NBAD Celebrates 40 Years of Success in Egypt and a new Growth Strategy

ABU DHABI, UAE, November 13, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) on 11 November 2015 celebrated its 40^th anniversary in the Egyptian market, highlighting successes and a new five-year strategy focused on a modernized business model and directing foreign currencies into the Egyptian market.

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NBAD opened its first branch outside the UAE in Egypt in 1975 and was the first Arab bank to enter the market. Today, the bank employs 700 Egyptians on the ground, supported by a network of branches and ATMs across the country.

NBAD's strategy for the years ahead will focus on modernizing its retail offering via alternative electronic channels, targeting Egyptian expatriates in the Gulf as well as Egyptian export-oriented SMEs, and enhancing its wholesale proposition, based on a network of core clients across the West-East corridor.

Alex Thursby, Group CEO of NBAD said: "During 40 years of building our successful franchise in Egypt, we have been consistently supporting the Egyptian people and businesses, and growing steadily even in the most difficult times. We are here for the long term. Egypt is an important market for us and we are planning to grow our presence in all business lines. NBAD is the best-positioned bank in the region to connect this country with international capital markets, as well as multinationals and affluent investors across the West-East corridor, in line with the UAE government's strong ties with Egypt."

Building on its presence across 18 countries around the globe, NBAD has one of the best banking networks in the Arab World. Egypt is NBAD's largest market outside the UAE, and the only country where the bank has deployed the full range of its businesses, including Wholesale, Retail and Wealth Management, offering a combination of global and local expertise.

Ahmed Ismail Hassan, CEO of NBAD Egypt said: "We will introduce state-of-the art technology to support our operations, widen the scope of our products and services and provide a world-class customer service experience. Instead of focusing on the number of branches, for instance, we will now be operating through a different and modern business model, based on alternative channels and on encouraging people to use new electronic services."

Under its new strategy, NBAD will develop its SME cluster, targeting exporters and introducing Community Banking to serve non-borrowing clients.

In the context of foreign currency challenges, NBAD's strategy will also focus on directing foreign currencies from Egyptian expatriates into the Egyptian market. Earlier in September, NBAD has launched a real estate program providing finance to Egyptian expatriates in the UAE and UAE nationals to purchase properties in Egypt. There are currently over 300,000 Egyptian expatriates in the UAE, representing the largest Arab community in the country.

NBAD also plans to enhance inward investment through its network of international clients and will grow its wholesale proposition with extended international advisory and global wealth services, focusing on Energy and Infrastructure, Egypt's two priority sectors.

Over the past year, NBAD has been a major player in the area of financing and syndicated loans:

• September 2015: Was appointed Financial advisor along with National Bank of Egypt (NBE), for the Middle East Oil Refinery Company's (Midor) USD 1.4 billion expansion project, to increase refining capacity from 100,000 to 160,000 barrels per day by the end of 2017;
• May 2015: Led a USD 521 million syndicated facility to the Egyptian Electricity Holding Company (EEHC) - together with Banque du Caire, Banque Misr, Egyptian Gulf Bank and Bank Audi-, to support the increase of Egypt's electricity production;
• April 2015: Was mandated joint lead arranger by NBE - along with ABC, Citigroup, HSBC, Standard Chartered, UNB - for a USD 390 million 3-year loan;
• April 2015: Was mandated Joint lead manager by NBE - along with Citibank, Deutsche Bank, HSBC and Standard Chartered - for a USD 600 million global bond;
• March 2015: Was appointed Financial advisor, along with BNP Paribas, for the funding of a USD 1.95 billion 3,000 MW coal-fired power station project by Orascom and Abu Dhabi's International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC)
• December 2014: Arranged in a short and critical time a USD 1.32 billion pre-export finance facility to the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC), along with HSBC and NBE, to help repayment of debt to international oil companies.

NBAD was also named 'Most Impressive Rising Star in Emerging Markets DCM' by Global Capital for Excellence in Debt Capital Markets; 'Best DCM House' by Euromoney and 'Best Sukuk House of the Year' by the Global Islamic Finance Awards 2015.

Notes to the Editors: 

About NBAD  

NBAD has one of the largest networks in the UAE, with an expanding network of 125 branches and cash offices and more than 585 ATMs across the country. NBAD's growing international network consists of about 60 branches and offices in 18 countries stretching across five continents from the Far East to the Americas, giving it the largest global network among all UAE banks.

Since 2009, NBAD has been ranked consecutively as one of the World's 50 Safest Banks by the prestigious Global Finance magazine, which also named NBAD the Safest Bank in the Emerging Markets and the Middle East.

 NBAD is rated senior long term/short term AA-/A-1+ by Standard & Poor's (S&P), Aa3/P1 by Moody's, AA-/F1+ by Fitch, A+ by Rating and Investment Information Inc (R&I) Japan, and AAA by RAM (Malaysia) , giving it one of the strongest combined rating of any  Global  financial institution.

A comprehensive financial institution, NBAD offers a range of banking services including retail, investment and Islamic banking. NBAD grows strategically toward its vision to be recognised as the World's Best Arab Bank.

For more information please visit our corporate webpage at: http://www.nbad.com.

For further enquiries, please contact:
Michael Miller
Head of Investor, Media & Public Relations
Email: [email protected]
Tel: +971 2 611 2355
Mobile: +971 50 619 7116

Fadeela Khamis
Manager, Media & Public Relations
Email: [email protected]
Tel: +971 2 611 1511
Mobile: +971 56 616 2265    

SOURCE National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD)