o The General Assembly
The General Assembly consists of all network members. The Executive Director or his/her deputy represents MFIs members. Voting rights within the General Assembly are limited to Full Members. Affiliates and Friends of Sanabel have voice privileges. For more information on membership, please visit the "Membership section".
The General Assembly meets annually and the meeting agenda consists of:
▪ Discuss and approve the Board of Directors annual Administrative and Financial report on the network’s operations, activities and financial status during the previous fiscal year.
▪ Approve an external auditor (the auditor is not to be contracted for more than three years consecutive).
▪ Elect members of the Board of Directors.
▪ Discuss and decide on issues included in the agenda or related to the network.
□ Decisions of the General Assembly are approved by a simple majority vote, except for the decisions concerning the network bylaws, which require a two-thirds majority vote.
o Board of Directors
Board of Directors is elected once every two years by the General assembly. The Board consists of 7 members who meet at least once a year in person in addition to the scheduled meeting during the annual conference.
Selection process:
• Nominations for the Board start one month prior to the General Assembly meeting and ends 15 days before the General Assembly meeting.
• A maximum number of 2 members from the same country are eligible to serve simultaneously.
• Members service terms should not exceed 2 consecutive cycles.
• Members can be re-elected for a 3rd cycle, with at least one election cycle interval.
Sanabel's Current Board of Directors:
Youssef Bencheqroun
Country: Morocco
Position: Chairman
Description: An engineer with more than 15 years of experience in banking, information systems, resources and operations. In 2011, he became General Manager of Al Amana Microfinance and began a diversification and growth process that allowed the organization to double the equity and consolidate its autonomy and social impact. Youssef graduated from Ecole Centrale de Lyon and holds a Master’s degree in Mathematics and a Master in Information Systems and he is an MSc instructor in topics of governance and strategy.
Reham Farouk
Country: Egypt
Position: Vice Chairman
Description: With more than 20 years of experience, Reham became an expert in the fields of Product Development, Delinquency Management and Interest Rate Setting, Making Microfinance Work, and Operational Risk Management. She is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Al Tadamun Microfinance Foundation since 2001. Reham graduated from the American University in Cairo, AUC and holds a Master’s Degree of Business in Administration and a certified trainer.
Ali Abdel Jabbar
Country: Jordan
Position: Treasurer
Description: Ali, has 18 years of in-depth and diverse functional experience, driving growth and institutional development through leadership roles in the banking, payments, consumer finance, and financial technology sector gained at Fortune 500, leading banks, multi-nationals in the US and Middle East, including Arab Bank, Visa International, and WAMU / JP Morgan Chase. Ali is currently the Executive Director of Tamweelcom, he holds a bachelor degree in Business Administration from the Ameri-can University of Beirut, AUB, and a MSc in Accounting and Finance from the London School of Economics.
Adil Balla
Country: Sudan
Position: Board Member
Description: Adil has 14 years of experience in the Microfinance domain working as practitioner and Officer, Trainer for UNDP, IFAD as well as AGFUND. Currently he is the General Manager for Ebdaa Microfinance Bank in Sudan and a board member of (‘Ebdaa’ Bahrain, ‘National Bank’ Jor-don, ‘Ebdaa’ Mauritania), and he is chairman of Sudanese Microfinance Institutions and Banks Network. Adil has a High Diploma degree in Fi-nance.
Bachar Kouwatly
Country: Lebanon
Position: Board Member
Description: A professional banker with more than 20 years of combined Credit and Marketing experience in both Commercial and Islamic banking environments with interest in developmental causes and commitment to poverty reduction.
In 2012 Bachar joined the microfinance initiative of the Arab Gulf Fund for Development as the CEO of IBDAA Lebanon, in addition to providing technical support and board of director memberships for three other AGFUND microfinance banks across the Arab region.
To the track record of core banking experience, are associated key competencies embracing areas such as strategy formulation, operations and risk management, financial management, people development, corporate communication, and stakeholder relations management. Educational background covers a Bachelor degree in economics, Masters in Finance, and a diploma studies in geo-strategy.
Hassan Faried
Country: Egypt
Position: Board Member
Description: Hassan has more than 20 years of valuable experience as the executive director of one of the largest microfinance institutions in Egypt, as well as one of the most prominent in the region. Under his leadership and management ability he has developed Dakahlya Businessmen Association for Community Development (DBACD) through his enthusiasm for work and ability to lead by example. As one of the early pioneers in the microfinance sector in Egypt, he has not only become one of the most knowledgeable microfinance practitioners but was also one of the main forces responsible for shaping the microfinance sector to what it is today.
Hassan is strongly dedicated to the development of the microfinance sector in Egypt and the region. He supports the community through his various voluntary roles as he was a board member for the Egyptian Society for Association Executives (EgSAE) and the Egyptian Microfinance Network (EMN) as well as the chairman of the board of Sanabel (2010-2014).
Jane Giacaman
Country: Palestine
Position: Board Member
Description: Acting director of UNRWA’s microfinance department; a leading regional Non-Bank microfinance institution operating in Palestine, Jordan and Syria. Jane, is managing a portfolio of 46 thousand clients across the four regional offices through a network of 23 branches. During her 25-year tenure of progressive leadership of UNRWA microfinance department, Jane has gained diverse experience as one of the industry leaders working under a volatile and complex economic and political environment. Under her leadership, UNRWA’s microfinance operations in Palestine received a rating of A+ at the social rating conducted by Microfinanza during September 2017.
Jane Giacaman is one of the founders of the Palestinian Network for Small and Microfinance “Sharakeh”. As well as member of the technical committee reviewing the strategy for the Financial Inclusion in Palestine.