Mubadala’s 2025 strategy: driving Abu Dhabi’s diversification with new platforms and partnerships

Mubadala announced that in 2025, its investments in the UAE provided a significant boost to the economy, highlighting the role of the state investor, not just as a capital provider but also as a catalyst for scaling up industry, creating jobs, and supporting long-term diversification efforts in Abu Dhabi.

Based on their yearly report, Mubadala’s activities added around AED45 billion to Abu Dhabi’s GDP last year, which equates to roughly 5.7% of the emirate’s non-oil sector. They also mentioned that their portfolio directly or indirectly supported about 98,000 jobs in Abu Dhabi, an increase of 51% from 2021. For a market aiming to strengthen beyond hydrocarbons, these figures really suggest that Mubadala is shaping into an influential player across a broader swath of the economy.

Financially, Mubadala had a pretty strong year. In a separate update, they said their assets under management grew by 17% year-over-year to AED1.4 trillion, while the capital they deployed increased by 20% to AED143 billion. At the same time, proceeds from investments rose by 27%, reaching AED138 billion. They also shared that their five-year annualized return was around 10.7%, with the ten-year figure close behind at 10.3%. That’s pretty solid performance, even amidst ongoing global market turbulence.

Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, who serves as the managing director and group CEO, connected this achievement to Mubadala’s focus on long-term investments across key sectors both locally and internationally. The latest results seem to confirm that this strategy is still paying off, even as global markets remain quite unsettled, mind you.

Now, aside from the headline financials, what really stood out in 2025 was Mubadala’s push toward building platforms rather than just holding isolated assets. For example, they launched Aldar Capital, a joint effort with Aldar and Mubadala Capital, aimed at connecting global institutional investors with real estate opportunities across the UAE and the GCC. With its headquarters in Abu Dhabi Global Market, the plan is to roll out its first fund in 2026, targeting around $1 billion (or roughly AED3.7 billion). According to both partners, that’s the initial goal.

This move reflects Abu Dhabi’s broader ambition to strengthen its position as a magnet for long-term capital. By linking Aldar’s property expertise with Mubadala Capital’s fund management capabilities, this venture hopes to attract foreign investment into regional real estate and infrastructure projects. It’s also a way for Abu Dhabi to diversify its investor base, make its markets more appealing to global institutions, and bring in larger and more stable sources of capital.

During the same period, Mubadala and Aldar announced a major expansion of Al Maryah Island, one of Abu Dhabi’s main financial and business districts. The project, valued at over AED60 billion, is set to add more than 1.5 million square meters of space. The plan includes high-grade offices, residential units, retail outlets, and hospitality venues. Both companies said this development would help cement Abu Dhabi’s reputation as a “Capital of Capital.”

Honestly, that kind of language may sound a bit promotional, but the underlying strategy is clear: Abu Dhabi is trying to create a denser ecosystem centered around finance, investment management, and sophisticated services. Property development isn’t just an end goal; it’s a supporting pillar. The expansion of Al Maryah demonstrates this by connecting institutional capital with urban development and the growth of the financial district into a long-term project.

Mubadala’s industrial investments also stayed lively. Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA), for instance, advanced plans for what could be the first new primary aluminium plant in the US in many decades, while also exploring next-generation smelting tech. Involvement in these projects shows that Abu Dhabi’s capital is being pumped into sectors that are critical both to global supply chains and to domestic industry development.

Healthcare and life sciences remained a key focus, too. Mubadala Bio was launched as a national biopharma champion, featuring 10 global facilities, and during the year, it started manufacturing eight essential medicines locally. This isn’t just about reducing imports, though that’s part of it. It’s also aimed at strengthening the pharmaceutical supply chain, improving access to essential treatments, and fostering a domestic ecosystem for biotech manufacturing and R&D.

The group also highlighted progress at M42, a project involving Oracle Health that’s creating a unified patient record system accessible across the UAE. This system integrates data from the Emirate Genome Program into electronic health records, allowing for pharmacogenomic recommendations at the point of care. For a country heavily investing in digital health and personalized medicine, it’s pretty interesting, linking data infrastructure directly with healthcare decisions, really.

Energy transition efforts didn’t slow down either. Masdar completed groundbreaking work on what the company describes as the world’s biggest renewable energy project combining solar power and battery storage. The initiative is designed to provide 1 gigawatt of reliable renewable electricity continuously, at a competitive price, working alongside the Emirates Water and Electricity Company. Essentially, it signals that the UAE continues to back utility-scale clean power projects with storage, not just the intermittent solar or wind sources.

When you look at everything altogether, these developments suggest Mubadala’s portfolio is becoming more interconnected with Abu Dhabi’s broader economic goals. The focus is on creating jobs, advancing data infrastructure, boosting manufacturing, strengthening financial foundations, and supporting low-carbon energy, all interconnected. Their numbers indicate the strategy is hitting scale. The real challenge now? Turning that scale into sustained competitiveness across the sectors that are crucial for the UAE’s next growth chapter.