Manaseer Group Reveals $1.3 Billion Fertilizer Project at Abu Dhabi Summit

Manaseer Group will start implementing a $1.3 billion fertilizer project in southern Jordan in 2027, founder and chairman Ziad Manaseer announced on October 29 at the Forbes Middle East Family Business Summit 2026 in Abu Dhabi.

The project anchored a day of deal announcements and hard numbers from family enterprises. Manaseer also told the summit, in a fireside chat with Forbes Middle East presenter Budour Mousa, that his group signed a copper concession agreement with the Jordanian government roughly 10 days before the event. About two weeks earlier, it acquired a gas company as part of a push into gas distribution and imports.

The group's environmental strategy runs through 2040, targeting net-zero emissions while expanding alternative fuel and solar adoption. Manaseer highlighted more than 40 natural fertilizer products and an experimental rice-farming project in Jordan's Qatraneh desert that has since expanded to Abu Dhabi.

On AI, Manaseer was measured. The technology boosts industrial efficiency and cuts costs, he said, but cannot easily replace skilled manual work. He called for vocational training and merit-based evaluation when grooming future family business leaders.

How fast is AI actually changing operations?

Faster than most. Adel Sajan, managing director of Danube Group, said AI has compressed the company's property design process from four to five months down to roughly six weeks.

"Earlier, when we used to design our projects, it used to take us a minimum of four to five months. And now the lead time is reduced to about six weeks," Sajan said in a fireside chat with Sally Mousa, senior presenter at Forbes Middle East.

The AI initiative began about three years ago, starting with around 100 business leaders and 15 use cases. Sajan also disclosed plans to launch a Shah Rukh Khan-branded residential tower on November 11, following a branded commercial development launched in December 2025 that sold out within 24 hours. Danube Properties aims to deliver 11 fully furnished developments over the next 11 months despite supply-chain challenges.

On succession, Sajan recalled taking charge of a loss-making retail unit at 21 and steering it to profitability — autonomy his father granted him, which he cited as proof that younger family members need real operational responsibility.

What should family offices do as wealth grows?

Formalize. H.E. Dr. Ahmed Abdulrahman Albanna, chairman of the Emirates Family Office Association, urged family businesses in his opening keynote to establish formal family office structures as their investments and ownership arrangements grow more complex.

"Family offices become more sophisticated. Their role is expanding beyond wealth preservation to include direct investment, governance, cross-border opportunities, philanthropy, next-generation engagement and long-term strategic capital," he said.

The association is working to strengthen governance, succession frameworks and family constitutions, while pushing greater participation in co-investments and private market transactions. Albanna warned that sidelining younger family members from investment and succession decisions could jeopardize business continuity once a founder steps down.

Is healthcare the next family capital frontier?

Possibly, if families can stomach the timelines. Dr. Ruchi Dana, partner at Dana Group, said family investors should align healthcare bets with their governing principles while weighing the commercial viability of emerging technologies. She flagged AI-driven drug discovery, cell and gene therapies, wearable devices and healthcare data as opportunities, plus outcome-based models that tie financial returns to measurable healthcare results.

Her core argument: families outlast fund cycles. "If you talk about VC funds or PE funds, every fund has a time duration. They would push you to exit first. But if it comes to families, when they take a decision to invest, it's more about aligning with the family constitution and governance and thinking about ideas for the long term," Dana said during a panel moderated by Stephen White, senior conference manager at Forbes Middle East.

Dr. Elaff Anas Abudawood, board member and investment committee member at Anasia and co-chair of G3 Family Governance at Abudawood Group, pressed the same discipline. "Having governance there will not eliminate the risk, but will make the risk measurable, manageable," she said, identifying early diagnosis, disease prevention and healthcare delivery technologies as promising areas.

How much risk should families take in tech?

Spread it. Ning Kong, founding partner of Lumen Partners, said families entering venture capital must first decide whether investments target financial returns or support their existing businesses. Direct investment, she argued, demands deal access, specialized teams and portfolios of 20 to 30 companies to manage risk.

"If you want to go into a new industry or new geography, perhaps the best is to invest through a fund where they can hold your hand a little bit, teach you a little bit, help you to assess those startups and also open the market a little bit for the new geography," Kong said.

Stergios Voskopoulos, CEO and founder of ALTNOVEL, warned against single-asset bets. "We do advise investors when they go into the private markets: at the beginning, don't go single asset. It's very risky, because maybe it's binary. Maybe it will give you 10x, but maybe you will lose your money. So diversify, build your core, and then build your satellites," he said. He named real estate, longevity and biotechnology as sectors where AI could lift efficiency and returns. Both speakers cautioned against investing on tech hype alone; the panel was moderated by Forbes Middle East editor and researcher Layan Abo Shkier.

The inaugural summit, held under the patronage of the UAE Ministry of Economy and Tourism and presented by First Abu Dhabi Bank, runs October 28-29 at Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi Hotel and Villas on Saadiyat Island. The through-line of day two: as Gulf family enterprises scale into new sectors and geographies, disciplined governance and prepared successors are what keep the capital durable.