Featured by OBG
Bahrain has seen its economy expand through diversification efforts, with a focus on finance, industry and technology. Projects in infrastructure, digital transformation and tourism aim to drive growth and attract foreign investment. The kingdom is committed to sustainability, targeting a 30% reduction in carbon emissions by 2035. The financial sector is a key contributor with innovation in financial technology, and the insurance market is expected to benefit from the rollout of a mandatory health insurance scheme in early 2025. The government is also investing in renewable energy, aiming for 5% of energy to be sourced by renewables by 2025. Bahrain is also enhancing its transport sector with a $30bn expansion plan. With additional developments in the industrial sector, ICT, and education Bahrain continues to evolve as an attractive investment destination.
The fall in oil prices led to significantly reduced government revenues for Kuwait in 2015. Despite this the country’s 2016 spending remained largely in line with previous years as the government opted to draw on its considerable financial buffers to help make up for budgetary shortfalls.
The most populous country and arguably the largest economy on the continent, Nigeria is widely regarded as an African powerhouse.
The Indonesian government is in the midst of pursuing an ambitious new growth strategy, emphasizing investment over domestic consumption as a primary growth driver in the wake of depressed commodity prices, lagging household consumption and lower-than-anticipated government revenues.
A country of extraordinary diversity, spread across some of the world’s most spectacular, and often inhospitable, terrain, Papua New Guinea today is a country once again at a crossroads. A major economic boom driven by a massive liquefied natural gas project has been swiftly followed by a sharp slowdown as global oil prices fell, and as a result the government has come under some pressure.
With the fall in oil prices underlining the dangers of an over reliance on hydrocarbons revenues, Qatar has continued to forge ahead with its economic diversification drive in 2016. Non-hydrocarbons growth now outstrips hydrocarbons growth, with several big-ticket construction projects, an increasingly dynamic financial services sector and a growing reputation as a tourist destination all fuelling non-oil expansion.
