Mr. Duwaji is the Chief Executive Officer of SHUAA Capital, financial services firm which focuses on the GCC markets. Mr. Duwaji joined SHUAA Capital in 1988 and became the CEO in 1995. Mr. Duwaji envisioned and led SHUAA Capital’s new strategy of becoming an integrated financial services provider (versus an investment company) and focused its activities on the oil producing Gulf Co-operation Council countries (GCC) which constitute 80% of open Arab economies.

In 2004, Mr. Duwaji also established SHUAA Partners as a separate company, operating out of DIFC in Dubai, to build on the long and extensive record of SHUAA Capital's private equity arm in GCC and MENA regions. SHUAA Partners manages today $450 million deployed in three separate funds.

Mr. Duwaji has extensive first hand experience in the GCC and regional markets. He has been involved in acquisitions, divestitures and business restructuring throughout the GCC and the wider region over the past 18 years. He is a member of the Arab Business Council and the Young Presidents Organization. He also serves on the Board of Directors of companies and funds in various sectors across the region. Mr. Duwaji holds an M.B.A. degree from the University of Texas at Arlington.

SHUAA Partners is the private equity arm of SHUAA Capital psc, a leading investment banking institution in the Middle East. Based in Dubai, SHUAA Partners has a world-class team of investment professionals with a proven track record and a deep understanding of the Middle East. Its coverage is carried out through a unique network of personal and professional relationships within the business and government communities around the region.

SHUAA Partners follows a systematic investment process that is based upon the following principles:
• Pro-active generation of deal flow
• Comprehensive due diligence
• Innovative transaction structuring
• Disciplined valuation approach
• Continuous investment monitoring and value creation post-acquisition
• Careful exit planning

SHUAA Partners will identify and partner with experienced industry veterans in pursuit of investment opportunities. Operating Executives will be instrumental in the origination and due diligence processes. In addition, SHUAA Partners’ partnership with the Operating Executives will enhance the Fund’s credibility with business owners and management teams. Operating Executives also play a role building value post-investment, typically assuming the role of portfolio company senior management.

The Fund will seek Operating Executives who have demonstrated success in guiding rapidly growing companies and integrating acquisitions to achieve operating results consistently better that industry averages.

Its inaugural fund, SHUAA Partners Fund I, L.P., held its final closing in September 2005 with commitments of US$ 200 million.
Its second fund, Frontier Opportunities Fund I, L.P., held its final closing in October 2007 with commitment of US$100 million.
Its third fund, SHUAA Hospitality Fund I, L.P., held its initial closing in June 2008 with commitments of $165 million.

SHUAA Partners is regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (“DFSA”) and is incorporated in the Dubai International Financial Centre (“DIFC”) as SHUAA Partners Ltd.