Central Bank of Bahrain announces conference speaker

The Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) announced Randa Sadik as a speaker for the upcoming "Women in the Financial and Banking Sector Conference" organized by the CBB in cooperation with the Supreme Council for Women (SCW) on November 30 under the patronage of Wife of His Majesty the King and the Supreme Council of Women (SCW)'s President Her Royal Highness Princess Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa.

The conference marks the conclusion of a year-long campaign, being held as part of the 2015 Bahraini Women’s Day celebrations, to showcase and promote the role of "Women in the Financial and Banking Sector".

Randa Sadik is a senior banker with an extensive banking career having served in various leadership positions at major regional banks since 1986. She is currently Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Jordan based Arab Bank, the largest global Arab banking network. In addition, she is the Chairman of Arab Tunisian Bank, Vice Chairman of Arab Bank Australia and a Board Member of Oman Arab Bank and Arab Investment Bank. Prior to joining Arab Bank in 2010, she was Group General Manager of the International Banking Group at NBK in charge of the Bank's branches and subsidiaries worldwide.

She will take part in the conference’s keynote plenary session "Leading the Change: Factors Shaping the Future of Women in Finance," where she will draw on her vast industry experience to highlight the ways and means for women to advance and lead. The conference is expected to bring together more than 250 members of the industry including senior members and heads of the Kingdom’s top financial institutions, senior women in banking and finance and the next generation of women leaders to focus on this important topic.

Commenting, Executive Director – Corporate Services at the CBB, Dr. Huda H. Al Maskati, said:
"We’re delighted to announce Ms. Sadik as one of the key speakers at the conference where she will help shed light on how women can reach more leadership roles and progress in the financial and banking sector. She is a strong role model and a great success story. Her achievements and experience can help both motivate and guide the path of the next generation of women leaders in the industry."

This conference provides an opportunity to recognise the important progress and contributions of women in our region. It is also an opportunity to continue the discussion on how to broaden and deepen this progress to empower more women to assume leadership roles in the financial industry. She added: I am delighted to take part in this conference, she noted.

Over the past months, the CBB and SCW have already hosted a series of events including roundtables and town hall sessions to highlight issues of importance relating to women’s advancement in the sector as well as launching a mentorship programme for university students seeking careers in the banking and finance sector.

Sponsors of the "Women in the Financial and Banking Sector" conference and year-long campaign are National Bank of Bahrain (NBB), KFH-Bahrain and BBK as lead sponsors as well as Al Baraka Banking Group (ABG) as the Women’s Empowerment Partner for Islamic Banking.