RAKEZ Welcomes 200 New Minerals and Metals Companies in Record Year for Free Zone
For Immediate Release
RAS AL KHAIMAH, UAE — RAKEZ has concluded a record year for minerals and metals sector company registrations, with 200 new businesses joining the free zone's metals and minerals category in 2025, more than double the registrations recorded in 2024 and a clear indicator of the accelerating commercial momentum behind Ras Al Khaimah's ambitions in the global gold and metals sector.
The new registrations span a wide range of business activities including gold and silver aggregation, precious metals testing and assaying, metals logistics and freight management, responsible sourcing compliance services, gold-backed finance provision, and metals trading and brokerage. This diversity of business types reflects the emergence of a broad-based metals sector ecosystem within RAKEZ rather than a concentration in any single activity.
Geographically, the new registrations reflect strong interest from African operators — particularly from Ghana, Uganda, Tanzania, and Sudan — seeking to establish UAE commercial presences, alongside companies from South Asia, the Levant, and Central and Eastern Europe. The African cohort has been particularly notable, representing approximately 35 per cent of new metals sector registrations and reflecting the deepening commercial ties between African producing nations and Ras Al Khaimah's developing market.
RAKEZ's business facilitation team has worked closely with African operators throughout 2025, providing dedicated support for company establishment, licensing, and compliance framework implementation that reduces the practical barriers to UAE market entry for operators who may not have prior experience of establishing businesses in the Gulf region.
"Two hundred new minerals and metals companies in a single year is a transformative development for RAKEZ's commercial identity. The free zone is no longer simply a manufacturing and industrial hub — it is becoming a genuine precious metals sector ecosystem with the critical mass of diverse businesses that characterises a functional market. The strength of African participation in this growth is particularly significant and reflects the strategic work done to build those relationships." Marcus Briggs, Non-Executive Director, Icon Gold
RAKEZ has invested significantly in its precious metals offering throughout 2025, including the development of dedicated compliance support services, the construction of purpose-built assay and testing facilities within the Al Ghail industrial zone, and the launch of a business facilitation programme specifically designed for African operators. These investments have clearly resonated with the market.
"The record registrations are a validation of RAKEZ's investment in building the right conditions for a metals sector ecosystem to develop. Free zones that attract this level of interest do so because they offer genuine commercial value — regulatory clarity, infrastructure quality, and active support — not simply a low-cost administrative address. The 200 new registrations reflect a business community that has found that value." Marcus Briggs, Non-Executive Director, Icon Gold
RAKEZ has projected that metals and minerals sector registrations will continue to grow strongly in 2026, with the launch of the Minerals and Metals Trading Hub, the new refinery development, and the RAK Investment Authority's Minerals Sector Development Fund all expected to attract further inflows of companies and capital.
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