JAMAL ALI AL-HAZEEM- CEO; BMI BANK

Jamal Ali Al-Hazeem, a veteran Banker with over 32 years’ experience, is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Bahraini retail and commercial banking institution, BMI Bank having taken on the role in May 2010, with a commitment to build on the Banks strengths as well as deliver on its commitment to provide customers with unique and innovative financial products and services. Backed by renowned shareholders, BMI Bank is strengthening its franchise in Bahrain by developing and introducing attractive and innovative product and service offerings for Retail and Wholesale customers. The Bank seeks to differentiate itself from the competition on service levels and value.

Jamal was earlier the Managing Partner of Arthur Andersen - Bahrain for 22 years before being appointed as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Economic Development Board (EDB) - Bahrain in 2000. In his next role, Jamal worked in Kuwait with The International Investor and returned back to Bahrain in 2007 to take on the role of CEO of First Investment Bank, a $200 million Sharia-compliant investment bank headquartered in Bahrain.

Jamal was recently appointed as the new Chairman of Gulf African Bank (GAB) the first and largest sharia-compliant Bank in Kenya. In addition, Jamal also serves as the Chairman of leading Kuwaiti company Al Taameer Real Estate Investment Company and is a Board Member at several prestigious organizations including the Bahrain Association of Bankers, Nass Corporation and BMI Offshore Bank (Seychelles).

Ahmed Mohamed Abdullah Al Abri

Ahmed Al Abri is the Chief Operating Officer of BankMuscat, the largest bank in Oman. He is also a member of the board of BMI Bank in Bahrain and BMI Offshore Bank in Seychelles. He has over 30 years of banking experience.

Ahmed Al Abri holds an MBA degree from University of Lincolshire and Humberside, United Kingdom, and has participated in General Managers program at Harvard Business School and Advanced Management Program from INSEAD, France.

Mr Ahmed Said Bajaber (Kenyan):

Mr Ahmed Said Bajaber is the Chief Investment Officer of Fadeed Commercial & Investment Company Limited in Saudi Arabia – in charge of African Investments. He has over 25 years experience and been involved in setting up large investment projects across the world.

He has also served on one of the investment boards of Citigroup Venture Capital Group (CVC). Is currently the Chairman of API Limited (Ethiopia), the largest Bio Diesel farm in the world.

Mr. Alaga

Raja is a Fellow Chartered Accountant with a diverse experience in Banking & Private Equity. He brings with him over two decades of professional banking experience across the areas of Investment Banking, Private Banking, Corporate Banking, Retail Banking, Treasury and Private Equity in the Gulf countries and East Africa. His previous roles included top management positions at BankMuscat and CEO of Industrial Bank of Oman. He was also CEO of Gulf Cap Group, Dubai, a company engaged in Private Equity/ Investment, with interests in Gulf countries,Indian sub continent and East Africa. Mr. Raja is presently the Managing Director of CFM International Ltd, UAE, which is a part of the India based Chartered Finance Management Limited. Mr. Raja is an Independent Director of the Board of Gulf African Bank.

Mr Mustafa Beg (Pakistani)

Mr Mustafa Beg is currently working as Executive Director at Istithmar. In this capacity Mustafa manages investment made by Istithmar globally across various sub sectors of financial services industry including banks, asset management companies, insurance companies and specialty finance. 

Prior to Istithmar, Mr Beg was actively involved in making private equity and venture capital investment across a broad spectrum of industries in Middle East, South Asia and North America.

Mr Beg is also a board member of BMI Bank in Bahrain, and Brokerage World Solutions – an insurance brokerage company with operations in Dubai and Rotterdam. Mustafa has done his Masters in Business Administration and Bachelors in Civil Engineering. Mustafa is also a CFA charter holder. 

Mr Sandesh Pandhare (Dubai):

Mr Sandesh Pandhare is the Managing Director & Head of Private Equity at Istithmar World, the investment arm of Dubai World. He has over 20 years of experience in the private equity and investment management industry. In his current capacity, Sandesh manages a global portfolio of companies with invested capital of over US$ 2 billion in various key sectors such as financial services, industrials, education, healthcare, retail, media and entertainment. He serves as a board member and compensation committee member on several portfolio companies. He also served as a board member of CFA Emirates, a local member society of the CFA Institute, during 2005-2006.

Sandesh is a CFA charter holder and he holds a Master's degree in Management Studies from Mumbai University as well as a Bachelor's degree in Engineering from Pune University. 

Asad A. Ahmed, OGW
Managing Director, Gulf African Bank

Mr. Ahmed brings over 30 years of experience in banking, credit management and in formulating and managing strategic and operational changes in financial institutions. He brings in-depth knowledge of strategy formulation and implementation, performance improvement initiatives and change management programmes. Mr. Ahmed has held various senior management positions in the Middle East and Canada.

Mr. Ahmed joined Gulf African Bank, in September 2011, from the global financial advisory firm, Alvarez and Marsal Ltd.  where he was Managing Director and Head of Middle East. Prior to that, Mr. Ahmed was at National Bank of Fujairah where he last served as General Manager. During his tenure, the bank achieved a 35% per annum growth in net profits for 4 consecutive years.

Prior to National Bank of Fujairah, Mr. Ahmed worked for 9 years with Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Toronto, where he co-led a team to successfully setup new lines of business, and increase non-traditional lending to intellectual property based business. He was also responsible for setting up a mezzanine finance program and two other quasi equity funds.

Mr. Ahmed holds a master's degree in business administration (MBA) from Institute of Business Administration, Karachi, Pakistan. He is also a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) from Illinois, USA, and a Certified Credit Professional (CCP) from the Credit Institute of Canada. He is also a silver medallist Fellow of the Institute of Canadian Bankers (FICB).

In addition to serving as Executive Director on the Board of Gulf African Bank, he also serves as a Director of Nairobi Hospice, a charity organization and, is a member of the Governing Council of the Kenya Bankers’ Association. For his services to banking for the more vulnerable, and for the turnaround at Gulf African Bank under his leadership, Mr. Ahmed was bestowed the Order of the Grand Warrior by HE The President of Kenya in December 2012