Abdallah Ali

CHIEF EXCECUTIVE OFFICER

Talent

Nairobi CountyMember since July 14, 2026

Flexcube

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Flexcube

About

To manage the current and prospective earnings or capital of institution, through sound business decisions making, implementation of decisions, responsive to industry changes; for the purpose of attainment of institution’s vision, mission and strategic objectives as documented in the strategic plan also manage any associated risks. This shall be achieved through offering leadership in institutionalization and development of sound strategic management frameworks in the areas of Operational Risk, Compliance, Credit Risk Management, Interest rate, Information Systems and Structural Risks.

Experience

CHIEF EXCECUTIVE OFFICER - MICRODAHAB MFI - SOMALIA

(2021-04 - 2023-12)

Grew the company financing book from USD 5M to USD22M, Reduced the default rate from 13% to 4% and grew profitability to USD 3.15M within a period of 17Months and now with a prospect of growing profitability three-fold and six-fold in one and two years respectively. This was achieved through complete study of processes making them efficient and customer friendly.

Execute the policy decisions of the Board.
Manage the day-to-day operations of the institution by providing clear leadership and guidance to all functions of the institution, including Finance, Operations, Administration, Special Projects, HR, IT.
Cultivate culture of cooperation and high performance.
Drive organizational performance, both quantitative and qualitative; achieve business plan targets.
Uphold standards of risk management at all levels and ensure effective supervisory control and management review.
Develop annual and longer-term plans and budgets, incorporating input from the different departments for approval by the Board.
Oversee the implementation of budgets and strategic plans, including oversight of fundraising programmes.
Set financial and operational performance targets for all key operating units.
Set employee performance standards required to achieve short- and long-term objectives and goals.
Lead the MFI’s expansion into new geographic areas of Somalia.
Build a strong and effective senior management team.
Implement performance management system for senior management team.
Oversee and support the development and implementation of effective HR policies and procedures for recruitment, training, and talent development.
Motivate all staff and ensure that staff is dedicated to the mission of the MicroDahab.
Mentor and coach senior management.
Build the MFI’s reputation as a company committed to excellent client services, both internally and externally.
Ensure quality information flow to investors, regulators, and other stakeholders as relevant.

CONSULTANT - DAHABSHIL BANK INTERNATIONAL - SOMALIA

(2018-11 - 2021-03)

Continuously carry out bank review and help the management in implementation of the findings.
Business process re-engineering; successfully lead an institutional multi-disciplinary team in the re-engineering of business processes after the changeover of the core banking system. Some of the responsibilities included but not limited to the following.
Mapping of all the high-risk processes for the entire bank.
Review of policies and procedures institutionally.
Review of the procedure manual to ensure the same are in line with the process of the current system oracle flexcube.
Review of exceptional reports to be used for monitoring and management reporting.
Review and recommend processes that require automation.
Development of a compliance framework based on the reviewed policies and procedures.
Help the board of directors in setting up risk committee, train the board members establish a governance programme and reporting templates. Help the board in defining the risk appetite and reviewing of the thresholds.
Support and hands hold risk division and the credit division of the bank.
Risk: Develop risk rating models, snap checks programmes, risk identification processes and mitigation strategies. Develop risk control self-assessment templates and administer them. Develop templates. Provide sample reports to management and to board and train risk team.
Compliance: Develop compliance checklists from central bank regulations, countries laws and the banks policies administer them and provide exceptional tracking reports. Develop and implement KYC, AML and CFT regulations for the bank and support the remittance session of the Dahabshiil group.
Credit: Develop credit rating models for salaried customers and business customers, help in centralization of disbursement and collateral registries across three main cities. Develop credit call report templates and the financing line proposal. Established a remedial and collections unit that have help the bank reduce non-performing assets from 8% to 4.7%
Continuous development of credit scoring system for the bank and the automated microcredit system.
Introduced at Visa and MasterCard debit, prepaid cards Loyalty and Credit Cards however credit were not approved for implementation by Shariah Board
negotiated with Visa and MasterCard and signed contract their contracts.
Negotiated and opened settlement bank (Family Bank Kenya for Visa and Equity Bank Kenya Master Card).
Contracted card processor Network International agreed fees and setup a working SLA
Procured cards and personalization machines with their software.
Project manager for the integration of switch with the core banking system and personalization systems
Supported in marketing of cards to locally and to the diaspora over 3,000 customers signed for the cards on the first week of launch.
Ensured adequate reports for reconciliation, analysis and decision making.
Project manager for the procurement 50 cash dispenser and deposit taking machines integrated them with Switch and the core banking system.
Support the bank in sourcing for a new core banking and implementation for Dahabshiil Bank Somalia and its sister company East Africa bank Djibouti. This was achieved through helping the steering team in:
Gathering, organizing, and reviewing requirements, request for proposal preparation & Tendering.
Desktop evaluation, product demonstration evaluation, site visits and reference checking, and financial evaluation. Presentation of preferred vendor and system highlighting strengths and weakness for their approval.
Negotiation, contracting and awarding of contract and implementation kick off.
Coordination of procurement of both the cloud and on-premises environment as per sizing requirements.
Product walkthrough, drawing the business requirements document and gap analysis.
Product parameterization & documentation and defining the Migration Strategy & Template Discussions
Migration, system integration testing, user acceptance testing, go live and post go live reviews.
Data clean up team that including reconciling and cleaning up of the data after conversion to a new core banking system.
Develop and monitor implementation of strategic plan 2020-2025
Support the human resource department in staff rationalization, creation of job descriptions, grading and implementation of balance score card.
Develop stress testing model and train finance, credit, and risk staff.
Develop business continuity framework, implement, train and train staff.
Single handedly developed an online mobile credit model for credit assessment for the bank and its sister companies one in telecom and mobile remittance. The system lent over USD 250,000 with a default rate of less than 5%.

CONSULTANT - KENYA SCHOOL OF MONETARY STUDIES

(2017-09 - 2017-09)

Training on Development of Comprehensive Business Continuity Plans - for Central Bank Kenya school of monetary studies.

Consulting for small organizations - Self employed

(2016-12 - 2018-07)

CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER - FIRST COMMUNITY BANK

(2016-08 - 2016-12)

Deputize the Chief Executive Officer
In charge of Standardization of over 50 business processes with a focus on client experience and operational efficiencies.
Identified 20 new sources of revenue generation processes and bank increased its revenue by KES 8M.
Reduced income leakages by KES 5.5M.

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER - FIRST COMMUNITY BANK

(2016-01 - 2016-07)

Acted as CEO of the Bank for four months been wholly responsible to the Board for the day to day running of the bank and its subsidiaries. Taking the collective responsibility of management vested to me and bearing the ultimate responsibility for all management functions of the Bank.

Surpassed profitability target by 74% which the Bank had never done before and reduced costs by 28%.
Rationalized staffing through right sizing the Bank within a period of two Months through transfer and creation of business roles.
Revised the Budget upwards Income lines by 30% Deposits by 10% and Assets Growth by 15% which were all achieved within First Quarter.
Aggressively Collected KES 1.5B which was in arrears and was able to reduce Bad Book by 40%.
Launched FCB foundation that saw 83 students being awarded scholarship and support to Mama Fauzia Children Home.
Enhanced Marketing and brand popularization campaign for the Bank, with a daily feature on Radio and TV and thrice a week.
Held Key customers Lunch to explain the new developments and within the Bank and draw the future initiatives.
Opened two new branches with a distinct model of operation that involved partnership and sharing of business with non-competing entities.
Oversaw the development of concept cash collection Centre.
Started social media marketing and customer engagement through Google Adwords, Facebook marketing and Twitter this led to increased retail customer base.
Started outdoor marketing with catchy billboards like ZERO interest loans located in prime areas but a very low cost.
Carried out share valuation for the Bank.
Implement strategic plan and budget 2016 by manage growth of deposits, financing and income and costs within the budget. I was able to meet all targets and surplus plus restore banks liquidity that was eroded due after collapse of a tier II bank. Attached are the extracts of financial statements.
Co-ordinate the operations of the various departments within the bank.
Establish and maintain efficient and adequate internal control systems.
The bank meets its regulatory requirements.
Ensure that the board is frequently and adequately appraised about the operations of the institution through presentation of relevant board papers.
Manage problematic loans, losses, recoveries, and provisions.
Rationalize staff, create performance culture manage entry and exits.
Co-ordinate the operations of the various departments within the bank and its subsidiaries.

ASSISTANT GENERAL MANAGER - FIRST COMMUNITY BANK LIMITED

(2015-11 - 2016-12)

Helped mobilize the KES 2.1Billion Deposits for close of year, making the Bank meet its statutory liquidity ratio of 20%.

Deputize the General Manager (Chief Executive Officer).

HEAD OF RISK, COMPLIANCE AND SECURITY - FIRST COMMUNITY BANK

(2012-02 - 2015-11)

Alone I Designed and Developed a Wakala Sukuk for the purpose of strengthening capital of the First Community Bank.
In charge of Board Evaluation, evaluation of terms of reference for all management committees.
Advisor to the bank on all regulatory matters also acts as Central Bank Liaison Officer.
Chair Staff Provident Fund, in charge of Kshs 100M project on housing of staff.
Implemented Basel II across the bank.
I have managed to coordinate with all departments of the bank to manage risks such as Strategic, Market, Credit, Operational, Regulatory and Reputational risks.
Ensure the bank implements a balanced scorecard that has risk elements (KRIs).
Carry out periodic inspection of the internal policies procedures, processes, and controls to determine their appropriateness, effectiveness, and adequacy in risk mitigation.
Assist with the evaluation and implementation of effective programmes aimed at securing compliance with internal and CBK regulations. Serves as a key liaison person with the regulator.
Enforce policy guidelines and best practices including a risk-based model for routine Supervision of Bank’s practices.
Report on the Bank’s performance against compliance parameters and adherence to prudential and market conduct benchmarks. To present such reports to Senior Management and the Board of Directors.
Review incidents of non-compliance, fraudulent inclinations, and failures to meet regulatory obligations and recommend appropriate legal and administrative sanctions.
Conduct induction and periodic training on risk matters to new and serving staff to ensure risk awareness and appreciation.
Set up tolerance limits and ensure they are observed, help the bank in defining the risk appetite.
Develop and Review strategic plan and ensure the strategic plan is in line with the vision and mission.
Coordinate Business Continuity Management activities.
Ensure that there is balance between the risk taken and return obtained.
Ensure risk function carries out issue identification, design, and analysis of situation, create inference out of findings, presentation of issues to management and Board of Directors with a report and lessoned leant out of issues identified.
Coordinate CBK Inspection and external audit, put up an exception tracking to manage outstanding issues.
Train Board, Management and Bank staff on risk management.
Developed, Policies, Code of Conduct, procedures, and process for all departments within the bank all risk tolerance limits included in respective policies.

HEAD OF RISK AND COMPLIANCE - FINA BANK (NOW GT BANK)

(2011-07 - 2012-02)

prior I worked as Risk & Compliance Manager and Business Continuity Coordinator

Played as the team leader in laying down the risk management framework.
Implement Business Continuity in Fina bank group Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda.
Created risk champion for the entire Fina bank group.
Implemented Credit workflow system (coordinator and system administrator).
Part of the team trained and now in the process of implementing Basle II.
Rolled out systems, process, and policy review program.
Part of the steering team for implementation of PERPAY (HRMIS) and UAT for internet banking.
Member of core banking change over team.
Rolled out Job optimization within the bank.
Coordinator for the Fina bank group in Business Continuity Management and policy review.
Align banks risk appetite and strategy to mitigate risk management standards, enhance the company’s capability to identify potential risks and establish responses to reduce surprises and associated costs or losses.
Ensure risk function carries out issue identification, design, and analysis of situation, create inference out of findings, presentation of issues to management and Board of Directors with a report and lessoned leant out of issues identified.
Develop the Bank’s strategies, policies, and procedures to cover emerging risks.
Head testing of all new systems before going live and implemented credit workflow system.
Review all policies and procedures for the bank to ensure they are in compliant with, the requirements of compliance monitoring, Companies Act, Banking Act CBK Prudential Guidelines, Internal policies and procedures and International financial reporting standards.
Develop efficiency monitoring tools for the bank.
Ensure that the operational risk framework and operational risk policies are implemented, and that all staff are aware of Operational Risk policies and procedures.
Critically carry out ‘as is’ analysis of process.
Develop ‘should be’ and ‘could be’ processes and process maps.
Carry out review of banks policies and procedures on quarterly basis or as need arise.
Conduct internal risk audits with an emphasis on carrying out multi-scope reviews of operational and financial risk based on evaluating the adequacy and effectiveness of internal controls.
Develop and publish learning lessons from risks incidences in the bank.
Assist in regularly review and update the risk management framework and its implementation according to best practices and l regulatory requirements of Fina Group.
Carry out efficiency monitoring on staff, procedures and the systems report on inefficient systems.
Designing risk standards, policies and guidelines for the Bank and measuring and evaluating risk status.
Build and maintain company Risk register.
Create a culture of Continuous improvement and carry out Training and Development programmmes.
Assist in building strategies of strengthening Bank’s asset base by reducing the Bank’s non-performing loan exposure and ensuring growth of the good bank while mitigating risks.
To take ownership of the RCSA process for the Bank and ensure that they are completed in a timely manner.
Ensure operational risk environment is monitored using Key Risk Indicators and that an effective reporting and action planning mechanism is in place.

Served in various functions at different times - K-REP BANK LIMITED (NOW SIDIAN BANK)

(2007 - 2009)

Championed change & risk management, compliance, and quality assurance. Successful projects Participated include. Business Continuity Management, Business reengineering aiming at enhancing the core banking system report generations, Championed process reengineering for the bank.

Developed Business Continuity Framework in liaison with consultants as deputy coordinator of Business Continuity Management.
Aid in Development risk management charter/policy, program, and evaluation blueprint for K-rep bank after the change over. The blueprint was prepared encompassing the requirements of Basel II and CBK requirements on compliance.
Established compliance programs and tool kits to guide the bank in assessing compliance levels in all business units.
Carried out qualitative and quantitative performance parameters for operational job roles and microfinance and credit.
Facilitated the creation of a more risk aware bank environment from the former reactive approach to a proactive risk management.
Created a formidable compliance corporate culture in three months.
Headed testing for point-of-sale internet banking and mobile banking benchmarking against regulatory issues and business risks.
Compliance and BCP officer (Offsite & Monitoring)
Oversees BCP activities in the as corporate champion of risk management at strategic, corporate, and operational levels in the bank.
Continuously monitors of all suspicious transactions in the bank.
Undertakes training on BCP and KYC and Anti Money laundering (AML) requirements.
Developed operational and credit risk review checklists for the bank.
Developed framework for management of operational risk, liquidity risk, credit risk, default risk, regulatory risk, and product risk management.
Follow-up on recommendations made by external auditors and CBK inspectors.
Assists in any special investigations.
Analyzes data and prepares samples for the onsite compliance team.
Transaction Monitoring Officer (internal and external)
Regular critical analysis on organizational practices and processes.
Facilitation of developing and review policies and procedures for all business functions.
Conducting assessments with emphasis on compliance to both internal/external guidelines and procedures.
Build up key risk indicators and key performance indicators across the bank.
Analyze risks and assess the internal controls in place.
Processes Mapping for training, risk assessment and workflows analysis.
Bank wide training on risk management
Trainer of trainers on KYC and Anti-money laundering
Quality Assurance Champion.
Generation of quality reports
Reporting on exceptions
Completion of risk matrices within the banks operational risk framework
Developing operational risk database and database in pursuit of timely analysis and insightful annotations on any noteworthy changes internally and externally.
Development of assessment tools for individual and unit’s appraisal on quality enhancement.
Bank reconciliations.
Cash management
Preparation of branch financial reports
Management of payment
Loan processing
Group reconciliation
ATM reconciliation
Account opening
Processing of Outward clearing