Dubai, UAE: Emirates NBD, a leading banking group in the MENAT (Middle East, North Africa and Türkiye) region, announces the global expansion of its highly successful Ruwad graduate programme, in partnership with APIX Singapore (APIX), a premier FinTech collaboration platform. This strategic alliance signifies a pivotal moment for Ruwad. Now in its fourth year, the graduate programme has already built a reputation for attracting the UAE’s best and brightest, and critically, fast-tracking them into management roles with the end-goal of accelerating them into Emirates NBD’s C-suite, aligned with its long-term nationalisation ambitions.
Ruwad’s distinctive approach offers Emirati graduates an accelerated leadership journey. This is achieved through a combination of first-hand experience working on Emirates NBD’s most high-profile strategic projects, combined with a 12-month secondment at one of Ruwad’s growing list of top-tier partner organisations including Visa, KPMG, Avaya and Mastercard, and international secondments at Emirates NBD’s global offices. Now with APIX Singapore onboard, Ruwad graduates can expand their horizons even further by gaining expatriate experience during their secondment and supporting APIX’s most transformative FinTech partnerships and innovation.
Eman Abdulrazzaq, Group Chief Operating Officer at Emirates NBD, said: “We are delighted to announce the extension of our successful Ruwad graduate programme overseas in partnership with APIX in Singapore. This exceptional opportunity allows our best Emirati graduates to explore and immerse themselves in an international work culture, and critically, gain in-depth knowledge about the FinTech partnerships that are continuing to redefine banking both globally and here at Emirates NBD. Ruwad’s continued expansion, especially with a growing list of premium corporate partners supporting us to offer this one-of-a-kind graduate programme is testament to its early success in attracting and developing Emirates NBD’s future leaders.”
Sourav Ghosal, Head of Commercial and Strategy, APIX, said: “We are thrilled to partner with Emirates NBD, supported by our local partner, Bridge DFS, on the Ruwad programme. This collaboration offers future Emirati business leaders access to our global innovation network in Singapore, bringing cutting-edge innovation to the UAE and Emirates NBD. This partnership also allows us to benefit from the high-calibre talent that the Ruwad programme attracts. The UAE is a key market for us, and we remain committed to supporting Emirates NBD in the future.”
About Emirates NBD:
Emirates NBD (DFM: Emirates NBD) is a leading banking group in the MENAT (Middle East, North Africa and Türkiye) region with a presence in 13 countries, serving over 9 million active customers. As at 31st March 2024, total assets were AED 902 billion, (equivalent to approx. USD 246 billion). The Group has operations in the UAE, Egypt, India, Türkiye, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Singapore, the United Kingdom, Austria, Germany, Russia and Bahrain and representative offices in China and Indonesia with a total of 858 branches and 4,450 ATMs / SDMs. Emirates NBD is the leading financial services brand in the UAE with a Brand value of USD 3.89 billion.
Emirates NBD Group serves its customers (individuals, businesses, governments, and institutions) and helps them realise their financial objectives through a range of banking products and services including retail banking, corporate and institutional banking, Islamic banking, investment banking, private banking, asset management, global markets and treasury, and brokerage operations. The Group is a key participant in the global digital banking industry with 97% of all financial transactions and requests conducted outside of its branches. The Group also operates Liv, the lifestyle digital bank by Emirates NBD, with close to half a million users, it continues to be the fastest-growing bank in the region.
Emirates NBD contributes to the construction of a sustainable future as an active participant and supporter of the UAE’s main development and sustainability initiatives, including financial wellness and the inclusion of people of determination. Emirates NBD is committed to supporting the UAE’s Year of Sustainability as Principal Banking Partner of COP28 and an early supporter to the Dubai Can sustainability initiative, a city-wide initiative aimed to reduce use of single-use plastic bottled water.
