Emirates Global Aluminium, the largest industrial company in the United Arab Emirates outside oil and gas, today announced that over 150 young employees graduated from EGA Youth Council-led learning and development platform, FURSA, in the first year since the programme was launched. FURSA is a comprehensive platform, developed by EGA Youth Council and the Learning and Development team, that provides access to curated courses and experiences to enhance skills in leadership, Industry 4.0, sustainability, science and technology.
The programme includes 26 academic courses, from prestigious universities such as Harvard, Oxford and London Business School, and wide range of tailored experiences in volunteering, and collaboration. FURSA is exclusively for EGA employees under the age of 35.
Abdulnasser Bin Kalban, Chief Executive Officer of Emirates Global Aluminium, said: “Upskilling and empowering the next generation of leaders at EGA is key to future-proofing our business and enhancing our competitiveness. At EGA, alongside our Learning and Development team, our Youth Council is heavily engaged in this work. FURSA reflects their commitment to providing excellent capability building and career opportunities as part of fulfilling EGA’s our bold aspiration to become a talent driven organisation.”
Hala Alhashmi, Chair of EGA Youth Council and a product owner in the digital transformation & industry 4.0 department, said: “FURSA is a unique platform, developed by young EGA employees for young EGA employees. It provides us as youth with a variety of learning opportunities to expand our knowledge, develop new skills, and gain valuable experience. Finding effective ways to develop the leaders of tomorrow requires the engagement of everyone, including young people themselves.”
FURSA, builds on EGA’s existing Learning & Development offering of some 2,300 different training courses. In 2023, EGA employees completed over 61,400 days of learning & development, averaging more than 10 days of training per employee.
EGA Youth Council was awarded ‘Organisation of the Year for Youth Empowerment’ at GCC GOV HR Awards 2023 in recognition of its role in the development of future leaders, in line with the National Youth Strategy of the UAE.
About EGA:
Since 1975, when it was founded as Dubai Aluminium by His Highness Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Emirates Global Aluminium has been innovating aluminium to make modern life possible.
Today EGA is the world’s biggest ‘premium aluminium’ producer and the largest industrial company in the United Arab Emirates outside the oil and gas industry.
EGA is equally-owned by Mubadala Investment Company of Abu Dhabi and the Investment Corporation of Dubai. It is the largest company jointly owned by the two Emirates.
EGA is an integrated aluminium producer, with operations from bauxite mining to the production of cast primary aluminium and recycling. EGA operates aluminium smelters in Jebel Ali and Al Taweelah, an alumina refinery in Al Taweelah, a bauxite mine and associated export facilities in the Republic of Guinea, and speciality foundry in
high strength recycled aluminium in Germany.
EGA’s aluminium is the second largest made-in-the UAE export after oil and gas. In 2023, EGA sold 2.75 million tonnes of cast metal. EGA is the only UAE producer and makes the UAE the fifth largest aluminium producing nation in the world.
EGA has more than 400 customers in over 50 countries. In 2023, value-added products accounted for 76 per cent of EGA’s cast metal sales.
EGA’s aluminium is primarily used in the construction, automotive, packaging, aerospace and electronics industries.
Around 10 per cent of EGA’s aluminium production is sold in the UAE to around 26 downstream aluminium companies that make products with EGA’s aluminium. The growing broader aluminium sector in the UAE supports almost 48,000 jobs. EGA itself employs around 6,800 of these people including more than 1,200 UAE Nationals.
EGA has focused on technology development for over 30 years. EGA has used its own technology for every smelter expansion since the 1990s and has retrofitted all its older production lines. In 2016 EGA became the first UAE industrial company to licence its core industrial process technology internationally.
As a corporate citizen of the UAE, EGA aspires in all its operations to be measured amongst the world’s leading metals and mining companies in meeting its environmental and social responsibilities. In 2017, EGA became the first Middle East headquartered company to join the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative, a global programme to foster greater sustainability and transparency in the aluminium industry. In 2019, EGA’s Al Taweelah site became
the first in the Middle East to receive certification from ASI for its sustainability practices and performance. EGA’s Jebel Ali site was certified in 2021. EGA’s bauxite mining subsidiary, Guinea Alumina Corporation, achieved the first ASI certification in Guinea in 2023. Al Taweelah alumina refinery was certified later in 2023. EGA’s German
speciality foundry was certified in 2023, before its acquisition by EGA. EGA now has all of its global operations certified to the aluminium industry’s internationally recognised standard for environmental and social performance and governance.
