Banks across the Middle East & Africa lack artificial intelligence specialists required to industrialize the technology across institutions, a new study has identified.

Talent remains the core deterrent to scaling AI initiatives across MEA banks, as the region continues to face relevant personnel shortages, the Evident AI MEA Index report has revealed.

UAE lenders have emerged as best performing banks in Evident’s AI index for banks - MEA, assessing 25 of the largest Middle Eastern and African banks on the quality of their talent stacks, their innovation efforts, the tech leadership of their top executives and the guardrails they’ve set up to govern AI effectively.

UAE-based Emirates NBD leads all banks in the Middle East and Africa on AI maturity, edging out local peer First Abu Dhabi bank, the UAE’s largest bank by assets, which ranked third.

South Africa's Standard Bank Group and Nedbank Group, which ranked second and fourth respectively, have prioritized customer preferences and behaviours in their AI deployment.

Emirati and South African lenders dominating the index have emphasized high-impact processes such as payment processing, onboarding, risk analytics and customer advisory.

Emirates NBD has hasnt concentrated as many resource on R&D or experimentation as other lenders and instead has opted for deployment and scale. The lender has more AI staff focused on software implementation and product management – roles critical to connecting AI to business goals – than any other bank ranked, and has reported tangible results - over 98,000 AI-enabled interviews helped save 13,000 recruiter hours and around $400,000.

First Abu Dhabi Bank has focused on scaled enterprise deployment, having automated 50% of its cross-border payments, while AI advisors have helped increase revenue per relationship manager by 30%.

Saudi Arabia’s Al Rajhi (#9), Dubai-based Mashreq Bank (#10), Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (#12), Qatar National Bank (#16), National Bank of Kuwait (#18) and Dubai Islamic Bank (#21) made it to the index.  

Yet a dearth of specialist AI personnel is limiting the technology’s proliferation, forcing banks to rely heavily on imported expertise. MEA banks employ an average of 300+ AI professionals, compared to a global benchmark of more than 1,750.

Within MEA, AI development staff account for 0.49% of the overall employee base. Not only is the density of regional talent pools significantly below the global benchmark of 0.9%, but they are also unevenly distributed, higher in South Africa (0.95%) and much lower in the UAE (0.29%), Kuwait (0.29%) and Saudi Arabia (0.16%).

Furthermore, MEA banks are increasingly exposed to the global AI talent squeeze, the report said, “compounded by geopolitical instability and structural labour market pressures”.

Most banks invest in AI training programs, but these are not at parity and lag behind global standards.

“Beyond employee training, banks are actively responding to AI talent constraints through internal capability-building efforts that include executive education programs, internal AI events, and targeted graduate or internship pathways. At present, such investments remain uneven and fragmented across the cohort,” the study added.

The World Economic Forum estimates that AI investments across banking, insurance, capital markets and payment businesses will reach $97 billion by 2027.

Abu Dhabi-based Islamic digital banking group Mal has received an in-principal approval from the Central Bank of the UAE to establish a licensed bank.

The approval will facilitate Mal Group’s advancement towards the launch of its global Shariah-compliant financial services platform, state news agency WAM reported. 

Mal aims to build a mobile-first, AI-native Islamic digital bank best place to serve underbanked communities globally.

The group’s approval follows its $230 million seed round, billed as the largest fintech seed round across the Middle East and Africa, to support product development and licensing efforts. 

“We are committed to working hard to launch the world's leading Islamic digital bank from the UAE with a mission rooted in ethical finance,” said Abdallah Abu-Sheikh, CEO and founder of Mal.

Mal Bank will operate through the wider Mal Group ecosystem, spanning banking, wealth, payments, and embedded finance, targeting the $7 trillion Islamic finance space.

The UAE has emerged as a prominent environment for digital financial services, driven by a young, mobile-first population and a conducive regulatory framework. 
 

Saudi Arabia has opened subscriptions for its May issuance of government-backed “Sah” savings Sukuk, offering an annual return of 4.56%, up from 4.50% in the previous month, according to the National Debt Management Center.

The subscription window opened on May 3 at 10:00 a.m. local time and will close on May 5 at 3:00 p.m., as part of the Kingdom’s 2026 Sukuk issuance programme aimed at encouraging personal savings and financial participation.

The minimum subscription amount is $266.56, with a maximum of $53,302 per investor. The Sukuk carries a one-year maturity and offers fixed returns payable at redemption.

The “Sah” Sukuk is part of Saudi Arabia’s Financial Sector Development Programme, which seeks to increase the national savings rate from around 6% to 10% by 2030.

The product is designed as a low-risk, Shariah-compliant savings instrument, offering fee-free participation, flexible redemption and returns linked to prevailing market conditions.

Subscriptions are available to Saudi nationals aged 18 and above through approved platforms, including SNB Capital, Aljazira Capital, Alinma Investment, SAB Invest and Al Rajhi Capital.

The latest issuance follows continued activity in the Kingdom’s domestic debt market. In April, the NDMC raised SR16.94 billion through its riyal-denominated Sukuk programme across five tranches, with maturities ranging from 2031 to 2041.

The offering comes amid stable sovereign credit conditions, with Fitch Ratings reaffirming Saudi Arabia’s A+ rating with a stable outlook earlier this year, citing strong fiscal metrics and financial reserves.

Bond and sukuk issuances in the GCC reached $55.04 billion in the first quarter of 2026, marking a 5.6% increase year-on-year, according to data from Kuwait Financial Centre (Markaz).

The total was raised through 95 deals during the quarter, driven largely by government-backed issuances and continued investor demand for fixed income instruments across the region.

Saudi Arabia accounted for the largest share of issuances at $32.54 billion, representing 59.1% of the total market, followed by the United Arab Emirates at $13.57 billion, or 24.7%. Qatar contributed $4.2 billion, while Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman recorded $2.1 billion, $1.98 billion and $650 million respectively.

Government entities were the largest issuers during the quarter, raising $20.46 billion, followed by the financial sector at $19.45 billion. The energy sector accounted for $5.52 billion in issuances.

Conventional bonds made up the majority of issuances, reaching $35.89 billion, or 65.2% of the total, while sukuk issuances stood at $19.15 billion.

Large transactions played a significant role in overall volumes, with issuances exceeding $1 billion contributing $33.33 billion to the total.

The data reflects steady activity in the GCC’s fixed income market, supported by sovereign borrowing needs and sustained investor participation.

Pakistan has raised $390 million through its first hybrid Sukuk issuance, the finance ministry said on Thursday, marking a new addition to the country’s Shariah-compliant debt instruments.

The Sukuk, issued through an auction process in collaboration with the State Bank of Pakistan, Pakistan Stock Exchange and Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan, combines two Islamic financing structures — Ijarah Sale and Lease Back (SLB) and Commodity Murabaha.

The hybrid Sukuk allocates 55% of proceeds to Ijarah SLB and 45% to Commodity Murabaha, providing a mix of asset-backed leasing and cost-plus financing structures.

The issuance included a one-year fixed-rate discounted Sukuk and a 10-year variable rental rate (VRR) Sukuk. The one-year instrument was priced at 11.80%, while the 10-year VRR Sukuk was set at 11.7185%.

According to the ministry, the offering attracted bids exceeding the target, with total subscriptions reaching 1.45 times the initial $718 million target.

Officials said the hybrid structure is expected to broaden investor participation and deepen Pakistan’s domestic Islamic debt market.

Khaliq Uz Zaman, director of domestic debt at the Finance Ministry, described the issuance as a milestone for the sector, adding that it could help diversify the investor base and support efforts to reduce borrowing costs over time.

Murabaha structures involve the sale of assets at a disclosed cost plus a profit margin, while Ijarah contracts involve leasing assets in exchange for rental payments.

The issuance comes as Pakistan continues to expand its use of Shariah-compliant instruments to meet government financing needs and develop its Islamic finance ecosystem.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has increased its trade finance facility to Arab Islamic Bank by an additional $5 million, bringing the total limit to $10 million to support Palestinian import and export activity.

The expanded financing, provided under the EBRD’s Trade Facilitation Programme (TFP), aims to enhance trade flows between the West Bank and international markets at a time when access to global banking services remains constrained.

“The expanded limit to AIB will facilitate further trade flows between the West Bank and international markets, enabling the issuance of trade finance instruments,” the EBRD said in a statement, highlighting the bank’s role in supporting the resilience of the local financial sector.

AIB joined the TFP in 2023 with an initial limit of $2 million, which has since been increased twice in response to the bank’s growing trade finance activity. The facility has been used to support several transactions, including the import of essential goods such as food and medical equipment.

AIB is the largest Islamic bank operating in the West Bank and Gaza and is a subsidiary of Bank of Palestine, an EBRD client since 2020. Through the programme, AIB has gained access to a global network of more than 100 issuing banks and over 800 confirming banks. Its staff have also participated in EBRD-led training and workshops on trade finance best practices.

Launched in 1999, the EBRD’s Trade Facilitation Programme supports international trade by providing guarantees and short-term financing to participating banks and factoring companies, enabling them to extend funding to local exporters, importers and distributors.

Since commencing operations in the West Bank and Gaza in 2017, the EBRD has approved 38 projects with a total investment volume of €196.5 million, underscoring its ongoing commitment to strengthening the Palestinian financial sector and facilitating economic activity.