Kareem Refaay

Kareem Refaay is the Managing Director MENA & GCC (The Middle East North Africa & Gulf Council Countries) at The London Institute of Banking & Finance, a registered charity incorporated by the Royal Charter and focused on financial education. He has over 18 years of experience as a financial educator and as an executive for top financial institutions such as GCC Financial Institutions including Standard Chartered, National Bank of Abu Dhabi, Gulf International Bank, and Al Hilal Bank.

Kareem holds a Bachelor's degree in Management Sciences from SADAT Academy for Management Sciences, a Diploma in International Business from University of Cambridge, and an MBA in Strategic Management from the University of Atlanta.

Kareem has led Learning and Development, Talent management functions, and consulted and trained extensively all over the GCC, Middle East, as well as Africa, and Europe.

Kareem has worked for the National bank of Abu Dhabi in 2009 as an Assistant Vice President of Learning and Development, and in 2013, as Group Talent Manager. In between, he also worked for the Gulf International Bank, Bahrain as Vice President of Learning Development.

In his latest role as MD MENA & GCC at The London Institute of Banking & Finance (LIBF), he oversees the organisation’s developments in providing financial qualifications at GCSE and A Level, degrees in banking and finance, postgraduate qualifications and professional qualifications for those working in the finance sector or aspiring to do so. 

As a global thought leader, he has appeared in multiple talk shows and has moderated various events, including the WETEX and Dubai Solar Show where he moderated the session on ‘Climate Finance in the MENA Region: Challenges and Opportunities’. Recently, he has been interviewed by global media outlets like Bloomberg News, where he discussed the recent global interest in investments in the GCC Markets.

After his Bachelor's degree in Management Sciences from Sadat Academy for Management Sciences in 2004, Kareem joined Standard Chartered Bank. He served the organisation in various banking and financial roles for the next four years. Meanwhile, he also did a Diploma in International Business from The University of Cambridge in 2005.

Kareem joined the National bank of Abu Dhabi in 2009 as an Assistant Vice President of Learning and Development. He benchmarked his skills as Vice President of Learning Development at Gulf International Bank, Bahrain, which he joined in 2012. 

He did his Master’s in Business Administration, specialising in Strategic Management from the University of Atlanta in 2012. In September 2013, he joined the National Bank of Abu Dhabi, UAE as Group Talent Manager.

In 2017, Kareem joined al Hilal Bank as the Head of Talent and The London Institute of Banking & Finance as the Managing Director of MENA & GULF. 

Kareem is a global thought leader and has appeared in multiple talk shows. He has moderated various events, including a session on ‘Climate Finance in the MENA Region: Challenges and Opportunities’ at the WETEX and Dubai Solar Show. 

He was recently interviewed by global media outlets like Bloomberg News to discuss the current global interests and future of finance and investments in the GCC Markets.

Kareem was a guest in one of the recent episodes of Dinis Guarda YouTube Podcast series. Speaking with Dinis, he narrated his journey from a finance executive to an educator in fintech and digital transformation:

"From my job as a trainer at Standard Chartered, I started getting more interested in the growth of human capital in the finance industry. I was always called the guy in HR who understood business. I was able to fit between both functions- business and HR, and that helped me a lot to be able to support the transformation and education happening internally amongst the organisation.

When I joined the London Institute of Banking and Finance five years back, I realised that this is not only one organisation where I can influence, but I can also work with different organisations to support the transformation of the industry going forward. 

So, it wasn't a part of the plan but it turned out to be a better one than I was expecting out of my career."