Government-owned National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD), the nation’s second-largest bank by assets and largest by market value, was ranked among the 50 safest banks in the world in 2009, per Global Finance. The annual ratings compare the long-term credit ratings and total assets of the 500 largest banks around the world.  This on the heels of a second-quarter profit fall of 9.3% from a year ago (though net profits were up 17.7% from the first quarter).

Earlier this month NBAD formally announced its intentions to not only double its operations in Egypt, but also to expand into the “fast-growing” Indian market.  Earlier this year, the government-owned bank set up a representative office in Libya, with the aim of strengthening its presence in that country and North Africa.  And sources also suggested last month that the bank, which already has three outlets in Sudan, plans to be one

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I want to preface this by saying I'm not as bullish on "frontier markets" as I am on "emerging markets". (I define frontier markets as Africa, the Middle East, Eastern Europe; I define emerging markets as the BRIC countries, and a few others). But while the frontier markets were marked down especially hard in 2008, I'm still bullish on their outlook. Many are resource rich, and with political stability, their economies will grow. Keep in mind also that I have a very long time horizon until retirement, and can afford to be patient with investments like these. I do own T Rowe Price's African and Middle East Fund (a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=tramx"TRAMX/a). A recent development for them (within the past year) is that they were allowed to buy shares in Saudi Arabia, which is one of the most attractive countries to invest in in that region. ...

A new poll of 11 economists shows that economists expect real economic growth in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait to slow - but remain positive!br /br /The good news is that the sconomies are still expected to expand. What is clear, however, is that the Gulf is sensitive to the oil price. Obviously, a fall in oil prices from $147 a barrel to $34 a barrel has an impact. br /br /The forecasts are for real growth of 2.4 percent in Saudi Arabia, 2.7 percent in the UAE and 3.5% in Bahrain. Qatar, the world's top exporter of liquefied natural gas, is expected to see the fastest GDP growth next year at 9.5 percent!br /br /We will monitor the extent of the slowdown in the non-oil sectors. across the Gulf will be a key element to monitor," said Giyas Gokkent, chief economist at ...