Executive Director

Chairman - Executive Committee

Mr. Usman Ahmed was appointed as the Group CEO of the National Bank of Bahrain (NBB) on January 1st, 2023. Usman has over 28 years of diverse international banking experience in emerging markets across the EMEA and Asia Pacific regions, of which for the last 14 years he has held various senior leadership roles as CEO, Managing Director, Board Member and Executive Chairman covering Corporate & Investment Banking, Capital Markets, Commercial, Consumer and Islamic Banking in London, Hong Kong, UAE, Philippines, Pakistan, Bahrain and Malaysia. Prior to joining NBB, he was the CEO and an Executive Board Director of Citi Malaysia and Executive Chairman of Citigroup Global Markets Malaysia, leading over 5,200 employees.

He was also responsible for the Citi Solutions Centres, covering over 50 countries. He has also been the CEO and Managing Director of Citi Bahrain, Kuwait & Qatar, while also being the Global Head of Citi Islamic Banking business. As the Chief Operating Officer & Managing Director for Citi’s Asia Pacific Corporate Bank in Hong Kong and the Corporate and Investment Banking Head for Citi in Philippines, Usman was extensively involved in leading strategy and client coverage in Asia after the global financial crisis. While at Barclays Bank, Usman was the Managing Director and Head of Corporate Banking for Emerging Markets, leading 14 countries in the MENA, Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia regions. As a Director of Capital Markets Origination responsibility in the Citi London, Usman has executed some of the largest and most innovative conventional and Islamic financing transactions for the Middle East. He was also designated as a Senior Credit Officer of Citi for over 9 years. Usman is also currently serving on the Board of the Bahrain Association of Banks.