Kuwait Projects Company (Holding) – KIPCO – is a holding company that focuses on investments in the Middle East and North Africa.
It’s strategy of acquiring, building, scaling and selling companies in the MENA region has worked successfully for over 30 years.
KIPCO’s main business sectors are financial services, media, real estate and industry. KIPCO’s financial service interests include holdings in commercial banks, insurance companies, asset management and investment banking.
Board of Directors
Sheikh Hamad Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah
Chairman
Sheikh Abdullah Naser Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah
Vice Chairman
Sheikha Dana Naser Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah
Executive Board Member
Abdullah Yacoub Bishara
Independent Board Member
Faisal Hamad Al Ayyar
Non-Executive Board Member
Executive Management
Sheikha Dana Naser Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah
Group Chief Executive Officer
Sheikha Dana Nasser Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah, a KIPCO Board member since 2020, was appointed Group CEO in January 2022. She is the Founder and Chair of the Board of Trustees of the American University of Kuwait and the Chairperson of United Education Company. She currently holds board positions with Gulf Insurance Group, OSN and Kamco Invest. She was previously the CEO of Al Futtooh Holding Company. Sheikha Dana holds an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Dartmouth College, and a BA in English literature from Kuwait University. She also studied at the University of Indiana in Bloomington, USA.
Samer Khanachet
Deputy Group Chief Executive Officer
Mr Khanachet joined KIPCO as General Manager in 1990. He moved to the United States in 1991 to setup United Gulf Management, KIPCO’s US subsidiary, and to identify strategic resources to support KIPCO’s activities in financial services, media and other sectors across the MENA region. He returned to Kuwait as Group COO in 2008 and became Deputy Group CEO in 2022. He is a Board Member of United Gulf Bank, United Gulf Management Inc – Boston, and of United Gulf Management Limited – UK. He is a Trustee of the American University of Kuwait and a member of the MIT Educational Council - Vice Chair for the northern Gulf region. He holds BSc degrees in Chemical Engineering and in Management Science from MIT and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Sunny Bhatia
Group Chief Financial Officer
Mr Bhatia joined KIPCO in 2022, bringing over three decades of regional and multinational experience across the financial services’ industry. He held several leadership positions in major regional organizations including Group CFO at NBK Capital, Group CFO at Global Investment House and Financial Controller and Head of Strategic Planning at the National Bank of Bahrain. He also worked with KPMG, Siemens and PricewaterhouseCoopers in various capacities. Mr Bhatia holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Delhi University and is a Chartered Accountant and Cost and Management Accountant.
Sheikh Sabah Mohammad Abdulaziz Al Sabah
Group Chief Strategic Projects Officer
Sheikh Sabah Mohammad Abdulaziz Al Sabah joined KIPCO in 2023 as Group Chief Strategic Projects Officer. He was previously the Vice Chairman & CEO of Qurain Petrochemical Industries in 2022 during the company’s merger with KIPCO. With extensive experience in investment, industry and real estate, Sheikh Sabah was the Vice Chairman & CEO of United Industries Company from 2013 to 2022. He is the Chairman of United Building Company and United Oil Projects, Vice Chairman of Jassim Transport & Stevedoring Company, Board Member of SADAFCO (Saudi Arabia) from 2022 and has held several executive positions since 2006. Sheikh Sabah holds a Bachelor’s degree in Management and Organization from Kuwait University.
Joe Kawkabani
Group Chief Investment Officer
Mr Kawkabani joined KIPCO in 2018 to lead strategic initiatives, and was appointed Chief Investment Officer in 2022. With over 20 years of experience in structuring and managing investments and ventures in frontier markets, Mr Kawkabani’s role involves setting and executing KIPCO’s investment strategy, as well as overseeing value creation and transformation programs across the Group. Prior to joining KIPCO, he set up and served as the CEO of CPC Africa. He has held several positions in leading regional and international organizations including Chief Investment Officer- MENA equities at Franklin Templeton, Co-Founder and Managing Director at Algebra Capital, and Head of Equity Asset Management at SHUAA Capital. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Saint Joseph University in Beirut.
Khaled Abdul Jabbar Al Sharrad
Group Chief HR & Admin Officer, Board Secretary
Mr Al Sharrad joined KIPCO Group as the Group Chief HR and Admin Officer in 1995. He plays multiple strategic roles for the Group in the capacity of KIPCO Secretary of the Board, Chairman of IKARUS United Marine Services Company, Vice Chairman & CEO of United Industries Company, Board Director of United Gulf Holding (Bahrain) and Vice Chairman of Kuwait Furniture Manufacturing & Trading Company (KUFUMA). He also chairs and is a member of several committees. Mr Al Sharrad is a well-rounded leader with 32 years of proven organizational development and advisory experience covering areas such as strategic planning, corporate governance, organization design, talent management as well as business improvement. He holds a BA degree from St. Edwards University in Texas and is a certified professional in personnel management from the Royal Institute of Management – UK.
Moustapha Samir Chami
Deputy Group Chief Financial Officer
Mr Chami joined KIPCO in 2009 and held several positions in the Finance & Accounts Department. He was appointed Deputy Group CFO in 2022. Mr Chami leads the Group’s financial operations and planning, including governance and risk management. He is the Secretary of the Board Risk Committee and acts as a financial advisor to several Group companies. He holds Board positions in Jordan Kuwait Bank, Burgan Bank Turkey and Alternative Energy Co. Mr Chami holds a bachelor’s degree in finance and MBA from the University of Saint Joseph in Lebanon. He is also a Certified Financial Analyst (CFA), Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and a Certified Management Accountant (CMA).
Eric Schumacher
Group Treasurer
Mr Schumacher Joined KIPCO in 2019. With over 25 years of experience in international corporate and investment banking, he has a proven track record of successfully advising prominent clients in their capital raising and risk management needs. Prior to joining KIPCO, Mr Schumacher held the position of Managing Director with both HSBC and Bank FAB, and has worked in Europe, North America and most recently the Middle East where he was based in Riyadh, Abu Dhabi and Kuwait. Mr Schumacher holds a Bachelor of Commerce and an MBA from Concordia University in Canada, He is also a Chartered Financial Analyst
Adel Jasem Al Waqayan
Treasurer - Senior Vice President
Mr Al Waqayan joined KIPCO in 1995. Prior to that, he was the Chief FX and Money Market Dealer at Burgan Bank for 13 years, where he delt with several international trading instruments. He was the Chairman of the Kuwait Financial Markets Association in 2006. He is currently Chairman of the Chairman’s Club and holds a board membership in United Real Estate. Mr Al Waqayan holds an MBA from USI University, USA.
Ghada Khalaf
Group Senior Vice President – Investments
Ms Khalaf joined KIPCO in 2023. As part of the investment team, she is responsible for monitoring the performance of KIPCO’s portfolio and seeking opportunities for new investments. She has more than two decades of experience in multiple financial and investment verticals. Prior to joining KIPCO, Ms Khalaf held the position of CFO at Al Kout Industrial Projects. Before that she was the Executive Director of the Kuwait Office of Asiya Capital Investments Company. Ms Khalaf started her career as a chemical engineer and has experience working in the education sector. She holds a Masters in Chemical Engineering from Imperial College London, and an MBA from the Tepper School of Business, Carnegie Mellon University in the USA.
Eman Mohammad Al Awadhi
Group Senior Vice President – Corporate Communications & Investor Relations
Ms Al Awadhi joined KIPCO in 2010. She is responsible for coordinating the Group’s overall communications strategy and for KIPCO’s corporate communications, media relations, branding and marketing activities. She also manages communication between the company's management and its investors. Ms Al Awadhi has an extensive career in public relations, media and journalism. She was previously a member of the ‘Newsweek Arabic’ production team and the foreign correspondent at Kuwait News Agency, Kuwait’s official news wire. She holds a BA in English Literature from the University of Bahrain and is a Certified Investor Relations Officer (CIRO).
Riyad Mohammed Hanbali
Group Vice President – Internal Audit
Mr Hanbali joined KIPCO’s Internal Audit Department in 2004 and was appointed Group Vice President in 2022. Mr Hanbali oversees the internal audit functions throughout the KIPCO Group, including the development of strategic audit plans and performing quality reviews, as well as advising management and audit committees throughout the Group. He has over 30 years of experience in public accounting and internal audit. Prior to joining KIPCO, he held managerial positions at Andersen and Ernst & Young. Mr Hanbali holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Kuwait University and a master’s degree in accounting from California State University, Sacramento. He is also a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Certified Internal Auditor (CIA), Chartered Global Management Accountant (GGMA) and a Certified Islamic Professional Accountant (CIPA).
Disclaimer
Recognize Fraud, identity theft and Email Scams
It has come to KIPCO’s notice that there are fraud emails in different forms being circulated in attempts to deceive those who believe them. These emails might sometimes be identity theft emails, imitating KIPCO management, staff or other KIPCO related areas. We request you not to believe, open any links or reply to these emails.
KIPCO is not responsible in any way, financial or other, and is not to be held reliable for any fraud or scam emails being sent from any server other than www.kipco.com. And will not be responsible for any employment offers, commitments or other requests being made by such emails.
We request you to kindly take the necessary steps to identify the legitimacy of emails you receive. And to email us on kipco@kipco.com when you receive phishing emails though forwarding the message to us with the complete header information and will reply with information regarding the authenticity of the received.
We thank you for your co-operation.