Yousuf Bastaki

From an ambitious beginning, Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) has become a global leader in aluminium production. Now, the UAE industrial champion is preparing for a dramatic leap forward in growth as it expands upstream and downstream to become an integrated producer focused on innovation and sustainability. Its rise has many lessons to offer other industrial giants in the region.

Four decades ago, the UAE leaders had an ambitious vision to kick-start the country’s industrial development. As a major part of this strategy, we broke ground on our Dubai operations in 1976 and the first smelter pot was activated in 1979.

Initially, it may have been thought that the UAE’s intention of taking a global leadership position in aluminium manufacturing was as unlikely a vision as transforming Dubai into an international tourism destination. Four decades later, both these visions have been

Two facilities

EGA’s core operations are the Jebel Ali operation in Dubai, one of the world’s largest single-site primary aluminium smelters, and the Al Taweelah operation in Abu Dhabi, the world’s largest single-site primary aluminium producer.

Together, the two operations manufacture high purity aluminium in the form of ingots for highprecision use in the electronics and