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QA24_HE_QFBA_KhalifaAlyafei

QATAR - Health & Education

Khalifa Al Salahi Al Yafei

CEO, QATAR FINANCE AND BUSINESS ACADEMY (QFBA)

Bio

Khalifa Al Salahi Al Yafei
is the CEO of QFBA. He has held numerous leadership and administrative positions, including manager of National Scholarships at Sidra Medicine and students recruitment and outreach specialist at Hamad Bin Khalifa University. Al Yafei has over 10 years of experience in the higher education industry working with international reputable academic brands. He is a PhD candidate in higher education from Lancaster University in the UK and holds an MSc in counselor education from Penn State University in the US as well as a bachelor’s degree in engineering from the University of Leeds in the UK.

QFBA continues to contribute to Vision 2030 by upscaling Qataris for competitiveness in the private and public sectors via personalized training programs.

What are some of QFBA’s successful projects and initiatives over the last few years?

QFBA has been in the market since 2009, and the main goal is to establish a financial training institution that could serve within the financial and business industry by providing high-quality training tailored to these sectors. In recent years, one of our major successes was our partnership with Northumbria University, which started in 2018. In addition to personal training programs and certifications, QFBA now also delivers both undergrad and postgrad degree programs that focus on finance and business. Currently, QFBA has five programs, and we plan to expand with two new programs a year. Another of our successes over the last year was the relaunch of the Kawader Malia program to link unemployed graduates to different financial sectors. We defined four different areas based on feedback from our partners, namely the banks sponsoring the program: risk, insurance, investment, and ESG. The students entering these four different pathways will undergo a three-month program with six modules and end the program with a one-month internship in one of our partner companies. Then, we help them find jobs so they can join the labor market.

What is the basis of QFBA’s MoU with Qatar Insurance Company (QIC), and how it will benefit the Kawader Malia program?

Together with our partners like the Ministry of Labour and Civil Service Bureau, we identified a lack of nationals within the insurance sector. QIC is one of our partners, and it is keen to invest more to attract Qataris to the insurance sector. As part of our partnership, the Kawader Malia program will start to advocate for and raise awareness of insurance among graduates. At the same time, we will make sure the students graduating from Kawader Malia program will graduate with a recognized insurance certificate.

What strategies does QFBA employ to establish an advantage over its international competitors?

We do that through different awareness programs that we have for our students and graduates. Raising awareness through the media also is important, though one of our initiatives during the Kawader Malia program is Kawader speaker series. Every week, the students have the opportunity to sit down with a professional from the field. We bring in Qatari CEOs who can talk to the students about their experience and tell them about the opportunities in their fields. Students get to learn all about the various departments within a bank and all the different opportunities.

How does QFBA work with Qatar’s main financial institutions to be the go-to partner for finance and business education in Qatar?

In the last 13 years, we have established a great relationship with our partners, identifying the training needs and gaps that are lacking, especially when it comes to nationals and upscaling human capital within organizations. With our experience, we design tailored programs based on organizations’ needs. It is not just about just having a program but knowing what companies need and tailoring a personalized program. Our international partnerships have also helped QFBA become the top choice for those institutions. Being a partner with Northumbria University in the UK, for example, and other international partners such as Ka-plan have given us greater credibility.

What are QFBA’s main aspirations for the near future and its vision for the growth of the institution?

We are focused on two areas: expanding the degree program and providing more trending topics related to business analytics, digital marketing, entrepreneurship, and innovation. QFBA is also focusing more on training related to fintech, data and business analytics, and Islamic finance. We will also support Vision 2030 by developing national development programs, and upscaling Qataris to deliver where they can compete in both the private and public sectors, though with a slightly heavier focus on the private sector.

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