It's probably fair to say that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has a lot on his mind at the moment, with the continuation of protests against his rule, the ongoing difficulties with Iraqi Kurdistan regarding oil contracts, and a rising death toll due to terrorist violence. Seen in the context of these challenges, the question of […]
The long-awaited first IPO of an Iraqi mobile phone provider has finally come to pass, with the commencement of trading in the shares of Asiacell on the Baghdad stock exchange this week. The fundraising -- described by our Expert Blogger Mark DeWeaver as "a Nobel prize-winning IPO" -- was a major achievement, effectively doubling the […]
It's always good to see progress. The United Kingdom has finally opened its visa application centre in Baghdad, making it much easier for Iraqis to enter the UK for tourism, to meet friends and family, or to do business. At Iraq Business News we have expressed our concerns about the problem of visas in the […]
By John Lee. A partner at a London-based financial advisory business has suggested Iraq as a true frontier market investment, saying: “The greatest opportunities for emerging market investors have always come when political chaos coincides with a dire media consensus, and a major underlying economic improvement is thereby ignored. Iraq stands firmly in this tradition […]
This week marks the 150th edition of our Iraq Business News newsletter, and we are delighted to mark the occasion by bringing you a major new guide to business in Iraq. Published by Allurentis, in association with Iraq's National Investment Commission (NIC) and UK Trade & Investment (UKTI), the fourth edition in the annual New […]
It's always nice to start the year with some good news, and you'll find plenty of it in this week's newsletter. For example, in recent days the French company Schneider Electric has won a $74-million order to build electricity sub-stations in the south of the country, the World Bank has announced that it will finance […]
By Padraig O'Hannelly. A year after the withdrawal of US troops, the terrorist attacks in Iraq continue, and the tensions between central government and the Kurdistan Regional Government continue to rise. In the year ahead, we can expect to see further developments in the ongoing battle between Erbil and Baghdad over control of oil contracts […]
The latest article from our Expert Blogger Mark DeWeaver gives a concise overview of the fall and rise of the Iraqi Stock Market (ISX) over the past 15 months, and of some of the factors driving (and not driving) it. For the average non-Iraqi retail investor, however, it is difficult to participate in this market, […]
Having racked up more than three million pageviews over the past year, and with more than 12,000 subscribers to our weekly free newsletter, we have decided to bolster our marketing and business development team at Iraq Business News. To that end, we are delighted to be joined by: David Jeffries, CEO of Only Media Ltd, […]
By John Lee. If we gave a prize for the best quote of the week, this week's top contender would be Sami Haddad, the general manager of Lebanon's Byblos Bank, which is expanding its presence in Iraq. "You would have to be stupid not to make money [in Iraq]", he said. And of course banking […]
"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." -- Nelson Mandela, former president of South Africa, 1993 Nobel Peace Prize laureate. This week at Iraq Business News, we are delighted to welcome a new Expert Blogger to our ranks: Madeleine White is Head of Marketing for Whizz Education. A […]
By Padraig O'Hannelly. On the day Iraq announced that Exxon Mobil wants to abandon its business in southern Iraq in favour of potentially more profitable contracts in Iraqi Kurdistan, the Oil Ministry has cancelled a major exploration deal with Turkey's TPAO. The reasons were described as "non-technical", with the decision coming from the cabinet; the […]
