Meet Bader Nasser Al-Kharafi, Kuwaiti businessman, Vice chairman and Group leader of Kuwait's Zain Group
Written byTimes Magazine
Bader Nasser Al-Kharafi is a Kuwaiti businessman. He is the Vice chairman and Group leader of Kuwait's Zain Group. In 2018, he was ranked number one withinside the a hundred most influential Arabs listing by Arabian Business. After the death of his father, Nasser Al-Kharafi in 2012, he took over the directorship of the Al Kharafi groups' executive committee.
Bader Nasser Al Kharafi is already known during the vicinity as a pioneering businessman withinside the rapidly evolving local telecoms industry. But among his most critical work, he says, is getting ready today’s young people to succeed in business and bring a brighter future to Kuwait and the greater Middle East.
At 40, Al Kharafi is already one of Kuwait’s excellent known business personalities. Besides being the CEO and vp of Zain – which recorded $3.6bn in sales in 2016 with about 46.1 million active clients in 8 nations at a time – since 2007 Al Kharafi has been chairman of Gulf Cables & Electrical Industries, and is a board member of each Kuwait’s Gulf Bank and Foulath Holding, and is at the Middle Eastern Advisory Board of Coutts Bank and the Kuwait-British Friendship Society.
Still young, Al Kharafi is known for his position as an advocate for Kuwait’s young people, and has spoken out about what he believes are flaws withinside the country’s education system that stymie a spirit of creativity and result in a lack of empowerment mainly for women withinside the Kuwaiti workforce – each of which he believes are holding Kuwait and the region lower back from its potential.
In a bid to help his country’s younger people achievement as he has, in 2016 Al Kharafi oversaw the advent of Zain’s Generation Z programme – a “youth empowerment initiative” aimed toward supporting to develop the careers of entrepreneurially-minded young Kuwaitis, even as at the same time injecting a youthful startup mindset into Zain’s workforce. “To be sincere it’s a part of our responsibility to help expand future leaders,” Al Kharafi tells Arabian Business. “I want [the Generation Z programme to turn out to be an accelerator for young Kuwaitis,” he notes. “The different critical element is the feedback we get from those fresh minds approximately our business; the insights and uncontaminated thoughts are priceless.”
Aside from his efforts to assist young people be successful inside his own company, Al Kharafi is likewise specially proud of his work as vice president of INJAZ, a non-profit company aimed at preparing young people for entrepreneurship and economic leadership. Since its inception in 1999, more than million young people have graduated from the programme, which matches with 14 education ministries throughout the region in over 3,000 schools and 418 universities. Inculcating a experience of business and entrepreneurship, Al Kharafi adds, is important for the long-term future of a region wherein – according to YouGov statistics – almost 60 percent of the population of the Arab World is below the age of 30, and wherein youth unemployment often stays worryingly high.
In Kuwait’s case, youth unemployment hovers at simply under 20 percent, according to latest statistics. “With the shortage of critical ability sets, which includes digital readiness, studies , coding and data analytics, coupled with skills which include powerful collaboration and creativity, we knew, at Zain, that we desired to place more attempt on job creation and skill improvement” he says.
“Generation Z is certainly a platform with goals not only to up-skill Kuwait graduates, however introduce them to thematic experiences that domesticate tenacity,” he adds.
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