Al Fahim Group

ABOUT THE FOUNDER

Abdul Jalil bin Mohammed Al Fahim was born in Abu Dhabi in 1919.^[3]  His father, Mohammed Al Fahim, was a pearl merchant. In the 1880s, Abu Dhabi had the region’s largest pearling fleet, with Delma Island as the center of provisioning during the diving season.^[4] Abdul Jalil’s father set up shop on the island, and Abdul Jalil grew up in an entrepreneurial environment where he learned trade skills from a young age.^[5]

Unlike the vast majority of the region’s inhabitants at the time,^[6] Abdul Jalil was born into a family devoted to literacy and education. His father had a keen interest in literature and politics,^[7] and Abdul Jalil received a rich education through both his father and scholars in Islamic studies and Arabic literature.^[8]

When Abdul Jalil reached his late teens, he started going on sailing trips through which he became acquainted with Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, near to him in age, who would later become the ruler of the United Arab Emirates. Abdul Jalil moved to Al Ain, where he stayed with Sheikh Zayed’s family to assist in the latter’s increasing duties. Abdul Jalil’s educational background helped him stand out and he steadily took on more responsibilities.^[9]  In 1946, Abdul Jalil got married^[10] and had a total of 12 children: four daughters and eight sons.^{[11] [12]}

FOUNDING STORY

Building on his family’s entrepreneurial heritage, in 1958 Abdul Jalil opened a small shop in Al Ain that sold comestibles and textiles.^[13] The country’s first paved roads for public use were about to be established,^[14] and anticipating a new demand for spare vehicle parts, in 1961 he shifted his business toward the importation and sale of auto parts. To finance a trip to Bahrain to obtain the necessary supply, he sold all of his shop’s goods. Impressed by Bahrain’s advanced roads and infrastructure, he managed to buy all the inventory he needed, then returned to Abu Dhabi to open a small shop, laying the foundation for what would become a major automobile business.^[15]

Al Fahim’s automotive business line continued to grow in parallel with the development of the UAE. In 1962, Emirates Motor Company (EMC), the flagship company of Al Fahim Group, was established as a Mercedes-Benz authorized distributor in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain.^[16] Toward the end of 1968, Abdul Jalil stepped away from the business due to the heavy workload and to focus on his political duties with the new administration of Abu Dhabi under the rule of Sheikh Zayed Al Nahyan. One year later, Abdul Jalil’s eldest son, Mohammed, then only 20 years old^[17] succeeded him as head of the family company,^[18] then operating under the name of Abdul Jalil Al Fahim & Sons.^[19]

GROWTH PHASE

In the early 1970s, under the second generation’s leadership, the family business began to expand rapidly, with new branches and franchises opening across Abu Dhabi.^[20]This coincided with the unification of the United Arab Emirates in 1971, which led to an increasingly favorable business environment. Meanwhile, founder Abdul Jalil Al Fahim continued to work very closely with Sheikh Zayed, who had become the UAE’s first president.^[21]

The second half of the 1970s saw a series of milestones for the family business. In 1976, Al Fahim’s Western Motors was established as the general authorized distributor for Jeep, Fiat, and Mopar accessories in Abu Dhabi.^[22] One year later, Mohammed and his father established the Al Fahim Group of Companies, one of the first family shareholding companies in the UAE, with shares divided among the founder and his daughters and sons.^[23] In 1978, Marjan Industrial Development (MID) was founded as a supplier of engineering products and technical services to the oil, gas, and petrochemical fields.^[24] In 1979, they family established EPICO to manage an array of residential projects, shopping malls, hotels, and office towers.^[25]

Over the following decades, the business continued to expand, eventually taking on bigger projects and branching out into international investments.^[26] Founder Abdul Jalil passed away in 1996,^[27] at which point the family business was already being run by members of the second generation. In 2009, the Al Fahim Group opened Fairmont Hotel Bab Al Bahar,^[28] Abu Dhabi’s first Fairmont hotel.^[29]

TODAY

The Al Fahim Group has grown into a diversified conglomerate, one of the biggest in the UAE and the Gulf region as a whole.^[30] Mohammed Abdul Jalil chairs the Al Fahim Family Council, while his brother Ahmed is the chair of the Al Fahim management board, and members of the third generation now participate in running various company operations as well.^[31] The supervisory board comprises Al Fahim’s eight sons, as well as his widow, Raisa Darwish Al Ketbi, and his daughters, Mariam, Afra, Hind, and Fatima Abdul Jalil Al Fahim.^[32] The Group today operates around the Gulf region and in China,^[33] with 20 key subsidiaries in automotive, real estate, hospitality, travel, tourism, industrial, and energy services.^[34]