A look at Middle East and North African sources
Jinfo Blog

By Perrin Kerravala

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The advent of the Arab Spring has greatly increased the uncertainty of doing business in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Still, the region remains a hotbed of business opportunity in oil and gas, infrastructure, green technologies, and food and consumer products. Finding reliable company and counterparty risk information is more important than ever, so it is worth taking a look at the region’s premium subscription services for news, company, finance and industry information.

For business and political news, Arabia Inform (http://www.arabiainform.com) offers several solutions in both English and Arabic. Arabia Inform aggregates content from thousands of media sources, including newspapers, magazines, websites and television channels. Various packages are available under several brand names, for both academic and corporate audiences. Other key publications about the region include proprietary news provider Middle East Economic Digest (MEED), pan-Arab magazine the Middle East, and the more academic Middle East Report.

For financial market information, consider Zawya (http://www.zawya.com), which blends proprietary and aggregated content on companies (about 15,000 MENA firms), industries, economics, capital markets, infrastructure projects and more. Zawya offers different subscription options for different audiences, such as business development or corporate finance.

For those interested in credit risk, Rime (http://www.rimeib.com) offers credit reports on MENA and Mediterranean companies, as well as investigation and consulting services. Rime reports verify a company’s legal status, history, operations and financials, and include a credit appraisal and rating. Similarly, Emcredit or Emirates Credit Information Company Limited (http://www.emcredit.com) offers consumer and company credit reports on UAE-based entities.

Readers working in the financial services industry should take note of IFIS, or Islamic Financial Information Service (http://www.securities.comifis/). IFIS offers news, analysis and data on the global Islamic finance industry. This includes specialised coverage of Sharia-compliant investment vehicles, including the sukuk market (similar to bonds); takaful, or Islamic insurance; and Islamic funds across several market sectors, including equity, real estate, private equity, mutual funds and more. IFIS also includes academic and business research written by Sharia scholars and firms, as well as a database of Sharia scholars, advisory boards and law firms. Finally, those looking for ratings on Islamic financial instruments may find the Islamic International Rating Agency (IIRA) (http://www.iirating.com) of interest. IIRA provides ratings on all types of issuers, including Western and sovereign issuers, but their main focus is on Sharia-compliant products in the Middle East, North Africa, West Africa, Asia and Asia-Pacific.

Finally, industry-specific sources for the MENA region include premium products on project finance, infrastructure projects, and local tenders and awards. Two great examples are MEED Projects (http://www.meedprojects.com), which also offers functionality for conducting sector- and country-level analyses of the region’s projects, and also Ventures Onsite (http://www.venturesonsite.com), which offers detailed information on the contractors and sub-contractors bidding and engaged in oil and gas, power, marine and other industries. Finally, ITP Publishing from Dubai (http://www.itp.com) publishes monthly and weekly trade titles on the MENA region’s hottest sectors, such as construction, IT, oil and gas, and others.

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