Mr. Hisham Ezz Al-Arab
Chairman and Managing Director
Mr. Hisham Ezz Al-Arab has been chairman and managing director of CIB since 2002. He leads today a team of more than 6,500 professionals who have transformed the institution from a wholesale lender into Egypt’s largest private-sector bank, leading the sector on key metrics including revenue, profitability, net worth and market share of deposits. CIB serves more than 1 million customers, from individual customers to small- and medium-sized businesses and leading corporations, among them Egypt’s 500 largest companies.
The Bank’s market capitalisation has grown from EGP 1 billion at the beginning of Mr. Ezz Al-Arab’s term to EGP 90 billion, making its stock — a blue chip component of the Egyptian Exchange — the global investment community’s preferred proxy for Egypt and a benchmark for the banking industry in emerging markets.
Core to the Bank’s success is its unique culture, which balances an entrepreneurial spirit that prizes innovation with a commitment to global best practices in both corporate governance and risk management. That culture, nurtured over more than 15 years, is the Bank’s natural competitive advantage and led directly to the establishment of the first-of-its kind employee stock ownership program (ESOP) in 2006, thus aligning the interest of employees to that of shareholders. In 2010, Mr. Ezz Al-Arab brought to life the CIB Foundation, which is a leading Egyptian voice for universal access to quality healthcare extended to underprivileged children. CIB was named Euromoney’s Best Bank in the Middle East and Best Bank in Global Emerging Markets for 2017 and was named African Banker’s 2016 Socially Responsible Bank of the Year. Mr. Ezz Al-Arab was recognised in 2016 by Euromoney for his “Outstanding Contribution to Financial Services in the Middle East” and was EMEA Finance’s “Best CEO in Egypt and Africa” at the magazine’s 2014 Banking Awards. Under his leadership, CIB was named the “World’s Best Bank in the Emerging Markets” by Euromoney at the Global Awards for Excellence ceremony held in July 2017, thus becoming the first bank in Egypt, Africa and the Middle East to ever win this award.
Mr. Ezz Al-Arab leads the Federation of Egyptian Banks as Chairman, is a member of the Institute of International Finance’s Emerging Markets Advisory Council and serves as a director of Master- Card Middle East’s Regional Advisory Board. He is also the Chairman of Board of Trustees of the CIB Foundation. Mr. Ezz Al-Arab is Non-Executive Director of Ripplewood Advisors MENA Holdings, a Non-Executive Director of Fairfax Africa Board and a Non-executive Director of Atlas Mara.
Mr. Ezz Al-Arab joined CIB from Deutsche Bank and previously served with both JP Morgan and Merrill Lynch in postings that took him to Bahrain, New York and Cairo. He holds a BA in Commerce from Cairo University.
Mr. Hussein Abaza
Chief Executive Officer and Board Member
Mr. Hussein Abaza is a careered banker with more than 30 years of experience in the financial services industry — including both commercial banking and investment banking — and is well-known in the global financial community. From October 2011 until his appointment as CEO and Board Member in March 2017, he was CEO for Institutional Banking at CIB. He has previously served as the Bank’s Chief Risk Officer and Chief Operating Officer and began his journey with CIB in 1985, when CIB was known as Chase National Bank of Egypt.
Outside of CIB, Mr. Abaza worked as Head of Research at EFG Hermes Asset Management from March 1995 until October 1999.
Mr. Abaza graduated with a BA in Business Administration from The American University in Cairo in 1984, and has completed professional training in Belgium, Switzerland, London, and New York.
Mr. Amr El Ganainy
Chief Executive Officer, Institutional Banking
Mr. Amr El Ganainy joined CIB in 2004 as General Manager, Financial Institutions Group. In January 2010, he assumed his role as President of the Global Customer Relations Department, before assuming his current role as CEO IB in June 2017. Mr. El Ganainy is the Chairman of International Securities & Services Co. (Falcon Group), a Board Member of CI Capital Holding Co., Board Member of Telecom Egypt Co., Board Member of Misr for Central Clearing, Depositary and Registry Co., Board Member of The Egyptian Holding Co. for Airports and Air Navigation, General Assembly Member of Egyptair Holding Co., Honorary Chairman of Interarab Cambist Association (ICA), Honorary Chairman of Egyptian Dealers Association (ACI Egypt) and a member of the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt.
Mr. El Ganainy was the Chairman of CI Asset Management Co., Chairman of Commercial International Brokerage Co., Board Member of TE Data, Executive Board Member of ACI International (The Financial Market Association), Board Member of Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Co. and the Chairman of Capital Securities Brokerage Co. Prior to joining CIB, Mr. El Ganainy worked at the United Bank of Egypt as General Manager, Treasurer and Head of Correspondent Banking, Chief Dealer of Export Development Bank and started his career as a Dealer at Suez Canal Bank.
Mr. Ahmed Issa
Chief Executive Officer, Retail Banking
Mr. Ahmed Issa has been leading Retail Banking divisions at CIB since 2015 and he is a member of the Bank's management committee and other group level management committees. His key responsibilities include the formulation and execution of the business strategies across Consumer Banking, Business Banking and the Bank's distribution networks. Prior to this, he was CIB's Group CFO, Head of Strategic Planning in addition to a successful career as a Corporate and Investment Banker at CIB and CI Capital. Mr. Issa was also Chairman of the Board at CORPLEASE and Falcon Group. Mr. Issa is the current chair of the Banking and Finance Committee at the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt, the Ex-chair of the Board Audit Committee at Civil Aviation Finance Holding Company, and a Board Director at Egypt's Internal Trade Development Authority since 2017 and EGYPTAIR Holding Company since 2018.
Mr. Issa started his banking career in 1993 in CIB branches. He earned his MBA at UNC-Chapel Hill's Kenan- Flagler Business School in 2003 and re-joined CIB in the same year. As a Fulbright scholar, Mr. Issa attended the Program on Investment Appraisal and Management at Harvard University in 1997 and subsequently interned at Merrill Lynch in NY, US. Mr. Issa attended more than 25 executive and leadership development programs including the industry-leading CIB Credit Course in 1994.
Mr. Mohamed Sultan
Chief Operating Officer
Mr. Mohamed Sultan is CIB's Chief Operating Officer, a role he assumed in February 2015. He joined CIB as Head of Consumer Operations in 2008, and within six months was appointed Head of the Operations Group. In September 2014, Mr. Sultan was appointed Head of Operations & IT before assuming his role as COO. Under his leadership and management, the Operations Group was significantly developed, resulting in major expansions within the Operations Area through the establishment of new divisions serving the expansion of the business or merging several operations divisions, including Corporate Services, Alternative Channels and Real Estate and Facility Management. In his continuous efforts to enhance the Bank's internal and external customer experience in alignment with CIB's overall objectives and strategic goals, multiple departments were established under CIB operations including Treasury Middle Office, Operations Control Management, Retail Operations, and Customer Care Unit.
Following Mr. Sultan's insightful vision, the Business Continuity and Information Security Management Department — headed by the Chief Security Officer — as well as the Sustainability Department were established, positioning CIB as the pioneer and leader in these fields among other financial institutions in the market. In 2015-2016, Mr. Sultan lead a major transformation strategy in the IT Division, which added significant value to existing technology and enhanced infrastructure.
The aim was a more solid foundation that provides superior services to customers and allowing the business to grow smoothly as the Bank moves forward. Mr. Sultan has also leads the Bank's strategic Transformational programs, including digital banking, with an aim of maintaining CIB's role as market leader. Prior to joining CIB, Mr. Sultan held the positions of Vice President of Branches Operations and Control Management at Mashreq Bank and Country Operations Head at National Bank of Oman. He has attended several leadership programs in top business schools and is also an alumnus of INSEAD Business School.
Ms. Pakinam Essam
Chief Risk Officer
Ms. Pakinam Essam serves as CIB's Chief Risk Officer (CRO), having been appointed in January 2011. Since then, she began the Risk Transformation Process, and the CIB Risk Group evolved into a forward-looking, holistic organisation with an integrated view of risks, covering all key areas including Institutional Banking, Consumer, Business Banking, Market, Operational, Liquidity and Interest Rate Risks. The coverage expanded to focus on emerging non-financial risks, such as Conduct, Cyber Security, Information Security, Vendor Management, IT, Reputation and Social & Environmental Risks. Ms. Essam is championing the Bank's Enterprise Risk Management framework, with emphasis on Infrastructure, Process, Environment, and Risk Culture. Under her leadership, CIB has been recognised for six prestigious risk awards by Asian Banker Singapore for Middle East & Africa in the following categories: Enterprise Risk Management, Retail Risk, Liquidity Risk and Operational Risk. Ms. Essam is a key member of the Bank's executive committees and an active member of the Bank's Sustainability Steering Committee and the Board of Trustees of the CIB Foundation. Ms. Essam joined CIB after graduating from the Faculty of Economics and Political Science, Cairo University, and has over 25 years of experience in banking and risk management.
