World Bank to finance Syria with $146 million to restore electricity
DUBAI, June 25 (Reuters) - The World Bank approved a $146 million grant to help Syria restore reliable, affordable electricity and support the country's economic recovery, it said in a statement on Wednesday.
After 14 years of war, Syria's electricity sector has been suffering from severe damage to its grid and power stations, aging infrastructure, and persistent fuel shortages.
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Telegraph
7 hours ago
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French tycoon to cash in on Labour's data centre blitz
A French tycoon is plotting to cash in on the Labour-backed boom in data centres after snapping up planning rights for a landmark development in Cambridgeshire. Max-Hervé George, who runs Swiss-based investment fund SWI Group, has bought a site earmarked for development near Sutton-in-the-Isle with the intention of constructing one of the UK's biggest data centres. Mr George's fund said the new site, which won planning permission three years ago under a different developer, would target a capacity of 330 megawatts (MW) – making it one of the most significant projects in Britain. Mr George's move highlights a new gold rush for data centres after they were classed as critical national infrastructure last September, with Sir Keir Starmer creating 'AI growth zones' so that they can be built more quickly. The Cambridgeshire site aims to cater to a cluster of global technology businesses located in Britain's so-called 'golden triangle' between Cambridge, Oxford and London. It is among a slew of projects lined up across Britain that underpin the Prime Minister's strategy for economic growth. Under the plan, SWI Group has acquired the existing rights and planning permission from another business to develop the land. It plans to invest around £3bn to bring the site to life although the money is yet to be raised. Mr George, 35, said that his business has been 'unstinting and steadfast' in its efforts to create 'Europe's most valuable data centre groups'. He added: 'When we first got involved with data centres six years ago, we could see the demand for computing was going to grow dramatically, but the explosion in the growth of AI has taken even us by surprise.' The Sutton project will be the group's fifth data centre to operate under its AiOnX brand, adding to its sites in Ireland, Denmark, Spain and Italy. SWI is looking to invest more than €20bn (£14.6bn) into the centres, to provide a total capacity of 2 gigawatts. Mr George set up SWI Group earlier this year by merging his Icona Capital business with Switzerland's Stoneweg, a fund manager. He told The Telegraph in March that at least half of the fund's €10bn pot could be ultimately invested in British assets, in what could be a major boost for Sir Keir's push to attract overseas capital and bolster economic growth. Mr George said at the time that he was 'intensively looking to invest in data centres', as well as warehousing and logistics properties. Beyond SWI Group, Mr George made his millions through 'golden ticket' life insurance contracts sold by Aviva France. Under those contracts, which he first received at the age of seven from his father, customers were able to trade funds based on the previous week's prices.
Reuters
11 hours ago
- Reuters
Saudi Arabia's net foreign direct investment falls 7% in Q1
RIYADH, June 29 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's net foreign direct investment (FDI) fell 7% in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the previous quarter, government data showed on Sunday, as the kingdom continues to lag behind its ambitious FDI goals. The kingdom drew 22.2 billion riyals ($5.92 billion) in FDI in the three months ended March 31 from 24 billion riyals ($6.40 billion) in the last three months of 2024. Net FDI rose 44% compared to the same quarter the previous year when the kingdom drew 15.5 billion riyals ($4.13 billion), the General Authority of Statistics data showed. Raising FDI is a key element of the kingdom's Vision 2030 economic transformation programme, which aims to lower the country's dependence on oil, expand the private sector, and create jobs. Saudi Arabia has set a goal of attracting $100 billion in FDI by 2030, spending massively on huge development projects known as "giga projects" and expanding sectors like sports, tourism, and entertainment. But FDI numbers remain far from that target. Saudi Arabia has been seen as a source of capital rather than a home for investment, and foreign investors can find it difficult to navigate the kingdom's business environment, sources told Reuters when the FDI goal was first announced in 2021. The kingdom is projected to post a fiscal deficit of around $27 billion this year, which will largely be financed by borrowing, said a recent report by the International Monetary Fund. Saudi Arabia was the largest emerging market dollar debt issuer last year, but the IMF says the country has room to continue borrowing, with its net debt around 17% of GDP making it one of the least indebted nations globally. Riyadh has taken steps to encourage foreign firms to invest more in the country. Since 2021 companies seeking to secure state contracts have been required to set up their regional headquarters in Saudi Arabia. The government has also said it would update existing investment laws to boost transparency and promote equal treatment of local and foreign investors. ($1 = 3.7504 riyals)
BBC News
13 hours ago
- BBC News
NI Water: Who will pay for NI's infrastructure upgrades?
This week the boss of Invest NI delivered his first annual report since he was recruited to shake-up the economic development Donoghue reported good progress against his targets, noting that challenges include his budget and global economic he said the thing that keeps him awake at night is Northern Ireland's creaking infrastructure, particularly when it comes to is worrying Mr Donoghue is that overloaded wastewater treatment works across Northern Ireland are constraining economic development. Factories and houses cannot be built because NI Water cannot connect them to the water 2024, BBC Northern Ireland's Spotlight programme also exposed the environmental toll, with raw sewage regularly being discharged into Belfast root of the problem is money. NI Water, the publicly owned water company, has been under-funded since it was set up in company is required to produce six-year investment plans, known as price control periods, which have to be approved by the independent Utility regulator sets the prices that NI Water can charge its business customers and defines how much money it needs from Stormont's Department for department has never been able to fully fund those independently approved investment plans, meaning a backlog of infrastructure work has built up and continues to example, the flagship project of the current Price Control period was the Living With Water Plan, an upgrade of the sewage works around Belfast this year, that was deferred as rising construction meant its estimated price tag had risen to an unaffordable £2.1bn. The hope is that it can be at least partially funded in the next Price Control period. A consensus is emerging that this obviously failing process cannot continue. Earlier this month an assessment by the Fiscal Council, an independent budget watchdog, concluded that the current funding model is not fit for added that resolving the issues will require getting new money from somewhere "even though this appears politically unpalatable".This week the NI Chamber of Commerce and others suggested that at least some of the money should come through the rates system. Rates are a property tax levied on households and businesses and are the main tool which the NI Executive can use to raise NI Chamber report suggested a levy, of £100 on top of the current average annual rates bill of £ would be a proportionate levy meaning those with bigger existing bills would pay more than £100, and those with smaller bills would pay Chamber chief executive Suzanne Wylie appeared on The View, BBC NI's main political discussion show, to sell the got familiar responses from the political guests: households are already under pressure, so they can't be the source of the additional Green Party suggested additional taxes on business. The DUP said more efficiencies should be squeezed from NI Water, while the SDLP called for another the Sinn Féin Infrastructure Minister, Liz Kimmins, is pressing ahead with a plan to raise money from housing developers. Friday saw the conclusion of her consultation on options for a developer two options are a compulsory levy requiring all house builders in Northern Ireland to pay into a wastewater infrastructure is not clear how much the levy would be, nor how much it would be expected to there could be voluntary contributions where developers cover the cost of upgrading or replacing a particular piece of consultation document acknowledges that both options would increase costs to developers which could mean higher costs for house buyers or deter some if Kimmins' plan makes it through the Executive it will mean that a small number of households, those buying newly built houses, will indirectly be paying for wastewater the Fiscal Council has already warned that won't go far Robert Chote, who chairs the council, told assembly members "it doesn't seem very likely" that it will raise the sort of money needed to transform the system."It could help at the margin, but it is not as much of a gamechanger as something bigger on regional rates or domestic charging."
