Dubai is pressing ahead with plans to launch an Elon Musk-led high-speed underground road system next year as part of a major drive to modernise the emirate's transport network and cut congestion.
The first phase of the Dubai Loop, which is being developed by the entrepreneur's tunnelling company The Boring Company, will connect vital parts of the city with an alternative transit network built beneath existing roads. Dubai is embracing innovation and harnessing advanced technology to ease traffic flow and advance environmental goals amid a sustained population boom.
“The first loop is going to be operational, we’re hoping, by the second quarter of 2026,” Omar Al Olama, Minister of State for AI, Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications, told Bloomberg on Monday.
Plans for the Dubai Loop were unveiled in February at the World Governments Summit in Dubai. The government had said it was looking at a 17km system with 11 stations that could carry 20,000 passengers an hour.
The Boring Company already operates a loop in Las Vegas using Tesla vehicles to move passengers. During the announcement last year, Mr Musk said it would be like travelling through a “wormhole”.
“Once people try it out, they're going to say, 'Wow, it's really cool.' It's going to seem so obvious in retrospect,” he said. “It's going to be like a wormhole, from one part of the city, boom, and you're at another part of the city, and it's great. We look forward to this partnership.”
Part of Dubai’s future mobility model
The Dubai Loop is one of several future transport systems being developed to reshape mobility across the city over the next decade. It is expected to work alongside surface and aerial networks, rather than replace existing transport.
The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has previously said that future transport must be seamless, combining metro rail, buses, electric taxis, cycling networks and autonomous systems.
The RTA is showcasing a series of transport innovations at Gitex Global 2025, a technology exhibition being held in Dubai until Friday.
Trackless tram comes into view
One of the projects is the Trackless Tram, a next-generation public transport vehicle that moves like a tram but travels on normal roads instead of rails. The vehicle would be equipped with cameras and sensors to follow a set route on the road and can detect obstacles automatically that helps it move through safely through traffic.
Plans to to introduce all-electric trackless and autonomous trams at eight locations across the emirate were first announced in November last year to mark the 10th anniversary of the Dubai Tram.
“This year, our participation focuses on showcasing a wide range of smart projects that represent a transformative step in our digital transformation journey,” said Matter Al Tayer, director general of the RTA. “These include AI applications, predictive solutions based on big data analytics, and the use of the Internet of Things in managing assets and infrastructure.”
The RTA is also displaying a Smart Mobility Platform that would be used to monitor school transport and delivery vehicles using AI and data analytics. It would use AI and data analytics to monitor speed and driver behaviour.
The authority said progress is also being on air taxis, with test flights of a Joby Aviation electric vehicle already taking place. The National reported previously that the company has plans to begin commercial operations next year.
The service would cut travel time and could reduce traffic, with a journey from Dubai International Airport to Palm Jumeirah expected to take just 10 minutes, compared with about 45 minutes by car.
“We haven’t announced specific pricing, but our long-term goal is to offer pricing that is competitive to the cost of similar ground-based alternatives,” said Anthony Khoury, UAE general manager at the California company.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
What vitamins do we know are beneficial for living in the UAE
Vitamin D: Highly relevant in the UAE due to limited sun exposure; supports bone health, immunity and mood.
Vitamin B12: Important for nerve health and energy production, especially for vegetarians, vegans and individuals with absorption issues.
Iron: Useful only when deficiency or anaemia is confirmed; helps reduce fatigue and support immunity.
Omega-3 (EPA/DHA): Supports heart health and reduces inflammation, especially for those who consume little fish.
How Alia's experiment will help humans get to Mars
Alia’s winning experiment examined how genes might change under the stresses caused by being in space, such as cosmic radiation and microgravity.
Her samples were placed in a machine on board the International Space Station. called a miniPCR thermal cycler, which can copy DNA multiple times.
After the samples were examined on return to Earth, scientists were able to successfully detect changes caused by being in space in the way DNA transmits instructions through proteins and other molecules in living organisms.
Although Alia’s samples were taken from nematode worms, the results have much bigger long term applications, especially for human space flight and long term missions, such as to Mars.
It also means that the first DNA experiments using human genomes can now be carried out on the ISS.
Profile box
Company name: baraka
Started: July 2020
Founders: Feras Jalbout and Kunal Taneja
Based: Dubai and Bahrain
Sector: FinTech
Initial investment: $150,000
Current staff: 12
Stage: Pre-seed capital raising of $1 million
Investors: Class 5 Global, FJ Labs, IMO Ventures, The Community Fund, VentureSouq, Fox Ventures, Dr Abdulla Elyas (private investment)
Ukraine%20exports
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Profile of Whizkey
Date founded: 04 November 2017
Founders: Abdulaziz AlBlooshi and Harsh Hirani
Based: Dubai, UAE
Number of employees: 10
Sector: AI, software
Cashflow: Dh2.5 Million
Funding stage: Series A
ILT20%20UAE%20stars
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Bombshell
Director: Jay Roach
Stars: Nicole Kidman, Charlize Theron, Margot Robbie
Four out of five stars
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F1 drivers' standings
1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes 281
2. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari 247
3. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes 222
4. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull 177
5. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari 138
6. Max Verstappen, Red Bull 93
7. Sergio Perez, Force India 86
8. Esteban Ocon, Force India 56
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If you go
The flights
Emirates and Etihad fly direct to Nairobi, with fares starting from Dh1,695. The resort can be reached from Nairobi via a 35-minute flight from Wilson Airport or Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, or by road, which takes at least three hours.
The rooms
Rooms at Fairmont Mount Kenya range from Dh1,870 per night for a deluxe room to Dh11,000 per night for the William Holden Cottage.
Inside%20Out%202
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Teams
Punjabi Legends Owners: Inzamam-ul-Haq and Intizar-ul-Haq; Key player: Misbah-ul-Haq
Pakhtoons Owners: Habib Khan and Tajuddin Khan; Key player: Shahid Afridi
Maratha Arabians Owners: Sohail Khan, Ali Tumbi, Parvez Khan; Key player: Virender Sehwag
Bangla Tigers Owners: Shirajuddin Alam, Yasin Choudhary, Neelesh Bhatnager, Anis and Rizwan Sajan; Key player: TBC
Colombo Lions Owners: Sri Lanka Cricket; Key player: TBC
Kerala Kings Owners: Hussain Adam Ali and Shafi Ul Mulk; Key player: Eoin Morgan
Venue Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Format 10 overs per side, matches last for 90 minutes
Timeline October 25: Around 120 players to be entered into a draft, to be held in Dubai; December 21: Matches start; December 24: Finals
