Karl Raphael is the CEO of Aphrodite duty free shop located at Beirut Seaport Free zone.
The beginning of his career started in the late 1985, where he built a solid infrastructure in several North and West African countries. He was involved in wholesales, marketing, distribution and was the agent of worldwide brands.
In the late 1990’s he expanded his business by covering the travel retail sector; owning and operating several Duty Free shops and border shops.
In 2006, he opened a duty free shop in Lebanon, strategically located in the Beirut sea port free zone, where his company now operates.
Mr. Karl Raphael was recently elected board member of the Middle east and Africa Duty Free Association, MEADFA .
Tarek Yassine Hamila has held several leadership positions since joining Hamila Duty Free in 1998, and now serves the company as Chief Executive Officer.
Hamila Duty Free was founded by Yassine Hamila in 1983, with a downtown duty free shop targeting diplomatic missions in Tunisia.
As leader of the company, Tarek Yassine Hamila has positioned Hamila Duty Free for its next generation of growth and led the company’s focus on development, spreading its operations to sea ports, ship chandling, ferries, airlines and airports. He has grown the business by over 700% over the last decade and recently achieved another milestone in the history of the company following its victory in the tender to operate duty free at five Tunisian airports, in partnership with ATÜ Duty Free (the joint venture between TAV Airports and Unifree Duty Free) and Gebr Heinemann.
Tarek Yassine Hamila earned a Business Administration degree in Marketing and Management from Webster University, Bellevue, Switzerland. He is also owner and CEO of YKH holding, a group of 13 companies present in the sectors of commerce, services, real estate and manufacturing.
Haitham Al Majali is the CEO of Jordanian Duty Free Shops – a Jordanian public Shareholders company which was founded in 1997 and is operating sixteen duty free, land border and seaport outlets.
Haitham is one of the founders of JDF, a Board Member and a shareholder at the Company. Had earned his Engineering degree from Cardiff University – South Wales – UK.
Besides JDF and MEADFA, Haitham is a Chairman of Board and Board Member in several Companies in Jordan.
Over a 20-year career at his family’s business, Sherif Toulan has been an actively engaged participant in both informal and formal roles. Sherif has held a number of leadership roles, including launching multiple enterprise-wide transformation initiatives, expanding the company’s core business activities and representing the company both nationally and internationally.
Before being named CEO in 2011, Sherif was IDFTA’s Business Development Director, responsible for all of the company’s sales and operations, including end-to-end management of IDFTA’s supply chain, sales activities, and service and support in all markets.
He began diversifying the family’s business into new business lines and territories and played a key role in the continued development of strategic clients and supplier relationships, ensuring flexibility in response to an increasingly demanding marketplace. Between 2000 and 2017, he successfully acquired several airport retail concessions for the company.
Sherif has also expanded the company’s business portfolio successfully establishing a wider presence in different fields, such as tobacco, food production, and trade.
He is founder and director of Global Brands, a leading FMCG distribution company. In 2013 Sherif was appointed Chairman of Heinemann Egypt, a joint venture between Global Brands and Heinemann. During his tenure as a Board Member with Global Trading & Technology since 2013, he has organised the supply of tobacco machinery and tobacco leaves to the Egyptian and other African markets. He also co-founded Progoodness foods for healthy food manufacturing in 2019.
Sherif is the President of the Middle East & Africa Duty-Free Association with headquarters in Dubai and sits as a member on the boards of multiple organisations, including the Entrepreneurs Organisation in Cairo (EO). He is also a member of the American and German Chambers of Commerce in Egypt.
Sherif earned his EMBA from Northwestern Kellogg University and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the American University in Cairo.
