GLL Exchange, Middle East 2022

Afshan Akhtar

Chief Legal Counsel and Board Secretary at Bahrain Petroleum Company

Dominik Engel

Regional General Counsel Europe, Middle East, Africa - Electrification at ABB

Emilia Law

Head of Legal Middle East & Africa at Novartis

Emilia is Head of Legal for Novartis’ Innovative Medicines business across Middle East and Africa and supports the business across a wide range of legal, commercial and strategic topics. Emilia joined Novartis in 2017 as Head Legal for Novartis’ Technical Operations division in APAC and was based in Singapore until mid-2020 when she relocated to Dubai. Prior to joining Novartis, Emilia spent 5 years as Vice President Legal & Compliance for Blackstone, supporting Blackstone’s investments and portfolio across Asia Pacific, India and Australia, and several years in the M&A team of at Herbert Smith Freehills in London. She is admitted as a solicitor in England & Wales and holds a Masters in French & Russian from the University of Oxford. Outside of the office, she enjoys spending time with her husband and two young children, travelling (pre-Covid!), running and yoga.

Florian Koemm

VP & General Counsel at Siemens Energy

Dr. Florian Koemm is the General Counsel for Siemens Energy in the Middle East, based out of Dubai. After graduating in Law from the Universities of Passau and Bonn (Germany) and post-graduate studies, Dr. Koemm started his career advising Siemens’ Financial Services business in Munich in 2009. He then moved on following different opportunities with the Mobility business in Erlangen and New York. Since 2017, Dr. Koemm is based out of Dubai and supporting Siemens Energy’s business in all legal matters across the Middle East. In addition to German, Dr. Koemm is fluent in English, Portuguese and Spanish. He is married and the father of three children.

Francesca Gori

Managing Director, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific and LATAM (Growth Markets) at Accenture

Ibrahim Abdel Aziz

Legal Director Consumer Health Africa, Middle East & Turkey at Johnson & Johnson

As the lead attorney of the Johnson & Johnson Consumer Health Africa, Middle East and Turkey (AMET) cluster, Ibrahim is a member of the AMET management board. Throughout his journey as an attorney in the strongly regulated Pharmaceutical, Aviation, Banking, MedTech and Consumer Health sectors, he had the pleasure to work in different industries and regions and has now a 9-year tenure with Johnson & Johnson. Ibrahim is a passionate member of the Women Leadership and Inclusion (WLI) and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) chapters and the Emerging Markets representative in the Johnson & Johnson EMEA WLI steering committee. He is also the sponsor of the WLI Middle East chapter, one of the most active and vocal chapters within the global WLI framework. Born and educated in Switzerland, Ibrahim is a Swiss qualified attorney and lives with his family in Dubai.

Joanna Addison

Head of Legal at Shell Qatar

Joanna Addison is currently the Head of Legal for Shell in Qatar, as well as Head of the Shell Gas to Liquids legal team. In this role, she is also a member of the wider Shell Integrated Gas Legal Leadership Team, the Shell Gas to Liquids Leadership Team, and the Qatar Shell Country Leadership Team. She has over twenty years' experience in doing business in the Middle East region, particularly in Qatar, the UAE, Oman, Iraq and Iran with a focus on the project development, operations, acquisition and disposal of oil, gas and power assets. Joanna champions the Qatar Shell Senior Women’s mentoring circle, acts as a mentor and leader in the wider Qatar Shell leadership mentoring circle, participates in both the Shell’s DE&I mentoring program and reverse mentoring program, and leads the care program for the wider legal community in Shell. Prior to joining Shell, Joanna was a partner with, and the head of, Herbert Smith Freehills' Oil and Gas practice in the Middle East, as well as managing partner of the Doha office, and Chair of the Iran Group.

Maria Scanlan

Head of Litigation at Crescent Petroleum

Sahia Ahmad

Executive Vice President at Dubai Economy & Tourism

Sahia Ahmad is Executive Vice President at the Department of Economy and Tourism, Government of Dubai. She is an Emirati, who studied Law at Kings College, London and is a member of Lincoln's Inn. Sahia is the first UAE National to become a member of the English Bar. Her career has spanned over 25 years both in private practice at Allen & Overy and Reed Smith and in-house, as founding General Counsel of Dubai World and Emirates Investment Authority, the Sovereign Wealth Fund of the UAE Federal Government. She has advised governments and multinationals through her career, been on the boards of several organisations including as the first President of the Association of Corporate Counsel in the Middle East. She has led significant global transactions during her career and has also been integral in drafting Dubai and UAE Laws. In addition to her professional role, Sahia is fervent about gender parity, diversity and education and currently serves on the Global Board of the Association of Corporate Counsel, on the Advisory Council of Dubai International Academy and the Board of the Dubai College of Tourism where she also serves as the Chair of the Audit Committee. Sahia is married and has four children.

Samer Mansour

Head of Legal - Pharmaceuticals at Johnson & Johnson