Within the sprawling grounds of Kuwait University’s campus in Shuwaikh, stands a clock tower that has been keeping time for half a century.

The simple brown-faced structure is part of an old secondary school that went on to become the campus for Kuwait’s first university, a shining symbol of the great strides that the country has made in the field of education.
To some, the clock may be merely a quaint aesthetic attraction, to others a simple reminder of the time.  But to its builder, the Ahmadiah Group, it is an endearing symbol of the strength and durability that the contractor has achieved over five decades in Kuwait.
With good reason too:  among the thousands of contractors in the Gulf, there are not many who can build it all and even fewer who have been around for a half a century.
Combine these two points together and you have a force called Ahmadiah: a contractor  that tackles just about anything – from power stations to roads to skyscrapers – and has built many of Kuwait’s most striking landmarks as well.
Ahmadiah was established at a time when Kuwait was rapidly expanding on the wave of an oil boom, developing its urban town, coastline suburbs, roads and other types of infrastructure, in line with its first Master Plan of 1952.
It was founded by Abdul Latif Al Thuwainy and Nagib Ibrahim Najjar, two entrepreneurs with strong values and the conviction that ‘building projects start with building relationships’.
One of the founders Nagib Najjar, has since passed on (in 1973), but Ahmadiah has now become one of the Gulf’s leading contractors.   As one of Kuwait’s oldest contractors, it has earned a reputation for the speed, exceptional quality, the ability to overcome challenging technical problems and flexibility in understanding the various requirements of the clients and their interests. It is this reputation that has earned Ahmadiah a variety of repeat clients and impressive growth.
With almost every successful company, there is always a strong leader or two at the helm; who have exerted every effort to ensure excellence in performance in the fairly early stage of a company’s development.  For Ahmadiah, Nagib and Abdul Mohsen were those two leaders. Abdul Mohsen was the chairman of Ahmadiah since its establishment in 1954 until 1994.  Through all these years, Abdul Mohsen established a know-how, a spirit and a philosophy which led a family business company such as Ahmadiah to the path towards success. He strongly believes that no matter what standing a company has in the eyes of the business world, the company is not truly “excellent” unless its financial performance supports the esteem it holds.
Ahmadiah started off with a modest capital of just 300,000 Indian rupees. 
Today, the company’s capital is KD9 million ($30 million).
“Our asset growth, our average ratio of market value to book value (wealth creation) and our return on total capital, qualify us to be a top performer,” says a company spokesman.
Mohsen is today the advisor to the board. Ahmad Faisal Al Thuwainy has been the chairman of Ahmadiah since 1994;  Ayad Al Thuwainy is its vice-chairman; Tony Najjar its managing director and Mohammed Al Thuwainy is the general manager.
Tony joined the company in 1966 after graduating in civil engineering from Lausanne Switzerland (EPFL) and has been its managing director since 1973.
Through all these years he built the staff Ahmadiah enjoys today.  Tony has always believed that people are his most important asset and “we live to our commitment to people” he states.
His quality policy of ISO 9002 states “Productivity through people, not lip service but showing that we always deliver what we promise”. 
He states that successful companies are simultaneously centralised and de-centralised.  “We are only fanatic centralists around a few core values we hold dear.  My real role today is to manage the values passed on to me by Nagib Najjar, my father and Abdul Mohsen Al Thuwainy – my two role models of successful leaders,” Tony recollects.
Ahmadiah has built several prestigious structures in the country with exceptional quality and substantial time and cost savings to its reputable clients in the private and public sectors. These include large infrastructure projects (the Sixth Ring road, sanitary renovation, Al Khiran Pearl City infrastructure works,  airport runway and bridges), industrial projects (thermal power stations, cement factories, flour mill silos), state-of-the art palaces (Bayan Palace and Amir Diwan),  sophisticated hospitals, important headquarters (Arab Fund, Gulf Investment Corporation, Public Institution for Social Security, Kuwait Airways Corporation), five-star hotels (Meredien, Marriott, Hilton Resort Mangaf); banks (Kuwait Finance House, Al Ahli, Burgan, Commercial Bank of Kuwait), malls and commercial centres (Arraya, Marina Mall, Salhia, Al Fanaar, Al Bustan), office and residential towers, waterfronts (Al Sharq, Salmiya, Fahaheel).  
Ahmadiah proudly states that it is one among the very few, if not the only company, to whom the private sector in Kuwait entrusted total cost-plus jobs. 
Ahmadiah adds that it has never been to court during its 50 years of business; and any differences with its clients have been solved amicably.
Ahmadiah’s current yearly turnover is $215 million. It has a truly international perspective with a substantial client base throughout the Middle East.  Ahmadiah has offices in Lebanon and Qatar and is looking forward to opportunities for work in the UAE and Iraq.
“We are proud of our past and are confident that our new generation of leaders are capable to ensure a bright future.  They say people rarely succeed at anything unless they enjoy it.  We enjoy what we do.”