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Board of Directors

GrowthGate’s Board of Directors is comprised of seasoned professionals and prominent individuals. The current members of GrowthGate’s Board are:



Mr. Abdullah Rashid Al Noaimi

Mr. Abdullah Rashid Al Noaimi
Chairman of GrowthGate

Mr. Al Noaimi, Chairman of GrowthGate, is the former Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of UAE, where he started his career as a diplomat some 30 years earlier, handling many key assignments including representing the UAE Government and State-owned companies in international forums and negotiations.

Mr. Al Noaimi is a graduate of the prestigious Tufts and Fletcher Universities, the home of US diplomatic schools.


Mr. Dhafer Al Ahbabi

Mr. Dhafer Al Ahbabi

Biography is not available at the moment...

Mr. Saleh Al Habsi

Mr. Saleh Al Habsi

Mr. Al Habsi occupies the following responsibilities: General Manager of MOD Pension Fund in Oman, Chairman of Muscat Fund JIA, Deputy Chairman of Al Jazeera Steel Products SAOG, Director of National bank of Oman and Director of Al Omaniya Financial Services SAOG Mr.

Al Habsi holds a Bachelors Degree in Arts, as well as a Bachelors Degree in Science. He also holds a double Masters Degree in Science and in Business Administration.


Mr. Badr Jafar

Mr. Badr Jafar

Mr. Jafar is Executive Director at the Crescent Petroleum Group of companies, headquartered in the United Arab Emirates for over 40 years and with offices worldwide, where he leads project development and financial deal structuring activities for the Group, with a particular focus on upstream activities. Mr. Jafar also serves as CEO of Crescent Investments, the Group's project investments division, and as Chairman of Gas Cities LLC, a joint venture between Crescent Petroleum and Dana Gas PJSC. He is also actively involved in business development in Dana Gas PJSC, the Gulf region's first and largest listed private sector natural gas company, and serves on its International Advisory Board. Mr. Jafar serves as Chairman of Pearl Petroleum, a partnership between Crescent Petroleum, Dana Gas, OMV of Austria and MOL of Hungary.

Additionally, Mr. Jafar has a variety of international and commercial interests, including aviation, serving as a Board member of Gama Aviation (UK); shipping, serving as a Vice Chairman of Gulftainer Ltd. (the Middle-East's largest private container port operator); and real estate, serving as a Board member of Enshaa PSC (UAE) and Abraaj Capital (the largest private equity house outside the US and Europe, based in the UAE). He also plays an active role in private equity initiatives, serving as a Board member of GrowthGate Capital Corporation (Bahrain).

Mr. Jafar is also the founder of Collo Ltd (UK) and Persicus Inc (USA), which specialize in the manufacturing and marketing of high-end consumer products worldwide, and of Omniway Properties Ltd (UK), which targets European property development. He is an active member of the Young Presidents' Organisation and sits on the Alumni Advisory Council of the Cambridge University Judge Business School. Mr. Jafar has also recently co-initiated the launch of Pearl Initiative, a movement to create greater transparency and accountability in The Gulf.


Mr. Fahad Al Khalifa

Mr. Fahad Al Khalifa

Mr. Al Khalifa Joined QNB (Qatar National Bank) in 2000. Prior to joining QNB, he worked for six years with Qatar Central Bank as a dealer in Investment and Foreign Relations. During his stay with QNB, he held various positions starting as Senior Fixed Income Dealer, promoted to Head of Dealing Room, then AGM Treasury and finally as GM Treasury in July 08.

Mr. Al Khalifa is a US graduate with a Bachelor’s degree in Finance since 1994. He has been continuously attending various on-the job training with major Financial Institutions covering various financial instruments, trading and management.


Mr. Ali Al Mansoori

Mr. Ali Al Mansoori

Mr. Al Mansoori is the Chief Executive Officer of Al Rayan Investment Co., he has been with Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) since 1990. From 1990 to 1999 he managed U.S. active portfolio in various sectors including energy, healthcare, and transportation: auto/airlines portfolio. From 1999 to 2004 he held the position of Deputy Director/Portfolio Manager of the U.S. external portfolio (External Managers or Fund of Funds) he managed the overall portfolio. From 2004 to 2008 he was the Director/Portfolio Manager of the European External portfolio.

Mr. Al Mansoori is also the Chairman of Injaz Mena and Morganti JV and the Vice Chairman of Essdar Capital. He is a Board Member of Abu Dhabi Holding, PIVOT and other companies.

Mr. Al Mansoori Graduated in 1989 from the U.S. and obtained a Bachelor of Science. He is Charted Financial Analyst, CFA and member of the U.S. Society of Financial Analysts. Also, he is a repeat attendee of Harvard Business school courses.


Mr. Maher Mikati

Mr. Maher Mikati

Mr. Mikati has experience in business and management, having previously served as Managing Director of Areeba Limited, the first private mobile operator in Cyprus, a subsidiary of INVESTCOM, as well as interim CEO of Façonnable, a luxury French fashion brand.

Mr. Mikati is currently an Executive Director of M1 Group, a family office based in Beirut, Lebanon.

Mr. Mikati also serves as a board member of Baboo, a Geneva based value airline, Royal Jordanian, the national airline of Jordan, Façonnable, Gama Aviation and GrowthGate.

Mr. Mikati holds a Bachelor Degree in Business Administration from the American University of Beirut and an MBA from INSEAD, France.


Mr. Varouj Nerguizian

Mr. Varouj Nerguizian

Mr. Nerguizian started his professional career in 1972 with Bank G. Trad-Credit Lyonnais Beirut, followed by a move to Bank of Sharjah - UAE in 1977, an affiliate of Banque Paribas.

A member of Banque Paribas International staff, Mr. Nerguizian was appointed as General Manager of Bank of Sharjah in January 1, 1992.

Currently Executive Director and General Manager of Bank of Sharjah, Mr. Nerguizian was instrumental in the growth of the Bank, its success and promotion not only in the UAE but in the Region. In 2007 he completed the acquisition by Bank of Sharjah of Banque de la Bekaa SAL restyled Emirates Lebanon Bank SAL and was appointed as Chairman and General Manager of the new Lebanese Bank.

In 2008 he successfully completed the acquisition of the operations of BNPI in Lebanon through Emirates Lebanon Bank SAL consolidating the presence of Bank of Sharjah in the region.

Mr. Nerguizian’s footprint reached other industries; mainly the Oil and Gas, Steel, Insurance and Education. He is on the Board of Directors of Dana Gas Sharjah, and currently Chairman of its Audit and Compliance Committee. He acts also as Executive Director of some of the Bank’s Subsidiaries.

After serving as member and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Lycée Georges Pompidou for 12 years, Mr. Nerguizian as Chairman led in 2003 the team that established the Lebanese Educational Fund SA and the Lycée Libanais Francophone Privé in Dubai, a nonprofit private school that serves the educational needs of the Lebanese Community in Dubai and the Northern Emirates.

Mr. Nerguizian graduated from Université St. Joseph-Beirut (Université of Lyon Lumière-France) in Economics.


Mr. Mu'taz El Sawwaf

Mr. Mu'taz El Sawwaf

Mr. El Sawwaf established Arabian Roots (Saudi Arabia) in 1977, which specializes in construction and trading in building materials. He performed many private & public projects in Lebanon, the Middle East, and the Gulf. He entered into a management agreement with Saudi Binladin Group to manage many of its Design & Build construction projects in Saudi Arabia and abroad.

Mr. El Sawwaf established MIMAR Invest in 2001, which consolidated all companies that manufacture and distribute products in building materials, textile, and food stuff.

In 2006, Mr. El Sawwaf cofounded BINTEL which is part of Saudi Binladin Group, specializing in acquiring and operating GSM licenses in Africa. Mr. El Sawwaf graduated from the American University of Beirut with a Bachelor degree in Architecture.


Mr. Malek Sukkar

Mr. Malek Sukkar

Mr. Sukkar grew up in Lebanon and the UK, starting his career in London for Complete Process, a high-tech production machinery manufacturer. He quickly became Technical Director, overseeing the development of equipment such as water-jet cutters.

Mr. Sukkar joined Averda in 1993 as Vice-President of Services, responsible for all non-operational aspects of the company, from HR, IT, procurement, finance and administration to advertising. Mr. Sukkar built a platform for the rapid growth of the company with the aid of a highly skilled and motivated team.

In 2000, he became CEO of Averda, Lebanon, responsible for all aspects of the company.

In 2004, he also established and headed up Quanon Capital in London as a single-family office (SFO) with a focus on real estate and capital markets investments.

Mr. Sukkar holds a BSc degree in Manufacturing Engineering from Boston University, Massachusetts, USA.


Mr. Robert Sursock

Mr. Robert Sursock

Mr. Sursock is Chairman and CEO of PrimeCorp Finance SA. Until 1997, he spent 25 years at Banque Arabe et Internationale d’Investissement (BAII), which, under his leadership, rose to become one of the prestigious Merchant Banking institutions, classified within the top 500 in the world, with subsidiaries in the main world financial centers.

Mr. Sursock established PrimeCorp Finance S.A. in 1997, a financial institution providing Investment Banking advisory services specialized in funds structuring and offering corporate finance advisory services to institutions across Europe and the Middle-East. PrimeCorp, in strategic partnership with specialized institutions (such as IXIS-AEW, Rabobank, SIPAREX), structured funds in the real estate, agribusiness, and technology sectors, representing over 300M€ of Private Equity managed assets and has advised on over €3 billion worth of assets.

During his career, Mr. Sursock held senior positions in leading banking and financial institutions and is a board member of a number of financial institutions across Europe and the Middle-East.




Investment Committee




GrowthGate Investment Committee Members:

Ms. Niam Kawas
Mr. Badr Jafar
The General Manager

Audit Committee




GrowthGate Audit Committee Members:   

Mr. Robert Sursock  (Chair person)
Mr. Saleh Al Habsi
Mr. Fahad Al Khalifa 
Mr. Varouj Nerguizian