Houda Dabboussi
Vice President Commercial and NBD, MENA
Houda Dabboussi, in her role as General Manager – NBD MENA, leads the new business development team in the Middle East and North Africa, responsible for delivering new oil and gas projects in partnership with host governments across the Gulf countries, the Levant, and North Africa. Prior to this role, Houda worked in Mergers and Acquisitions based at Shell Headquarters in The Hague.
Houda has significant origination, commercial and deal execution experience in MENA, Asia, North America and Europe from her years in various roles within Istithmar World, a global alternative investment firm owned by the government of Dubai, Education Media Publishing Group International (EMPGI) and other roles prior to joining Shell.
In her last role as a director at Istithmar Private Equity Division, she led multiple investments, divestments and restructurings for portfolio companies, as well as the establishment of EMPGI, a joint venture within the Istithmar portfolio.
She then joined EMPGI, an education firm, as CEO for MENA to lead its expansion within the region.
Houda holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the American University of Beirut and an MA in Strategy Management from Kingston University in the United Kingdom. Houda is an angel investor in regional digital start-ups and supports entrepreneurship in the region through mentoring entrepreneurs. She has a keen interest in education and supports youth through Junior Achievement and other local NGOs in her home country.
