Hisham Ezz Al-Arab, CIB's God father

Hisham Ezz Al-Arab held Chairman and Managing Director of the Commercial International Bank - Egypt from 2002 to 2020, and during his term, he was able to establish the bank's position as the largest banking corporate affiliated to the private sector in Egypt.

He also achieved strong increases in the bank’s market capital, to rise from EGP 1 bn to EGP100 bn, which made the bank’s shares the strongest components of the main index of the Egyptian Stock Exchange.

Also its listing on New York and London Stock Exchanges, a sign of attraction for the international investment community, as well as being a benchmark to performance of the banking sector in emerging markets.

Under his leadership, CIB's work culture was based on encouraging entrepreneurship and innovative work, while adhering to international best practices in terms of corporate governance and risk management.

The bank succeeded in achieving 90th place in Forbes list of the 500 best employers in the world, due to the fact that it made the bank a leading employer, especially since its implementation of the employee reward and motivation in 2006, and this was the first of its kind for workers in the banking sector.

He was also keen on the bank’s commitment to its global responsibilities, and within this framework, in 2013, it launched sustainability and gender equality initiatives, making CIB the first bank in Egypt to issue a sustainability report and sign the financial initiatives of UNEP, Principles for Responsible Banking.

Ezz Al-Arab's efforts did not stop at that point, as the bank became the first Arab and African institution to be included in Bloomberg Index for Gender Equality.

He also gave great importance to digital transformation, believing in the importance of technology in the new era; he established a unique data analytics unit in Egyptian banks, which later provided advice to the Egyptian government in the field of data collection and analysis.

Ezz Al-Arab, thanks to his wise vision, realized the opportunities inherent in Africa, especially East Africa, being a center for trade, so he exploited these opportunities, and presided over a deal to open CIB - Mayfair in Kenya to provide trade finance and credit facilities for the bank's Egyptian clients from medium companies who Looking to expand into Africa, he also supported East African youth FinTech initiatives.

Hisham Ezz Al-Arab’s experience won several international acclaim, as he was named Best CEO in Egypt and Africa  by Emma  in 2014, and Euromoney praised in 2016 his outstanding contribution to financial services in the Middle East.

In addition, CIB, as the first bank in Egypt and the Middle East, won the Euromoney Award for Best Bank in Global Emerging Markets. In the same year, the Bank won the Best Bank in Middle East award.

The bank also won the award for the best bank in corporate responsibility practices in the Middle East in 2018, and award for the best bank in emerging markets from Global Finance in 2018 and 2020.

The success experience of “CIB” in his era became a story taught at Harvard University, one of the best universities in the world. Harvard University published a study conducted by its best researchers on the bank’s success story, Transformation in Times of Crisis, Studying the success story of an Egyptian corporate. London College of Business also included it in the studies offered by the college on successful business models.

And after Hisham Ezz Al-Arab ended his journey in the executive leadership of the bank in October 2020, his absence did not last long, as the bank announced in a statement to the stock exchange, last November, that he had joined the bank’s board of directors, as a non-executive member with experience, and then Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bank.

Hisham Ezz Al-Arab has a long banking experience, as he began his career in many Egyptian banks in 1977, which gave him sufficient experience to occupy the position of managing director of JP Morgan in London, then managing director of Deutsche Bank London, and became a deputy member Managing Director at CIB in 1999.

In 2002; Ezz al-Arab took over the position of CEO and Managing Director of CIB, and during his leadership for 18 years, he was able to prove his worth and competence.

Hisham Ezz Al-Arab, during Farouk El Okdah's term, the former CBE Governor, contributed to resetting the exchange rate system between 2004 and 2008 .

Hisham Ezz Al-Arab held several other positions, including the position of General Manager at JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank, and a member of the Regional Advisory Board for the Middle East and North Africa at MasterCard.

He also served as a member of the Emerging Markets Advisory Board of IFF, and as a member of the Board of Directors of Fairfax Africa.

Ezz Al-Arab also held the position of Chairman of Federation of Egyptian Banks from March 2013 to March 2020, becoming the first head of a private bank to hold this position.

Ezz Al-Arab was also a member of International Finance in Washington, a member of EMAC, a member of the Board of Directors of Ripplewood Advisors for North Africa and the Middle East, and a member of the Board of Trustees of the American University in Cairo.

He also held the position of Chairman of the Board of Trustees of CIB since 2010, and it is worth noting that the Foundation under his era managed to influence the lives of more than 3.2 million children, and also became one of Egypt’s leading voices to reach comprehensive and quality health care for the most needy children.