Magrabi joins with top universities to train students; eyes more initiatives

The partnership is not just about growing the business and expanding the company’s footprint, but also about taking social impact programs to foster local talent that will firmly establish Magrabi as a business group that the region looks up to. (Supplied)

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Updated 07 May 2023

Reina Takla

May 06, 2023 23:20

Magrabi joins with top universities to train students; eyes more initiatives

Eyewear retailer is working on an internal Retail Academy across the Kingdom covering all its teams

Updated 07 May 2023

Reina Takla

May 06, 2023 23:20

RIYADH: After joining hands with two leading universities in Saudi Arabia — Umm Al-Qura and King Saud — to provide training facilities to students who are studying to become opticians, Magrabi Retail Group, the Middle East’s leading eyewear retailer, is eyeing more such initiatives, its CEO said.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with Arab News, Yasser Taher said Magrabi is working on the implementation of an internal Retail Academy across the Kingdom covering all its teams: optometrists, opticians, client advisors and managers.

“The Retail Academy covers all aspects of training and development around vision correction, technical know-how, client experience, product expertise, fashion and lifestyle, operational management and leadership.

“The Retail Academy will be in-house at Magrabi and it will be deployed across all the countries we are operating in,” Taher said.

The big picture

Commenting on the big picture behind the training programs Magrabi is participating in with Umm Al-Qura and King Saud universities, Taher said the company has taken on the responsibility as an industry leader to support the Saudi government to develop local talent.

“We are doing what we can to equip students with the most advanced program to become professional opticians,” he explained. “We will continue to elevate the industry standards in Saudi with the most advanced technologies.”

Talking of the key highlights of these training programs, Abdelazem ElGarawany, Saudi market vice president, Magrabi Retail Group, told Arab News: “These programs are focusing on technical information and knowledge which is the core of the optical field in addition to soft skills and marketing customized to fit the specialized medical field.”

With regard to the thought process behind partnering with the two universities ElGarawany said: “Umm Al-Qura and King Saud universities are two of the top universities in the region, and the objective was to have solid and long-term partnerships with entities that can provide a huge value to the industry alongside our expertise in the optical field.

“We depend on scientific research about the market need and what is the required know-how for this specialized industry which led us to partnering with King Saud and Umm Al-Qura universities.”

He further explained that this partnership “will provide the perfect start to establish the right foundation to the programs.”

While Magrabi’s long-term partnership with Umm Al-Qura University seeks to provide training facilities including venues, a laboratory, tools and machines for the execution of the program in Riyadh, the tie up with King Saud University aims to provide missing tools and machines for the laboratory.

The program in Umm Al-Qura University started on March 4, and it was recommended that Magrabi has instructors for some subjects from its side to educate the students about its world-class standards and procedures.

The first batch of the program was dedicated only for Magrabi, and the Magrabi team was involved in the selection of students also.

We want to play a major partnership role with governmental agencies to promote the industry and get the best talent to be well trained and equipped.

Yasser Taher, Magrabi Retail Group CEO

For the western region, the priority was for Magrabi to select the first batch from the Makkah branch.

Some programs will also be executed in the Eastern Province and Magrabi will be considered as a first partner there as well.

Moving forward, Magrabi will be signing a new agreement with the Umm Al-Qura University to also include the major cities like Jeddah, Makkah and Madinah in the western region and the Eastern Province and the capital city Riyadh

For its part, the university will support the direction of unifying the programs running currently to be the same duration, subjects and certifications.

With regard to the partnership with King Saud University, Magrabi will present the company’s values and culture and explain the benefits for endoscopic cyclophotocoagulation on Career Day.

The university, on the other hand, will provide Magrabi all data for the graduated students to be part of the Career Day and offer training for the last year in Magrabi stores and facilities as part of an internship program.

Starting from the next graduated batch, Magrabi will also have priority when it comes to being involved in the selection of students.

HIGHLIGHT

While Magrabi’s long-term partnership with Umm Al-Qura University seeks to provide training facilities including venues, laboratory, tools and machines for the execution of the program in Riyadh, the tie up with King Saud University Provide aims to provide missing tools and machines for the laboratory.

What’s more, after getting necessary approvals from the university’s legal department, it was also agreed to name the laboratory after Magrabi.

“Magrabi provided the experience (to the universities) from the daily situations and offered the practical know-how and our experience in customer service and optical knowledge,” according to ElGarawany.

Nurturing local talent

Asked what Magrabi hopes to achieve from these training programs in the long term, Taher replied: “We want to play a major partnership role with governmental agencies to promote the industry and get the best talent to be well trained and equipped."

“We also want to provide a continuous pipeline of Saudi opticians to support the growth of the industry,” he continued.

ElGarawany added: “Once the Saudization decision was issued by the Ministry of Human Resources, we felt it was our responsibility to be part of this vision and to lead the development of this program as an industry leader.”

Taher is clear with regard to the vision Magrabi has for students who have enrolled into these training programs. “We provide an amazing learning experience combining curriculum education with practical experience in our stores — both the Magrabi and Doctor M banners — during the entire program,” he said.

“In addition, we offer employment opportunities after the completion of the program and create a career journey for the students.

“Our plan promises career opportunities to all graduated students with a clear career path inside the Magrabi organization in addition to empowering all certified opticians to take a leadership role in all sections and departments inside the organization,” added ElGarawany.

After taking over as the CEO earlier this year, Taher told Arab News he was very excited about transforming this family business to become a world-class business group.

“It’s a very progressive business that wants a place for itself on a global platform and is not just about finances and numbers,” he had said.

For Taher and his team, it is not just about growing the business and expanding the company’s footprint, but also about taking social impact programs to develop local talent that will establish Magrabi as a business group that the region — and the world — looks up to.

Topics: Magrabi Umm Al-Qura University King Saud University

Red Sea’s oxygen balance under strain, experts warn

Updated 13 sec ago

Ghadi Joudah

February 13, 2026 10:27

Red Sea’s oxygen balance under strain, experts warn

Scientists say warming waters, nutrient runoff and coastal development could quietly erode coral resilience

Updated 13 sec ago

Ghadi Joudah

February 13, 2026 10:27

RIYADH: The Red Sea may not have dead zones, but its fragile ecosystem is vulnerable to oxygen depletion — a quiet decline that can undermine coral health and disrupt marine life.

Sea dead zones are hypoxic or low-oxygen pockets that form most often when nutrient pollution — especially nitrogen and phosphorus from farm runoff and wastewater — fuels blooms that ultimately strip oxygen from the water.

Experts say the risk is not inevitable, but it depends on earlier detection and tighter control of the conditions that drain oxygen from coastal waters.

A sea that relies on its own “breathing” is also a sea shaped by geography.

FASTFACT

DID YOU KNOW?

The Red Sea is naturally low in oxygen because of its warm waters and high salinity — making it especially vulnerable to further oxygen decline.
The Red Sea’s narrow Bab Al-Mandab strait limits deepwater exchange, meaning the basin largely depends on its own internal circulation to ‘replenish’ oxygen.
Saudi Arabia’s coastline features steep underwater drop-offs, allowing deep, oxygen-poor water to move closer to coral reefs near shore.

Matheus Paiva, a senior oceanographer, told Arab News that “the Red Sea’s shallow Bab Al-Mandab choke point limits deepwater exchange,” meaning oxygen replenishment depends heavily on internal overturning circulation.

He said this circulation is driven as surface waters flow north, cool, become denser and sink, helping ventilate deeper layers through vertical mixing.

Paiva said the Saudi coastline’s underwater topography makes the risk more immediate close to shore.

Coral reefs along Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast, where scientists say warm, salty waters and limited deep-water exchange can leave ecosystems vulnerable to low-oxygen stress. (Unsplash.com)

“Unlike regions with wide, gradual shelves, our coast features narrow fringing reefs that drop sharply into deep water via steep underwater cliffs and canyons,” he said.

“This ‘step-and-drop’ topography brings deep oxygen-poor water close to shore.”

Paiva said warming at the surface can intensify stratification and reduce vertical mixing. He said that can allow low-oxygen water to creep upslope and affect shallower reef zones.

How oxygen gets consumed faster than it’s replaced is where human pressure can tip the balance.

Carlos Duarte, executive director or the Coral Research and Development Accelerator Program at KAUST, told Arab News that the Red Sea’s baseline conditions create vulnerability. “Because of its warm waters and high salinity, the Red Sea is inherently low in oxygen and, therefore, vulnerable to processes that decline oxygen further.”

He said algal blooms and heat waves raise biological oxygen demand, linking low oxygen to coral mortality.

Duarte said human-driven nutrient and organic inputs can intensify these declines.

He said poorly managed urban development and aquaculture operations can contribute nutrient and organic loads that fuel algal blooms.

Duarte said that as bloom material decomposes, it strips oxygen from the water and can lead to hypoxia.

The Red Sea’s celebrated clarity reflects a naturally nutrient-poor system. “The risk is amplified because the Red Sea is naturally oligotrophic. It is nutrient-poor and crystal clear,” Paiva said.

He added that wastewater releases and heavy rain events that trigger flash floods can push large nutrient loads into coastal waters in a short time.

In turn, those pulses can threaten biodiversity and the marine environment that underpins tourism investments along the Kingdom’s Red Sea coast.

Seeing low oxygen coming — rather than reacting after the fact — is the promise of new monitoring and analytics.

Paiva said high-accuracy oxygen data still relies on direct measurements collected during vessel surveys.

Carlos Duarte, executive director or the Coral Research and Development Accelerator Program at KAUST.

“We still depend heavily on classic vessel surveys,” he said. Teams deploy multiparameter sondes to profile the water column and collect water samples to establish a baseline.

“This ‘water-truthing’ remains the industry standard for high-accuracy data,” he said.

Saeed Al-Zahrani, general manager for Saudi Arabia at NetApp, said continuous data can help teams intervene earlier. “Oxygen depletion is rarely sudden; it tends to build over time when conditions line up,” he said.

Al-Zahrani said AI can flag anomalies, learn what “normal” looks like in specific locations, and generate short-horizon risk forecasts.

He added that it creates a decision window — guidance on when to increase sampling, where to focus response efforts, and when to tighten controls around discharges.

Coastal development that reduces oxygen risk starts, Duarte said, with what never reaches the sea.

Duarte said Saudi Arabia’s west coast investments have an advantage compared with older coastal destinations: the opportunity to design sustainability into projects from the outset rather than trying to retrofit after degradation becomes evident.

Duarte said nutrient control is a direct lever to reduce oxygen-depletion risk. “Achieve circular economies where organic products and nutrients are recycled and reused in the system to avoid discharging nutrients to the marine environment,” he said.

Al-Zahrani said wastewater and environmental systems produce huge volumes of information, but fragmentation can slow decisions.

He said connecting data in near real time can help detect problems earlier and anticipate load spikes tied to rainfall, tourism peaks, or industrial activity.

Reef resilience depends on reducing stress before heat and low oxygen overlap.

Duarte told Arab News: “Coral reefs are extremely vulnerable to oxygen depletion.” He added that it can contribute to bleaching and mortality in a warmer ocean.

He said marine heat waves can worsen oxygen stress by reducing oxygen solubility and limiting ventilation of subsurface waters, while increasing oxygen demands of organisms.

Duarte said reducing nutrient inputs and managing reefs to avoid excessive growth of seaweed can build resistance.

He also said models that account for how waves and currents interact with reef topography — work he said is being developed at KAUST — can help guide restoration toward sites more likely to remain oxygenated during heat stress.

Topics: Green & Blue

Magrabi joins with top universities to train students; eyes more initiatives