Emirates Global Aluminium, the largest industrial company in the United Arab Emirates outside oil and gas, today signed an agreement with the Emirati Talent Competitiveness Council (NAFIS) to share the company’s best practice in Emiratisation with the private sector.

EGA has one of the highest Emiratisation rates of any major company, when accounting for the high number of blue collar roles in heavy industry. Under the agreement, NAFIS and EGA will cooperate so private sector companies can benefit from EGA’s more than four decades of experience in Emiratisation.

The agreement was signed at EGA’s Al Taweelah site in the presence of His Excellency Dr. Abdulrahman Al Awar, Minister of Human Resources and Emiratisation, by His Excellency Ghannam Butti Al Mazrouei, Secretary General of NAFIS, and Abdulnasser Bin Kalban, Chief Executive Officer of EGA.

During the visit, His Excellency Dr. Al Awar greeted several hundred newly-recruited Emiratis at EGA.

The recruits are amongst the more than 220 UAE Nationals EGA hired last year, including 100 women. The average age of EGA’s 2022 Emirati intake was 23 years old. While EGA recruits mid-career experts, the company focuses on attracting and developing young people who are starting their careers as talent for the future.

NAFIS is a Federal Government initiative that aims to raise the competitiveness of Emirati citizens and provide them with job opportunities in the private sector, including through recruitment, training, and salary and benefits support. NAFIS is projected to allocate around 24 billion dirhams to provide benefits to 170,000 Emirati citizens within five years of its initiation.

EGA finished 2022 with an in-focus Emiratisation rate of 42 per cent.

His Excellency Dr. Abdulrahman Al Awar, Minister of Human Resources and Emiratisation said: “Meeting the talented young Emiratis starting their careers at EGA was a true pleasure.

EGA has always been at the forefront of Emiratisation over the past decades, with local talent the foundation of this UAE industrial company’s global competitiveness. All private sector companies can benefit from EGA's expertise as we work to drive Emiratisation in our national economy."

His Excellency Ghannam Butti Al Mazrouei, Secretary General of ETCC, said: "We are honoured to partner with EGA as a key member of the Emirati Talent Competitiveness Council, NAFIS, in alignment with the government's efforts to establish strong partnerships and create a supportive environment for Emiratis to excel in the private sector. Our partnership demonstrates our commitment to promoting collaboration for the benefit of private sector employees through the NAFIS programme and its empowering initiatives. We commend EGA for its unwavering dedication and comprehensive programme to cultivate productive Emirati human capital in the private industrial sector."

Abdulnasser Bin Kalban, Chief Executive Officer of Emirates Global Aluminium, said: “Recruiting and developing UAE Nationals has been a priority at EGA since we began production in the late 1970s. Emiratisation at EGA ensures we have the talent we need to succeed, as well as creating opportunities for local men and women in line with national priorities. We look forward to working closely with NAFIS to support its work to accelerate Emiratisation across the UAE’s private sector. I was honoured to introduce His Excellency to some of our new recruits.”

Iman Al Qasim, Executive Vice President of Human Capital at Emirates Global Aluminium, said: “The agreement with NAFIS will enable us to share our knowledge and experience on recruiting and developing UAE Nationals to succeed in the private sector. Partnership with NAFIS will also support our own further Emiratisation through the recruitment and development of UAE Nationals.  As our own goal is to continuously improve our Emiratisation performance at EGA for the future success of the company as well as the nation.”.”

EGA’s National Training programmes develop young UAE Nationals for operational roles in EGA’s industrial facilities and in administration. More than 5,000 UAE Nationals have graduated from the programmes since they were first established in 1982, with many pursuing long and successful careers at EGA and some reaching the highest levels in the company.

Almost 1,200 UAE Nationals now work at EGA. Over 700 of EGA’s Emirati employees are under the age of 35.

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Contacts at EGA:
Simon Buerk
sbuerk@ega.ae

About EGA 

Since 1975, when it was founded as Dubai Aluminium by His Highness Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Emirates Global Aluminium has been innovating aluminium to make modern life possible.

Today EGA is the world’s biggest ‘premium aluminium’ producer and the largest industrial company in the United Arab Emirates outside the oil and gas industry.

EGA is equally-owned by Mubadala Investment Company of Abu Dhabi and the Investment Corporation of Dubai. It is the largest company jointly owned by the two Emirates.

EGA is an integrated aluminium producer, with operations from bauxite mining to the production of cast primary aluminium. EGA operates aluminium smelters in Jebel Ali and Al Taweelah, an alumina refinery in Al Taweelah and a bauxite mine and associated export facilities in the Republic of Guinea.

EGA’s aluminium is the second largest made-in-the UAE export after oil and gas. In 2021, EGA sold 2.54 million tonnes of cast metal. EGA is the only UAE producer and makes the UAE the fifth largest aluminium producing nation in the world.

EGA has more than 400 customers in over 50 countries. In 2021, value-added products accounted for 84 per cent of EGA’s cast metal sales.

EGA’s aluminium is primarily used in the construction, automotive, packaging, aerospace and electronics industries.

Around 10 per cent of EGA’s aluminium production is sold in the UAE to around 26 downstream aluminium companies that make products with EGA’s aluminium. The growing broader aluminium sector in the UAE supports 60,950 jobs. EGA itself employs over 7,000 of these people including almost 1,200 UAE Nationals.

EGA has focused on technology development for over 25 years. EGA has used its own technology for every smelter expansion since the 1990s and has retrofitted all its older production lines. In 2016 EGA became the first UAE industrial company to licence its core industrial process technology internationally.

As a corporate citizen of the UAE, EGA aspires in all its operations to be measured amongst the world’s leading metals and mining companies in meeting its environmental and social responsibilities. In 2017, EGA became the first Middle East headquartered company to join the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative, a global programme to foster greater sustainability and transparency in the aluminium industry. In 2019, EGA’s Al Taweelah site became the first in the Middle East to receive certification from ASI for its sustainability practices and performance. EGA’s Jebel Ali site was certified in 2021. ASI certification is the aluminium industry’s internationally recognised standard for environmental and social performance and governance.

In 2021, EGA began production of CelestiAL solar aluminium, produced with solar power from the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park on the outskirts of Dubai. EGA is the first company in the world to make aluminium commercially using the power of the sun.

EGA was formed in 2014 through the merger of Dubai Aluminium and Emirates Aluminium.

EGA’s Jebel Ali aluminium smelter began production as DUBAL in 1979. At almost five square kilometres, this site is five times bigger than Dubai Mall.

EMAL started production in 2009 and its Al Taweelah aluminium smelter was the largest single-site aluminium smelter in the world when completed. EGA’s Al Taweelah site is five times bigger than Al Maryah Island at six square kilometres.

EGA has its own power stations at both sites, producing electricity to meet its needs. EGA’s electricity generation capacity is 6,474 megawatts, making EGA the third largest electricity generator in the UAE after the Dubai and Abu Dhabi utilities. EGA also produces water through desalination units at its power plants.

EGA began production at Al Taweelah alumina refinery in April 2019. EGA’s alumina refinery is the first in the UAE and only the second in the Middle East. The project reduces the UAE’s dependence on imported alumina and supplies over 40 per cent of EGA’s needs.

Bauxite exports from Guinea Alumina Corporation, EGA’s wholly-owned subsidiary in Guinea, began in August 2019. The GAC project was one of the largest greenfield investments in Guinea in over 40 years.

For more information on EGA please visit www.ega.ae.