Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (DEWA) | Corporate Governance & Strategy

DEWA Board of Directors defines the strategic business guidelines and directions of the Company and its composition reflects a broad diversity of complementary experience, allowing its members to protect and promote the interests of all shareholders. Due to its diversity and the complementarity of its experiences, DEWA’s Board of Directors takes into account the interests of all its stakeholders, to meet the challenges that are revolutionizing the energy world. 

In line with the decree No. 55 of 2021 issued by HH Sheikh Mohamad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, two additional Board members have been added to DEWA’s Board. The newly established Board is now composed of 11 members; whereas, 90% of the Board of Directors are independent board members. 

The Board of Directors established DEWA’s good governance by creating a robust business environment aligned with the UAE laws and international best-practices. DEWA’s resilient internal control environment orchestrates the expected ethical and sustainable business practices to ensure the delivery of desired outcomes in line with DEWA’s patented Agile-Governance Framework approved by the Board of Directors. DEWA’s good governance covers essential components such as board charter, organizational chart and span of control, organizational strategies, and a delegation of financial and administrative authorities. 

As such, and in keeping with international guidelines, DEWA adopts the three lines model as per the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA): 

• 1st Line: DEWA business and support divisions.
• 2nd Line: Governance, Risk Management, and Compliance.
• 3rd Line: Internal Audit as an independent assurance provider. 

In addition, DEWA’s Board of Directors has also adopted a full suite of board level committees consisting of ESG, Nomination and Remuneration Committee, Audit Committee and Budget Committee that aim to ensure and promote independence across DEWA’s operations and reporting. 

Good Governance Awards & Recognition There have been numerous awards and certificates conferred on DEWA for its governance excellence. DEWA won the two most important awards at the Global Good Governance Awards 2020 organized annually by Cambridge IFA in the UK. The Company constantly benchmarks its operations with International Standards. As such, and since the year 2017, DEWA has been certified under the British Standard BS 13500 Effective Governance for five consecutive years.

Moreover, and as a result of good governance practice, DEWA has received the Global Award from the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) for the second time. DEWA continues to maintain its position in the Platinum category, which includes leading companies and institutions that promote excellence. This new accolade crowns DEWA’s pioneering efforts and its record of accomplishment in excellence. DEWA is the first organisation outside Europe to receive this prestigious global award, which is the highest award from the EFQM Excellence Model. For any attachments submitted by the user, please refer the Work Detail Area.

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) Commitments to Ethics & Compliance

DEWA adopts a zero-tolerance approach towards any occurrence of fraud, bribery or corruption across DEWA’s business activities and operations. DEWA recognizes that the prevention of fraud, bribery and corruption is an integral component of good governance and affirms its commitment to conduct its business and operations in an honest, transparent and ethical manner and as per the applicable UAE federal laws and the Emirate of Dubai legislations.

DEWA has adopted a robust Ethics and Compliance management system supported by a comprehensive set of policies and procedures related to Code of Conduct, Anti-Bribery & Corruption and Fraud, Anti-Money Laundering, and Whistleblowing policy.

A. Code of Business Ethics:

DEWA adopts a comprehensive Code of Business Ethics across its employees and suppliers to endorse its ethical commitments towards its activities and professional practices.

Click here for more details about Code of Business Ethics.

B. Anti-Bribery, Corruption & Fraud Policy:

DEWA will ensure transparency and integrity in all its business dealings and relationships wherever it operates and will implement and enforce effective systems and procedures to ensure prevention, detection and action against fraud, bribery and corruption.

Click here for more details about Anti-Bribery, Corruption & Fraud Policy.

C. Whistleblowing policy:

We are committed to the highest levels of ethics and integrity in the way we work. Therefore, DEWA has a dedicated Whistleblowing Hotline through which potential acts of illegal, unethical, or improper conduct can be reported confidentially by all our stakeholders (employees, clients, suppliers, vendors, and other external parties).

Below are the available reporting channels at DEWA:

• DEWA Ethics 24/7 Hotline (+971-4-322-2202)
• DEWA Ethics Email (ethicshotline@dewa.gov.ae)

Click here for more details about Whistleblower policy.

D. Anti-Money Laundering policy:

Our commitment towards preventing money laundering and terrorism financing by any of our entities is on top of DEWA’s priorities; hence, DEWA has set rigorous procedures in place to counteract it.

Click here for more details about Anti-Money Laundering Policy.

Our Purpose

Providing globally leading sustainable, efficient, and reliable power and water services, and related innovative smart solutions towards Net- Zero Future.

Our Vision

A globally leading sustainable innovative corporation committed to achieving Net-Zero by 2050.

Our Mission

We are committed and aligned to Dubai’s 8 Guiding Principles and 50-Year Charter supporting the UAE’s directions through the delivery of global leading services and innovative energy and potable water solutions enriching lives and ensuring the happiness of our stakeholders for a sustainable Net-Zero carbon 2050.

Our Motto

For Generations to come.

Our Values

• Stakeholders Happiness

• Sustainability 

• Innovation 

• Excellence 

• Good Governance 

Our Stakeholders

GOVERNMENT

Residential, commercial and  industrial.

DEWACorporate Strategy Map

The strategy map provides a clear visual indicator of how the themes and the four perspectives of the third generation Balanced Scorecard interrelate to each other and form the overall strategy of the organisation.

The map is a visual interpretation of an organisation’s strategy.

It shows a logical, step-by-step connection between Themes, Perspectives and Strategic Objectives. It shows a cause-and-effect relationship from the bottom row (Support, Learning and Growth Perspective) to the top row (Triple Bottom Line Perspective) via Internal Processes and Stakeholders Perspectives.

A. Strategic Intelligence Framework

Systematic continuous past-forward, today-onward and future-back analyses, leveraging an established insights ecosystem, to feed strategic intelligence into DEWA’s organization.

B. Strategy Framework

Three-phase strategy cycle – formulation, alignment, execution and assessment –leveraging the right inputs from strategic intelligence.

DEWA’s Strategy Framework consists of 3 consecutive phases, enriched by strategic intelligence and powered by continuous learning, communication & innovation

Strategy Formulation:

Define overall strategic direction and design the corporate strategy, leveraging strategic insights and foresight.

Organization Alignment:

Align divisions and strategic plans with DEWA’s overall strategy, and plan strategic initiatives for its achievement.

Execution & Assessment:

Implement corporate and divisional strategies, and assess implementation progress, including both performance (KPIs) and strategic initiatives.

The strategy management process for Dubai Electricity and Water Authority in terms of formulation, execution, explanation, communication, assessment and update of its strategic plan is implemented on an annual basis using the third generation of the Balanced Scorecard that includes themes on the strategy map along with the concept of having Theme Champions.

It’s broken down into strategic objectives, corporate KPIs and initiatives which split across the four perspectives.

• Triple-Bottom-Line Perspective: This is a modified perspective in the Balanced Scorecard and strategy map, which incorporates sustainability into business decisions through accounting for the three dimensions: financial, social and environmental and thus, allowing to manage performance in a broader business context.

• Stakeholder Perspective: Is a modified perspectives in the Balanced Scorecard and strategy map, which expands the focus of DEWA’s value creation to all stakeholder categories.

• Internal Processes Perspective: Is one of the four perspectives in the Balanced Scorecard and strategy map, which focuses on the strategic priorities for various business processes leading to the satisfaction of both customers and shareholders.

• To learning and growth: Is one of the four perspectives in the Balanced Scorecard and strategy map, which focuses on the priorities to create an environment that supports organisational change, innovation, and growth to achieve excellence in our operations, and to create the necessary potential and improvements that should be available in DEWA.

The Balanced Scorecard shows a cause-and-effect relationship between the four perspectives. The Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are based on the need to provide leading and lagging indicators of an organisation’s performance.

DEWA uses the third generation Balanced Scorecard to manage and measure the performance of its strategic direction, broken down into the themes, strategic objectives and corporate KPIs.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are significant measurements used to track and manage performance against strategic objectives. A KPI measures progress in the performance of an objective critical to the organisation’s strategic direction.

Corporate-level KPIs are determined under each Strategic Objective on DEWA’s Strategy Map to assess the overall progress in executing the corporate strategy. Selected KPIs should be understood, acceptable, have a well-defined formula and, above all, measurable.