The six key figures in the region’s fertiliser sector are: Mohamed al-Mady, Khalifa Abdullah al-Suwaidi, Mostafa Terrab, Nassef Sawiris, Michael Hogan and Walid Kurdi
Mohamed al-Mady
Position: Managing director, Saudi Arabian Fertilizer Company (Safco)
Biography: Mohamed al-Mady has been vice-chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) since July 1998. He is also chairman and managing director of Sabic’s fertiliser subsidiary Safco. Al-Mady joined Sabic in 1976 after graduating with a master’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Wyoming in the US. He sits on several advisory boards, including those of King Abdullah University of Science & Technology and King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals. He is a member of the International Business Council of the World Economic Forum and chairs industry body the Gulf Petrochemicals & Chemicals Association. Safco produces ammonia, urea, melamine and sulphuric acid. Sabic owns 42.99 per cent of the company, with the remainder held by the private sector.
Contact Tel: (+966) 1 225 9252
Khalifa Abdullah al-Suwaidi
Position: Managing director, Qatar Fertiliser Company (Qafco)
Biography: Khalifa Abdullah al-Suwaidi joined Qafco in March 1985 after graduating as a chemical engineer from Arizona State University. After four years’ service, he was appointed plant engineer and, two years later, became head of section on Qafco’s ammonia 1 plant. In 1992, he was promoted to deputy production manager, and in 1996 he became co-ordination manager. In 1997, he was appointed production manager and, in the same year, managing director. He is also chairman of the board of directors of Qafco subsidiary Gulf Formaldehyde Company, vice-chairman of the board of directors at Qatar Metal Coating Company and vice-president of the International Fertilisers Association. Qafco was founded in 1969 as a joint venture of the Qatari state, Norway’s Hydro, Kvaerner Powergas and Hambros Bank, to produce ammonia and urea.
Contact Tel: (+974) 422 8888
Mostafa Terrab
Position: CEO, Office Cherifien de Phosphate
Biography: Mostafa Terrab has led Casablanca-based phosphate company Office Cherifien de Phosphate since 2003. He holds a doctorate from the US’ Massachusetts Institute of Technology, awarded in 1990. Terrab worked for San Francisco-based Bechtel Civil & Minerals, joining in 1983 and specialising in transport systems. He was involved in building King Fahd International airport in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, in the early 1990s. In 1995, he became secretary general of the Middle East/North Africa Economic Summit. In 1998, he was appointed director general of Morocco’s National Telecom-munication Regulatory Agency, before leading the World Bank’s Information for Development Programme in Washington from 2002 to 2006. Morocco is the world’s third-largest phosphate producer and the leading exporter, with a global market share of 32 per cent.
Contact Tel: (+212) 2223 0025
Nassef Sawiris
Position: Chairman and CEO, Orascom Construction Industries
Biography: Nassef Sawiris has been CEO of Orascom Construction Industries since 1998, taking over from his father, Onsi Sawiris, who set up the company in 1976. Sawiris holds a BA in Economics from the University of Chicago. He is a member of the business secretariat of the National Democratic Party of Egypt, the American Chamber of Commerce, the German-Arab Chamber of Industry & Commerce and the Young President’s Organisation. OCI, traditionally a construction firm, has branched out into the fertiliser industry, acquiring assets in Egypt, Nigeria and Algeria. OCI owns Egyptian Fertilizers Company and has a 60 per cent shareholding in Egypt Basic Industries Corporation. Egyptian Fertilizers holds a 20 per cent stake in Notore Chemical Industries, the sole fertiliser producer in Nigeria. In Algeria, OCI is building a new fertiliser complex.
Contact Tel: (+20) 224 611 111
Michael Hogan
Position: General manager, Arab Potash Company
Biography: Michael Hogan has been general manager of Jordan’s Arab Potash Company since January 2007, on secondment from Canada’s PotashCorp, which owns a 28 per cent stake in Arab Potash. He holds a BSc in mining engineering from Queen’s University, Ontario, Canada. Hogan has been employed by PotashCorp for 17 years and was previously general manager of PotashCorp’s New Brunswick Division. Arab Potash was set up in 1956 as a majority state-owned, pan-Arab venture to mine the Dead Sea’s reserves of mineral salts to produce potash. The company has a 20 per cent stake in Nippon Jordan Fertilizer Company, a joint venture for which it and Jordan Phosphate Mines Company provide the raw material. PotashCorp also has stakes in fertiliser complexes in China, Chile and Israel, in addition to its own production plants in the US and Canada.
Contact Tel: (+962) 6520 0520
Walid Kurdi
Position: Chairman and CEO, Jordan Phosphate Mines Company
Biography: Walid Kurdi was appointed chairman and CEO of Jordan Phosphate Mines Company in March 2006. He is married to Jordan’s Princess Basma bint Talal, daughter of the late King Talal bin Abdullah and Queen Zein al-Sharaf. He sits on the board of directors of Jordan Abyad Fertilizers & Chemicals Company (Jafcco), representing Jordan Phosphate, which holds a 15 per cent stake in Jafcco. Jordan Phosphate operates in three locations in Jordan, which together hold an estimated 1.47 billion tonnes of phosphate rock reserves. With production of about 7 million tonnes a year, Jordan Phosphate is the world’s sixth-largest phosphate rock producer and second-largest exporter. The company also produces phosphoric acid and diammonium phosphate through its joint ventures: Nippon Jordan Fertilizer Company and Indo-Jordan Chemicals Company.
Contact Tel: (+212) 241 241
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