Innovation is critical for our country’s development: scientifically, commercially and economically. And critical to innovation is the small and medium enterprise sector.
It is the ambitious entrepreneurs and business owners of the SME sector who will create and develop the new ideas, concepts and technologies that will change our lives.
There are many reasons why individuals are opting to set up their own businesses and contribute to this dynamic landscape. Some have a fantastic idea that demands to be realised. Others can’t stand being tied to their employers’ working hours and prefer to set their own schedules. Others just can’t stand their employers and want to be their own bosses. And then there are those who dream of building their own business empires.
Whatever the reasons, all entrepreneurs share a strong desire for self-fulfillment and a conviction that their business idea will bring them wealth and independence.
Deciding to make the leap to start a business from scratch involves considerable challenges, long hours and unblinking dedication. Outsiders can easily underestimate how much effort it takes.
But if executed correctly, the payback can be substantial – the right balance between work and home, the sense of taking charge of one’s future. Key to a successful business launch is for the entrepreneur to understand his or her strengths and build upon them, while acknowledging weaknesses that might benefit from appropriate support.
Since last year, The National has been actively supporting the SME sector with free advertising in the business section. We will be profiling these businesses and their owners, outlining their personal stories, highlighting their challenges and assessing the opportunities for a critical section of the economy.
The SME sector currently accounts for about 60 per cent of the UAE’s non-oil economy, including 90 per cent of businesses overall. The sector employs more than 42 per cent of workers, with the Ministry of Economy predicting that SMEs will account for 70 per cent of the country’s non-oil GDP by 2021.
Knowing how important this sector is to the growth of the economy, and the opportunities and options it provides to individuals to fulfil themselves, The National on Tuesday launches a campaign to find the entrepreneurs who are making a difference: those people who are introducing the new ideas, setting up the new businesses, creating the new jobs.
We want to celebrate and acknowledge the entrepreneurial spirit and the achievements of these new business people. And just as importantly, to acknowledge their boldness and courage.
The National asks you, our readers, to nominate who you believe to be the top innovator in the UAE by contacting us on email, Twitter, Facebook or Instagram, using the hashtag: #UAEinnovators.
The final list of top nominees will be compiled by The National’s business team and revealed at an SME convention in April.
Send us your suggestion for a top innovator by emailing uaeinnovators@thenational.ae or on Twitter @thenationaluae using #UAEinnovators
Mohammed Al Otaiba is The National’s Editor-in-Chief
@AlOtaiba_M
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The biog
Nickname: Mama Nadia to children, staff and parents
Education: Bachelors degree in English Literature with Social work from UAE University
As a child: Kept sweets on the window sill for workers, set aside money to pay for education of needy families
Holidays: Spends most of her days off at Senses often with her family who describe the centre as part of their life too
Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
'Jurassic%20World%20Dominion'
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
TOP 5 DRIVERS 2019
1 Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 10 wins 387 points
2 Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes, 4 wins, 314 points
3 Max Verstappen, Red Bull, 3 wins, 260 points
4 Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, 2 wins, 249 points
5 Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 1 win, 230 points
