How the UAE–Africa corridor works

The corridor is older than any agreement that now governs it. For centuries the monsoon winds carried dhows between the Gulf, the Horn of Africa and the Swahili coast, south-west in one season and back in the other.

Oman’s links with East Africa ran deepest. Omani rulers governed Zanzibar and parts of the Swahili coast, and in the nineteenth century the Sultan of Oman moved his court to Zanzibar.

Dubai built its modern role on that tradition. As a free port, it became the place where traders from East Africa and the Horn bought goods for re-export, first on the Creek and later through Jebel Ali. BusinessDay reported that Dubai’s non-oil trade with Africa reached USD 29.7 billion in 2015, up from USD 22.8 billion in 2011.

UAE investment figures for Africa are large, but sources measure different things, so check what each one counts. The ledger gives the corridor’s headline numbers.

The UAE’s ranking as a source of foreign direct investment (FDI) depends on the measure. The table sets the main claims side by side:

The likeliest reading is that the claims count different things. Over a decade, China, Europe and the United States still lead, while in 2022 and 2023 the UAE pledged more new greenfield investment than any other country: about 20 times China’s in 2022, and roughly double in 2023.

Announced money is not disbursed money. Bloomberg stresses that the fDi Markets figures are pledges, not spending, and much of the USD 168 billion announced since 2017 is not yet deployed. The series are at least consistent: the 2022 and 2023 pledges add up to about the USD 97 billion that the Observer Research Foundation counts for those two years.

Energy dominates: the minister put more than USD 70 billion of the 2019–2023 total in green energy, and FT Locations data count USD 72 billion of renewables projects. Over 2012–2022, the UAE supplied USD 59.4 billion of the USD 101.9 billion invested by Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states.

UAE non-oil trade with Africa is growing faster than the UAE’s trade with the rest of the world, and Dubai handles most of it. It reached about USD 158 billion in 2025, up 41.6% from USD 112 billion in 2024, and Africa’s share of UAE non-oil trade rose from 10.8% in 2019 to 15.5% in 2025.

Dubai alone traded more than USD 146 billion with Africa in 2025, up 51% on 2024 and 325% over a decade, according to African Business. Against about USD 158 billion for the UAE as a whole, that puts most of the corridor’s trade through Dubai.

No published ranking of the UAE’s African partners was found, though Arabian Business named South Africa the second largest in 2024. The latest partner figures use different years and measures, so compare them with care:

Dubai is where the corridor meets: African companies set up there to trade with the world, and Gulf investors find them there. Dubai Chamber of Commerce counted 30,409 active African member companies in 2025, reported as up 14.3% on the year.

Membership stood at more than 12,000 in 2016 and 26,910 at the end of 2024, so the rise to 30,409 works out at 13.0% and the base behind the reported 14.3% may have been revised. In early 2026, 225 Ghanaian and 87 Angolan companies were members.

Gold is a large part of the flow and a compliance issue for anyone who trades it. SWISSAID, using UN Comtrade data, found that UAE gold imports from Africa reached 748 tonnes in 2024, more than half of all UAE gold imports, with Togo (52 tonnes), Uganda (31 tonnes) and Sudan (29 tonnes) among the sources. It also estimates that about 405 tonnes of undeclared African gold arrived in 2022.

If your business touches gold or other minerals, apply supply-chain due diligence in line with the guidance of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) for conflict-affected and high-risk areas. Document the origin of every shipment before you trade.

About a dozen UAE groups hold the corridor’s largest assets, in ports, power, mining, telecoms, payments and finance. Their projects set the terms that smaller investors work within:

ADEX is ADFD’s export-finance arm, and ECI is the UAE’s export credit agency (ECA). The Africa Green Investment Initiative of 2023 adds equity from Masdar and AMEA Power to their commitments, for USD 4.5 billion and a target of 15 GW by 2030.

Large deals also meet friction. In September 2026, Zambia’s state miner ZCCM-IH, which keeps 49% of Mopani, alleged that IRH’s unit fell USD 61 million short on 2025 funding and threatened arbitration; IRH denied any rift. In November 2024, Sudan’s government canceled a 2022 memorandum of understanding (MoU) with AD Ports Group and Invictus Investment for a USD 6 billion port and economic zone at Abu Amama. Its finance minister said the MoU was not legally binding and linked the decision to Sudan’s accusation that the UAE backs the Rapid Support Forces in the civil war.

The UAE is signing Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements (CEPAs) across Africa at speed, but only two African ones are confirmed in force as of early November 2026. Worldwide, the UAE had concluded 40 CEPAs by 30 October 2026, of which 20 were operational.

Morocco’s status is unclear: Economy Middle East reported in July 2024 that terms were finalized, Gulf Business lists the agreement as signed and pending ratification, and a UAE minister’s February 2026 list of nine African CEPAs leaves Morocco out. Terms also differ, and about 7,000 Nigerian products are to become duty-free once Nigeria’s enters into force.

For anyone investing in Africa from the UAE, bilateral investment treaties (BITs) are the main shield against unfair treatment and expropriation. The UAE has far more of them with African states than CEPAs. UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) lists 38 African entries covering 34 countries: 20 in force, 16 signed but not in force, and 2 older treaties since replaced.

Counts differ between sources. UNCTAD lists 89 UAE BITs in force worldwide, while Clyde & Co, a law firm, wrote in November 2025 that there are about 45, and named Tanzania among its African BITs although UNCTAD lists none. The UAE–Tanzania agreement that could be verified is a double taxation agreement (DTA), signed in September 2022.

The UAE Ministry of Finance counts 137 DTAs concluded, but no published count of the African ones was found; examples in force include Rwanda (2019), Zambia and Gabon (both 2023). Protection depends on your structure’s nationality and each treaty’s terms, so have counsel read the text before you rely on it (legal protection).

Direct flights make the corridor practical for site visits, partner meetings and cargo. In October 2024, Emirates flew to 20 passenger and cargo gateways in 17 African countries, with 161 weekly flights in all.

Larger counts measure something else. In April 2026, Khaleej Times listed 54 African destinations for Emirates, 9 for flydubai and 9 for Etihad, but the Emirates figure includes connecting points such as Bloemfontein and Skukuza and came as schedules recovered after a regional ceasefire. For direct service, use the 20 gateways and check current schedules before you plan a trip.

Dubai’s business institutions run offices, trade missions and forums in Africa that private investors can join. Dubai International Chamber, part of Dubai Chambers, opened its eighth African office in Luanda on 22 July 2026, after Lagos in November 2023 and earlier offices in Maputo and in Ethiopia and Ghana.

Trade missions are the most active channel:

• 2024: eight missions, four of them to Morocco, Senegal, Tanzania and Uganda, with 2,227 business-to-business (B2B) meetings reported for the year
• 2026: missions to Ghana, Ethiopia and South Africa with 45 Dubai companies, 1,460 B2B meetings and more than 1,700 forum participants

Forums add a second channel. Dubai Chambers’ Global Business Forum Africa drew more than 3,000 delegates in October 2021, its latest confirmed edition, and the UAE–Africa Tourism Investment Summit in October 2025 presented more than 100 projects worth over USD 6 billion.

For a private company or family office, the corridor’s value lies in the infrastructure, agreements and networks already in place rather than in headline figures. Six consequences follow when you invest in Africa alongside the large UAE groups:

• Build around the anchors: ports at Dar es Salaam, Pointe-Noire, Luanda and Berbera, and the power projects of Masdar and AMEA Power, create demand for trucking, warehousing, construction and maintenance (sector guide)
• Read announcements as a pipeline: check whether a headline project has reached financial close or is still an MoU
• Map treaty cover first: DR Congo has a BIT and a CEPA in force, while Nigeria has both only signed (structuring)
• Use Dubai as your meeting room: the 30,409 African member companies and the chamber’s missions let you meet and vet partners before you travel
• Finance trade with UAE tools: ECI credit insurance and ADEX credit lines, such as USD 100 million with National Bank of Egypt (2023), support UAE exports to African buyers (UAE finance tools)
• Price partner and political risk: Mopani and Abu Amama show that disputes with state partners and shifts in government relations reach even the largest groups (political risk)

The anchors lower the cost of entry, but they do not replace your own due diligence. The step-by-step guide shows how to plan a project from first brief to operation.