Operations, Partnerships,
Execution.

Marco Trapani serves as Chief Operating Officer at Blackwatch Associates, where he runs the day-to-day execution behind the firm's hospitality and brand holdings, turning strategic direction into operating reality. He is an experienced executive with a demonstrated track record across food & beverage, automotive, hospitality, energy, and defense industries. A graduate of Indiana University (USA) with a BSBA focused in International Business, he built his career on a foundation of disciplined commercial strategy and cross-border execution.

He expanded into multinational commercial development by founding and launching several authentic Italian brands, building structured franchising platforms designed to scale regional concepts internationally. Under his leadership, multi-brand operations were developed and managed across Arabic, European, Asian, and American café and restaurant formats, consistently aligning regional cultural identity with international operational standards, the same discipline he now applies to scaling the firm's growing portfolio of restaurant and franchise brands across Dubai.

Marco brings to Blackwatch a rare depth of skill in international negotiation, strategic business planning, business development, and strategic marketing. He is the operator behind the company's hospitality ambitions, the person who turns an acquisition or a new concept into a functioning, profitable business on the ground.

Mustafa Fahmi serves as Chief Financial Officer at Blackwatch Associates. He brings more than a decade of experience inside the UAE's leading banks, most recently as Director of Elite Banking at First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), the country's largest bank, and before that across eight years at Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB). His career has been built on serving elite and high-net-worth clients, growing deposit portfolios, and running the day-to-day financial operations on which an institution's credibility depends.

That background gives Mustafa an insider's command of the machinery the firm's work runs on: account structuring and onboarding, KYC and compliance documentation, deposit and CASA growth, and the disciplined handling of complex client requests within strict regulatory frameworks. He holds the International Certificate in Wealth & Investment Management (ICWIM) and has completed extensive training in financial crime awareness, fraud risk, and targeted financial sanctions, the depth of compliance rigor that international clients expect from a firm operating at this level.

As CFO, Mustafa oversees the firm's financial operations, banking relationships, and reporting discipline, ensuring every engagement is executed on a foundation of accuracy, transparency, and regulatory rigor. Based in Abu Dhabi and fluent in Arabic and English, he pairs deep Gulf banking fluency with a service ethic sharpened by years of high-value client work.

Walid Gaber serves as Business Development Manager at Blackwatch Associates, where he is often the firm's first point of contact for new opportunities and the connective tissue between client relationships and execution. He supports the firm's client engagement, partnership development, and regional growth initiatives, working closely with the firm's partners to identify new opportunities and build relationships with prospective clients and partners.

His role bridges day-to-day business development with the firm's broader strategic priorities, ensuring the seamless execution of the firm's commercial mandates across the region and helping the firm extend its network and deliver consistent value to clients across its core sectors.