Our People

Mr. Ahmad Mazhar

Director

Mr. Ahmad Mazhar was appointed to the Company’s Board of Directors as a Non-executive Director at the AGM in 2023 as a representative of Mumtalakat Holding Company for a period of 3 years.

Mr. Mazhar joined Mumtalakat in February 2022 as Executive Director – Strategic Investments. He has over 15 years of experience in private equity with a strong track record in sourcing, executing, and managing portfolio companies across a diverse range of industries in MENA, Southeast Asia, and Sub Saharan Africa. Over the course of his career, he has worked closely with management teams and held key board positions across multiple organisations. Prior to holding this role, Mr. Mazhar was a Managing Director at Helios Fairfax Partners (HFP), overseeing new investments and portfolio management for the Southern Africa region. He also served as an interim Chief Restructuring Officer of AFGRI Group, a portfolio company of HFP and one of the largest Agri services company in Southern Africa. Furthermore, he also held various positions at several international organisations such as the Abraaj Group, Fairfax Africa Holdings and Emerging Capital Partners.

Mr. Mazhar holds an MBA in Finance and Entrepreneurship from the University of Pennsylvania, The Wharton School, and a BEng in Electrical Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology.

Committee Membership: Executive Committee and Remuneration, Nomination, Donation and Corporate Governance Committee

Dr. Daniel Ritz

Director

Dr. Daniel Ritz was appointed to the Company’s Board of Directors as a Non-executive Director at the AGM in 2023 as a representative of Mumtalakat Holding Company for a period of 3 years.

Dr. Ritz is currently the Spokesperson of the Management Board at WALTER GROUP, a Vienna-based, privately held conglomerate active in the fields of road freight, mobility solutions, leasing and real estate.

Prior to joining WALTER GROUP in 2023, Dr. Ritz held leadership positions in the telecoms industry for 20 years, including CEO of Tele Columbus (Germany), CEO of PTCL (Pakistan), CSO of Etisalat Group (UAE), CSO of Swissom Group (Switzerland) and Chairman of the Chief Strategy Officer Group of GSMA. He began his professional career at Boston Consulting Group (BCG) where he rose to Partner & Managing Director. During his tenure in the telecoms industry, Dr. Ritz also held various Non-Executive Director positions at listed and privately-held companies, including Maroc Telecom (Morocco), PTCL (Pakistan), Thuraya (UAE), Fastweb (Italy) and BICS (Belgium).

Dr. Ritz earned a Master’s Degree and a Ph.D. in Business Administration, both from the University of St. Gallen (Switzerland) and was a visiting Ph.D. student at Harvard Business School (USA).

Committee Membership: Audit Committee

Mr. Ahmed Abdulwahed Abdulrahman

Director

Mr. Ahmed Abdulrahman has been serving on the Company’s Board of Directors since March 2020. He was re-elected by the shareholders at the AGM 2020 and 2023 as a Non–Executive Independent Director for a period of 3 years.

Mr. Abdulrahman has 19 years of experience in Investment Banking, Mergers & Acquisitions and Private Equity, gained from working with leading financial institutions in Bahrain & UK. He has served on the board of over 40 companies globally, including Bahrain Financing Company (“BFC”), and has held a number of board positions which include chairmanships to the board and Investment committees.

He is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Esterad Investment Company (Listed on BHB) a diversified investment company established in Bahrain in 1973 with activities in Real Estate, Private Equities, Listed Equities and Fixed Income. Prior to Esterad, Mr. Abdulrahman served as the Founder & Managing Partner of Clan Partners Advisory, a Bahrain based boutique advisory firm; and serves as an independent board member of Native Land Investment in the UK, and as a Director at Beacon Capital Management. Previously Mr. Abdulrahman served as the CEO and Managing Director of Beacon Capital Management, a boutique Private Equity and Asset Management firm out of London. Prior to Beacon, he served as the Head of Private Equity for GCC, Levant and Turkey at Bank Al Khair (formerly known as Unicorn Investment Bank). He also has prior working experience in Ahli United Bank as a Relationship Manager – Offshore Unit, Relationship Manager – Corporate Finance and Venture Capital at Kuwait Finance House – Bahrain and started his career at BDO Jawad Habib as an analyst in the Financial Advisory Services unit.

He holds a bachelor’s degree (Hons) in Business Systems & Information Technology from University of Northumbria, Newcastle, UK.

Mr. Abdulrahman is the Deputy Chairman of the Board and Chairman of the Audit Committee in Dhiraagu Telecommunications Company (Maldives) and a Vice Chairman of Venture Capital Bank B.S.C closed.

Committee Membership: Executive Committee.

Ms. Fatema Ghazi Al-Arayedh

Director

Ms. Fatema Al-Arayedh has been serving on the Company’s Board of Directors since March 2020. She was appointed as a Non–Executive Dependent Director, representing Mumtalakat Holding Company at the AGM in 2020. At the AGM in 2023 Ms. Al-Arayedh was appointed as a representative of Social Insurance Organization (SIO) for a period of 3 years.

Ms. Al-Arayedh is an International Counsel at the law firm of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP in New York. Her legal practice focuses on corporate and financial transactions, including advising private equity and venture capital fund sponsors, sovereign wealth funds and institutional investors on their investment management arrangements. Ms. Al-Arayedh also has experience in a wide range of acquisition finance, project finance and other corporate finance transactions, including leveraged buyouts and joint ventures in the telecommunications and technology sectors.

In addition, Ms. Al-Arayedh serves on the Panel of Conciliators at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) at the World Bank Group. Prior to her legal career, Ms. Al-Arayedh worked on economic development projects at the Clinton Foundation in New York and at the Economic Development Board in Bahrain.

Ms. Al-Arayedh holds a B.A. with honors in Political Science from Yale University and a J.D. from Columbia Law School, where she was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar. She is admitted to the Bar in New York.

Committee Membership: Remuneration, Nomination, Donation and Corporate Governance Committee.

Mr. Abdulla Abdulrazaq Bukhowa

Director

Mr. Abdulla Bukhowa has been serving on the Company’s Board of Directors since 2020 as a representative of the Social Insurance Organization (SIO). He was elected by the shareholders at the AGM in 2023 as a Non-Executive Independent Director for the period of 3 years.

Mr. Bukhowa has been the Chief Executive Officer of Bahrain Commercial Facilities Company since July 2021. Previously, Mr. Bukhowa held the role of Chief Executive Officer of Standard Chartered Bank, Bahrain, established in 1920 as the first bank in the country and the Arabian Gulf region. He also used to hold the role of Chief Executive Officer of Standard Chartered Bank Qatar from January 2017 to March 2019. He was responsible for leading and implementing the overall strategy of the Bank. Mr. Bukhowa joined Standard Chartered Bank in September 2010 as Bahrain’s Country Head of Global Markets and co-Head of Wholesale Bank. In December 2014 he was given the responsibility for leading both the Financial Markets and Corporate and Institutional Banking segments. Mr. Bukhowa has over 21 years of experience which includes being Head of Portfolio Management at the Central Bank of Bahrain, and roles at Reuters and Bahrain Telecommunications Company (Batelco). He holds a Bachelor of Business from the University of Texas, USA.

He is currently a Board member in the Bahrain Association of Banks, Future Generations Reserve, National Motors Company, and Tasheelat Insurance Services (TISCO).

Committee Membership: Audit Committee.

Mr. Khalid Hussain Taqi

Director

Mr. Khalid Taqi has been serving on the Company’s Board of Directors since January 2019, as a representative of the Social Insurance Organization (SIO). He was re-appointed at the AGM in 2020 and 2023 as a Non-Executive Independent Director, for a period of 3 years.

Mr. Taqi has over 16 years of experience and began his career with the Transaction Advisory Services Team at Ernst & Young – Bahrain. During his tenure at Ernst & Young, he was exposed to a variety of different industries including Real Estate, Banking, Construction and Telecom. Mr. Taqi joined Osool Asset Management in 2013, his current mandate is to manage Osool’ s investments in Bahrain and internationally.

Mr. Taqi graduated from Concordia University, Montreal – Canada, with a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Finance. He also completed his master’s degree in Finance from DePaul University’s Kellstadt Graduate School of Business. In addition, he completed a number of executive training programs in the London Business School, NYU Stern and INSEAD.

He currently serves on the board of Gulf Hotels Group and is a member of their Investment and Audit committees. He is also a Board member and Audit Committee in BNET (Bahrain). Previously, he was a board member in Esterad Investment Company until December 2018.

Committee Membership: Executive Committee and Remuneration, Nomination, Donation and Corporate Governance Committee.

Shaikh Ali bin Khalifa Al Khalifa

Deputy Chairman

Shaikh Ali bin Khalifa Al Khalifa has been serving on the Company’s Board of Directors since June 2018, as a representative of Amber Holdings Company. He was re-appointed at the AGM in 2020 and 2023 as a Non-Executive Independent Director for a period of 3 years.

Shaikh Ali graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from The George Washington University, D.C., USA, and earned a master’s in business administration from DePaul Graduate programme at the BIBF, Bahrain. He earned a Master of Arts in Defense Studies from King’s College, London.

He joined the Bahrain Defense Force in June 1996 and currently holds the rank of Colonel. He has held various positions within the organization during his 27-year tenure.

Shaikh Ali has also been involved in the Kingdom’s sporting initiatives over the years and holds various committee positions including President of Bahrain Football Association, Member of Asian Football Association Executive Committee, Member of the Bahrain Olympic Committee, President of Bahrain Cycling Association and Member of FIFA Competitions Committee.

Additionally, Shaikh Ali is the Chairman of BNET (Bahrain).

Committee Membership: Audit Committee.

Mr. Saleh Romeih

Director

Mr. Saleh Romeih was appointed to the Company’s Board of Directors as a Non-executive Director at the AGM in 2023 as a representative of Mumtalakat Holding Company for a period of 3 years.

Mr. Romeih is a founding managing partner of the Softbank Vision Fund and a member of its Investment Committee. He also serves as an Executive Director of SB Investment Advisors. Prior to joining SoftBank, Mr. Romeih was a managing director at Goldman Sachs in London. Previously, he spent 18 years at Deutsche Bank, notably as Head of Corporate Coverage for Asia, and Head of Europe and Emerging Markets for the CIB Division. He is a board member of Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business since 2015, an advisory board member of Mundi ventures and is an Executive Committee member of the Steers Real Estate department. He has served on the boards of AUTO1, Abraaj Capital and Deutsche Bank KSA among others.

Mr. Romeih graduated cum laude from Georgetown University and received an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania, USA.

Committee Membership: Executive Committee.

Colonel Waleed Abdulrahman Binhindi

Director

Mr. Waleed Binhindi was appointed on the Company’s Board of Directors as a Non-Executive Independent Director at the AGM in 2023 as a representative of Amber Holdings, for a period of 3 years.

Mr. Binhindi is the Commander of the Royal Communications Unit with the rank of Colonel in Bahrain Defense Force. He graduated from the Military College of Kuwait in 1989. He participated in Cybersecurity courses and joined various courses in and out of Bahrain, including communications courses throughout his years in the communications unit. He also joined the Royal Jordanian Command and Staff College (RJCSC) in Jordan.

Mr. Binhindi holds a Bachelor of Business Management from the University of Mutah, Jordan.

Mr. Binhindi represents the Kingdom of Bahrain / Bahrain Defense Force in many Strategic military Telecommunication projects for the Gulf Cooperation Council. He has also been part of various committees both in the Kingdom of Bahrain and as a representative of the Kingdom at meetings abroad, within the telecommunications sector, working on civil and military matters and developments.

Committee Memberships: Audit Committee

Our People

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Mr. Ahmad Mazhar

Dr. Daniel Ritz

Mr. Ahmed Abdulwahed Abdulrahman

Ms. Fatema Ghazi Al-Arayedh

Mr. Abdulla Abdulrazaq Bukhowa

Mr. Khalid Hussain Taqi

Shaikh Ali bin Khalifa Al Khalifa

Mr. Saleh Romeih

Colonel Waleed Abdulrahman Binhindi