Qatari billionaire family eyes multi-billion-dollar infrastructure opportunities in aviation and construction across Africa

The Qatari billionaire Al-Khayyat family is stepping up its expansion into Africa’s infrastructure sector, targeting multi-billion-dollar opportunities in aviation and construction as competition for large-scale development projects intensifies across the continent.

• The Al-Khayyat family from Qatar is increasing its investments in African infrastructure, especially aviation and construction.
• Their companies, particularly UCC Holding, are bidding for large-scale deals in Ethiopia’s new $12.5 billion airport project and a highway in the DRC,
• The planned Ethiopian airport aims to be one of Africa’s largest, with the capacity to handle up to 100 million passengers annually.
• The highway project in Congo is intended to boost regional connectivity and address historical trade bottlenecks.

The family, through the leadership of brothers, Moutaz Al-Khayyat and Ramez Al-Khayyat, is seeking to broaden its footprint by bidding for major transport and logistics projects in key African markets, particularly in East and Central Africa.

According to Boyd Merrett, group chief executive officer of UCC Holding - a unit linked to the broader investment group, the firm is actively pursuing Ethiopia’s $12.5 billion new international airport project while also eyeing a 400-kilometre highway development in the Democratic Republic of Congo as per Bloomberg

Ramez Al-Khayyat is a Qatari entrepreneur and business leader based in Doha. He serves as President and Group CEO of Power International Holding (PIH), where he oversees strategy, operations, and the group’s international expansion.

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His brother, Moutaz Al-Khayyat, is the founder and chairman of PIH as well as several major Qatari companies, including UCC, dairy giant Baladna, and Estithmar Holding.

UCC Holding, one of PIH’s key subsidiaries, has grown into a major regional contracting firm, ranking among the top global international contractors. The company has delivered large-scale infrastructure projects in Qatar and abroad.

The group is among several Gulf investors competing for Ethiopia’s planned new mega airport project, which is expected to become one of the largest aviation hubs in Africa, designed to handle massive passenger traffic growth in the coming decades.

Ethiopia airport and DR Congo highway push

The proposed Ethiopian airport is expected to become one of Africa’s largest aviation hubs, designed to support rising passenger demand and strengthen Addis Ababa’s position as a regional transit gateway.

It is projected to handle up to 100 million passengers annually within five years of completion, Ethiopian Airlines Chief Executive Mesfin Tasew said last year.

The planned facility will feature four runways and will be developed in Bishoftu, approximately 40 kilometres (25 miles) southeast of Addis Ababa.

Covering about 35 square kilometres (13.5 square miles), the project is set to become one of Africa’s largest aviation infrastructure developments upon completion.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the highway project is aimed at improving regional connectivity and easing long-standing infrastructure bottlenecks that have constrained trade flows.

The move highlights growing Gulf investor appetite for African infrastructure, particularly in aviation, transport corridors, and urban development, where governments are increasingly relying on private capital to close financing gaps.

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The Al-Khayyat family has been steadily expanding its global investment footprint beyond the Middle East, with Africa emerging as a key strategic frontier.

Analysts say Africa’s infrastructure deficit continues to present long-term opportunities for deep-pocketed investors, especially in aviation expansion, logistics hubs, and road networks aligned with the African Continental Free Trade Area.

The expansion reflects a broader trend of Middle Eastern capital flowing into African megaprojects as investors seek stable, long-term returns from public-private partnerships in emerging markets.