“I’m here to stay”: Why this Dubai entrepreneur is standing firm despite regional tensions

Dubai: For Egyptian lawyer Ahmed Elnaggar, the UAE isn’t just where he works and lives. It’s where he built his life.

Nearly 20 years after first arriving in Dubai, that sense of belonging has only deepened.

He still remembers his first days in the city - landing just before summer, stepping out into the sun and witnessing a skyline that felt almost surreal at the time.

But what struck him most wasn’t just how the city looked, it was how it felt.

“It didn’t feel like a city growing,” he recalled. “It felt like a city that already knew where it was going.”

Elnaggar admits that he didn’t arrive in the UAE with a clear plan. But what he found was a system that allowed him to grow, professionally and personally, in ways he hadn’t anticipated.

Over the years, he built his own law firm and founded a network for legal practitioners, creating a space where professionals could connect beyond formal roles and titles. Along the way, he built not just a career, but a community.

For him, the UAE has been central to that journey - a place that enabled what he describes as a “wholly fantastic life and career”.

“What’s unique here is not just opportunity, it’s direction,” he said. “The UAE has always moved forward. Different speeds, different phases, but always forward.”

Today, as the region faces some uncertainties, Elnaggar views the moment through the lens of experience.

“If you’ve lived here long enough, you start to recognise a pattern. The UAE has been tested before and each time, it comes back stronger. No one does a comeback better than the UAE.”

Choosing to stay

From his perspective as a legal and business professional, stability isn’t about the absence of challenges — it’s about how they are managed.

And on the ground, he says, life in the UAE remains steady.

“We are cautious, but we are still active,” he said. “Life hasn’t stopped.”

That sense of continuity is what underpins his decision to stay.

“I’m personally here to stay. I’m not going anywhere,” he said. “I’ve seen this cycle before. Pressure doesn’t slow us down.”

Rather than viewing the current regional climate as a setback, he sees it as part of a pattern that often creates new opportunities.

“There will always be those who don’t understand. But for those who stay, those who understand, the UAE creates opportunity. Because here, challenges are not endpoints, they are what we are waiting for.”