AFAF ZAINALABEDIN

GDA Board Member and Financial Secretary

Afaf Zainalabedin has a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Bahrain. In addition, she holds numerous certifications, such as a Chartered Accountant from ACCA, and a certificate in International Auditing. Afaf has also attended management executive courses in Henley College, Oxford.

She has more than 28 years of rich and solid experience across various sectors such as Consultancy, Banking and the Oil and Gas sector. She started her career as a Manager in Ernest and Young undertaking audit assignments of major financial institutions, insurance companies, retail and wholesale organizations, manufacturing companies and Government establishments.

She progressed then to Head of Internal Audit and Chief Financial Officer at Arcapita Bank, responsible for auditing the investment companies, offshore structures, various offshore branches, investment companies, investment vehicles and the Head office.

In addition, Afaf has worked for more than six years as the Chief Financial Officer in Bapco Energies (formerly known as Oil and Gas Holding Company (nogaholding)), overseeing the function at Bapco Energies and overseeing this function at the other subsidiaries.

She was involved in the investment projects financial aspects and was the corporate secretary to the audit committee and the Board of Directors. It is also worth noting that she is a board member of the BACJET Fuel Company. Afaf joined Bapco Refining in January 2021 as the Chief Financial Officer at Bapco Refining where she was responsible for Finance, IT and procurement function.She was also the secretary to the Board Audit and Finance Committee.

Afaf has been managing the Finance function, introducing transformative changes to ensure that the results of the operations and financial results are provided to the Executive Committee and Board of Directors. She was spearheading the various transformation and corporate governance initiatives to ensure robust, more effective to enhance efficiency with the utmost levels of governance across the Company. She has been working relentlessly to ensure that the Company’s transitions into an agile, modern and profitable Company. Afaf was appointed as Acting Deputy Chief Executive Corporate Support in April 2022, overseeing the entire corporate spectrum such as Financial Accounting, Information Technology & Digital, Procurement, Human Resources, Training & Development, Corporate Excellence and Corporate Communications.

She is conducting her dual role as ADCE-Human Capital and General Services and Chief Financial Officer in an extremely efficient and professional manner. Mrs. Zainalabedin has also been appointed as the Chairwomen of BLBOC in August 2022 which is a true testament of her capabilities and vast experience. Effective 1 January 2024, Afaf has been appointed as the Deputy Chief Executive Human Capital and Corporate Services.