In Recognition of His Contributions to the Growth of the Banking Industry in Kuwait and the Region

MEED, the internationally renowned publication, has named Boubyan Bank’s Vice-Chairman & Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Adel Abdul Wahab Al-Majed, as “MENA CEO of the Year”, in recognition of his exceptional leadership and significant contributions to the growth of the banking industry over the past years. This came as a part of its 2024 MENA excellence awards.

Al-Majed received the award in a special ceremony held by the institution in Dubai in the presence of Boubyan Bank’s CEO - Private, Consumer, and Digital Banking, Mr. Abdullah Al-Tuwaijri, Mr. Ahmed Al-Fahad, General Manager and Secretary to the Board of Boubyan Bank, and a group of elite bankers, economists, and leaders from various economic sectors to recognize the institutions that won the awards at the Middle East level.

Al-Majed is an example of leading Kuwaiti bankers, who succeeded over more than four decades in making a clear mark in the banking business, and who has had outstanding achievements that contributed to the growth and reinforcement of the banking industry ever since joining the National Bank of Kuwait wherein he came up through the ranks until he assumed the position of the Deputy CEO of the bank before joining Boubyan Bank in 2009 to embark upon a new journey marked with many successes.

The most unique thing about this prestigious award won by Al-Majed is that it is given for the first time ever to the most prominent and top visionary CEOs, with the ability to effect a significant change not only institution-wise but also across the MENA banking scene as a whole.

On his part, Mr. Al-Majed commented as he accepted the award: “I would like to thank everyone for this recognition. I am proud and grateful for receiving this award, which crowns the efforts of a journey that extends for over 40 years of ongoing and ceaseless work in facing and overcoming challenges, up to where we stand right now.”

He added: “I would like to seize this opportunity to thank all my colleagues who accompanied me throughout this extended journey, our professional team, and all those who contributed to this achievement, as well as many other achievements that placed Boubyan in the lead of the banking business.”

Factors of Success and Excellence

Al-Majed’s journey with Boubyan Bank since he moved from the National Bank of Kuwait back in 2009 is considered an example of domestic success stories. Back then, Boubyan Bank was at the bottom of the table of local banks in terms of financial and economic indicators. Following which, Boubyan Bank witnessed major transformations and cemented its leadership position among the top 3 banks in Kuwait.

Key Financial Indicators’ Growth

Under the leadership of Al-Majed and the executive team of the Group, Boubyan managed to have many repeated successes that pushed the bank’s figures to record levels, thus making the bank a unique example among banks in Kuwait and the region. In numbers and over the past 10 years alone, the bank’s assets grew from ~USD 7.1 billion (KD 2.2 billion) to ~USD 27.4 billion now (KD 8.4 billion). Moreover, over the past 5 years the operating profits grew from USD 270.0 million (KD 83.0 million) to ~USD 349.7 million (KD 107.5 million), while the bank’s share of Islamic financing grew from 8.55% to 11.67%, and its share of deposits grew from 8.13% to 11.30%.

Expansion Regionally and Internationally

Coinciding with its 20^th anniversary, Boubyan has become a group now comprising of 3 banks (Boubyan Bank, The Bank of London and the Middle East, and Nomo Bank “the Group’s digital arm”), in addition to another 3 companies, namely, Boubyan Takaful Insurance Company, Boubyan Capital Investment Company, and Boubyan National), to continue Boubyan’s strategy towards domestic and international expansion.

Furthermore, and as a part of its regional expansion, Boubyan established a subsidiary of BLME in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in addition to BLME’s headquarters in London and Dubai, and Boubyan now owns ~71% of BLME’s shares.

In line with the strategic approach aiming to reinforce the global presence of Boubyan Bank with focus on digital banking services, Nomo was established as a sustainable brand in Kuwait and the UK as the world’s first Islamic digital bank. Nomo succeeded in doing so as it serves as a platform for Sharia-compliant digital services and solutions, which is on track to penetrate GCC markets with steady steps towards further expansion.

Shaping the Digital Future

Boubyan Bank’s digital transformation strategy gained a significant momentum, being a real and living example for succeeding in being highly competitive regionally and internationally in digital services and in encouraging innovation and sustainable digital growth towards accelerating transformation and making financial transactions more convenient, thus enabling Boubyan to be in the forefront of the digital banking scene, globally, regionally, and domestically, evidenced by retaining the award for the World’s Best Islamic Digital Bank by Global Finance for 9 years in a row.

Prior Awards to Mr. Al-Majed

Over the past years, Mr. Al-Majed received many recognitions and awards, chief among which:

• 2022 MENA Islamic Banker of the Year Award from MEED

• 2021 Outstanding Contribution to Islamic Finance Award from Global Finance in recognition of his efforts in this vital economic sector over the past years, especially since taking up the leadership of Boubyan Bank back in 2009.

• 2021 Arab Banker of the Year Award by the Union of Arab Banks, making him the first Kuwaiti banker ever to receive this highest recognition given by the Union of Arab Banks for excellent achievers in the Arab financial and banking business.