For integrating sustainability into megaprojects that improve lives and foster ecological resilience

Group Director of Project Management at DP World | Dubai, Saudi Arabia

When AbdulRahman Ahli started his career at DP World 12 years ago, both he and the project management department of this logistics solutions company had a lot of growth ahead of them. At the time, says AbdulRahman, the project management department was small, with a limited number of personnel and portfolios. But over the past decade, both the company and his team have scaled dramatically, providing “factory floor to customer door” solutions for megaprojects around the world. Today, he says, DP World has more than 150,000 employees globally, and the project management team works on significant projects that “have a huge impact on societies.”

One of those projects was DP World’s recent collaboration with Somaliland, a small coastal country in the Horn of Africa, which involved assessing marine life and coral colonies. As is the case in many coastal regions of the world, Somaliland’s coral reefs have deteriorated as oceans warm due to the climate crisis; the collaboration between the country and DP World sought to implement a massive coral transplantation project that would restore the reef and, by extension, the habitat and biodiversity of Somaliland’s ocean waters.

“We work on mega-infrastructure and heavy construction projects, mostly on and around the sea, so we see impacts on marine life and species around coastlines,” he says. “A lot of people think of Somaliland as a desert, but the richness of its marine life and its coral colonies is amazing. We wanted to identify the impact of development on marine life, so we started with a detailed quantitative and qualitative analysis in collaboration with scientists and professional divers, and we worked with the government to develop a marine protected area, which did not exist before,” AbdulRahman explains.

Using surplus concrete blocks from DP World’s construction sites, as well as other materials, such as custom-built cages, the collaboration led by AbdulRahman resulted in a coral nursery where healthy corals were transplanted and nurtured. “The result was amazing,” AbdulRahman shares. “The success was really beyond our expectations.” Once the infrastructure was put in place, he says, fish were immediately attracted to it, a hopeful sign that a healthy habitat was being established, and coral were rebounding. “One and a half years later, we’ve done several diving inspections and can see significant improvement on site,” AbdulRahman says. “It’s a very unique project that gave us a lot of experience in this sector. And the most important thing is that we are healing the environment with very simple practices. The people of Somaliland can continue to use this without complicated equipment or external professionals.”

For AbdulRahman, the project was an important achievement in a rich and varied project management career that has taken him around the world. Regardless of the project or place where it’s being carried out, though, AbdulRahman says that the basic principles and approaches he relies upon as a project manager, always stay the same. Most importantly, being agile is key: “The more flexible you are in understanding the other parties and identifying risks, the easier it is for you to work in different cultures, locations, and expectations,” he says. “You can never have a project that [goes] 100% as planned. But using systems and processes that are clearly defined, you can manage the expectations and emotions around changes. You want that system and process to move toward success.”

How does he define success? Beyond the conventional markers of time, scope, and budget, AbdulRahman says that as a project manager, he defines project success as being able to lead the entire team to the end point. “You may face a lot of ups and downs, but if everyone goes out with a solid experience and feeling good about what they’ve done, this is what really matters–aside, of course, from the commercial indicators. We work in a lot of places that are very challenging to live in and our projects are meant to change people’s lives.”