UAE’s Inspirational Leaders

Tony Douglas was appointed Group Chief Executive Officer of Etihad Aviation Group in September 2017 and joins the business on 1 January 2018.

He has nearly 20 years of international leadership experience in transportation, infrastructure, and government sectors. He joins Etihad Aviation Group from the UK’s Ministry of Defence, where he served as CEO of the Defence Equipment and Support department, responsible for procuring and supporting all the equipment and services for the British Armed Forces, managing a budget of US $20 billion a year.

Previously, he held senior leadership positions in the UAE, most notably as CEO of Abu Dhabi Airports Company and Abu Dhabi Ports Company, where he was responsible for the successful delivery of Khalifa Port.

In the UK, he held senior positions with airport operator British Airports Authority (BAA), and Chief Operating Officer and Group Chief Executive designate of Laing O’Rourke. His roles under BAA included Managing Director of Heathrow Terminal 5 project, Group Supply Chain Director, Group Technical Director, and CEO of Heathrow Airport.

Tony holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from the University of Lancaster in the UK

He spearheads Masafi’s market leadership across various geographies and FMCG categories, including drinking water, flavoured water, 100 per cent juice, rice and tissues.

With more than 17 years of multinational senior management experience in leading FMCG companies, Reginald Randall has experience in the disciplines of manufacturing, sales, marketing and supply chain. He holds a bachelor’s degree in science with specialisation in agricultural production from the University of Natal, South Africa.

Having previously worked in the Coke operations in South Africa, South Korea and Sudan for more than 15 years.

He joined Masafi in 2011 and is leading Masafi’s expansion to other countries.

Johan Eric Dennelind (born 1969) is a Swedish businessman, the CEO of DU a United Arab Emirates telecom company, since September 2019. He was previously president and CEO of Telia Company, the dominant telephone company and mobile network operator in Sweden and Finland.

Dennelind started with Telia Company as a management trainee in 1990. He was the CEO of Teliasonera from 2013 to 2016. He was then president and CEO of Telia Company, the dominant telephone company and mobile network operator in Sweden and Finland until 2019.

In September 2019, he succeeded Osman Sultan as CEO of du, a United Arab Emirates telecom company

Hussain Sajwani, a UAE national, is the founder and Chairman of global property development Company, DAMAC Properties

Ms Lum has received many accolades for her entrepreneurial achievements including the Nikkei Asia Prize for Regional Growth 2006, the Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur Of The Year 2011 and the Financial Times ArcelorMittal Boldness in Business Award 2011 for Entrepreneurship.

entrepreneurial skills of Sajwani. Listed among the 100 most globally influential Arabs, he has the proven capability to transfer a business vision into corporate reality; and to provide the leadership necessary to maintain continuity and growth.

As an astute businessman and investor, Sajwani also has a proven track record of successful forays into the global equity and capital markets. He currently holds investment portfolios of securities in a number of regional and global markets.

DICO Investments Co LLC is his flagship investment Company. This Company focuses on investments in private equities, mergers, and acquisitions and holds the majority and minority holdings in publicly traded companies and are always looking for value propositions in the global and regional investment spheres.

Humaid al Qassimi is the CEO of Planet Pharmacies, A joint venture between Julphar Pharmaceuticals – a Ras Al Khaimah based generics manufacturer and a Kuwaiti private equity management company Global Investment House, Planet Pharmacies was established in 2007. The company’s venues of operations within the GCC include Saudi Arabia, Oman and the UAE.

Planet Pharmacies’ business collaboration has been set up with a capital of Dh 810 million, chiefly focusing on retail, distribution and manufacturing. “It took us about three years to actually establish and strategically position Planet Pharmacies after determining its commercial scope and the right positioning in the market,” revealed Shaikh Saqer Humaid Al Qassimi, the visionary behind Planet Pharmacies.

Guy Hutchinson, acting CEO of Rotana Hotel Management Corporation makes his debut on Hotelier’s Power 50 list. He took over from Omer Kaddouri who was number four on our Power 50 list in 2018

Six months into his role, Guy has overseen a strong period of growth. Last year, Rotana expanded in to Marrakesh after signing  Palmeraie Palace and Hotel du Golf with a total of 640 keys.  The group also signed the Business Bay Rotana in Dubai with 350 keys and the Tanmia Arjaan in Muscat, Oman with 100 keys. The growth shows no signs of abating with 14 hotels set to open before the end of 2020, adding 4,102 rooms to its portfolio.

Hutchinson, who joined the group in 2014 as the chief operating officer, is the brains behind the roll-out and implementation of ‘Ideas’, Rotana’s revenue management system, across all hotels.

Bart Denolf is currently the CEO Franchise for the Sacoor Brothers Group. Since he joined the company in 2015 he has been actively increasing the presence in new markets. Prior to joining Sacoor Brothers Group, Denolf pursued a successful career at Pepe Jeans Group from 2015-10 where he worked as Global Retail and Expansion Director and previous to that at Mango from 2005-10, where he worked as Area Manager of Expansion and became Senior VP Business Development. Denolf studied for a Degree in Law at the University of Ghent (Belgium). He graduated with a Master’s Degree from European Law from University of Cantabria (Spain) in 2001.  In 2003, Denolf got another Master’s Degree in Marketing, Sales and Business Administration in ESIC (Madrid, Spain). He also undertook in 2010 the General Management Programme with the business school IESE (Barcelona, Spain). In 2014 he did another executive programme in INSEAD (Paris). Recently he undertook the LEAD programme of Stanford University (San Francisco, USA)

Amer Douri joined Al Douri Group in 2002 and held a number of key roles before his appointment as CEO in 2009. He is an experienced executive director with a demonstrated history of working in the international trade and development industry.