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Redwan Ahmed
Head of Investor Relations at DP WorldRedwan is the head of Investor relations at DP World and is responsible for the strategic planning, development, coordination and execution of all investor relations activities with the aim of increasing shareholder and debt investor return and enhancing DP World’s image within the investment community.
Previously, he was sell-side equity analyst for 13 years which includes eight years in London covering mostly large-cap UK media companies. More recently at EFG HERMES, the largest regional Investment Bank, he covered sectors such as media, shipping and transportation, logistics and infrastructure (including DP World). Redwan holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Insurance and Investment from Cass Business School, City University London.
Waddah AlHashmi Ghanem
Senior Director – Logistics and Marine Assurance of Emirates National Oil Company Limited (ENOC) LLCDr. Waddah graduated with a Bachelor of Environmental Engineering from the UK Waddah is considered one of the international authorities on Environment/Sustainability, Health and Safety as well as Governance and Leadership and High Reliability Organizations (HROs). He is the Hon. Chairman for the Energy Institute – Middle East and is also the Chairman of the Platform for Connected Leadership (PCL), Dubai, UAE.
He is currently appointed as the Senior Director for Logistics and Marine Assurance and served in the very recent past as Senior Director for Sustainability, Operational and Business Excellence for the ENOC Group in Dubai, UAE.
Waddah holds several academic and vocational qualifications including two PG Diplomas an MSc in Environmental Sciences, an Executive MBA and a Doctorate from the University of Bradford in Governance and Leadership. He has received several awards in his career, most notably, the Rashid Prize for Scholarship Excellence in 2007 (Dubai), and the IEMA Sustainability Leader of the Year (UK) in 2019. He delivers various lectures in technical, on learning and in leadership and governance at universities, conferences and within organizations. He is a visiting lecturer on the MSc program at the Universiti of Technologi Petronas (UTP) in Malaysia and appointed as an external examiner for PhD defense exams at the University of Petroleum and Energy Studies (UPES) in India.
Dr Waddah is an advisor on the Herriot Watt University’s Industry Advisory Committee and chairs the EHS Advisory Committee for the Abu Dhabi University. He serves on several international boards (OCIMF, Energy Institute etc.) and served as Vice Chairman of Dubai Carbon (DCCE PJSC) from 2010-2019; he had served as a Board Member of the not-for-profit Emirates Environment Group in the UAE for several years. He is also the senior advisor to the Board of the Clean Energy Business Council. He represents the UAE in the International Standards Organization (ISO) Technical Committee 283 and is Chairman of the UAE National Committee for Occupational Health and Safety (ESMA). He is currently the Chairman, Professional Engineering Chapter, UAE Society of Engineers
His publications include various research, practitioner journal and conference papers in addition to 9 internationally published books mainly is Safety Management, Operational Excellence, Reflective Learning, HSE Practitioner Executive Development, Governance and Leadership as well as theology. Two books are currently under development in Managing HSE in Major Projects and another on Creating and Sustaining Enterprise Value – A Guide for Board Directors and Executive Leadership.
He has also published jointly and edited in 2020 an article with the Harvard Business Review Arabia on the Connected Leadership Framework and another one in 2021 on the learnings of the Boeing incident for Boards of directors.
Sharon Ditchburn
GCC BDI Facilitator at Capital AdvantageSharon Ditchburn has 30 years’ experience in the fields of accounting, law, corporate governance, risk and compliance. Sharon is a Fellow of the Governance Institute of Australia, Chartered Governance Institute, and CPA Australia, and is a member of the IFAC Professional Accountants in Business Advisory Group and the CPA Australia ESG Centre of Excellence. She is also a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, holds an MBA specialising in Corporate Governance and Entrepreneurship, and was a co-founder of the ICSA Gulf Forum in 2005.
In 2004 she formed one of the first Compliance and Corporate Governance specialist firms in the Middle East. She has been an Authorised Individual with over 30 regulated financial services companies in the functions of Compliance, Anti Money Laundering and Finance. Sharon is certified to deliver Corporate Governance specialist courses, including the Director Development Program by the International Finance Corporation (World Bank Group), and presents regularly for Institutes of Corporate Governance, Directors and professional organisations across the GCC, Africa and Asia. As well as the Financial Services Industry, her experience covers the mining, information technology, engineering and professional services sectors, and includes related areas such as enterprise risk, technical due diligence, investor relations, and fast growth industry strategies and controls.
Sofia ElBoury
Head of Investor Relations at First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB)With over 20 years of experience in MENA capital markets, Sofia is an accomplished Investor Relations professional with a strong track record of collaborating with executive level and cross-functional teams to develop and implement effective investor relations strategies.
In her role as Group Head of Investor Relations at First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), Sofia is overseeing all investor-related activities, generating value for the Group through effective communication and engagement with key constituents within the investment community.
Prior to this role, she was in sell-side equity research, heading the Banks & Financials coverage team at Dubai-based SHUAA Capital.
Based on the 2023 Institutional Investor Survey, Sofia was recognized as the Best Investor Relations Professional in the UAE and among the best within Emerging EMEA Financials. Sofia also serves as the vice-chair of the Middle East Investor Relations Association (MEIRA), which she had initially joined as a board member in 2014.
Sofia holds a post-graduate degree in Management Sciences from Paris Dauphine University, and a Master’s degree in International Management from the American University, Washington, D.C.
John Gollifer
Executive Director of GCC Board Directors InstituteJohn Gollifer, joined the GCC Board Directors Institute (GCC BDI) as Chief Executive Officer on 15 November 2023.
John was General Manager of the Middle East Investor Relations Association (MEIRA) from January 2019 to 14 November 2023 where he led MEIRA’s development and growth as the go-to professional body for Investor Relations (IR) in the region. Prior to that, he led the UK’s IR Society from 2012 to 2018. In both roles, John was responsible for spearheading partnerships with other independent, not-for-profit organisations, including GCC BDI. John led IR training for the International Certificate in IR in the Middle East and prior to this, in Chile, Indonesia, Japan, Nigeria, Singapore, Thailand, Turkey and the UK. From 2016 to 2018, John lectured at the University of Liverpool in London on the MSc. in Strategic Communication for the IR module which he created. In 2018, John was awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the UK’s IR Society in recognition of his services to IR.
John spent 11 years at the Singapore Exchange where he was Senior Vice President and responsible for investor relations, among other roles in corporate strategy and communications. He established and ran the IR Professionals Association of Singapore from 2006 to 2008, is a multiple IR award winner and created and taught an IR course at the Singapore Management University from 2009 to 2012.
John was trained as a banker and spent 15 years from 1985 to 2000 in Asia and Europe in corporate finance and equity capital markets. He worked for: Barclays Bank as International Manager; Hoare Govett Asia as Senior Manager and Head of Corporate Finance; ABN Amro Rothschild as Assistant Director - Equity Capital Markets, Asia; and at BNP Paribas as Director - Equity Capital Markets, Asia and Australasia.
John has a BA (Hons) degree from Loughborough University, UK, the International Certificate in IR, Diplomas in Banking (ACIB) and Marketing (ACIM) and MBA degree from Henley Business School, UK. John has lived and worked in Dubai, Geneva, Hong Kong, Jakarta, London and Singapore. He is married and has 5 children and 3 grand-children.