DUBAI, UAE (April 14, 2025) VICE Media Group is ramping up its Middle East and Africa operations with the appointment of industry veteran Yamen Bassili as Head of Growth MEA, signaling an aggressive push to expand the company’s cultural footprint across the region.

Bassili joins VICE’s growing MEA leadership team with a mandate to break new ground at the intersection of culture, creativity, and commerce. After two decades spent in the advertising landscape, he’ll be driving Virtue & VICE’s next wave of unconventional partnerships that cut through the noise and resonate with audiences across the region.

“Happy to welcome Yamen to VICE. We wanted someone who understands both the science and soul of modern content and media,” says Tarek Khalil, Managing Director of MEA for VICE. “Yamen brings strategic thinking that sees where culture and commerce intersect –  exactly what defines our work at VICE.”

Before making the move to VICE, Bassili spent 20 years in the trenches of an evolving media ecosystem, most recently shaking up as Growth Lead at VMLY&R after stints at DDB, Saatchi & Saatchi X, Mirum, and VML. His unconventional educational mix of Electrical Engineering and Management Information Systems gives him a unique edge in an industry where technology and storytelling have become inseparable.

The strategic hire comes as VICE continues to double down on its mission to amplify underrepresented voices and tell provocative stories that traditional media often overlooks across the Middle East and Africa.

Virtue, VICE’s creative agency arm, has been continuing to build momentum with campaigns that tap into youth culture and emerging trends, while VICE’s content studio continues to produce the raw, unfiltered storytelling that has made the brand a global cultural force.