Group Chief Financial Officer
Kalaam Telecom
مجموع سنوات الخبرة :21 years, 1 أشهر
As part of the growth strategy, leading Group Strategy & M&A, Finance & Accounting, HR & Admin, Legal & Regulatory teams in Bahrain and
across all GCC offices and International for both Kalaam Telecom and Tawasul Telecom. Ensuring the right balance of People, processes, and
systems to achieve the Strategic and operational objectives.
Key Projects & Responsibilities:
▪ Acquisition of a major regional and international Telecom Company - Zajil Telecom in Kuwait. The Project included leading the
arrangement of financing of the senior loan and WC facilities for the transaction from multiple banks in Bahrain. Dealing with regional
private equity houses and investors to raise the equity including new equity injection from the board to meet the target acquisition
price. Managing the overall transaction starting from business planning, due diligences (Financial, commercial, technical and legal),
valuation, SPA, Loan agreements, Shareholder agreements, Regulatory & Competition authority approvals in Kuwait, Bahrain and KSA
and closing date AUP.
▪ Setup a Data analytics department focusing on using Tableau for automated management reporting and performance management.
▪ Updated and significantly enhanced the long-range business planning and annual budgeting process for 2021.
▪ Ensuring the accuracy & quality of the financial statements and monthly closing process. Management and ensuring compliance of all
internal/external audit matters including IFRS, risk, regulatory reporting, legal, tax and admin matters.
▪ Strengthening and alignment of internal controls & policies and procedures across all offices completed in 2020.
▪ Developing new relationships and leveraging my professional relationships within Bahrain and GCC for negotiations and Client
introductions.
▪ New projects initiated for enhancement of the Finance function; implementation of Netsuite Consolidation Module, Revenue
Assurance system and upgrading of billing system.
▪ Restructuring and hiring across all teams for key positions with the HR teams and decision making for key HR matters.
▪ Advising the CEO and the Board on various financial & operational performance matters, updates and recommendations.
Zain Bahrain
Leading the financial operations of Zain comprising of accounts payable, revenue, fixed assets, inventory, VAT & data analytics teams including
oversight of ERP systems & administrative control. Key responsibilities include managing and providing teams with the necessary tools and
support to deliver on objectives and implementation of new initiatives and automation projects. Resolve operational issues through problem
solving working closely with Technology and ERP teams to enable smooth operation while enhancing effectiveness through automation
projects. Ensure management accounts, data and backups are accurate and reconciled. Financial statements are prepared on a timely manner
with higher degree of accuracy.
Key Projects & Responsibilities:
▪ Restructured and reorganized the team structure, responsibilities and process flows reducing significant time taken for tasks.
▪ Manage the P&L with the CFO by preparing bi-monthly forecasts including accruals management. Ensuring financial statements,
monthly closing and forecasts and prepared in an accurate and efficient manner.
▪ Enhanced invoice management using procure to pay approach. Ongoing automation of iSupplier module to enable complete digital
transformation of the whole process.
▪ Setup new data analytics section including skill building of the revenue team using Tableau.
▪ Fully automated interconnect department using in-house resources only, including invoice generation using Tableau and visual basic
scripting.
▪ Automated the forecasting process which reduced forecasting time significantly by creating a data layer for all sources of information
and developed monthly forecasting trend by customizing logic for each stream. The led to a forecasting accuracy of 98% of the P&L.
Zain Bahrain
of Budgeting and Reporting department, Finance
Responsible for strategy formulation from business planning to budgeting; financial reporting inclusive of forecasts, budgetary control reports,
financial statements preparation and compliance with IFRS, KPI reporting, monthly operational performance report, strategy tracker, and other
financial reports/analysis/information for internal and external purposes. Key projects, roles and responsibilities are summarized below:
Key Projects and Responsibilities:
▪ Lead the annual corporate strategy process through its development, monitoring and execution working closely with Group
Transaction Advisory Services: My experience comprised more than 40 projects at EY - see Appendix A of a selected
list of Projects in diverse industry sectors. Some of the key transactions/projects are highlighted below:
Due Diligence
▪ IPO readiness, due diligence and working capital report for Zain Bahrain IPO.
▪ Buy-side financial due diligence on a fibre-glass manufacturing facility (AFG) in Bahrain.
▪ Buy-side financial and commercial due diligence on an International Architecture and Design firm (RMJM) in UK, which has operations
in US, Europe, Middle East and Asia.
▪ Buy-side financial Due Diligence on a specialised Oil & Gas shipping company (IM Skaugen) who were contemplating a JV with
nogaholding in Bahrain to extend its operations in the Middle East.
▪ Buy side due diligence on an international lift manufacturing and maintenance company in Bahrain (Thyssenkrupp elevators).
▪ Buy-side financial due diligence on a large real estate development company in Bahrain (Diyar Al Muharraq) involved in - the largest
private urban development project in Bahrain.
▪ Buy-side financial due diligence on United Bank for Commerce and Industry in Libya.
▪ Involved in reviewing three international investments of Saudi Telecom Company in KSA - (Integral, VIVA Kuwait and PT
Axis Telecom Indonesia). The review entailed ensuring the investments were executed as per best practices and recommended
improvements for further investments including deal selection, structuring, execution and post investment monitoring process.
Valuations
▪ Real Estate and Private Equity Portfolio of Investcorp, a leading provider and manager of alternative investment products, serving high-
net-worth private and institutional clients. The task comprised review of the valuation for more than 25 International Investments.
▪ Real Estate and Private Equity Portfolio of Arcapita, an investment bank involved in originating alternative investments from across the
globe. The experience involved the review of more than 14 International Investments.
▪ Valuation of Bahrain Stock Exchange. The task comprised working in liaison with and periodic reporting to the Central Bank of Bahrain.
Post-Acquisition - Investment review of international investments
▪ Involved in reviewing three international investments of Saudi Telecom Company in KSA - (Intigral, VIVA Kuwait and PT Axis Telecom
Indonesia). The review had to assess whether the investments were executed as per best practices and recommended improvements
for further investments including deal selection, structuring, execution and post investment monitoring process.
Provided audit and accounting services for some of the largest companies (in Pakistan) in banking and oil & gas sectors. Scope included
review of financial statements, evaluation of systems of internal controls of organisations, preparation of the internal control
memorandum, and listing weaknesses identified during the course of the audit, along with recommendations for improvements.
▪ Prepared budgeted financial statements based on a combination of financial and non-financial factors.
▪ Compiled financial statements such as employee benefits, taxation, foreign currency transactions.
Founded Trico representing Pakistan Steel Mills as an