Sovereign and institutional engagement in frontier markets
Azal Advisors helps sovereign and institutional clients seize opportunities, expand influence, and manage risk in complex international environments. We combine the structure of a management consultancy with a deliberately diverse network of senior advisors and trusted in-country relationships, producing insight worth acting on and facilitating the engagements that advance our clients’ objectives. We are politically independent and discreet, and we are clear about the limits of what we know.
WHAT WE DO
PRESENCE THAT PRODUCES INSIGHT AND OPPORTUNITY
Global complexity is intensifying, driven by geopolitical rivalry, economic realignment, and technological disruption. In this environment, sound decisions depend on expertise, judgment and trusted relationships that cannot be reached from a desk. We provide insight that others cannot, drawn from our network of senior advisors and from firsthand engagement on the ground, structured for senior decision-makers. The same presence that produces our analysis surfaces the concrete opportunities our clients can pursue.
SOVEREIGN ADVISORY
Bilateral cooperation strengthening; sovereign investment strategy; independent political, economic and social assessments; pre-diplomatic engagement.
INSTITUTIONAL ADVISORY
Investment sourcing; stakeholder mapping; political and security assessment; partner identification and due diligence.
OUR APPROACH
BRIDGING EXPERTISE WITH STRUCTURE
Sound analysis of a multipolar world requires experts who inhabit it from different vantage points. Our network is built on that principle: geographic, cultural and intellectual diversity, because the questions our clients face demand nothing less.
We work through three layers. Every engagement is led by a principal who defines scope, selects the right advisors, coordinates field engagement, and produces the deliverable. Behind the principal sit dozens of senior advisors — academics, former officials and practitioners from backgrounds well beyond the Western mainstream — who provide independent assessment on each mandate. And underpinning both is an in-country network of relationships and analysts across our geographic footprint, providing firsthand insight through privileged conversations with decision-makers and informed actors.
POLICY BRIEFS
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
Saudi Arabia’s Power Sector Transformation: Execution, Resilience, and the European Partnership Opportunity
Saudi Arabia’s energy transformation is driven by economic logic as much as climate ambition: every barrel no longer burned domestically is a barrel available for export. With electricity demand growing at 7.9% in 2025 to a record 349 TWh, the pressure to restructure the power system is acute. The kingdom’s objective of 100 to 130 GW of renewables by 2030, world-record solar tariffs, and a battery storage rollout that would rank it third globally has seen it overtake the UAE as the Gulf’s leading renewables market. The Hormuz disruption of 2026 confirmed that renewables are a security asset as much as a decarbonisation tool, a lesson Europe learnt in 2022. For European policymakers, Saudi Arabia is now positioning itself as a long-term supplier of green hydrogen to European markets, with active engagement in EU certification frameworks signalling a choice to build regulatory convergence, not simply to comply with it.
A multilateral collateralized digital currency as an instrument of influence for oil-exporting states
Gulf States are in the front line of the strategic competition between China and the United States. The former seeks to secure a steady supply of oil while extending its economic and technology influence. The latter continues to play a dominant role in enabling the defence of Gulf States while leveraging this position to keep them from embracing China. This situation is also reflected in the recurring topic of the dedollarization of global oil-trade and China’s desire to settle oil-purchases in its own currency, the Renminbi, which for a variety of reasons does not yet serve the interests of Gulf-based oil-exporters. This report argues that a multilateral and oil-collateralized digital currency (MCDC) could provide like-minded Gulf oil-exporters with a tool of partial monetary policy independence and enhanced global influence, ultimately enabling them to carve a more independent policy that serves their own interest rather than the one of either of the two super-powers.
How can GCC countries achieve equilibrium in the China-India competition?
The competition between China and India continues to grow, driven by territorial disputes and China’s growing strategic dominance and assertiveness. Both countries are also increasing their demand for energy and raw materials to fuel their economic growth. In our latest report, Dr Naranayappa Janardhan (Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy) and Nicolas Dunais (Azal Advisors) argue that Gulf policymakers should pursue a balanced relationship with China and India, avoid “picking sides”, and where possible, encourage them to cooperate rather than compete in the commercial and security realms.