Charting the course

‘In UAE we always work at a fast pace,’ he says. ‘Why? Because we are dedicated and we always believe anything is possible.’

Darwish is mostly referring to the record time it took the EAAA to achieve recognition by the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC). Recognition – a project that would ordinarily take a decade – was achieved in just four years.

That’s a highlight in Darwish’s career, but only one of them. His ACCA achievements include being the first member to qualify in the UAE, serving as the region’s first ACCA ambassador, the first chair of the UAE members’ advisory committee, and being the first Emirati to be elected to the International Assembly in 2012. He joined the EAAA in 2013, was appointed to the board the following year, and has served as its CEO since 2015 and vice chairman since 2016.

And that is just half the story. Darwish is also vice president for financial accounting at DP World GCC. DP World is one of the world’s largest end-to-end supply chain providers, operating an integrated network of ports, economic zones, logistics and digital solutions. It employs more than 125,000 people from Dubai and Saudi Arabia to Africa, South America, the Philippines, Europe, the US and UK, to name just a few.

The company – which began as a single port in 1972 – moves around 10% of the world’s trade daily. It has a global capacity of 102 million TEUs (twenty foot equivalent units – one 20ft shipping container is one TEU) and has invested over US$10bn in its global logistics network. Rapid expansion and acquisition has given it more than 560 separate business units in more than 80 countries, with the company amassing revenues in 2024 of a fraction over US$20bn.

Big numbers

Darwish is responsible for the accounting and financial reporting for DP World in GCC, which includes Dubai's Jebel Ali, one of the biggest ports in the world and a critical trade hub linking Asia, Africa, Europe and the Middle East. DP World has delivered another standout year for trade, recording its highest container and breakbulk cargo volumes at Jebel Ali port since 2015. The port handled 15.5 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units - one 20ft shipping container is one TEU) in 2024, up one million TEUs on the previous year. This marks the highest throughput since 2015, reinforcing Jebel Ali’s position as the leading trade and logistics hub in the region, even amid ongoing supply chain disruptions. The figure represents nearly 18% of DP World’s total global container throughput of 88.3 million TEUs for the year.

It is a huge operation and Darwish is clear about his priorities. ‘You have to make sure accuracy is number one,’ he says, stressing its importance for a company working across so many business lines. He is quick to list cybersecurity and tax management as ‘rising priorities for everyone’ – both areas that can potentially be ‘reputational’ issues should something go wrong. ‘You need to be ready,’ he says.

But the most significant risk of all may come as a surprise. ‘The biggest is ensuring that the mindset of the accountants can be transformed and remain flexible and agile, so it meets the strategic requirements of the management.’

Geopolitical uncertainty, a big risk factor for ports and logistics operators, has provided its own challenges and brought about some permanent changes for finance. In the past, finance would have prepared a single annual budget, Darwish explains, but ‘now we need to constantly be able to revisit what we are doing’. Risk management is now embedded in all financial planning.

In fact, flexibility and agility is a major theme that Darwish returns to frequently as he reflects on his work and the importance of the finance function to the company.

Finance, he says is ‘in the bloodstream’ of DP World. ‘If you look at it, everything feeds finance, and it flows into every part of the operation, management and strategy. We are not a simple accounting department; we are sophisticated and provide consultancy for the business. We make sure we provide a robust framework for every single operation where there is a financial impact.

‘We play a bigger role – this is what makes DP World a very successful organisation. It’s because we work in harmony.’

Building the profession

It is not only at DP World where Darwish has made his mark. The development of the profession in UAE has been his focus for almost 15 years.

He was instrumental in proposing a joint exam scheme between ACCA and the EAAA, which was launched in 2014. This professional collaboration is a familiar exercise for ACCA but was a first for the Emirates, allowing the country to offer a professional certification (the UAECA) that is an internationally recognised route to membership of both organisations.

A desire for IFAC recognition by the EAAA emerged at much the same time and the application finally went in, with ACCA sponsorship, in 2019 and came to fruition last year. It can’t have hurt that the EAAA was one of only a handful of accountancy bodies to not just beta test IFAC’s new strategy planning toolkit but to successfully apply it, putting the new framework into immediate practice.

Darwish says: ‘My passion is that I was able to contribute to this journey, for the whole country, for the accounting profession.’

IFAC membership is ‘very important,’ he adds, not only because the profession in the UAE has achieved IFAC’s global standards but also because the UAE can now voice regional concerns on technical accounting matters at the highest level.

Membership delivers benefits for local accountants too. Where once accountancy firms might have brought talent into the UAE from other jurisdictions, they are now able to recruit it locally. ‘They are more trusted,’ Darwish explains. ‘They enjoy a prestige status, like every other accountant across the globe.’

On paper it doesn’t look easy balancing all these priorities. According to Darwish, the secret to handling the stress of all this work for DP World and the profession in UAE comes down to discipline, delegation and prioritisation. ‘Balancing work and life is not about doing less, it is about doing what matters most,’ he says. It’s no surprise, then, that as our interview ends, Darwish heads for an 8pm meeting and later, no doubt, to get on with ordering new tyres for his Porsche.