Dr. Ahmed Badr
Director, Project Facilitation and Support, International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA)
Ahmed Badr is the Director of the International Renewable Energy Agency’s (IRENA) Project Facilitation and Support division. The division offers members dedicated project implementation support. Mr. Badr joined IRENA in April 2020 and brings more than 30 years of international experience in the field of banking and finance to the Agency.
In his role, Mr. Badr is tasked with leading the development of the division by building strong lines of cooperation with development banks and international financial institutions. He also spearheads IRENA’s implementation of the Climate Investment Platform, a multi-stakeholder platform established in partnership with SEforALL, the UNDP and in coordination with the Green Climate Fund, which has the objective to streamline access to climate funding for developing countries and advance the deployment of renewable technologies. He also manages IRENA’s ongoing relationship with the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development.
Mr. Badr also leads the execution of the Energy Transition Accelerator Financing Platform (ETAF). ETAF is a multi-stakeholder climate finance solution which aims to accelerate energy transitions by directing at least USD 5.0 billion by 2030 into renewable energy projects in emerging economies.
Prior to joining IRENA, Mr. Badr held several senior operational positions in the field of climate change, renewable energy, energy efficiency, water and infrastructure projects in a number of multinational financial institutions, including the World Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, European Commission (EuropeAid), and Japan Bank for International Cooperation.
Mr. Badr is a certified infrastructure project manager, with a B.Sc. in Civil Engineering and master’s degree in Infrastructure Economics from the Universite de Nantes, France.
Dr. Jauad El Kharraz
Chief Executive Office, WECEN
Dr Jauad EL Kharraz is CEO of the Water-Energy-Climate Experts Network (WECEN) consultancy. He was previously Executive Director of the Regional Center for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (RCREEE) from Oct 2021-Sep 2024. Dr. El Kharraz has over 25 years of experience in various sustainable energy fields, including energy policies, wind and solar technologies, green hydrogen, water management and climate diplomacy. He was Director of Research at the Middle East Desalination Research Center in Oman (2015-2020). He also served as a senior expert and advisor for several international institutions (European Commission, UN-ESCWA, PRIMA Foundation, EU-GCC Clean Energy Technology Network). He is a member of the board of the European Desalination Society, AgreeMed and WEFE4Med Nexus projects. He is also a member of the International Desalination Association, the Mediterranean Water Institute, Oman Energy Majlis, and Oman Water Society.
Dr. El Kharraz is a national of Morocco and France, He is a graduate of the University of Abdelmalek Essaadi and obtained his MSc and PhD degrees in Physics from the University of Valencia in Spain, and a diploma in enterprise management and strategies from SKEMA Business School in France. He is fluent in French, Arabic, Spanish and English.
Dr. Ali Al-Saffar
Head of the Middle East and North Africa Division, International Energy Agency (IEA)
Ali Saffar heads the Europe, Middle East, Africa and Latin America Division at the International Energy Agency. In this role, he works with governments across these regions in support of energy, climate and economic priorities, and serves as a senior advisor to the IEA’s executive management. Earlier in his IEA career he was an energy analyst at the Office of the Chief Economist, where he co-authored seven editions of the IEA’s flagship long-term forecast, the World Energy Outlook.
Ali was formerly the Director of Energy Transition and Climate Action at the Rockefeller Foundation, where his work focused on financing projects to promote energy access and a just and equitable energy transition.
He is a Senior Research Advisor at the University of Oxford’s Technology and Management Centre for Development, and has published widely on pathways to economic diversification in oil and gas producing countries, and has advised governments across the Middle East and North Africa on their energy policies. He teaches the “Energy transition and Climate Change” class at Sciences Po, in France.
He spent his early career at the Economist Intelligence Unit, after graduating from the School of Oriental and African studies in London.
Dr. Salem Alhajraf
Visiting Research Scholar, Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy
Salem Alhajraf is a visiting research scholar at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy and a senior research scholar at the Center on Global Energy Policy of Columbia University. He is also a research scientist at the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR).
Alhajraf has more than 30 years of experience in energy and environmental research and development, with an emphasis on renewable energy, clean energy transition, and energy strategy studies. Between 2013 and 2024, he held several leading and managerial positions, including Minister of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy of the State of Kuwait, Deputy Director General of the Kuwait Foundation for Advancement (KFAS), Executive Director of the Energy and Building Research Center, and Manager of the Innovative Renewable Energy Research Program at KISR.
Alhajraf has many leading scientific and policy roles in national energy transition and strategy planning including the development of a Kuwait Energy Security Strategy and the Kuwait Hydrogen Energy white paper. Alhajraf received his BSc, MSc and PhD degrees in mechanical engineering between 1993 and 2001 and MBA degree in 2007.
His recent research interest focuses on the impact of energy transition on hydrocarbon-based economies, role of GCC SWFs on deriving domestic economic diversification and GCC net-zero emission strategies. He is a member of the International Association for Energy Economics, US Association for Energy Economics and The Association of Energy Engineers.
Dr. Manal Abdel Samad
Public Policy Consultant and Former Minister of Information, Lebanon
Dr. Manal Abdel Samad is a Senior Advisor in taxation, financial, and public policy with
extensive experience at multinational organizations and a former Minister of Information in
Lebanon. She holds a PhD in law with high distinction from Paris 1 University, Panthéon–
Sorbonne, and an MBA with high distinction from the American University of Beirut (GPA 4/4). She completed an executive program in taxation at Harvard Kennedy School and is a member of the Beta Gamma Sigma Honor Society.
Dr. Manal is actively engaged in advancing women's empowerment and gender equality and has been nominated by the OECD to join an international Women Leaders in Tax Transparency group. Recognized by the International Human Rights Commission (UN ECOSOC) with a “High-Level Certificate” in 2022, she was honored for her dedication to public service with integrity.
With 27 years of experience, Dr. Manal has held several high-ranking positions within
Lebanon’s Ministry of Finance, including as a pioneering member of the VAT Implementation Team and a contributor to Lebanon's BEPS framework under the OECD/G20. Since 2022, she has served as a senior tax advisor in the Gulf region, managing strategic projects, particularly in Saudi Arabia.
In academia, Dr. Manal teaches taxation, leadership, and strategic planning at the American University of Beirut and Saint-Joseph University. She also contributes to the Arab Regional Tax Forum and is an IMF-nominated Lead TADAT Assessor, leading her first mission in Tunisia in 2018.
As Minister of Information, she advanced transparency, supporting Lebanon's financial recovery initiatives and promoting reforms, including the Access to Information Law and the Anti-Corruption Strategy. Dr. Manal launched campaigns on public awareness and media freedom, notably securing Beirut’s designation as the “Arab Media City for 2023.”
Dr. Manal is fluent in Arabic, English, and French.
Dr. Rami Shabaneh
Senior Fellow in the Oil and Gas Program, King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center (KAPSARC)
Rami Shabaneh is a senior fellow in the Oil and Gas program, with a focus on global gas and hydrogen markets. Rami has nearly 15 years of research and industry experience analyzing energy markets and energy policy. Before joining KAPSARC, Rami worked at Cenovus Energy as a market fundamentals analyst, providing analytic support on specific issues affecting North American gas, natural gas liquids and condensate markets. His work informed the company’s hedging strategies. Before working at Cenovus Energy, Rami spent three years as a research economist at the Canadian Energy Research Institute. He holds a B.Sc. in actuarial science and an M.Sc. in sustainable energy development from the University of Calgary.
Dr. Mohammad Abu Zahra
Head, Middle East and Africa, Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute
Prof. Mohammad Abu Zahra works at the Global CCS Institute since January 2022 as Head of Middle East Africa (MEA) region. He holds 20 years of deep experience and international expertise in the Carbon Capture field. Prof. Abu Zahra is also an experienced university professor and a current member of the UN Council of Engineers for Energy Transition (CEET). Previous responsibilities included the management of projects in carbon dioxide capture and CCS integrated systems, consultancy, chemical engineering, and process design.
Prior to joining the Institute, Prof. Abu Zahra worked as a professor and CO2 capture research leader at Masdar Institute and Khalifa University (2011-2022). He worked at the International Energy Agency Greenhouse Gas R&D Programme (IEAGHG) as a project manager for the carbon capture and integrated energy systems team.
Wa’el Almazeedi
Co-founder & CEO, Avance Labs
Wa’el Almazeedi is Co-founder and CEO of Avance Labs, a data-driven net zero accelerator established to decarbonize products across supply chains globally by, among other things, pioneering digital product passports.
He is a recipient of the 2006 EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award in the Energy Category for the New England Region of the USA.
He acquired his experience in energy, project financing, private equity, and multilateral development while working in Boston, Dubai, Hong Kong, Kuwait, London, Yokohama, and Washington D.C.
He is a member of hydrogen and energy transition advisory committees in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait and is the lead author of the Kuwait Hydrogen Strategy and Roadmap White Paper.
In 2007, he conceived of and prepared a pre-feasibility study for an undersea HVDC cable project linking Tunisia with Sicily, which has recently been transformed into a European Project of Common Interest (PCI).
Dr. Anas Alhajji
Managing Partner at Energy Outlook Advisors LLC, Texas, USA
Dr. Anas F. Alhajji is a world-renowned energy markets expert, researcher, investor, speaker and author, having published more than 1,000 papers, articles and columns. He advises governments, companies, financial institutions and investors on energy market issues with a focus on oil, gas, and energy markets outlook, energy geopolitics, energy security, and the impact of disruptive technologies on the supply and demand of energy. He has extensive experience in market structure and modeling.
Dr. Alhajji established Attaqa (www.attyaqa.net), the only energy-focused media company in Arabic, now in its fourth year. Before his recent role as Managing Partner at Energy Outlook Advisors and Editorial Advisor of Attaqa, he served as Chief Economist of NGP Energy Capital Management. He led the firm’s macro-analysis of the oil, natural gas and related markets and was responsible for drafting the short- and long-term outlooks for oil, natural gas, NGLs, and LNG markets.
Dr. Alhajji’s articles have appeared in a number of countries in more than 10 languages, and his work is cited in more than 60 books. He is a contributing editor at World Oil, one of the industry’s premier publications. He is also the moderator of the industry’s oldest virtual forum, Oil, Gas, & Energy Law (OGEL)
Prior to joining NGP, Dr. Alhajji taught economics at the University of Oklahoma (1995 to 1997), the Colorado School of Mines (1997 to 2001), and Ohio Northern University (2001 to 2008), where he held the George Patton Chair of Business and Economics.
Kate Dourian
Fellow of the Empower Institute in the United Kingdom, and Contributing Editor at MEES
Kate Dourian is a fellow of the Energy Institute in the UK and a member of the advisory committee. She also sits on the board of the institute’s Middle East branch. She is also a non-resident fellow at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington. She has been a contributing editor at MEES, writing opinion pieces on energy.
She was programme officer for the Middle East and North Africa at the International Energy Agency. She has been senior editor at MEES, Editor-in-Chief for the Middle East at S&P Global Platts and a senior editor at Reuters with postings in Lebanon, Cyprus, Egypt, Morocco and the UK.
Eng. Rida Rikabi
Petroleum Engineer
Rida Rikabi is an experienced petroleum engineer who has worked in the UK oil and gas sector for 13 years in a variety of roles. He joined ConocoPhillips as a graduate in 2011 after acquiring an MSc degree in Petroleum Engineering at Imperial College London. He also holds a degree from Kingston University in London in Aerospace Engineering and an MBA in energy management from WU Executive Academy in Vienna.
Rida has written a number of academic studies, including a thesis on green hydrogen production, project risk management and financing from an investor’s perspective for host countries targeting exports to the EU. He is also the author of a research paper based on the thesis published by the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies in April 2024.
Rida holds British and Syrian citizenship. He is fluent in Arabic and English with a good knowledge of German and French. He currently lives in Scotland with his wife and two children.
Iman Aman
Researcher in Energy and Climate Change Laws and Policies
Iman Aman has been working at the Ministry of Energy for six years in the fields of sustainability, climate change, international relations, and international organizations. Prior to that, she served as a consultant for several entities in climate change policy research and environmental legislation. She has over 15 years of experience in petroleum journalism, specializing in energy, sustainability, and climate change topics. She has written for Aramco's Al-Qafila Magazine, Al Arabiya, Al Eqtisadiah, Argaam, Energy Platform, Arab News, Al Majalla Magazine, and other publications.