The next generation

In the space of just a few decades, the UAE - and in particular Dubai - has grown to become one of the world's most cosmopolitan and forward-thinking places. A global destination with a booming economy, Dubai alone is home to more than 200 nationalities and from just one skyscraper in 1979, now has a skyline to compete with New York and Singapore.

The Al Ghurair family has played a major part in that growth and their achievements are visible across Dubai. Mashreq Bank remains the largest and oldest private bank in the UAE, while the Al Ghurair Centre - one of the first shopping malls in the Middle East - has set new standards for retail and leisure with more than 300 stores and dining outlets. Al Ghurair Construction also had a hand in building the Dubai metro and the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building.

But for many, Abdulla's greatest legacy will not be these bricks and mortar achievements, but rather how he used that fortune to uplift the community around him and carve out new ways to address systemic inequalities to broaden education and employment opportunities.

The family's commitment to education is playing an important role in helping the UAE of today not just compete globally, but arguably, get ahead, and gives its learners the edge when it comes to the knowledge economy as we enter into what policy makers have called the Third Industrial Revolution.

The formation of the Foundation marked a departure from the more discrete philanthropy practised by Abdulla Al Ghurair's generation, but the businessman's eldest son, Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair, who is the chairman of AGF, believes a data-led focus on impact and partnerships is the only way to meet the size of the challenges the family's philanthropy is seeking to address.

Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair, a former Speaker of the House of the Federal National Council (FNC), the UAE's parliamentary body, also believes in the power of philanthropists talking about their work with others, to inform and inspire.

“It's not about personal pride; it's about inspiring others,” he told Philanthropy Age in an interview. “There are many people around the world who do these things just to make more money, or to brag about it. I don't want to do that; I want to work from the heart.”

The decision by the Al Ghurairs to formalise their philanthropy was a milestone for Arab giving and especially for the UAE. The family feels the weight of the responsibility to ensure their philanthropy is impactful, efficient, and properly governed. “We have hired the best people to run the Foundation,” says Abdul Aziz. “From our skilled staff, we have a strong base and there is also guidance from the board of trustees which interacts regularly with the management.”

Sultan Al Ghurair, a son of Abdulla, who is also on the AGF board of directors, also takes his philanthropic responsibilities seriously. “To have a positive impact in the philanthropic work that was established by a person who is very dear to my heart - my father - is very important to me,” he says. “Therefore, we must make more effort to continue this journey and leave a good reputation as people who had an instrumental role in producing positive results.”

In addition to his leadership at AGF, Abdul Aziz is a philanthropist in his own right, supporting a number of charities and programmes in the UAE and beyond. His flagship initiative is the Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair Refugee Education Fund, which he launched in 2018, in response to the plight of refugees from Syria and the impact their displacement in neighbouring Lebanon and Jordan had on host communities in those countries.

Administered by AGF, the Dhs 120m (US$32m) Refugee Education Fund provides grants and other education support for refugee and conflict-affected Arab youth in the UAE, Lebanon, and Jordan. To-date, the Fund has benefitted close to 60,000 young people - well above its initial target of 20,000 - and a fourth batch of grantees will be named soon.

Abdul Aziz is also an anchor donor in the Global Muslim Philanthropy Fund for Children (GMPFC), which was launched in 2019 by UNICEF and the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB). The Shariah-compliant instrument is a pooled fund for Muslim philanthropists to use their Zakat and/or Sadaqah to finance humanitarian and development programmes supporting children in the 57 Member Countries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). In early 2021, the Fund made its first allocation of $12.1m towards projects, to be implemented in partnership with UNICEF, targeting (mainly) refugee children in Bangladesh, Jordan, and Pakistan.

UNICEF's former executive director, Henrietta Fore, described the GMPFC as “a unique opportunity for leading global Muslim philanthropists to come together and create significant and lasting change for the most vulnerable children and their families”. At the time of the launch, Abdul Aziz said he was proud to be “involved in coordinating and channelling Islamic philanthropy through institutionalised giving in a strategic and impactful way”.