Majid Jafar

Majid Jafar

Majid Jafar addressing the Davos Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum
Alma mater Eton College
Cambridge University,
London University (SOAS)
Harvard Business School
Occupation Energy sector
Organization Crescent Petroleum

Majid Hamid Jafar (Arabic version مجيد حميد جعفر ), born in 1976, is a UAE businessman of Iraqi origin. He is the CEO of Crescent Petroleum,[1] the Middle East's oldest private oil and gas company, headquartered in the UAE and with offices in the UK and internationally. He is also Vice-Chairman of the Board of the Crescent Group of Companies,[1] his family's business group, which includes interests in the energy, transportation, logistics, private equity and real estate sectors, and the Managing Director of the Board of Dana Gas[2] (PJSC), the first regional, private sector integrated natural gas company in the Middle East, in which Crescent Petroleum is the largest shareholder. He has been named one of the world's 50 most influential Arabs by Middle East Magazine.[3]

Early career

Crescent Petroleum began its activities in the early 1970s and is the first regional, independent, privately owned Middle Eastern petroleum company to engage in the acquisition, exploration and development of petroleum concessions; and the production and sale of crude oil, petroleum products and natural gas.[4] Together, Crescent Petroleum and Dana Gas have invested over $1bn in the oil and gas sector in Iraq's Kurdistan region, producing over 340 million cubic feet of gas and 15,000 barrels of condensate per day, enabling almost continuous electricity in the main cities in Iraq's Kurdistan region.[5]

Previous to joining Crescent Petroleum and the Crescent Group of companies in 2004, Jafar spent several years working at Shell with Shell International’s Exploration & Production and Gas & Power Divisions in London.[6]

Oil and Gas

Jafar has been named as one of the 25 most powerful people in the Middle East oil and gas sector.[7] He has also been a commentator on the oil and gas sector [8] and energy policy [9] and has written on the economic challenges in the Arab World,[10][11] the development of the UAE [12] and the geopolitics of oil and gas in the Caspian Region.[13] In 2013 Jafar was elected Vice-Chairman of the Global Energy Initiative, the international NGO headquartered at UN Plaza in New York that is focused on sustainable development through tackling climate change and energy poverty across the world.[14] He was listed among the top 100 business leaders from the Middle East and as Energy CEO of 2013 by Amwal[15] and has been named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.[16]

He is a Trustee of the Arab Forum for Environment and Development (AFED)[17] and the Iraqi Energy Institute,[18] a member of the Young Presidents Organisation[19] and of the Panel of Senior Advisors of the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House) in London chaired by former UK Prime Minister John Major.[20]

Economic Development

Majid Jafar is active in promoting the social and economic development of the Arab world.[21] An advocate of tackling youth unemployment through investment in the region, Jafar has served as the Vice-Chairman of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Youth Unemployment[22] and the founder of the “Arab Stabilization Plan”, which focuses on job creation through critical infrastructure investments to achieve economic stability and prevent instability.[23] Jafar is a regular commentator[21] and has written a number of articles on social and economic issues affecting the Arab world, including in the Financial Times [24] and the Daily Telegraph,[25] and has called for a ‘Marshall Plan’ for the Arab World when speaking at the Davos Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum.[26] He was named “Visionary of the Year” of the Year at the CEO Middle East Awards for his work to tackle youth unemployment in the region.[27] In 2014, he was listed among the world's 100 most powerful Arabs and amongst the leading "Thinkers" by Arabian Business.[28]

In March 2014 Jafar co-launched the Centre for Economic Growth (CEG) in Abu Dhabi in partnership with the INSEAD international business school as a unique collaboration between the private sector and a business school to provide research and publications on the key economic issues for the Middle East, including enhancing economic growth and job creation. He serves as the Founding Chair of the CEG Business Council.[29] He also sits on the Middle East Advisory board of Carnegie Endowment[30] and Harvard Business School, as well as the Board of the Queen Rania Foundation [31] and is a Founding Patron of the Prince's Trust International in the UK.[32]

Jafar has also been named co-Chair of the Business Backs Education campaign launched by former U.S. President Bill Clinton with the GEMS Foundation at the annual Global Education and Skills Forum to encourage greater commitments by the private sector to education worldwide, with five regional summits across the world including one in October 2014 hosted by former Mayor of London Boris Johnson.[33][34][35] In September 2014, Jafar was Co-Chair of the World Economic Forum Special Meeting in Instanbul on 'Unlocking Resources for Regional Development'. He was also Chairman of the March 2016 'Change in the Middle East: new lines in the sand?' conference held by the Ditchley Foundation.[36]

Jafar authored the opening chapter of 'Performance and Progress: Essays on Capitalism, Business and Society' published in 2015 by Oxford University Press and featuring chapters by Nobel Prize winners Kenneth Arrow and Amartya Sen and Business Leaders like Alibaba's Jack Ma.

Education

Majid Jafar attended Eton College and graduated from Cambridge University (Churchill College) with Bachelor and master's degrees in Engineering (Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics). He also holds an MA (with Distinction) in International Studies and Diplomacy from the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), and an MBA (with Distinction) from Harvard Business School, where he served as president of the Energy Club, Section Senator, and representative to the Harvard Graduate Council.[37]

Family

Majid Jafar is the eldest son of Hamid Jafar, founder of Crescent Petroleum and Chairman of the Crescent Group, and is a grandson of Dhia Jafar, a prominent politician and Cabinet Minister in the last decade of Iraq’s monarchy[38] during the reign of King Faisal II until 1958. The Jafar family are sayyids, tracing their ancestry directly from the Prophet Muhammad,.[39]

He is the elder brother of Badr Jafar, a business executive and social entrepreneur based in the United Arab Emirates, and Razan Jafar, who is also a Director of Crescent Petroleum.[40] He is additionally a nephew of nuclear physicist Jafar Dhia Jafar, widely known as the father of the Iraqi Nuclear Program, who has led electricity reconstruction efforts in post-war Iraq and is now CEO of the URUK Group.[41]

Education philanthropy

The Jafar family has supported the Jafar Research Professorship of Petroleum Engineering at Cambridge University[42] and the Jafar Centre for Executive Education at the American University of Sharjah. In 2015, the Jafar Hall and the Jafar Gallery were opened by the Prince of Wales at Eton College.[43]

Crescent Petroleum

Crescent Group

Dana Gas

Arab Stabilization Plan

References

  1. 1 2 "Board Members". Crescent Group. Crescent Group. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
  2. ↑ "Majid Jafar Managing Director of the Board of Dana Gas".
  3. ↑ "OUR FIFTY MOST INFLUENTIAL ARABS 2014". The Middle East Magazine. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
  4. ↑ "Company Overview". Crescent Petroleum. Crescent Petroleum. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
  5. ↑ "(GKP) Gulf Keystone Petroleum".
  6. ↑ "Stocks". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2016-09-30.
  7. ↑ "21-30 of the most powerful people in ME Oil & Gas".
  8. ↑ "Energy resources", Gulf Online, UAE, May 2011. Retrieved on May 2011.
  9. ↑ "Gas Vital to Middle East Economies", Gulf News, UAE, July 2011. Retrieved on July 2011.
  10. ↑ "GCC investment can lead post revolution states to stability", "The National", UAE, Sept 2011. Retrieved in December 2011.
  11. ↑ "Egypt's economy is crippled by unrest but GCC states could offer vital help", "The National", UAE, Feb 2012. Retrieved on 21 February 2012.
  12. ↑ "Principles of a nation offered an advantage from the start", "The National", UAE, Dec 2011. Retrieved in December 2011
  13. ↑ GCC "economic challenges in the Arab World", RoutledgeCurzon, London 2006. Retrieved on 2006
  14. ↑ "Global Energy Initiative: Key role for Crescent Petroleum CEO". 4 September 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2013. Majid Jafar, CEO of Crescent Petroleum, described as the Middle East’s oldest private oil and gas company, and vice chairman of the Crescent Group of companies, has been elected deputy chairman of the Global Energy Initiative (GEI), a major international not-for-profit organization with the mission of promoting sustainable energy for all to fight energy poverty, protect the environment, and mitigate the effects of climate change.
  15. ↑ "List of funds for the 100 most powerful business leaders during the 2013". Amwal Magazine (in Arabic). December 29, 2013. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
  16. ↑ "Young Global Leaders class of 2016". widgets.weforum.org. Retrieved 2016-09-30.
  17. ↑ "Afed Trustees". www.afedonline.org. Retrieved 2016-09-30.
  18. ↑ "Iraq Energy - Energizing Iraq's Economy | Oil news, Gas News, energy news, iraq oil, energy developments, middle east oil news, Oil report". iraqenergy.org. Retrieved 2016-09-30.
  19. ↑ "YPO | What Does It Mean to Be a Young Global Leader?". www.ypo.org. Retrieved 2016-09-30.
  20. ↑ "Panel of Senior Advisers". Retrieved 2016-09-30.
  21. 1 2 "Stepping on the gas".
  22. ↑ "Global Agenda Council on Youth Unemployment 2012–2013".
  23. ↑ "'Arab Stabilization Plan' With Mr. Majid H. Jafar".
  24. ↑ "Why Oil is Indispensable to a Healthy Global Economy".
  25. ↑ Jafar, Majid; Berglof, Erik. "Iraq violence demonstrates urgency for a Middle East 'Marshall Plan'". Telegraph. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
  26. ↑ Matthew, Francis (21 January 2015). "Arab world needs its own 'Marshall Plan'". GulfNews.com. Retrieved 11 February 2015. “We need quick and urgent economic action to address the issue of high youth unemployment in the Middle East and North Africa. Insufficient economic growth in the region has led to massive youth unemployment, in some areas more than 60 per cent. This is turning into a demographic time-bomb,” Jafar said.
  27. ↑ "Majid Jafar named Visionary of the Year at CEO Middle East awards". [Emirates News Agency (WAM) (United Arab Emirates)]. 12 September 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2013.
  28. ↑ "World's 100 Most Powerful Arabs". Arabian Business.com. Arabian Business.com. 31 March 2014. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
  29. ↑ "Centre for Economic Growth launched in Abu Dhabi". Emirates 24/7. Emirates 24/7. March 24, 2014. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
  30. ↑ "About". Retrieved 2016-09-30.
  31. ↑ "Our Board of Directors | QRF". www.qrf.org. Retrieved 2016-09-30.
  32. ↑ "Who we are | Princes Trust International". princestrustinternational.org. Retrieved 2016-09-30.
  33. ↑ "BUSINESS BACKS EDUCATION". Global Education and Skills Forum. Global Education and Skills Forum. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
  34. ↑ "NEW CAMPAIGN CHALLENGING BUSINESS TO COMMIT 20 PER CENT OF GLOBAL CSR SPEND ON EDUCATION BY 2020: LAUNCHED AT GESF 2014". Global Education and Skills Forum. Global Education and Skills Forum. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
  35. ↑ Gurney-Read, Josie (13 October 2014). "Boris Johnson: businesses need to 'step up' to support education". The Telegraph. Retrieved 18 December 2014.
  36. ↑ "Change in the Middle East: new lines in the sand? - The Ditchley Foundation". www.ditchley.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-09-30.
  37. ↑ "Business Profile", Bloomberg Business, USA October 2011. Retrieved on October 2011.
  38. ↑ "Independent Iraq", I.B.Tauris, UK 1996. Retrieved in 1996.
  39. ↑ "Fortnightly Club of Redlands". www.redlandsfortnightly.org. Retrieved 2016-09-30.
  40. ↑ https://www.tharawat-magazine.com/family-business-articles/next-gen/1635-interview-with-razan-jafar-crescent-petroleum
  41. ↑ "Management | Uruk Engineering". urukgroup.com. Retrieved 2016-09-30.
  42. ↑ "Enginuity". www-g.eng.cam.ac.uk. Retrieved 2016-09-30.
  43. ↑ "Eton's £18m hall is open to debate | The Times". Retrieved 2016-09-30.
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