How the UAE benefits from its central role in Brics' payment web - UAE

The UAE has emerged as a central hub in the emerging web of BRICS-era cross-border payment corridors, even as the bloc stops short of a single “BRICS Pay” system. The UAE’s banks and financial centres are increasingly the nexus for bilateral links between member countries, a position that comes with commercial upside and heightened regulatory risk: US sanctions enforcement remains a salient constraint for institutions operating at the centre of these flows.

“No Brics Pay, but a web of bilateral corridors — with the UAE at the center.”

That formulation captures the current landscape: rather than creating a single unified payment rail, BRICS members are pursuing multiple bilateral payment arrangements that route liquidity and settlement through financial centres able to bridge national systems — and the UAE is being positioned as one of those bridges.

The UAE’s broader financial proposition is being reinforced on several fronts. DMCC has formally established a new foundations regime aimed at families intending to pass wealth down generations, adding to the emirate’s wealth-structuring toolkit. Global asset managers are also deepening their regional presence: Swedish private-markets giant EQT — which manages roughly USD 389 billion in assets — has launched a Middle East platform out of an ADGM office in Abu Dhabi. Jimmy Mahtani has been named GCC chairman for EQT Private Capital, and Smiyet Belrhit will lead the Abu Dhabi office.

Big tech investments underline the UAE’s strategic role in regional data and cloud infrastructure. Microsoft will invest USD 2 billion for cloud computing, AI and data-centre operations across Gulf nations and plans to mobilise USD 10 billion through 2030, including an USD 8 billion commitment already made in the Emirates. The company highlighted partnerships with UAE firms such as G42 and the government platform Tamm in outlining its Gulf expansion.

But not every company opts to base its capital markets moves in the UAE. Airtel Africa’s mobile-money arm, Airtel Money, announced plans to list on the London Stock Exchange rather than in the UAE. The offer will be made up entirely of existing shares sold by current shareholders, with a free float of at least 10%. The International Finance Corporation has signed on as a cornerstone investor for up to GBP 67.2 million (about USD 90 million). The offering could raise around USD 800 million and imply a market capitalisation in the USD 8–9 billion range.

• Emirates NBD Capital and First Abu Dhabi Bank are among the joint bookrunners on the Airtel Money float, which has a prospectus due in early October and pricing set for mid-October.
• ADGM continues to attract global managers: EQT joins Man Group, Capital Group, Rokos, Bain Capital and Hillhouse on a growing list of international firms basing regional platforms in Abu Dhabi.
• Risk factors include regional unrest — cited as one reason Airtel Money chose London — and exposure to sanctions enforcement for banks routing cross-border payments.

Outlook: The UAE stands to gain commercially as a settlement and operational hub for the web of bilateral BRICS payment corridors, supported by new wealth structures, an influx of global asset managers, and major cloud investments. Yet the prize comes with compliance and geopolitical exposure that will shape which corporates and capital markets transactions use the UAE as their primary base — a dynamic that will determine whether the country’s centrality translates into sustained fee pools and deeper regional financial integration.