Emirates Development Bank (EDB), the UAE’s leading national development bank driving economic diversification and industrial growth, has premiered its groundbreaking documentary, The Multiplier Effect, at an exclusive VIP screening at Cinema Akil. The film marks a new chapter in financial storytelling, highlighting the inspiring human stories behind the nation’s economic transformation.

Developed in partnership with the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology (MoIAT)’s ‘Make it in the Emirates’ initiative and the Ministry of Economy and Tourism’s ‘Startup Capital of the World’ national initiative, the documentary offers an intimate look at how strategic support creates a ripple effect of progress across society. It follows the inspiring stories of three entrepreneurs who, with EDB’s support, have overcome immense personal and professional challenges to build businesses in the UAE. By showcasing these real journeys of resilience and innovation, the film aims to inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs to take bold steps in building the UAE’s entrepreneurial nation.

Through a partnership with STARZPLAY, the documentary will be streamed to audiences across the region, with its public launch set for December 2nd, a tribute to the UAE’s visionary leadership and national spirit.

The premiere was attended by representatives from the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology, the Ministry of Economy and Tourism, and other government partners, as well as senior executives from STARZPLAY, alongside EDB partners from the public and private sectors, entrepreneurs from the industrial ecosystem, and leading media representatives.

H.E. Ahmed Mohamed Al Naqbi, Chief Executive Officer of Emirates Development Bank, said: “The Multiplier Effect highlights the people and ideas driving the UAE’s economic transformation. At EDB, our mission is straightforward: when we finance growth, the nation grows. Every business we support contributes to jobs, innovation, and long-term value for the country. This film shows that impact clearly. By backing ambitious founders and working closely with our government and partners, we are strengthening the foundations of a diversified and future-ready economy.”

As the UAE’s national development bank, EDB plays a critical role in advancing the country’s economic diversification agenda and supporting the National Strategy for Industry and Advanced Technology. The documentary highlights how EDB’s support and financing in priority sectors, including advanced technology, food security, and healthcare, is creating a powerful multiplier effect that drives economic growth, job creation, and self-sufficiency.

H.E. Abdulaziz Al-Nuaimi, Assistant Undersecretary for Entrepreneurship and the Economic Affairs Regulatory Sector, Ministry of Economy and Tourism, said: “The UAE’s vision for economic development is fundamentally people-centric. We measure success not only by outputs, but also by the human spirit and resilience — the founders who take risks, innovate, and shape new industries. This same vision lies at the core of the ‘Startup Capital of the World’ campaign. It is not just about numbers or rankings; it is primarily about fostering a culture where entrepreneurship becomes a natural and celebrated path for the UAE’s youth. When government, financial institutions, investors, and industry work seamlessly together, entrepreneurs gain the confidence to take bold steps. The stories featured in this film show exactly what that ecosystem makes possible, and how it inspires many more to contribute to a diversified, future-ready economy.”

The documentary features:

• Rashid Al Sulmi, the founder of SULMI, who risked his family’s legacy to build the UAE’s first electric motorbike from scratch in his garage. SULMI is a graduate of the Make it in the Emirates Accelerator, launched in partnership with MoIAT earlier this year at the Make it in the Emirates 2025 event.
• Bodour Al Tamimi,the founder of Pure Soil, a mother who turned her battle with autoimmune disease into a thriving organic food business, proving that world-class, healthy products can be made in the UAE. Pure Soil is also a graduate of the Make it in the Emirates Accelerator.
• Hiba Orfahli, a cancer survivor who, just weeks before her wedding, found hope in a pioneering, scarless surgical procedure at Oriana Hospital in Sharjah – a healthcare facility supported by EDB – enabling her to start a family.

Since launching its strategy in 2021, EDB has provided more than AED 22.6 billion in total financing, created over 38,000 jobs, and contributed over AED 10 billion to the UAE’s industrial GDP.

Beyond financing, EDB plays a pivotal role in building a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem that empowers businesses to scale and succeed. Through initiatives like the AGRIX Accelerator and Make it in the Emirates Accelerator, EDB provides entrepreneurs with strategic mentorship, technical expertise, market access, and connections to a network of partners and resources. This holistic approach ensures that entrepreneurs and growing businesses receive not just finance, but the comprehensive support needed to transform ambitious ideas into globally competitive enterprises that drive the UAE’s industrial future.

Beyond documenting success, “The Multiplier Effect” serves as a powerful call to action for aspiring entrepreneurs across the UAE and beyond. Each story demonstrates that with the right support, determination, and ecosystem, ambitious ideas can transform into world-class businesses that create jobs, advance industries, and inspire others to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams. “The Multiplier Effect” will be available for public viewing on December 2nd. EDB encourages all media partners to embed the full documentary to share these inspiring stories with the world and fuel the entrepreneurial spirit that is building the UAE’s future.

Attributed to: Shivansh Rachit, Founder and Chairman at Hedge & Sachs Financial Consultations

Dubai is accelerating into a new phase of capital strategy, where private equity, venture capital, private credit, and alternative investments are reshaping how institutional and private wealth investors build long-term portfolios. Over the last two months, a surge of policy announcements, DIFC reports, and private markets activity has signalled a decisive shift: alternatives are no longer supplementary, they are becoming central to Dubai’s investment landscape.

Dubai’s Private Wealth Ecosystem Expands

A major inflection point came with the DIFC Future of Alternative Investments Report, which revealed that 52% of regional HNWIs increased their allocations to alternatives in 2025, seeking stronger yield, inflation-resilience, and diversification.

The report highlights that Dubai now sits at the crossroads of a US$20 trillion global alternative asset opportunity, with inflows from Europe, Asia, and Africa accelerating throughout October and November.

Dubai’s regulatory clarity, tax efficiency, and reputation as a global wealth hub continue to attract institutional investors and family offices who are shifting their asset base to the DIFC.

Private Equity: Deal Pipelines Strengthen Across Growth Sectors

Private equity activity has expanded in late 2025, with new regional and global funds establishing structures in the DIFC. The strongest flows are seen in sectors such as clean energy, logistics, healthcare, and AI-driven enterprises, all highlighted during Dubai’s October private markets briefings.

Fund managers are not only deploying capital in the UAE; they are anchoring their global PE operations in Dubai, citing a stable regulatory environment and seamless access to emerging markets across the Middle East and Africa.

Private Credit: The Fastest-Growing Alternative in the UAE

Private credit has surged as companies across the GCC seek non-bank financing. At the Dubai Fixed Income & Alternatives Conference in October 2025, investors highlighted private credit as one of the strongest performing alternative asset classes this year.

Higher yields, lower volatility, and asset-backed structures are pushing wealth managers to rebalance portfolios away from public markets. As global banks tighten lending conditions, Dubai’s private credit ecosystem is scaling rapidly, attracting global institutional capital.

Venture Capital: Maturing Despite Global Slowdowns

While global VC markets remain cautious, the UAE continues to grow its venture landscape. New VC licensing frameworks introduced in late 2025 have made the DIFC a preferred destination for global funds.

Founders from Europe and Asia are relocating to Dubai due to stronger capital availability, tax advantages, and access to regional growth markets. Fintech, AI, Web3, healthtech, and cloud-infrastructure startups are securing the majority of new funding rounds.

Infrastructure, Real Assets & The Rise of Long-Term Alternatives

Investors are increasing allocation to infrastructure funds, digital assets, renewable energy projects, and logistics hubs are all viewed as inflation-resistant and high-duration investments.

The UAE’s national energy transition strategy and regional megaprojects (transport, logistics, decarbonisation) make infrastructure and hard-asset investments highly attractive for pension funds, sovereign investors, and UHNW families.

Regulatory Strength: DIFC as a Global Alternatives Hub

What distinguishes Dubai’s alternative asset surge is not just investor appetite, it is the regulatory ecosystem accelerating it.

During October and November, the DIFC expanded its regulatory pathways for private funds, alternative asset vehicles, and cross-border structures. Global wealth platforms highlighted Dubai as one of the world’s most sophisticated jurisdictions for private markets, offering governance clarity, secure fund domiciliation, and international interoperability.

This regulatory sophistication is reinforcing investor confidence, drawing in new global GPs, private credit platforms, and venture firms.

A Structural Shift in Portfolio Strategy

Over the past few months, the message from Dubai’s financial ecosystem has been consistent and clear: the future of wealth in the UAE is alternative-led.

Traditional stocks and bonds remain relevant, however they are no longer the core of portfolio construction. Instead, private equity, private credit, venture capital, infrastructure, and real assets are becoming the foundational instruments of long-term investing.

As Dubai strengthens its regulatory architecture, expands ecosystem depth, and attracts global capital flows, the emirate is positioning itself as one of the world’s leading hubs for alternative assets where sophisticated capital strategies and future-focused portfolios converge.

Heriot-Watt University and Grant Thornton today published a detailed report on the representation of women in senior leadership roles across the UAE’s financial services sector. Entitled ‘Discovery Series 2025: Women transforming financial services’, the importance of this report lies in its role as an evidence-based benchmark for gender representation within one of the UAE’s most influential economic sectors. As the second edition of The Discovery Series, this report builds on the momentum of the 2024 report by deepening the analysis, expanding the scope of the data, and reinforcing the critical contributions women are making at board and senior leadership levels.

The report highlights the contributions of senior female leaders across the UAE’s banks, investment firms, insurance and fintech companies, including board directors, Chief Risk Officers, and Heads of Internal Audit. As the UAE continues to build a resilient, diversified economy and reduce its reliance on oil, the financial services sector plays a crucial role in driving non-oil Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and strengthening governance.

In 2024, the UAE’s economy grew by 4% to AED 1.77 trillion, with the non-oil sector accounting for more than three-quarters of the GDP.  Among key drivers of this growth is the financial industry, which contributed around 13.2% to the economy. Within the sector, risk and control functions, led by Chief Risk Officers (CRO) and Heads of Internal Audit (HIA), are essential to safeguarding its integrity and enabling sustainable growth. Women’s participation in these key areas not only enhances organisational resilience but also supports the national agenda for a balanced, transparent, and well-regulated financial system. The 2025 Discovery Series: Women transforming financial services report highlights both the representation of women in these pivotal roles and the opportunity to champion and accelerate women’s leadership across risk, audit, and control functions, thereby reinforcing the UAE’s long-term economic transformation.

The report, led by Professor Dame Heather McGregor, Provost and Vice Principal of Heriot-Watt University Dubai, includes research analysing board and leadership data from the 2025 financial year across 73 publicly listed financial sector companies in the UAE. The report captures data on 539 board members across three main stock exchanges in the UAE: Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX), Dubai Financial Market (DFM), and Nasdaq Dubai.

Key findings from this report are as follows:

• As of 1 September 2025, a total of 539 board members were identified by name and gender.
• Of the 539 listed board positions in the financial services sector, 85 (15.8%) are taken by women. This is higher than the UAE-wide average of 14.8% across all sectors, according to the 2025 GCC

Board Gender Index, highlighting that the financial sector is slightly ahead in advancing women’s representation at the board level.

• Eight (11%) of the 73 companies have no woman on their board, indicating that while progress has been made across the sector, gender representation remains uneven.
• Out of 49 identified companies, only three (around 6%) have a female CRO, highlighting a gap in female representation in leadership roles in the risk function and the need for proactive measures and greater accountability.
• Of the 60 companies where the HIA has been named, six (10%) have a female HIA, underscoring the need to strengthen gender balance within control functions.

Commenting on the release of the 2025 Discovery Series: Women transforming financial services, Hisham Farouk, CEO of Grant Thornton UAE said, “The UAE’s story is one of intentional progress – building a world class, innovation led economy with finance at its core. From capital markets and Islamic finance to a fast maturing fintech ecosystem and robust digital infrastructure, the financial sector is powering diversification, attracting global investment and creating skilled jobs. Yet true leadership is measured not only by growth, but by the prosperity of its people.”

“The Discovery Series is a benchmark designed to help industry, regulators and boards track progress and actively close the leadership representation gap. We are thrilled to partner with Heriot-Watt University Dubai on this report, which highlights both the progress made and the work still ahead to ensure women have equal opportunity to lead,” he added.

Emma Smalls, UAE Head of Business Risk Private Bank at HSBC Middle East, said, “The Discovery Series 2025 highlights both the progress and the opportunities that lie ahead for gender-balanced leadership in the UAE’s financial services sector. While we celebrate the growing representation of women on boards and in senior roles, this report also showcases the need for continued focus on inclusive leadership across the ecosystem. By shining a light on organisations and individuals leading the way, we hope to inspire further action and accelerate the journey toward truly diverse and resilient governance.”

Professor Dame Heather McGregor, Provost and Vice Principal of Heriot-Watt University Dubai, said, “Our intention in publishing the 2025 Discovery Series: Women transforming financial services was to provide a clear, evidence-based picture of gender representation at senior levels in the UAE financial sector. In partnership with Grant Thornton UAE, we aim to shed light on how women are shaping governance, risk, and reform from within, and to identify the organisations setting the benchmark for inclusive leadership. As one of the most progressive sectors in the UAE, the financial industry has a significant responsibility to champion gender equity.”

“The findings aim to bring clarity, transparency and evidence-based visibility to a topic where strong sentiment exists, but accurate data is often lacking. The Chief Risk Officers and Heads of Internal Audit are an essential part of any financial organisation, and this study provides facts to inform action and change”, she added.

2025 Discovery Series: Women transforming financial services, can be accessed here. Through this series, Grant Thornton and Heriot-Watt University hope to examine gender representation at senior levels in the sector, capturing both quantitative data and qualitative narratives, and providing sector-specific insights into how women are shaping governance, risk and reform from within.