Afghanistan Times
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Islamic Bank of Afghanistan – first full-fledged Islamic banking in the country – has appointed Syed Moosa Kaleem Al-Falahi as CEO and President of the bank. His tenure as approved by Central Bank of Afghanistan (Da Afghanistan Bank) is 4 years from date of his joining.
A seasoned Islamic banker, Moosa Kaleem brings wealth of experience and expertise to Afghanistan banking landscape after having worked in leadership roles for leading Islamic banks in GCC for 29 years. As an international banker he was instrumental in launching numerous cross border transactions, pioneered innovative products across various domains especially in trade finance and risk participation. Before joining Islamic Bank of Afghanistan (IBA) he worked as Vice President inNoor Bank, Dubaifor 11 years prior to which he was with Dubai Islamic Bank and Qatar Islamic Bank.
The IBA is the third largest bank in Afghanistan in terms of branch network with around 59 branches spread across the country. IBA is part of the Azizi group and was formed in 2018 pursuant to conversion of Bakhtar Bank which operated under a conventional banking license after its acquisition by the group in 2009. IBA, has the honor of being licensed by Afghanistan’s Central Bank as the first bank in the country to apply the interest-free principles of Islamic finance in all its operations.
“As Afghanistan moves towards stability, banking sector is destined to grow with Islamic banking and finance sector expected to play a major role due to its natural affinity with the population as majority of residents in the country avoid interest-based banking. IBA with its team and resources is rightly placed to cater to the requirement through innovative and customer-oriented solutions” said Moosa Kaleem. He added “it is privilege to lead 800 trained and motivated team members to reach new heights and make IBA the leading bank in Afghanistan”
