Non-Executive Director · Abu Dhabi, UAE

Paul Norris

Board adviser for infrastructure, energy & finance

Thirty years structuring, financing and scrutinising major projects across the Middle East, Europe and Asia, with over $30bn of transactions on both sides of the table. Board experience within Saudi Arabia's Ajlan & Bros group, from facilities management to fintech: the questions that protect capital, and the experience that unlocks it.

Paul Norris
30+
Years in infrastructure investment & finance
$30bn+
Transaction experience
Both sides
Government & bidder, lender & investor
12+ yrs
In the UAE & wider Gulf
What I bring to a board

Judgement earned on billion-dollar decisions

A career spent where governance matters most: boardrooms, investment committees, government steering groups and restructuring committees, where the numbers had to be right and the risks had to be named.

🏛️

Capital & financing oversight

Deep fluency across every source of finance, from banks and bond markets to development institutions, export credit and equity, and what each one costs, hides and demands. Built for audit and finance committee work.

⚖️

Risk that gets named early

Qualified Energy Risk Professional with a quantitative risk background. Currency, commodity, interest rate, counterparty and delivery risk, identified before they become board surprises.

🔍

Deal & investment scrutiny

Decades appraising other people's business cases as lender, investor, adviser and government gatekeeper. I know what a bankable plan looks like, and what an optimistic one is hiding.

🏗️

Major-project governance

Nuclear, metro, utilities, schools, housing, renewables: programmes where oversight failures cost billions. Practical experience of what boards of project-heavy businesses must ask.

🌱

Energy transition & sustainability

From Scotland's national investment bank to NEOM's energy and water utility: hands-on financing of wind, solar, storage, hydrogen and the net-zero agenda boards are now accountable for.

🤝

The government perspective

Four years inside the Abu Dhabi Department of Finance advising on sovereign financing and PPP frameworks. I understand how governments in this region think, which is valuable to any board that deals with them.

Selected track record

Transactions that shaped the region

$20bn

Barakah Nuclear Power

Led financial structuring of the Abu Dhabi government's financing package for the 5,600 MW plant.

$10bn

Abu Dhabi Metro & LRT

Advised the government on PPP and financing strategy for the emirate's metro and light rail programme.

$5bn

Abu Dhabi infrastructure fund

Principal of the Department of Finance's infrastructure fund partnership from inception.

$2bn

KSA National Air Medical Transport PPP

Lead financial adviser to the Saudi Ministry of Health on the largest project of its kind in the GCC.

Sovereign

Abu Dhabi bond issuances

Managed the 2016 and 2017 sovereign issuances and the initiation of the Moody's rating.

First in UAE

Zayed City Schools PPP

Strategic financial adviser to ADIO on Abu Dhabi's first schools PPP, closed at around $270m.

NEOM

Shiqry Solar PV IPP

Financial lead for ENOWA on the landmark solar IPP with ACWA Power, plus bankable frameworks for multi-billion-dollar projects.

Restructuring

TAQA

Represented the Abu Dhabi Department of Finance on committees; developed debt restructuring and capital-markets recommendations.

Triskelion (Founder)NEOM · ENOWAAbu Dhabi Dept of FinanceScottish National Investment BankACWA PowerVTB CapitalABN AMROCranmore PartnersEDF EnergyBank of Ireland
Board focus

Where I can add the most value

Available for non-executive director, advisory board and committee roles in the UAE and wider Gulf.

Companies

Infrastructure, energy & utilities

Developers, contractors, utilities and asset owners, where project selection, financing discipline and risk oversight decide everything.

Family groups

Family businesses professionalising

Groups investing in energy and infrastructure, or bringing outside perspective onto the board for the first time. Discretion and long-term thinking come as standard.

Growth

Scale-ups & investors

Growth companies raising serious capital, and funds or platforms needing investment-committee rigour on the board.

Committees

Audit, risk & investment committees

The natural home for a career lender, investor and financial adviser: challenge on the numbers, the assumptions and the downside.

Board experience
Board member

Dussmann Ajlan & Bros · KSA

The group's facilities-management venture with Germany's Dussmann Group. Served on the board representing the shareholder, Ajlan & Bros Holding.

Board member

TIQMO · KSA

Ajlan & Bros's digital wallet and payments platform. Board oversight of a regulated, high-growth fintech through its build-out.

Qualifications
MSc Metals & Energy Finance, Imperial College London Chartered Engineer (CEng) Chartered Geologist (CGeol) Energy Risk Professional (GARP) Member, CISI (MCSI)
Resources

UAE board governance, in plain language

Short guides to the rules shaping UAE boards, written for founders, family businesses and fellow directors.

Do I need a NED?

What the rules require by company type: listed, private JSC, LLC, DIFC, ADGM or free zone.

Read →

What counts as 'independent'?

The independence tests under the UAE governance code, without the legalese.

Read →

Board composition rules

Non-executive quotas, UAE-national requirements and the women-on-boards mandates for listed and private companies.

Read →

What do NEDs cost in the UAE?

Typical fee ranges and how board remuneration gets approved.

Read →

Banks & insurers

The Central Bank's stricter board rules: fully non-executive boards, one third independent.

Read →

First advisory board

A practical starting point for growth companies not ready for a formal NED.

Read →

NEDspace is building towards a free, open resource for non-executive directors in the UAE. المحتوى بالعربية قريباً.

Get in touch

Let's talk about your board

Whether you have a specific board role in mind or simply want to explore whether I might be a fit, a short conversation costs nothing and is always confidential.

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