Abu Dhabi-based Aldar Properties is fully committed to maintain its listing, the company said Sunday, moving to quash market speculation that it may delist after a government investment firm raised its stake in the property developer through a recent bond conversion.

On September 29 2011, Bharti Airtel announced it had signed a deal with Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) to deploy 2G and 3G networks in seven African countries. BMI believes it a good strategy for NSN, which will allow the company to gain experience and increase its presence in the fast-growing African market. BMI predicts African telecoms businesses will enjoy strong growth over the medium term, and the move will help NSN in its strategic shift from low growth developed countriesto high-growth developing markets.The move comes one day after the announcement that NSN?s parent companies Nokia and Siemens will invest EUR500mn each in the company, and a new head of strategy was appointed. These shifts in dynamics bode well for the company, as its heavy focus on low-growth developed markets has led to a loss of competitiveness and slow revenue growth. This deal shows the company is looking to move to markets with greater growth potential. Africa is a high growth region, and we expecttelecoms services to take off in line with the economies of many of these markets. By gaining a greater foothold in the region, BMI believes NSN will be well placed to benefit from this growth.

BMI View: New data that have come to light indicate that the UAE has assumed the position of thelargest construction market in the region by industry value. While the historic and forecasted industryvalue has consequently changed, growth trends remain in place. We anticipate a moderation in growthfrom 2011 onward, and we do not forecast the double-digit growth of the construction boom years toreturn. Since 2009, Abu Dhabi has been - and we anticipate that will continue to be - the driver ofindustry value growth, accounting for the majority of construction industry value in the UAE.The construction and infrastructure market in the UAE remains stagnant, with public investments drivingactivity, and picking up some of the slack left behind from the real estate slowdown.The energy and utilities sector is perhaps the strongest performer, as industrial users ramp uptheir capacity. The most recent example at time of writing is the EPC contract awarded to SouthKorea's Samsung C&T for the construction of a US$580mn thermal power plant for EmiratesAluminium. According to BMI?s Key Projects Database, nearly US$60bn of utilities projects(including the nuclear power plant) are underway, or are planned in the UAE.The transport projects pipeline has been leaner over the previous quarter. The constructioncontract for the Etihad Railway (formerly known as the Union Railway) will be the main eventof 2011 in the sector.The Mafraq-Ghweifat highway public private partnership (PPP) hangs in the balance at time ofwriting, with reports in MEED that the government of Abu Dhabi is considering alternativeprocurement methods. This is the first PPP of its kind in the UAE, and the cancellation could bea blow for the prospects of major transport PPPs.Data and estimates on the value of projects cancelled continue to surface. Citigroup estimatesthat since the beginning of 2009 to August 2011, a total of US$170bn of projects have beencancelled and delayed in the UAE, the majority of which have be

BMI assumes that UAE real GDP rose by 1.4%% in 2010, and we expect average annual growth of3.35% in 2010-2015. We expect oil demand to rise from an estimated 682,000b/d in 2010 to 771,000b/din 2015, lagging our underlying economic assumptions. State-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company(ADNOC) is the biggest national oil company, working in partnership with major international oilcompanies (IOCs) to deliver 2.85mn b/d of oil and liquids production in 2010, rising to 3.02mn b/d by theend of the forecast period ? subject to OPEC quota policy. The UAE?s share of Middle Eastern oilproduction will fall from 11.53% in 2010 to 10.09% in 2015, while its share of oil consumption is set tofall slightly from 7.28% to 7.06% in the same period.Gas production should reach 62bcm by 2015, up from 51bcm in 2010. Consumption is expected to risefrom 61bcm in 2010 to 77bcm by the end of the forecast period, requiring net imports of around 15.8bcm.The UAE?s estimated share of Middle Eastern gas consumption in 2010 will have been 17.87%, while itsshare of production is put at 10.63%. By 2015, its share of gas consumption is forecast to be 18.4%, withthe country accounting for 10.2% of supply.The 2010 full-year outturn was US$77.45/bbl for OPEC crude, which delivered an average for North SeaBrent of US$80.34/bbl and for West Texas Intermediate (WTI) of US$79.61/bbl. The BMI price target ofUS$77 was reached thanks to the early onset of particularly cold weather, which drove up demand for andthe price of heating oil during the closing weeks of the year.In light of the unrest in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region in H111, as well as the oilsupply effects of the Libyan civil war, we have raised our benchmark OPEC Basket price forecast fromUS$80 to US$101.90/bbl for 2011 and from US$85 to US$97.50/bbl for 2012. We expect Brent toaverage US$106.00/bbl in 2011 and US$101.50/bbl in 2012. We have kept our long-term (2014-20) priceassumption of US$90/bbl (OPEC Basket) in place.The UAE no

The figures compiled by Oil Movements, which exclude Ecuador and Angola, received a boost by resurgent Libyan production, which reached 1 million barrels a day.