For
Immediate Release
CIB ANNOUNCES CHANGES TO THE
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
CAIRO ─ 15 September 2024 ─
Commercial International Bank Egypt (CIB), Egypt's largest private
sector bank, announced today a number of changes
to the Board of Directors, subject to regulatory
approvals.
The Board has selected Neveen
Sabbour as Non-Executive Chair. The first woman to chair
CIB's board, Neveen Sabbour is a seasoned
banker with extensive experience in M&A, business strategy,
banking transformation, financial planning and management
information systems. She joined CIB as Non-Executive
Director in March 2023 and
currently serves on the boards of several financial and industrial
institutions that include Meris (Moody's Egypt) and the Holding
Company for Metallurgical Industries. Ms. Sabbour is a member of
the board of trustees of the "We Owe it to Egypt" foundation, as
well as "Banking for Women in Egypt", an institution aimed at
women's empowerment and financial inclusion.
The Board has reappointed Hisham Ezz
Al-Arab as Chief Executive Officer and Board Member. Mr. Ezz
Al-Arab succeeds Hussein Abaza who is ending his term at CIB as
previously planned. Amr El-Ganainy will become an executive
director of the Board in his capacity as Deputy CEO. The Board of
Directors also announced the appointments of veteran transformation
banker Tony Prestedge as Executive Advisor to the Board of
Directors, and Islam Zekry, Group Chief Financial Officer, as
Executive Director.
These appointments are the result of
a comprehensive process the Board of Directors undertook to select
a new CEO to lead the bank's multifaceted business
transformation and continue its program
to support recognized potential future
leaders.
Selected for his deep institutional
knowledge, vision, and leadership of CIB as well as his
understanding of markets and consumers, the
Board's consensus was to reappoint Mr. Ezz Al-Arab for three years.
Mr. Ezz Al-Arab has served as Chair of the Board since March
2023. During his past tenure as CEO and Managing
Director, he set the bank's strategic direction, transforming it
from a wholesale lender into Egypt's largest private sector bank
and establishing its international brand, while steering the bank
through challenging conditions. His tenure was additionally
credited for a commitment to cultivating a culture of
entrepreneurial spirit and meritocracy and to global best practices
with respect to corporate governance, sustainability, and risk
management. Under his direction, CIB witnessed
exceptional growth and outperformance among its peers
worldwide.
Tony Prestedge's extensive banking experience in the financial services sector,
particularly in the development and execution of digital,
business model, and operating transformations, will accelerate
CIB's transformation from traditional financial services into
simple and accessible solutions for its customers.
The Board of Directors also
expressed its gratitude for Hussein Abaza's significant
contributions and steady leadership in a turbulent environment and
extended its best wishes in his future endeavors. Mr.
Ezz Al-Arab thanked him for his many years of dedicated service to
the bank and acknowledged the profound
impact Mr. Abaza has had
on the CIB brand.
Hisham Ezz Al Arab stated, "I am
privileged to continue to work with the CIB team as we further
build and strengthen the organization for the future. We are
embarking on an exciting transformation journey led by Tony
Prestedge to secure the bank's position as an innovative and
sustainable entity. The new appointments
are a milestone for CIB as their partnership will prepare us for
our future as a leading bank in Africa. I look forward to working
with this team over the next three years as we complete the
transformation and, importantly, groom our future
leadership."
Tony Prestedge brings to CIB senior
level banking experience in the development and
execution of strategic reviews across large organizations and
corporate governance, that have
involved business model, operating, and digital
transformations. Most recently Mr. Prestedge was Executive
Director and Deputy CEO of Santander UK, the fifth largest bank in
the UK, with 25,000 employees serving over 14 million customers. In
that role he oversaw the private bank and consumer finance
businesses and was also responsible for Strategy, Technology and
Transformation, Operations, Digital, Data and Payments, HR, and
Communications. Prior to that he was a Group Board Member,
Executive Director and Deputy CEO of Nationwide Building Society,
the second largest mortgage lender and deposit taker in the UK.
There he oversaw Group Strategy and Sustainability, Customer
Experience, Digital Transformation, Innovation and Venturing, and
Channel and Project Management.
Mr. El-Ganainy will leverage his
extensive local and regional banking relationships to expand the
bank's services and broaden its customer base. He has brought
tremendous value to the CIB franchise, having successfully built
its corporate customer base to include the region's most prominent
companies. He has served as an independent board
member of numerous companies in Egypt across the aviation, tourism,
financial services, and telecommunications
sectors.
In addition to his 25 years of
experience, Mr. Zekry has broad
international exposure to various markets across
Europe, the Middle
East and Africa. He sits on the Board of Directors of CIB Kenya and is a steering committee member of
Smart Africa, an international alliance established to accelerate
sustainable socioeconomic development on the continent. He is a
member of the EU-AU Digital Economy Task Force, which examines ways
of cooperative engagement in the field of digital economy between
Europe and Africa. In addition, he serves on the Digital
Transformation Committee of the World Economic Forum WEF. Most
recently he was nominated to the Egyptian AI Council to formulate
and execute the country's AI vision strategy. Mr. Zekry is a
member of the Chartered Institute of Managerial Accountants in UK,
member of FITCH Quantitative Finance Institute in London, and
Non-Executive-Director at NLB Banking Group in Central
Europe.
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