Conference Speakers
Conference 2024
Samar Al-Qubati
Samar Al-Qubati is an expert microfinance professional. As a Project Officer at the Social Fund for Development (SFD). She currently supervises the Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA) program, to enhance financial inclusion and broaden access to financial and digital services in rural communities.
Samar has a rich career of more than ten years with Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) and as a business advisor for the Rural Employment Program at the Economic Opportunity Fund (EOF). Furthermore, her experience as a banker for five years has provided her with a thorough understanding of the financial sector, enabling her to develop innovative solutions that contribute to empowering communities economically and socially.
Rami Nasraween
Assistant General Manager for the Operations Department, has more than twenty years of practical experience, and began working at the National Microfinance Fund since 2007.
He held several positions in the organization, and he also holds an international expert certificate in financing small and medium enterprises.
In addition to a course in managing and leading the company's operations, he supervises the management of strategic relationships with partners and donors.
Adel Mohamed Ali Balla
Holds a higher diploma in accounting and finance. Mr.: Adel has 15 years’ experience in the field of development work and microfinance, he contributed to the establishment of Baraha Microfinance Institution as the first rural microfinance institution in Sudan, and worked as an executive director until mid-2013.
Mr. Adel joined the AGFUND initiative to establish the Ebdaa Bank for Microfinance in Sudan, now he holds the position of General Manager of the bank since the end of 2013, during this period he contributed within the AGFUND team of experts in the technical support of a number of the initiative banks, through his work on the boards of directors of Ebdaa banks.
Mr. Adel is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Microfinance Network for Arab Countries – Sanabel, He is a certified trainer in the field of microfinance at Sanabel Network.
Thomas Rahn
Thomas Rahn joined the Financial Inclusion for Economic Restart and Integration in Iraq Project in May 2022 after having led GIZ and EU co-funded projects on fintech, financial inclusion and microfinance in Palestine and Jordan for about 10 years. Thomas also has a 3 years background in the GIZ headquarters in Eschborn in the teams of migration and financial systems development.
Thomas is a banker by profession and an expert on innovative approaches to financial inclusion. His working experience spans from Jordan to Palestine, Egypt and Tunisia. Within the Iraq project, he is responsible for the project management as well as the financial inclusion policy advice towards the Central Bank of Iraq.
Thomas is a graduate of European Studies at Osnabrueck University, focused on European development and Mediterranean. Before joining the GIZ team, he worked in the cooperative banking sector in Germany.
Thyazan Abbas Al-Qadi
Specialized in project management and renewable energy sources with 5 years of experience in microfinance.
Ali Abdelgbar
Ali has 22 years of diverse experience in the payments, consumer finance, micro-finance, banking , and financial technology sector gained through leadership roles at Fortune 500 companies, multi-nationals, and institutions in both the US and Middle East.
He is currently the CEO of MEPS (Middle East Payment Services) in Jordan, a regional payment solution provider offering third party processing, ATM management, merchant acquiring, online payment solutions, mobile wallets, card issuance, and value-added services. He is also the Vice Chairman of MEPS Iraq / Amwal , and the Chairman of MEPS Yemen.
Prior to MEPS Ali was the CEO of Tamweelcom, the award-winning microfinance institution in Jordan and Visa’s Country manager for Jordan, Iraq, and Palestine.
Ali holds a B.BA from the American University of Beirut, and an MSc. in Accounting and Finance from the London School of Economics.
