Al Maskari Holding

ABOUT THE FOUNDER AND FOUNDING STORY

Azza Bint Saif Al Maskari was the matriarch of the Al Maskari tribe in Abu Dhabi. Following the 1958 discovery of oil in Abu Dhabi and the commencement of oil exports,^[4] Azza was among the first local entrepreneurs who contributed to the transition of the state’s economy from one reliant on agriculture, fishing, and pearling^[5] to the oil-based future. In 1968, she founded the Al Maskaria Establishment in Abu Dhabi, which initially focused on oil, gas, and associated trade.^[6] Days before Azza passed away in the 1980s, at which point Al Maskaria Establishment had branch offices in Libya, Algeria, and Switzerland,^[7] she signed the first agreement with a German company to build an oil refinery in the UAE.^[8]

Azza’s daughter Shaikha Al Maskari was born in Al Ain^[9] in 1939.^[10] After high school, Shaikha pursued her studies abroad, graduating with a bachelor’s degree from the University of London. She went on to earn an MA and a PhD in geology from Indiana University,^[11] making her the first Emirati woman to hold a doctorate in the field.^[12] Shaikha subsequently trained in geophysics with the US Geological Survey^[13] and married the late Donald Henry Hase, a geology professor at the University of Iowa — the couple had two sons and a daughter.^[14] Three years after the unification of the United Arab Emirates, in 1974, Shaikha took a position with the Abu Dhabi Department of Petroleum (known today as ADNOC). She was the first woman to be tasked with reviewing and reporting on the studies and surveys of the oil and gas fields,^[15] where she would sometimes work until midnight.^[16]

Around the late 1980s, Shaikha’s mother, Azza Al Maskari, passed away, soon followed by Shaikha’s brother and then her husband. This was a turning point in her life. While mourning the loss of her family members, Shaikha was confronted with having to determine the future of her mother’s business. She decided to take over running it, following in her mother’s footsteps to become one of the few Emirati women to helm a corporation of its size.^[17] She later described this “overnight change” as a major challenge, especially as it was her first experience in business leadership.^[18] In 1989, she rebranded the business as Tricon Energy Operations to move away from the “tribal branding” that often led businessmen to take her less than seriously and ask whether they could meet with “her brother or father” instead.^[19] The same year,^[20] Tricon became an ADNOC vendor, managing downstream operations, so Shaikha quit her job at the department to avoid future conflicts of interest.^[21]

GROWTH PHASE

With a vision of diversifying the business into industries serving the company’s core operations,^[22] Shaikha started with construction in 1981. Later that year, she established Tricon Foodservice to replace foreign catering companies that served Tricon employees in the field;^[23] it later expanded into the bulk food trade. Shaikha went on to establish other companies centered around oil operations such as Tricon Healthcare (for field workers), Tricon General Contracting, and a media and publicity firm.^[24] In just a decade, Tricon grew into a group of 20 companies with offices in over 10 countries.^[25] Shaikha later described how government officials at first often refused to issue her trade licenses in male-dominated industries such as construction,^[26] and she was initially barred from sole ownership because of her gender.^[27] Eventually managing to sway opinion, she became the first Emirati woman to fully own a construction company.^[28]

In 2001, Shaikha set up the Global Paramedic & Rescue Academy in alliance with the Emirati civil defense.^[29] The academy has trained hundreds of UAE and Gulf Ministry of Interior personnel in police sciences, security, and emergency and public safety services.^[30] In 2008, Al Maskari Holding (AMH) was created as a parent company for all of the family’s business entities, which by that point included new subsidiaries in communications, power generation, sustainability, financial services, and healthcare.^[31] By 2013, the conglomerate had 20 multinational firms. Despite its scope, Al Maskari has never sold products or services to individual consumers, working exclusively with government entities or private strategic partners. This follows the business philosophy of founder Azza Al Maskari, who refused to “profit from the people” and wanted her business to only “serve them.”^[32]

In 2018, Shaikha Al Maskari stepped away from the company’s day-to-day operations at the age of 78, assuming the role of honorary chairwoman. Her son Nabyl Al Maskari, who had been serving as vice-chairman, became executive chairman of Al Maskari Holding.^[33] Nabyl has three young daughters, to whom he hopes to pass on the family business, extending its matriarchal legacy.^[34]

TODAY

Today, Al Maskari Holding remains a privately owned holding company, with a portfolio of over 20 subsidiaries across seven key industries.^[35] AMH has offices in the UAE, across the MENA region, Western Europe, Turkey, the US, and Singapore.