Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan ( ar, نهيان بن مبارك آل نهيان; born 1951) heads the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

Ministry of Culture, Youth, and Social Development.

Biography

He is the son of

Mubarak bin Mohammed Al Nahyan Mubarak bin Mohammed Al Nahyan (1935–2010) was an Emirati royal and the first interior minister of the United Arab Emirates. He also held other public posts which were mostly security-related. Early life Al Nahyan was born in 1935. He was the ...

, grandson of Mohammad bin Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, great-grandson of

Khalifa bin Zayed bin Khalifa Al Nahyan }) was the eldest son of Abu Dhabi ruler Zayed bin Khalifa Al Nahyan. He was brother of four Abu Dhabi rulers, Tahnoun, Hamdan, Saqr and Sultan. Khalifa refused to ascend the throne when his father died in 1909, because his mother begged him to ...

, and great-great-grandson of

Zayed bin Khalifa Al Nahyan Sheikh Zayed bin Khalifa Al Nahyan ( ar, زايد بن خليفة آل نهيان; 1835 – 18 May 1909), also known as Zayed the Great or Zayed the First was the Sheikh of Abu Dhabi from 1855 to his death in 1909. He was the grandfather and nam ...

Hamdan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan Hamdan bin Mubarak al Nahyan ( ar, حمدان بن مبارك آل نهيان; born 1959) is a member of the Al Nahyan family in the United Arab Emirates. He became the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research in March, 2013, a post ...

, Minister of Public Works, is his brother. Sheikh Nahyan was also Chancellor of two of the UAE's three government-sponsored institutions of higher learning:

United Arab Emirates University United Arab Emirates University (UAEU; ar, جامعة الإمارات العربية المتحدة) is a public research university located in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates. It is the oldest university in the United Arab Emirates. It was esta ...

, established in 1976, and the

Higher Colleges of Technology The Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT; ar, ) was established in 1988 and is the largest applied, higher education institution in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). During the 2019–2020 academic year, there were 14,246 female and 6,744 male stu ...

, established in 1988; and president of the third,

Zayed University Zayed University (ZU; ar, جامعة زايد) is a public university based in the United Arab Emirates. It was established in 1998. It is one of the three government-sponsored higher education institutions in the United Arab Emirates. It is ...

, established in 1998 until removed from these positions in April 2013. Prior to March 17, 2013, he headed the

Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research {{Unreferenced, date=March 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot) A Ministry of Higher Education is a government department that focuses on the provision or regulation of institutions of higher education. In some countries these exist as ministries compounde ...

. He is also the

chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

of CERT (Centre of Excellence for Applied Research and Training), the commercial arm of the

, established in 1996. For several years, Sheikh Nahyan has been the sponsor of the Emirates Natural History Group with chapters in

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the capital and second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the centre of the Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Area. ...

and

Al Ain Al Ain ( ar, ٱلْعَيْن, , ) is a city in the western side of Tawam (region), Tuwwam region and the seat of the administrative division of its namesake, Al-Ain Region, Abu Dhabi, Al Ain in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. ...

. One of the two awards presented annually by the Abu Dhabi chapter is the Sh. Mubarak Award, named for Sheikh Nahyan's father. He is chairman of Sandooq al Watan, a social initiative. Since 2021, Sheikh Nahyan holds the

honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

Doctor of Social Science The Doctor of Social Science (DSocSci, SScD or DSS) degree is the highest degree offered by some universities in the field of social sciences, for which other universities confer a Ph.D. Like the PhD, it is recognized as a terminal research degree ...

s by the

University of Balamand The University of Balamand (UOB; ar, جامعة البلمند) is a private institution, secular in its policies and approach to education. It welcomes faculty, students, and staff from all faiths and national or ethnic origins. The university i ...

As Minister of State for Tolerance

On 17 October 2020, a curator of Hay’s Literary Festival, Caitlin McNamara, accused Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan of sexually assaulting her on 14 February 2020, 11 days before the launch of festival. According to McNamara, Al Nahyan invited her to an official dinner to discuss the Hay festival. However, according to McNamara Al Nahyan called her at a remote villa on a private island and sexually assaulted her. Al Nahyan has denied the sex assault allegations.

Investments

Nahyan is Chairman of Warid Telecom International (a regional telecoms group based out of

with operations in

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

Congo Brazzaville The Republic of the Congo (french: République du Congo, ln, Republíki ya Kongó), also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply either Congo or the Congo, is a country located in the western coast of Central Africa to the w ...

, and

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...

). He is also chairman of the Abu Dhabi Group,

Union National Bank Union National Bank (UNB) was a bank based in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, from 1982 until it merged with Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank in 2019. It was established as a Public Joint Stock Company in 1982 became one of the UAE's leading domestic ...

, and

United Bank Limited United Bank Limited (UBL) () is a Pakistani multinational commercial bank which is a subsidiary of British company Bestway Group. It is based in Karachi, Pakistan. It is one of the largest banks in the Pakistani private sector, with over 1,400 br ...

Pakistan

Nahyan has taken a keen interest in Pakistan–United Arab Emirates Friendship. He is one of two Emirati royals, that own estate with a personal game reserve near the mouth of the

Indus The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in Western Tibet, flows northwest through the disputed region of Kashmir, ...

River in

Sindh Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...

Province used for falconeering and hunting; the other royal being the late

Sheikh Zayed Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan ( ar, زَايِد بِن سُلْطَان آل نَهْيَان, Zāyed bin Sulṭān Āl Nahyān; 6 May 1918 – 2 November 2004) was an Emirati politician, statesman, and philanthropist who served as ...

. Nahyan's

Abu Dhabi United Group The Abu Dhabi United Group for Development and Investment (ADUG; ar, مجموعة أبوظبي الاتحاد للتنمية والاستثمار) is a United Arab Emirates (UAE) based private equity company. It is owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Z ...

is a large investor in

. It owns Bank Alfalah,

Warid Telecom Warid Telecom International ( ar, وارد تليكوم الدولية) was an Emirati telecommunications company which was active in Bangladesh, Georgia, Congo, Pakistan, and Uganda before its divestment. Pakistan In 2004, Warid Telecom Inter ...

Wateen Telecom Wateen Telecom ( ur, ) is a converged communication services provider based in Lahore, Pakistan, and was a sister concern of Warid Telecom. The company was incorporated in 2005 and began its operations in 2007 with the deployment of the largest ...

, Taavun and many more in Pakistan. He is also Founder Chairman of Bank Alfalah. Sheikh Nahyan Mubarak Al Nahyan is also recipient of Pakistan's highest civilian award, the

Hilal-e-Pakistan Hilal-e-Pakistan () is the second-highest civil award (in the hierarchy of "Hilal") of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The award seeks to recognize those people who have made "meritorious contribution to the national interests of Pakistan, or ...

, which was conferred upon him by the President of Pakistan in 2005.

Georgia

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, Nahyan invested in Kor Standard Bank (now Terabank) and

Biltmore Hotel Tbilisi The Biltmore Hotel Tbilisi ( ka, სასტუმრო „ბილტმორ თბილისი“) is a luxury hotel in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, operated by the Millennium & Copthorne Hotels. The Biltmore Hotel Tbilisi is the fir ...

Controversy

In April 2021, a British woman (Ms. McNamara, 32) claimed that she was sexually assaulted by accused Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan. She claimed that she allegedly suffered at the hands of Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan on 14 February 2020 at a private residence in Abu Dhabi. The

Crown Prosecution Service The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is the principal public agency for conducting criminal prosecutions in England and Wales. It is headed by the Director of Public Prosecutions. The main responsibilities of the CPS are to provide legal adv ...

said it could not bring charges because the alleged offence happened abroad.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nahyan, Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al 1951 births Living people People from Abu Dhabi Emirati politicians Emirati businesspeople Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Culture ministers of the United Arab Emirates Education ministers of the United Arab Emirates Zayed University faculty Recipients of Hilal-i-Pakistan Heads of universities in the United Arab Emirates