Usman Ahmed

Group CEO, National Bank of Bahrain | Vice Chairman, Bahrain Islamic Bank | Vice Chairman, SICO Bank

Bahrain

About

Usman has over 30 years of diverse international banking experience across the EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions, of which for the last 18 years he has held various senior leadership roles as Group CEO, Executive Chairman, Managing Director and Board Member in global and regional banks. Usman’s prior experience spans across Group-wide leadership as well as Corporate & Investment Banking, Capital Markets, Commercial, Consumer and Islamic Banking, while being based in London, Hong Kong, Dubai, Malaysia, Philippines, Pakistan and Bahrain. Prior to his current role, he was the CEO and an Executive Board Director of Citi Malaysia, leading over 5,200 employees. Usman was also the Executive Chairman of Citigroup Global Markets Malaysia and concurrently responsible for the Citi Solutions Centres hubs covering over 50 countries across the globe. Usman has also been the Regional CEO of Citi Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar, while concurrently being the Global Head of Citi Islamic Banking. As the Chief Operating Officer for Citi Asia’s Corporate Bank in Hong Kong and the Corporate and Investment Banking Head for Citi in the Philippines, Usman was extensively involved in leading strategy and client coverage in Asia after the global financial crisis. While at Barclays Bank Plc. Usman led the Corporate, Commercial Banking and Transaction Banking businesses for the Emerging Markets region, with responsibility for 14 countries in the MENA, Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia regions. As part of his Capital Markets Origination role in Citi London, Usman has originated, structured and executed some of the largest and most innovative conventional and Islamic financing transactions for the Middle East region. He was also designated as a Senior Credit Officer of Citi for over 9 years. Usman is currently a Board Member of Bahrain Islamic Bank, SICO Bank, GCC-BDI Institute, Bahrain Association of Banks and Injaz Bahrain. He has previously also served on the Boards of the Asian Institute of Chartered Bankers, the American Chambers of Commerce in Malaysia & Bahrain, the Association of Banks Malaysia, Financial Industries Collective Outreach Malaysia, Bahrain Institute of Banking & Finance and the Bahrain International School Association.

Experience

  • Vice Chairman of the Board at SICO BSC (C)
    Nov 2025 - Present · 8 mos

  • Board Member at GCC Board Directors Institute (GCC BDI)
    Jan 2023 - Present · 3 yrs 6 mos

  • Board Member at Bahrain Association of Banks (BAB)
    Jan 2023 - Present · 3 yrs 6 mos

  • Group Chief Executive Officer at National Bank of Bahrain
    Dec 2022 - Present · 3 yrs 7 mos

  • Board Member Injaz Bahrain at JA Worldwide
    Dec 2022 - Present · 3 yrs 7 mos