He is CEO of Crescent Enterprises and president of Crescent Petroleum, while also serving as chairman of Gas Cities and chairman of Pearl Petroleum.

In 2010, Jafar founded the Pearl Initiative, a non-profit venture in cooperation with the UN Office for Partnerships to promote a corporate culture of transparency and accountability across the Gulf region. He was appointed as a member of the UN Secretary General’s high level panel on humanitarian financing formed to examine and address the growing humanitarian aid crisis. He is also a board member of several businesses.