JEDDAH: A new $6 billion investment mapping intiative was unveiled at the UAE–Africa Tourism Investment Summit 2025, signaling a push to strengthen tourism, infrastructure, and connectivity links across the continent.
Announced during a high-level ministerial roundtable in Dubai, it is expected to generate around 70,000 jobs across multiple African countries, according to UAE Minister of Economy and Tourism Abdulla bin Touq Al-Marri, the Emirates News Agency, also known as WAM, reported.
The plan positions tourism as a central pillar for sustainable development and economic diversification, underscoring the UAE’s growing role as a key investor and strategic partner in Africa.
Al-Marri said that the UAE and Africa stand at a pivotal moment in developing a resilient and sustainable tourism sector.
He added: “This milestone is marked by the launch of a new investment mapping featuring diverse tourism projects in the fields of aviation, logistics services, infrastructure, and the digital sector, with an estimated total value of approximately $6 billion and the potential to generate 70,000 job opportunities in various countries of the African continent.”
Between 2019 and 2023, UAE investments in Africa exceeded $110 billion, ranking the Gulf nation as the fourth-largest investor globally on the continent, after the US, China, and the EU.
Over $70 billion of that capital has gone into green and renewable energy projects, highlighting the UAE’s focus on sustainable growth.
Al-Marri noted that tourism ranks among the top five Emirati investment sectors in Africa, alongside energy, infrastructure, logistics, and real estate.
The new round of projects announced at the summit marks an expansion of this strategy, building on the UAE’s ambitions to align investment with climate goals and sustainable tourism development.
The summit, which began in Dubai on Oct. 27 under the theme “Building Bridges for Sustainable Growth,” is organized by The Bench as part of the Future Hospitality Summit 2025.
The summit coincided with remarks from Secretary-General Elect of the UN World Tourism Organization for the 2026–2029 term, Shaikha Nasser Al-Nowais, who revealed that the global tourism and travel sector contributed $10.9 trillion to the world’s gross domestic product in 2024, accounting for 10 percent of the global economy.
Speaking to WAM on the sidelines of the summit, she said this contribution is expected to rise to $11.7 trillion in 2025, marking a 6.7 percent increase over 2024 and a 13 percent growth compared with 2019 levels.
Al-Nowais noted that while the sector’s recovery continues to outpace global growth, it faces mounting challenges from climate change, rapid technological shifts, and geopolitical tensions — areas that require innovation and cross-regional collaboration to address.
Nigeria’s Minister of Art, Culture, Tourism, and the Creative Economy, Hannatu Musa Musawa, stated that tourism cooperation between the UAE and Nigeria offers a promising avenue for mutual benefits.
She highlighted some strategic projects for collaboration with the UAE and Emirati investors.
On the domestic front, Al-Marri said tourism investments in the UAE reached 28.8 billion dirhams ($7.78 billion) in 2023, rose to 32.2 billion dirhams in 2024, and are expected to reach 35.2 billion dirhams in 2025, “reflecting the country’s ongoing efforts to provide exceptional investment opportunities,” WAM added.
