Rania Nashar, CEO of Samba Financial Group

Rania Nashar
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Updated 27 June 2020
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Rania Nashar, CEO of Samba Financial Group

Rania Nashar is the chair of the B20 Women in Business Action Council and CEO of Samba Financial Group.

Nashar became a board member of the National Center for Performance Measurement (Adaa) earlier this week, along with Dr. Hussam Zaman, Faisal Ibrahim and Majid Al-Muneef. Health Minister Dr. Awwad Al-Awwad is the president of Adaa.

Nashar has advocated for female empowerment as a member of EMPOWER Alliance, saying: “Women in the front line combatting COVID-19 make up 70 percent of health workers, but only 25 percent of those leadership positions in the health sector are women.

“It is critical to increase female empowerment and the number of women in leadership positions, which is what we’re working toward at EMPOWER Alliance. We work with private and public sector representatives and CEOs to present strategies and policies that give women more leadership positions.”

EMPOWER stands for empowerment of progression of women’s economic representation, she explained.

Nashar obtained her bachelor’s degree in computer science and information technology, and took several finance and risk management programs at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business.

She joined Samba Financial Group in 1997, managing the audit and risk review functions for the group’s business and operation areas and aiding in the establishment of a centralized compliance department.

She also worked in the group’s private banking and consumer banking divisions, where she helped develop its electronic banking.


Saudi-Yemen program provides $81.2m to operate more than 70 power plants

Updated 21 January 2026
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Saudi-Yemen program provides $81.2m to operate more than 70 power plants

  • Grant will improve reliability of electrical power to critical facilities, including hospitals, medical centers, roads, schools, airports and ports
  • Move follows last week’s announcement by the SDRPY of a larger aid package totaling $506 million to support Yemen

LONDON: A tripartite agreement was signed on Wednesday between the Saudi Development and Reconstruction Program for Yemen, the oil company Petromasila, and Yemen’s Ministry of Energy and Electricity to supply petroleum derivatives for the country’s power plants.

SDRPY is supporting the Yemeni government with an $81.2 million grant to purchase 339 million liters of diesel and mazut from Petromasila to operate more than 70 power plants across various Yemeni governorates.

The grant follows last week’s announcement by the SDRPY of a $506 million aid package to support Yemen’s education, health, government and infrastructure sectors.

The SDRPY highlighted that the grant will improve the reliability of electrical power to critical facilities, including hospitals, medical centers, roads, schools, airports and ports. Additionally, the funding will stimulate the Yemeni economy and support the Central Bank of Yemen by easing the pressure on foreign exchange reserves.

It reduces the Ministry of Finance’s fuel-related financial burden and supports the Ministry of Electricity and Energy in improving the efficiency of power plants in Yemen, the SDRPY said.

In 2018, the SDRPY provided $180 million, in addition to $422 million in 2021 and another $200 million in 2022, as grants to Yemen to purchase oil derivatives and operate vital sectors of the country.