Egypt’s Hassan Abdalla gets second term as central bank acting governor
Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has on Thursday renewed Central Bank Acting Governor Hassan Abdalla’s term.
Abdalla’s term has been reappointed for a period of one year, with effect from August 18.
He commenced his career at the Arab African International Bank (AAIB), the first multinational bank in Egypt. He started in the bank’s dealing room, then moved to AAIB’s New York City branch in 1988 to lead its US treasury portfolio and hedging policy, while working on portfolio restructuring of bond swaps and repos.
In 1994, Abdalla was promoted to become Assistant General Manager, then to General Manager of AAIB in 1999. In 2002 he was appointed as Vice Chairman and Managing Director.
He played a very instrumental role in merging the Arab African Bank with Misr America International Bank following the latter’s acquisition of all the shares of the first, in a deal worth around 240 million Egyptian pounds. At that time, the deal was the first experience of its kind among banks in Egypt.
As CEO of the AAIB, Abdalla pioneered exceptional growth and expansion for the bank that led it to be the fastest-growing in Egypt and the region in terms of size and profitability. The AAIB has also been the first in the Middle East to introduce the social development foundation and initiative, We Owe it to Egypt, for philanthropic activities, in addition to its sustainability activities.
Later on, Abdalla has managed in leading the AAIB to acquire the Canadian Bank of Nova Scotia portfolio in Egypt in 2015.
He also served on the boards of directors of a number of key entities; the Emerging Markets Advisory Council (EMAC), the Central Bank of Egypt, the Egyptian Stock Exchange, Ghabbour Auto, Coca-Cola, Endeavor Egypt, Telecom Egypt, Orascom Construction, and a member of the Board of Directors of the National Competitiveness Council. In addition to this, he also served on the Board of the Institute of International Finance (IIF) and was elected for six consecutive terms (2006-2012); a rare exception to the standard two-term rule.
Abdalla was also the former chairperson of the Saib Bank and chairperson of the Union Des Banques Arabes Et Francaises – UBAF in Hong Kong.
In 2018, he was appointed as first assistant to the central bank governor followed by a presidential decree to name him as the central bank’s acting governor in 2022.
Abdalla obtained his BA degree in Business Administration from the American University in Cairo (AUC) in 1982. He has been an adjunct professor at AUC for the past 20 years.
