Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan

Early life

Mohammed Al-Nahyan was born on 11 March 1961. He is the third son of Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the first President of the United Arab Emirates and ruler of Abu Dhabi, and his third wife, Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak Al Ketbi. He has five younger full-brothers: Hamdan, Hazza, Tahnoun, Mansour, and Abdullah. They are known as Bani Fatima or sons of Fatima.

Political and business career

In November 2003, his father Zayed bin Sultan appointed Sheikh Mohammed as Deputy Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi. Upon the death of his father, Al-Nayhan became Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi in November 2004 and was appointed Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces in January 2005. Later that month, he was promoted to the rank of General. Since December 2004 he has also been the Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council, which is responsible for the development and planning of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and is a member of the Supreme Petroleum Council. He also serves as a special adviser to the President of the UAE, Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, his older brother. He is also head of the Abu Dhabi council for economic development (ADCED), which is the economic policy advisory council in Abu Dhabi.

Al-Nahyan is also the head of the Mubadala Investment Company which, since its establishment in 2002, represents the main investment vehicle for the government of Abu Dhabi. Al-Nahyan is also a Director of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, the Sovereign wealth fund of Abu Dhabi.

In addition, he is the head of the UAE offsets programme bureau and is the head of the Abu Dhabi Education Council which was established in 2005. His efforts in the realm of economic development are aimed at increasing economic diversification in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. As the head of the UAE offsets group, Al-Nahyan is involved with the task of channelling defence-related investments into profitable projects across different sectors in order to help diversify the economy of the UAE.

In 2008, the first group of Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed University scholars were selected as part of an initiative with New York University Abu Dhabi, recognising outstanding students in the United Arab Emirates and providing them with special academic and leadership opportunities.

June 2009 saw Al-Nayhan and then President Nicolas Sarkozy of France inaugurate an exhibition at the Emirates Palace Hotel, which included works of art purchased for the Louvre Abu Dhabi, as well as loans from the French national museums to mark the beginning of the construction work of the Louvre outpost, located in the cultural district in Saadiyat Island. Al-Nayhan also stated that he was confident that the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi would be able to "accumulate a prestigious art collection" by the time of its opening in 2012.

In November 2010, Al-Nayhan and UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan welcomed Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh to the UAE for their second state visit. Al-Nahyan also accompanied the Queen and the Duke on a tour of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque at the beginning of their visit. In January 2011, Al-Nahyan received US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

An American citizen Khaled Hassen won a rare $10 million torture settlement granted by federal court in L.A., against three top members of the ruling family in the United Arab Emirates, including Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, after State Department cables proved the man had indeed been detained and tortured as he had claimed.

He represented the United Arab Emirates in the Nuclear Security Summit of 2012 and 2014, which were hosted by South Korea and the Netherlands respectively.

In 2017 the Government of India Invited Sheikh Mohammed as Chief Guest for the 68th Republic Day Celebration on 26 January 2017.

UAE Government Summit 2015

Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan was invited as a key speaker in the government summit 2015. He gave the opening speech which was the first time he spoke officially to the nation regarding UAE matters. His opening address "went beyond communicating to other government leaders and offered a vision for all Emiratis and residents of the UAE. It was an inspiring speech from someone whose voice is perhaps not heard frequently enough in public."

He shared a vision of the UAE post oil age, which inspired everyone and motivated the nation to look forward that date in 50 years.

Interests, activities and philanthropic work

Mohammed Bin Zayed is actively engaged in several projects targeted at increasing the welfare of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. He has initiated projects in various areas, such as economic development, education and environmental protection.

He also heads the Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund, a philanthropic endowment established to provide targeted grants to individual species conservation initiatives, recognise leaders in the field of species conservation and elevate the importance of species in the broader conservation debate.

Moreover, in the realm of humanitarian affairs, Al-Nahyan has been underlining his commitment to the fight against human trafficking by funding the 'Global Report on Trafficking Persons' through a Dh55 million donation to the United Nations Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking (UN.GIFT).

In 2011 Al-Nahyan and the Gates Foundation pledged $50 million each to fund the purchase and delivery of vaccines for children in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Another area of interest of Al-Nahyan is the education sector. His activities in this field include his role as President of the Emirates Centre for Strategic Studies and Research (ECSSR). The centre is dedicated to the publication of academic analyses on topics relevant to the region. In the area of school curricula and higher education, Al-Nahyan is also Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC), which was founded in 2005.

ADEC monitors and develops the educational system of the Emirate. Methods of the council’s work include running surveys, aiming at an integration of students and parents in assessment processes and increasing the exchange of ideas with international educational institutions in order to foster development in the educational sector.

In addition, Mohammed Bin Zayed is committed to environmental protection. He set up the Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund motivated by his interest in the preservation and protection, both locally and on an international level, of endangered species and plants. A passionate falconer himself, Al-Nahyan is committed to the protection of falcons, as well as other species, including the Oryx and the Houbara from Arabian Peninsula. In line with his dedication to environment protection, he has also taken a lead in alternative energy projects in Abu Dhabi, primarily Masdar City.

Awards and honours

As well as the UAE, Mohammed Bin Zayed has received numerous citations and decorations from Bahrain, Qatar, Malaysia, Morocco, Pakistan, United States, United Kingdom, Spain, France and Italy.

A species of woodlizard—Enyalioides binzayedi—has been named after him as the creator of the Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund that provided financial support to the expeditions leading to the discovery of the specie in the Cordillera Azul National Park in Peru.

In 2017, a rare and majestic specie of maple tree was named after him to honor his dedication to biological conservation around the world. Acer binzayedii is found in the unique and distinctive mountainous cloud forest of Jalisco in Western México.

Personal life

Mohammed Bin Zayed is married to Sheikha Salama bint Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Nahyan. They married in 1981.

Foreign honours