At GITEX Global 2025, Opensignal reaffirmed e&’s position as the UAE’s leading mobile network operator, awarding it top honours across multiple categories for 5G speed, reliability, and overall mobile experience. The recognition, based on real-world user data, reflects the UAE’s rise as one of the most connected digital economies globally.

“Opensignal awards represent the pinnacle of network excellence in the UAE,” said Shawn Heidel, president and COO of Network Experience at Opensignal. “They recognise e&’s continued leadership in delivering a superior mobile experience to its customers. The awards are entirely data driven, based on billions of measurements collected from users across the country. This means the recognition is a reflection of what customers actually experience every day.”

According to Heidel, e& delivered outstanding results across several key performance indicators, including gaming, video, and voice experience for both 4G and 5G. “It’s hard to choose a single area where e& stood out, because they performed so well across the board,” he noted. “They also performed impressively in consistency and availability, meaning customers enjoy reliable performance wherever they are—urban, suburban, or on the move.”

Data-driven insights that reflect real-world experiences

Opensignal’s measurement methodology sets it apart from traditional network testing. Rather than relying on controlled lab environments, Opensignal captures data directly from users’ mobile devices, creating an authentic picture of actual performance across time, location, and operator.

“Opensignal’s crowd-sourced approach captures billions of data points from actual users on their own devices, across all operators, locations, and times of day,” Heidel explained. “Critically, our tests are conducted to common Internet endpoints on content delivery networks, such as Google, Akamai, and Amazon. This is identical to the way consumers experience the Internet as they browse websites, stream content, and play games online.”

He added that Opensignal’s methodology ensures that any network optimization reflects genuine consumer benefit. “This contrasts with many legacy testing methods, which are often done in limited or controlled environments, such as drive testing,” Heidel said. “Our approach provides a holistic, unbiased picture of the actual network experience of consumers across the UAE. It reflects how consumers actually live, work, and connect, offering a transparent and representative view of mobile quality.”

UAE among global leaders in mobile connectivity

The latest Opensignal analysis places e&’s performance alongside some of the world’s top network operators in advanced digital markets. Heidel said this reinforces the UAE’s ambition to lead in digital transformation and smart innovation.

“e&’s performance now ranks alongside some of the world’s top operators in developed digital markets,” he said. “Its 5G experience in particular places the UAE firmly among global leaders in mobile connectivity. This reinforces the UAE’s national ambition to be at the forefront of digital transformation.”

He also credited national policy and infrastructure investment for the country’s strong performance. “It highlights how the UAE’s investment in advanced infrastructure and spectrum policy has created an environment for world-class mobile performance,” he added.

Middle East’s growing role in global connectivity

Beyond the UAE, Heidel pointed to the Middle East’s broader rise as a technology-driven region. “The Middle East has rapidly become a global hub for connectivity innovation,” he said. “Operators such as e& are pioneering large-scale 5G rollouts, private networks, and edge technologies. The region is moving from being a consumer of technology to being a creator of digital ecosystems linking telecom, AI, and cloud.”

Heidel believes this shift is redefining how global networks evolve. “Countries like the UAE and others in the region are setting benchmarks that many global markets now follow, and the pace of innovation continues to accelerate,” he said.

As the UAE consolidates its position as a leader in connectivity, the collaboration between Opensignal and e& illustrates how data-driven measurement and network excellence are shaping the digital future.

Gold surged past $4,300 an ounce on Friday, headed for its biggest weekly gain since December 2008, as geopolitical and economic uncertainty along with growing US rate cut bets drove investors to the safe-haven metal.

Spot gold rose 0.2 per cent to $4,332.17 per ounce, as of 1102 GMT, after scaling another record high of $4,378.69 earlier. US gold futures for December delivery jumped 1 per cent to $4,345.90.

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Gold is set for a gain of about 8 per cent so far this week. Earlier in the session, gold had temporarily been on track for its biggest gain since September 2008 when the collapse of Lehman Brothers fuelled the global financial crisis.

“With rate-cut expectations, geopolitical risks, and lingering banking concerns all in play, the environment remains highly supportive for gold,” said Alexander Zumpfe, a precious metals trader at Heraeus Metals Germany.

“Short-term consolidation is possible given the overbought conditions.”

On a technical basis, gold’s relative strength index stands at 88, indicating the metal is overbought.

Spot silver fell 0.4 per cent to $54 per ounce, after hitting a record high of $54.47, tracking the rally in gold and a short squeeze in the spot market. The metal is set for a 7.4 per cent weekly gain.

Tumbling bank shares pulled global stocks lower, as signs of credit stress at US regional lenders unnerved investors and drove them into safe-haven assets.

US Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller voiced support for another rate cut. Investors are expecting a 25-basis-point reduction at the Fed’s October 29-30 meeting and another reduction in December.

Gold, a traditional hedge against uncertainty and inflation that thrives in low-rate environments, has surged over 66 per cent this year, driven by geopolitical tensions, rate cut bets, central bank buying, de-dollarisation and robust exchange-traded-fund inflows.

“I believe resilient and huge ETF flows are pulling prices up,” said Michael Haigh, global head of commodities research at Societe Generale.

SPDR Gold Trust, the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings rose to 1,034.62 tonnes on Thursday, its highest level since July 2022.

HSBC raised its 2025 average gold price forecast by $100 to $3,455 per ounce, and projected gold to reach $5,000 an ounce in 2026, supported by elevated risks.

Across the Gulf, a quiet governance revolution is taking shape. Family businesses, sovereign investment entities, and corporates are rapidly adopting advisory board frameworks to bring transparency, accountability, and strategic clarity to decision-making. According to Louise Broekman, founding director of the Advisory Board Centre, the pace of this transformation is significant in the GCC.

“While Europe has a long history of advisory boards, they are now gaining significant traction in the GCC,” Broekman said. “The GCC is a region with enormous ambition for the future, and big projects require big thinking. Advisory boards will be a continual mechanism for supporting the region in reaching that ambition because they harness a global mindset – they allow projects or policy intent to tap into dynamic, diverse thinking and experience.”

With the Gulf attracting global wealth and institutional investment, particularly in government-owned entities and family offices, Broekman said the need for structured external advice has become essential. “Wherever there’s a lot of drive, advisory boards can play an effective supporting function,” she added.

Dubai’s emergence as a governance and innovation hub

Broekman sees Dubai at the epicentre of this regional shift. “Dubai is a global hub in international business, with a high population of educated advisory board professionals and key initiatives (such as the DIFC), which collectively instil confidence in investment in the region and trust in good governance,” she said.

For her, the emirate’s light-touch regulatory environment is an advantage. “You can’t harness innovation if you’re making decisions the way you’ve always done — advisory boards and advisory constructs enable transparency around the decision-making process. The UAE is not overburdened by regulation, and this translates to faster-adapting integrated governance systems, where leaders are demonstrating agile approaches to being informed.”

In family businesses — long reliant on informal networks and trusted advisers — the shift to structured advisory ecosystems is accelerating. “The Global Research Council’s 12-month study on advisory boards in families in business found that one of the key drivers is good stewardship, including succession planning and protecting legacy,” Broekman said.

“As generations change and families become complex, there’s a need for governance frameworks to become more transparent, coupled with an increase in responsibility when it comes to due process around the way decisions are being made,” she explained.

Broekman noted that advisory boards are also helping families manage emerging risks. “The shift toward structured advisory board ecosystems is not just about ‘traditional advice’, it’s also in reaction to a need for organisations to deal with the ‘known unknowns’ including digital, cyber and geopolitical risks, to name a few.”

From insight to trust: why institutional investors rely on advisory boards

The use of advisory boards has become a hallmark of credible corporate governance, particularly when engaging with sovereign funds and private equity. “Advisory boards inform better, more confident decision-making,” Broekman said.

She pointed to a recent example: “The Advisory Board Centre is currently supporting a large, private-equity funded company, and they already have expansive understanding of financial management, but are looking to address broader industry issues and are therefore using advisory boards to tap into private market experience, domain expertise and a fresh lens on value drivers.”

This, she said, allows organisations to “see blind spots, avoid mistakes, fill gaps in skills and experience, identify new avenues and accelerate results through confident decision-making. At the end of the day it’s about accessing trusted external expertise — people they don’t already have sitting around the table.”

Globally, advisory boards are evolving — and the GCC is leading some of that change. “Professionals in the region are fast adopting best practice advisory boards into their portfolio of work,” Broekman said. “It’s clear they are hungry for a modern approach to governance and seek a practical way to apply it.”

She highlighted that the region leads the world in participation in the Certified Chair Executive Program, the Advisory Board Centre’s flagship credential. “It sells out in the region faster than anywhere else in the world,” she said.

“Best practice is underpinned by principles and ethical frameworks around how advice is provided and consumed, so it puts the region in good stead for quality, well-informed decision-making by leaders. This is why we’re bringing the Megatrends Summit to Dubai in November — to really explore the potential of the region.”

Government strategies in the UAE and Saudi Arabia are also shaping the advisory ecosystem. “Because of the scale of the policy ambition in the region, organisations are looking for the finest advisory expertise globally — because they are doing things they have never done before,” Broekman said.

She cited Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 as a prime example. “There’s wide-reaching ambition across water, housing, education policy, to name a few. The university sector is a pivotal moment for the region, whereby universities are mandated to have global thought leadership advisory boards… an indication of the strategic imperative to embed a global mindset for the future.”

Such frameworks, she added, enable countries to shape governance on their own terms. “It means they are able to control decision-making in their own market (which acts both as an innovation lens and a protective mechanism) in an ever-changing global market. It becomes a strength in the way governance is formed in the region.”

Broekman believes the GCC’s open-mindedness is helping it leapfrog mature governance markets. “Modern governance is being challenged in different ways: over- and under-regulation. In mature governance markets, strong overregulation places constraints on governance boards, where risk and compliance flood the agenda and lead to a conservative mindset,” she said.

“By contrast, underregulated environments like Saudi Arabia are in many ways better positioned to build smart, tech-driven governance systems from the ground up.”

The next decade: embedding governance in transformation

Looking ahead, Broekman said the GCC’s governance evolution will continue to parallel its economic diversification. “The GCC has a unique opportunity to adopt technology swiftly and adapt to a modern governance approach faster than other hubs,” she noted. “With the region pursuing bold initiatives where others lag — spanning infrastructure, communities, international trade, and more — the next decade will see advisory boards and governance frameworks evolve hand in hand with the region’s strategic goals.”

For Broekman, the advisory board model is more than a governance trend; it is becoming a key enabler of institutional maturity. In an era defined by transformation and capital influx, the GCC’s embrace of structured advice may well become one of its most enduring competitive advantages.

Egypt raised prices on a wide range of fuel products on Friday, the country’s official gazette said, marking the second increase this year, in line with government policies to reduce subsidies and ease a budget deficit.

The increases of 10.5 per cent to 12.9 per cent on a wide range of petroleum products followed a hike of nearly 15 per cent in April. Egypt’s petroleum ministry said the government would freeze domestic fuel prices for at least a year after Friday’s rise, citing local, regional and global developments.

The ministry added that the petroleum sector would continue operating its refineries at full capacity, paying arrears to partners and offering incentives to boost output and reduce import costs.

Prices for diesel, one of the most commonly used fuels in the country, were raised by 2 Egyptian pounds ($0.0421) to 17.50 pounds per litre from 15.50 pounds.

Egypt remained committed to lowering its energy subsidies and bringing domestic prices in line with actual costs by December as it works to reduce a wide current account deficit, the International Monetary Fund said in March. The government said it would continue to subsidise diesel, even if that required raising prices of other fuels above cost to help cover the subsidy.

The IMF has pushed the government to cut fuel, electricity and food subsidies while expanding social safety nets under an $8bn loan.

In the second quarter, Egypt’s current account deficit stood at $2.2bn, with imports of oil products rising to $500m from $400m a year earlier, according to data from the country’s central bank.

Gasoline prices increased by as much as 12.7 per cent, depending on the grade, with 80 octane gasoline rising to 17.75 pounds per litre, while 92 octane rose to 19.25 pounds and 95 octane increased to 21 pounds.

In a significant regulatory move, the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing has announced updated penalties for landlords who illegally subdivide buildings in violation of their original permits. As per the revised regulations, fines ranging between SAR5,000 and SAR25,000 will be imposed on violators. In addition, landlords will be obligated to remove the unauthorised modifications at their own expense.

The updated penalties are part of the ministry’s broader efforts to regulate the urban environment, ensure structural safety, and enforce municipal regulations and licensing requirements, a Saudi Gazette report said.

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In instances where reversing the violation is structurally impossible due to its potential impact on the safety of the building, the violator will be required to pay half the cost of the building. Furthermore, they must correct and remove any resulting damage and provide a safety certificate from a qualified engineering firm accredited by the ministry to confirm the structural integrity of the building.

Negative impact on urban infrastructure

The ministry has emphasised that the unauthorised subdivision of buildings into smaller units adversely affects the urban fabric of cities. This practice leads to a noticeable rise in population density, places additional pressure on basic services, and causes congestion in parking spaces surrounding these buildings.

Violators will be granted a 60-day grace period to correct their status after receiving official notice. All rectification work must align with approved regulatory procedures to ensure building safety is not compromised during the process. The ministry has urged violators to act swiftly to avoid further penalties.

The ministry clarified that the purpose of these updated regulations is to curb irregular development practices, protect residents, and enhance the quality and safety of urban living environments. It has called on landlords and investors to fully comply with the laws before executing any subdivision or modification work in their buildings.