Dubai’s commercial transport sector expanded by more than 40 per cent in 2025 as the emirate pushes to consolidate its position as a global logistics hub, the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) said on Wednesday.

Mattar Al Tayer, DG and chairman of the RTA, reported that the number of licensed commercial transport companies rose to 16,917 in 2025, up from 12,100 the previous year.

The sector’s total registered vehicle fleet surpassed 500,000 units, a 25 per cent year-on-year increase. According to RTA data, the commercial transport industry now contributes more than Dhs8.4bn ($2.29bn) annually to Dubai’s economy.

The growth comes as Dubai executes its “Commercial and Logistics Land Transport Strategy 2030,” a central component of the D33 economic agenda, which aims to double the size of the emirate’s economy by 2033.

The commercial transport sector is central to the emirate’s economic landscape

“The commercial transport sector is a fundamental pillar of Dubai’s economic ecosystem. Our results in 2025 reaffirm the emirate’s position as a leading global hub for transport and logistics, driven by accelerated digital transformation and the continued expansion of global supply chains,” Al Tayer said.

The RTA attributed the double-digit growth to increased demand for app-based delivery services and a shift toward digital logistics management.

In 2025, the authority introduced a regulatory framework for autonomous heavy vehicles to operate within the logistics sector. The RTA also reported high adoption rates for ‘Logisty’, a digital platform launched to manage commercial transport and logistics operations. The platform was recently named the “ideasUK Idea of the Year 2025.”

To manage the rapid rise in motorcycle-based deliveries, the RTA entered a partnership with Terra Tech to build a network of battery-swapping stations across 36 locations in the city. The move is part of a broader effort to reduce emissions in the “last-mile” delivery segment by 30 per cent by 2030.

Additionally, the authority completed a network of dedicated rest areas for delivery drivers, citing a need to improve road safety and working conditions amid the surge in vehicle volume.

There’s a card to play at brands’ fingertips that grows more powerful by the day – one that’s often overlooked or poorly utilised: influencers and content creators. A group so successful and influential that they’ve built a whole economy around themselves. This creator economy has become impossible to ignore – emerging as one of the MENA region’s major growth drivers for brand building and business innovation.

Over the past 20 years, I’ve seen the brand-creator relationship evolve, watching as a space dominated by fleeting trends and short-lived influencer campaigns matured into a sophisticated ecosystem. Today, creators are entrepreneurs, cultural leaders, and trusted community-builders shaping consumer behaviour far beyond likes and views.

Across MENA, they drive tangible, lasting change in how brands interact with consumers. Coming in all sizes, they forge digital pathways in many different categories. They launch wildly successful businesses, innovate new products, and build dedicated communities upon shared interests and authentic connections.

As content, commerce, and culture converge, creators have synergised to make themselves pivotal not just in digital engagement but across entire industries.

Brands used to typically prioritise follower count and visibility when working with influencers, often resulting in one-off posts that were quickly forgotten.

Today, however, forward-thinking brands recognise that the real value lies in alignment and storytelling – collaborations rooted in shared values and sustained mutual benefit. Influencer marketing went from add-on, experimental, transactional exchanges to strategic partnerships.

When Weber Shandwick MENAT launched an inaugural InfluAnswer Arabia report in 2024, it was about listening – seeing the industry through the eyes of its creators and understanding what they needed from brands to build stronger, more sustainable relationships. A year later, the second edition brought something even more valuable: a point of comparison.

With two years of data, patterns began to emerge, revealing not just what creators want, but how their expectations, behaviours, and the ecosystem around them are actively evolving.

A creator economy that is confident and more complex

The research found a creator economy that is both more confident and more complex. Influencers across MENA are balancing authenticity against mounting external pressures. Nearly six in ten creators cited platform algorithms as one of their biggest barriers to staying authentic, while brand restrictions and increasing commercial demands followed closely behind.

In parallel, the broader creator ecosystem across MENA is becoming more defined and more demanding. Platform changes, new monetisation tools, and the growing prevalence of artificial intelligence are reshaping how influencers operate and how value is created. From AI-powered planning and analytics to live formats and direct-to-fan models, creators are being pushed to professionalise faster, diversify income streams, and think beyond single-platform success. Developments in this infrastructure are raising expectations on all sides.

This evolution doesn’t happen in a vacuum – it places a clear responsibility on brands, and the agencies that connect them with creators, to keep pace. Agencies that deeply understand both influencer aspirations and brand objectives are uniquely positioned to foster impactful, long-lasting partnerships. They bridge gaps, align objectives, and enable brands to innovate their collaborations.

Yet, for the MENA creator economy to continue its trajectory, all parties must adapt quickly. The rapid pace of technological advancement – particularly generative AI – coupled with shifting measurement standards and economic pressures, will continue to disrupt an already dynamic industry. If brands insist on tried tactics or hesitate to consider new approaches, they risk losing relevance and market share.

The solution is two-fold: strategic adaptation and a fundamental shift in mindset. Brands need to move beyond viewing influencers as campaign add-ons and start treating them as co-creators, innovators, and long-term business partners. And equally as important, creators should continue to demonstrate professionalism, strategic foresight, and an ability to deliver measurable value beyond likes and shares.

We’re optimistic about this evolution; it excites us. There’s a clear appetite from creators for deeper and smarter collaborations, matched by brands increasingly open to innovating. As we look at what’s coming, we see this economy characterised by bold creativity, strategic alignment, and mutual growth.

Those brands brave enough to embrace this new model will not only thrive in the current digital age – they will help shape the future of commerce and culture in MENA. And for those brands, we are here.

The writer is the regional MD at Weber Shandwick MENAT.

Mubadala Energy has completed the acquisition of a 15 per cent participating interest in Egypt’s Nargis Offshore Area concession from Eni, further expanding its footprint in the East Mediterranean.

The Nargis concession is an offshore exploration block located approximately 50km offshore in the East Nile Delta Basin. It includes the Nargis-1 discovery, announced in early 2023, and sits adjacent to the Eni-operated Nour concession, in which Mubadala Energy has held a 20 per cent stake since 2018.

Following the transaction, Eni retains a 30 per cent contractor interest in the block through its subsidiary IEOC. The concession is operated by Chevron, which holds a 45 per cent contractor interest, while Tharwa Petroleum Company owns the remaining 10 per cent. The contractor group holds a 50 per cent stake in partnership with the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS), which owns the remaining 50 per cent.

Mansoor Mohammed Al Hamed, managing director and CEO of Mubadala Energy, said: “This acquisition of a 15 percent interest in the Nargis Concession further reinforces our long-term commitment to Egypt, expanding our portfolio with a high-impact growth opportunity alongside world-class partners in the strategically important East Med region.”

Beyond Nargis and Nour, Mubadala Energy also holds a 10 per cent stake in the Shorouk concession, home to the producing Zohr gas field in the Mediterranean Sea offshore Egypt, which is operated by Eni.

The concept of a Blue Zone has traditionally been viewed as a geographical accident, with pockets of the world where culture, diet, and lifestyle factors converge to create the ideal conditions for humans to maximise their biological potential and health span (the number of years you live without disease, fatigue, or cognitive decline).

However, in the UAE, the opportunity exists to move beyond the discovery and investigation of Blue Zones into the creation and intent of one. As a global destination renowned for innovation and ambition, the UAE is well placed to engineer the world’s first Blue Zone by design. We are currently living in an era where science and lifestyle can be intentionally synergised to slow the pace of ageing and reach peak performance, enabling humans to live to 150 years old with full function realistically.

For decades, the metric of success in healthcare has been the management of disease. Still, the future of longevity lies in the aggressive optimisation of human biology long before any decline begins. The UAE can successfully blueprint this future by treating the environment itself as a medical intervention, moving into the realm of precision bio-optimisation, using a combination of scientifically proven habits and lifestyle changes.

True success and wealth are not about how much money is in your bank account or how many assets you have accumulated, but rather how much vitality is in your body. There exists a contradiction in our society where individuals reach the peak of their professional and financial lives only to find themselves physically lacking, shadowed by fatigue, chronic stress, and cognitive fog. If one lacks the metabolic energy, mental acuity, or physical resilience to enjoy one’s achievements, the value of that success is minimised. This is called the ‘disease of success’.

How the UAE can achieve ‘Blue Zone’ status

To achieve Blue Zone status, the UAE should integrate biological protocols directly into its urban infrastructure. Longevity by design ensures that health becomes the default setting, rather than an afterthought. When an environment is designed to optimise health and wellbeing, the surrounding area does the heavy lifting. By introducing new measures across federal workplaces, the UAE government can encourage the private sector to follow suit. For example, measures like encouraging the replacement of artificial blue light with red-spectrum lighting.

The benefits of red light therapy are numerous – red light helps to recharge the body through interacting directly with our mitochondria, boosting cellular energy. By avoiding blue light in the evenings, we can protect melatonin, ensuring the body transitions into a deep repair mode during sleep and reducing inflammation and physical fogginess. This is just one example of a step that the UAE can take to encourage citizens and residents to turn their immediate environment into a passive engine for cellular repair.

As part of the Dubai Fitness Challenge 30×30, residents can be encouraged to adopt daily protocols, including morning sunlight exposure to regulate circadian rhythms, structured breathwork, maximising the supply of oxygen in our bodies that fuels our cells, grounding and walking barefoot to discharge oxidative stress in the earth and cold water immersion to reduce inflammation and improve circulation.

By making the healthy choice, the easiest and most affordable option, the UAE can foster a culture where high-level health is a universal standard.

A focus on nutrition will help to treat food as an important tool for longevity – encouraging restaurants to create special dishes and menus, and introducing R&D grants for longevity-focused nutrition will ultimately help shine a spotlight and educate residents on the importance of diet when it comes to health span.

Furthermore, the UAE can redefine the social pillar of longevity by digitising community connection, aligning with the Dubai Fitness Challenge and the National Framework for Healthy Ageing. Measures such as encouraging the use of wearable tech to track recovery and health metrics, and supporting citizens in visiting longevity clinics, will help create precise, individualised protocols for residents to transform and optimise their health.

Ultimately, the UAE has the potential to elevate building cities of the future to include the world’s most future-ready residents: a population defined by the highest standard of human longevity. By shifting the focus from managing disease to mastering biological potential, the Emirates can prove that a Blue Zone is not just a geographical accident, but a deliberate product of design. By aligning government policy with the principles of biohacking, the nation creates a legacy where success is measured by the health span of its people.

The blueprint is clear: by engineering an environment that serves human biology, the UAE will establish itself as the global capital of the ‘Longevity Economy’, demonstrating that we aren’t meant to just live longer, but to live as “The Ultimate Human”.

Gary Brecka is a human biologist and the founder of The Ultimate Human.

As the Holy Month of Ramadan begins in the latter half of February and continues through mid-March, residents across the UAE can expect generally moderate winter conditions, according to the National Centre of Meteorology (NCM).

In its latest forecast, the NCM said daytime temperatures will remain moderate during the first half of the fasting month, with a gradual increase expected toward the latter half. Nights are forecast to be moderate to pleasant overall, turning relatively cool during late-night and early-morning hours, particularly in inland and mountainous areas, according to a WAM report.

Read more-Humidity, rising heat: Are these the first signs of summer in the UAE?

Climatological data for this period indicates that average maximum temperatures typically range between 26°C and 32°C. However, some inland regions could see temperatures climb as high as 40°C around midday.

Meanwhile, average minimum temperatures are expected to range between 18°C and 21°C. In mountainous and inland locations, early morning temperatures could fall to near or below 0°C.

Rainfall and pressure systems

Meteorologists noted that this time of year is generally influenced by the extension of the Siberian High pressure system. While it often brings stable conditions, occasional weakening may allow low-pressure systems to move in from the west or east.

“When these systems are accompanied by an upper-level trough, they may enhance cloud formation and increase the probability of rainfall across the country,” the report stated.

Long-term forecasts suggest rainfall totals will likely be around or below the seasonal average of approximately 8mm for the month. For comparison, the highest 24-hour rainfall recorded during this period reached 287.6mm in Al Shuwaib on March 9, 2016.

Fog, humidity and winds

Humidity levels are expected to rise during nighttime and early morning hours, creating favorable conditions for fog and mist in certain areas. Average maximum relative humidity during the night and early morning is forecast to range between 70 per cent and 85 per cent, while daytime minimum levels are expected to hover between 20 per cent and 35 per cent.

Winds are typically southeasterly during the night and morning, shifting to northwesterly by afternoon and evening due to land and sea breeze circulation. The NCM warned that winds may occasionally strengthen with deepening pressure systems, potentially leading to blowing dust and sand in exposed areas.

Average wind speeds are projected at around 13 km/hr. Historically, the strongest wind gust recorded during this period reached 141 km/hr at Jebel Mebreh on February 27, 2010.

Fasting hours will begin at approximately 12 hours and 46 minutes at the start of Ramadan, gradually increasing to around 13 hours and 25 minutes by the end of the month in Abu Dhabi and nearby areas, with minor variations depending on location.