Management Team

H.E Khadim Al Darei

H.E Khadim Al Darei has held the position of Vice Chairman and MD of the Al Dahra group since 2005. His able governance combined with innovative strategy and unprecedented ambition has lead to the extension of business activities to Asia, Africa, Europe and USA.

With more than 15 years of experience in professional leadership, H.E has a strong ability to handle complex business environments.  His professional qualifications include Masters in Business Administration and BA in Human Resources Development from the American University of Washington. His tenure with the Diplomatic & Consular Corps and his role as the Deputy General Manager for the office of H.H Minister of Foreign Affairs helped to garner invaluable experience ad expertise.

He was promoted to First Class Minister being responsible for Administration, Finance and Media, in the UAE Embassy of Lebanon and Vice Counsel of the UAE Embassy in Washington DC. He has also been the CEO of the office of H.H Sheikh Hamdan Bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Al Ain Holding, a holding company for Al Ain Capital LLC and Al Ain Properties.

Additionally, he is the board member of Red Crescent & NIC, Chairman of Zayed Academy and Vice Chairman of Agility Logistics, Abu Dhabi.

H.E Hamad Saeed Al Shamsi

H.E Hamad Saeed Al Shamsi, UAE nationality, holds a PhD preliminary in History, entitled (UAE diplomacy) from Beirut University, also MA in History, entitled (Economic and political development of the GCC). Also Graduate Diploma in the Faculty of Arts.

H.E Hamad has joined Al Dahra Agricultural Company recently as Regional Director of Egypt & African Projects, engraving 20 years of diplomatic experience and operation worldwide.

His career progression in the diplomatic and consular role inside and outside the Country with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs UAE is full of achievements, he has assigned  to be the Director of Operations, under the rank of Minister Plenipotentiary at the title of ambassador, as mandated functions of Director of the Office of the Executive Committee of the goods and materials subject to the control of import and export office of Foreign Affairs in Dubai of the Council of Ministers the rank of Assistant Deputy Minister.

Also H.E Hamad headed several conferences and international meetings, such as, he headed the UAE delegation to participate in the meeting of the "Master Planning of the Exercise the Third of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons" in the Netherlands, and also headed the UAE delegation to participate in the basic training course for ‘Workers in the National Committees for the Implementation of the Convention at the National level" Paris, Also he led the UAE delegation to visit the United States of America, to review the ‘functions and operation procedures for the control of strategic goods’. A part of this is his participation in many local and international conferences.

Houssam Mahmoud

We are delighted to announce that Houssam Mahmoud has joined Al Dahra in the leading position of CEO. He brings with him over 15 years of strategic leadership expertise within the Supply Chain and Logistics industry. He has experience in providing total logistics solutions across a variety of industry sectors and establishing new logistics operations for many multinational companies.

Houssam started his career in 1997 as a Country Branch Manager for Aramex, where he was responsible for establishing the new business unit in Jebel Ali, United Arab Emirates.

In 1999, Houssam moved to Schneider Electric as Logistics Manager and was later promoted to Regional Distribution Centre Manager, Middle East. In this capacity he managed the logistics operations of 17 Middle East countries.

Houssam joined Agility Abu Dhabi in 2005 in the capacity of Chief Executive Officer. Under Houssam’s leadership Agility Abu Dhabi’s annual revenue grew to US$ 80 Million in 2010 and the Company headcount increased from 3 to over 450 during the same period.  In recognition of his positive leadership and outstanding contribution to the success of the business in Agility Abu Dhabi, Houssam was promoted to Senior Vice President of Agility UAE & Oman.

Houssam was also instrumental in successfully establishing the prestigious Shanghai Logistics Hub, a state of the art Warehouse with Polymer Bagging facilities and a Compound Manufacturing Plant at Shanghai, China, for Borouge (a JV of Abu Dhabi National Oil Corporation & Borealis, and Europe).

On the personal front, Houssam is a family man, being married with two children; he enjoys time with his family and engaging in sports activities, such as golf and billiards. He has a passion for travel and exploring new territories and cultures.

Eng. Laith Abdul Raouf

Eng. Abdul Raouf has been one of the pioneers in building the company as well as the leader of the Alfalfa projects. He is the principle manager of all Al Dahra Farms in the UAE since 1997. Prior to this, he has served as the Agricultural Engineer in Ministry of Agriculture in Iraq.

His impeccable ability to design and implement mega Agricultural Projects and their subsidiary activities, has made him a valuable asset to the Group. He is also the imperative force in studying and analyzing business bids and profitability factors.

From barren land, he has converted Al Dahra Farms to lush farmlands of yield and productivity. To date, the Group has burgeoned to 14 land farms which include 74 greenhouses which produce organic fruits and vegetables and a herd of 2000 cattle for commercial diary milk production.

Nael Khalil

Khalil has been with Al Dahra since 2000, directing its start-up team. He holds a BA in Accounting and previously controlled finance. Due to the company’s recent expansion and considering his tireless commitment, he has been assigned with the responsibility of government business relations, over-seas operations and development of long term goals. His previous experience has been centralized in the UAE and this has enabled him to develop a keen aptitude towards the local market and customer satisfaction.

Alwyn Crasta

Empowered by his multi national experience with DHL, Spinneys and PepsiCo, Crasta joined the Al Dahra Group in 2009 as the head of the Finance team. With his expertise in ERP, Auditing and Planning, he supervises the preparation of financial reports, investment activities and cash management strategies.

He is a CMA certified professional whose financial acumen and pragmatic business plans have proven to be a vital asset to the company. He has obtained a Masters in Commerce (Specialized in Finance)from Bombay University, and a Post Graduation Diploma in Management Studies (DMS) from Bombay University. Presently he is one of the chief operators of several international projects of the group.

Eng. Noor Elobidi

Eng. Elobidi has an extensive 28 years of experience in cultivation and production of forage and hay making, forage nutrition and quality production. He has an amassed impressive range of experience in the Middle East especially in Farm & Diary production. He holds a BA in agriculture from Kharthoum University.

Brian Barriskill

Barriskill is an accredited member of the Chartered Institute of Transport and Logistics and a member of Supply Chain and Logistics Group in the UAE. He has over 15 years of experience in the logistics, supply chain, transport, warehousing, procurement and distribution. Highly proficient in Oracle, JD Edwards and SPA system infrastructure, he has been instrumental in strengthening the Supply Chain Management and making it a selling point for the organization. He has worked with several leading FMCG companies in Dubai and UK

Sulaiman Al Nuaimi

Sulaiman Al Nuaimi joined Al Dahra as General Manager -Egypt, in 2011. For over 15 years,  he has established a  very strong background in providing leadership and vision to the organization. He was functional in assisting the Board and staff with the development of long range and annual plans and the evaluation and reporting of progress of plans. He also supervised the preparation of an Annual report summarizing progress on short and long range plans. He has innumerable experience in management, public relation and administration. He is Bsc. holder in agriculture from UAE University (1992) with a PHD  (from Australia) in Leadership management

Abdulkadir Yousef

In 2007, Yousef initiated the new Date Palm Project in Namibia. For 3 years, as the general manager, he managed and implemented the Salhiya & East Owaynat projects in Egypt. He has an experience of over 20 years in Agriculture as well as Finance. He has served as the Finance Manager of Al Ain Group (parent company of Al Dahra) and General Manager of Jernain Maintenance Co. He is a graduate of the Madras University in India.

Khalid Medani

Medani has served as the Project Manager in Pakistan since 2008. With over 10 years of experience, he has specialized in agricultural field engineering, hay, farm machinery and surface irrigation. He is a BSc graduate in Agricultural Engineering from Gezira University.

John M. Gombos

Gombos is considered to be a connoisseur of agricultural products in his capacity as the president of ACX Pacific. He has managed the export business, trucking, warehousing and agricultural manufacturing for more than 31 years.

An MBA holder from the Phoenix University he is also certified with a BA of Business Administration. He handles the leadership of a company with 50+ employees and a turnover of $35m/ annum

Michael N. Gombos

Joining the ACX Pacific in 1983, Gombos established the company’s presence in Oregon and Washington in 1988.

Francisco Tabuenca

Tabuenca has served as the general manager of Desagro since 2008. With over 10 years of marketing and sales experience with different multinational companies, he has accumulated great knowledge in the Spanish forage market. He graduated from the Seville University with a BA in agricultural Engineering ad Marketing.