Emirates NBD invests in establishing UAE women's entrepreneurship

1 Min | 17 December 2018

Emiratisation efforts at Emirates NBD have always focused on attracting, developing and retaining talented Emiratis by offering them long-term careers.

Emiratisation efforts at Emirates NBD have always focused on attracting, developing and retaining talented Emiratis by offering them long-term careers. The bank hired around 300 Emiratis in 2018, most of whom are young school leavers and graduates, which reiterates our commitment to attracting and developing young Emirati talent. The current Emiratisation level of 20% at managerial and leadership levels amply reflects the career-building focus of the bank.

Women constitute 44% of the workforce in Emirates NBD, as we believe in gender diversity and the enormous talent among women seeking to enter the workforce. It is even more pronounced when it comes to Emirati women, who make up 77% of the National workforce in the bank. The fact that 35% of the Emiratis at senior leadership levels are women reflects the investment the bank makes in building careers of Emirati women.

Emirates NBD takes investment in national development seriously and has set up formal programs such as the National Leadership Program and National Management Program to accelerate the careers of Emiratis. Emirates NBD, through its Program for Accelerated Learnings (PAL), offers to UAE Nationals one of the top accounting qualifications provided by the Institute of Chartered Accountants England and Wales (ICAEW). The ICAEW qualification has three stages: Certification Stage, Professional Stage and Advanced Stage. Upon completion of all three stages, students obtain the Associate Chartered Accountant (ACA) qualification, which allows them to designate themselves as a Chartered Accountant. The Emirates NBD ICAEW qualification program started in 2010. We currently have 28 talented Emiratis pursing the ICAEW qualification, 16 of whom are in the professional/advanced stage.

These students are provided on-the-job training in finance and internal audit. Some students are also seconded to a Big 4 audit firm for professional experience. Group Human Resources and Group Finance have dedicated mentors to facilitate UAE Nationals in their ICAEW qualification journey. Husam Al Sayed (GM HR), Surya Subramanian (Group CFO), Mark Martinelli (GM Internal Audit) and Asim Rasheed (Group Financial Controller) play an active part in mentoring these UAE Nationals.

The number of ICAEW qualified Emiratis in UAE is very small, and four among these Chartered Accountants trained with Emirates NBD. In 2018, two Emirati women – Fatima Buali and Lubna Osama – successfully completed their ICAEW qualification.

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