Finance & economics | Desert dollars

The UAE is using a wealth fund to gain diplomatic sway

And to build holiday resorts

Small moored fishing boat, with dredging and cargo ships in background, Luanda, Angola
Photograph: Getty Images
|Dubai

Sovereign wealth funds seldom worry about foreign policy. Those that invest abroad typically do so in order to ensure stable returns or diversify holdings, meaning they tend to hold Treasuries and Western stocks. Many have started to spend more at home in order to advance national growth plans. But ADQ, one of the United Arab Emirates’s wealth funds, is heading in a different direction.

This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “Dirham diplomacy”

From the April 27th 2024 edition

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