains open.
Egypt provided strong efficiency in January and February. Despite a market pullback in March due to the war, both Egypt's market and its ETFs still published positive returns for the quarter. The continuous Middle East dispute and resulting energy shock have reshaped the outlook for emerging market equities between the oil-haves and the oil-have-nots.
The sector likewise faced broader macro headwinds, consisting of a more cautious policy backdrop in China and global risk-off belief driven by geopolitical stress and greater energy rates. Thematic ETFs Struggled for the most part, particularly those linked to carbon and high-growth technology, as valuation pressures and global rate characteristics weighed on performance.
The petrochemical ETF substantially exceeded. Flows in Q1 2026 were modest and highly concentrated, showing selective allocation rather than broad market participation. Despite weak performance, ETFs recorded $27.1 million in net inflows, with just a small number of products drawing in brand-new capital. This shows that financiers were targeting particular direct exposures, while decreasing or turning out of others.
Trading activity stayed stable, with average 30-day volumes around 33,000 shares, focused in a handful of bigger and more liquid ETFs. The majority of activity appears to have actually taken place in the secondary market, allowing investors to adjust positions without substantial main developments or redemptions.
In January, Boreas introduced its S&P Global Luxury UCITS ETF, including a niche thematic exposure focused on worldwide luxury and customer brands. Momentum continued into April with the approval of KraneShares AGIX and KWIN ETFs by the CMA for cross-listing on ADX. These funds are anticipated to launch in April pending a final approval from ADX.
Q1 2026 showed some progress relating to ETFs in the GCC. We anticipate more international and thematic ETFs to list in the GCC throughout 2026. While the conflict has impacted sentiment and rates during the quarter, it has actually driven more volume and interest in local properties.
How Is Business Excellence Vital for Future Expansion?In spite of continuous geopolitical stress and security risks across the Middle East, the economies of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have actually continued to demonstrate strength, preserving positive growth momentum recently. While conflicts in the larger region and international financial uncertainty stay a structural restriction, GCC nations have actually up until now limited their impact on domestic financial efficiency through strong financial positions, policy continuity, and sustained financial investment.
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