Ethraa Programme Successful In Preparing Future Financial Leaders

The Emirates Institute of Finance (EIF), a regional leader in banking and finance training, announced distinguishing achievements in the field of banking and finance, and the successful training of Emirati future financial leaders. The institute graduated the first batch of the “Ethraa Programme” for the year 2022-2023 consisting of 1056 professionals to Emiratise the finance sector. More than 122,683 citizens have been trained at the institute, including 100+ finance leaders and through more than 35 national and global strategic partnerships.

The Ethraa Programme, launched in 2022, aims to provide 9380 job opportunities for citizens in the financial sector by 2026. The programme succeeded in training 1839 citizens with success rate exceeding 84% in more than 20 banking and finance specializations, surpassing the international standards. Fields like programming and cybersecurity acquired a 100% success rate, the two trainees, Sara Alansaari- Sukoon Insurance and Sara Alsuwaidi- Daman Insurance were also distinguished as top of the region in the field of insurance. Similarly, the three trainees Aisha Alqahtani- Dubai Islamic Bank, Afra Al Suwaidi- Ajman Bank, and Saleh Abdalla- Dubai Islamic Bank achieved 99% in the E-security certificate and were classified in the highest degree among 150 countries that offer this certificate.

EIF helped in the employment of 1100 UAE citizens in specialized jobs in the financial sector within the year of 2023. The institute also enrolled more than 80 citizens within the Future-Tech Leaders Programme and trained 100+ Emiratis within the “Leadership Programme” which is in cooperation with University of Oxford.

In line with the governmental vision to empower Emiratis, increase their contribution to the future economy and to gradually increase the Emiratization rate to 30% in banking and finance sector, the institute aims to achieve an Emiratization rate 45% in banking and 30% in insurance sectors.

Emiratisation
EIF’s training courses are designed to keep up with the dynamic jobs and skill requirements in the financial sector. General Manager Noura Alblooshi said, “following the wise directives of His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice President, Deputy Prime Minister, Chairman of the Presidential Court and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Central Bank of UAE, and under the supervision of Khaled Mohammed Al-Amaa, Governor of the Central Bank of the UAE and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Emirates Institute of Finance, we aim to contribute to the Emiratisation goal of the country. At EIF, we see great importance in empowering Emirati youth, providing them with high-level educational background to be competent financial leaders. Our focus is to build an economy that is diversified and based on innovation achieving sustainable development and prosperity for future generations, aligning with UAE 2030 Vision.”

Alblooshi added, “at EIF we are keen to keep pace with global developments in the banking and financial sectors by providing training programmes that maintain high-quality and follow international standards. EIF is aiming to enhance the skills of Emirati youth in financial innovation, technology, risk management. It also trains future leaders to face challenges, consequently leading the sector towards new horizons of excellences.”

EIF’s Emiratisation initiatives plays a pivotal role in providing a comprehensive educational experiencing advancing the skills of Emirati youth. Souad Youssef, a graduate of the Ethraa programme, working at Citi Bank said “I extend my gratitude to His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and to Khalid Mohammed Al Amma, Governor of the Central Bank of UAE, for the Ethraa Programme as it enhanced my basic skills to achieve success in banking and finance. I strongly encourage experts in this multifaceted sector to join the programme to develop skills necessary to face the constant economic transformations.”

Ali Al Nuaimi from Sharjah Islamic Bank said, “I am very happy to have joined the Ethraa programme. It gave us the opportunity to understand the basics of banking, and to obtain international certificates that will greatly help us now and in the future.” "

Saleh Ali Dawoud from Dubai Islamic Bank believes: “The Ethraa programme was a turning point in my career path. From a technical standpoint, it contained a vast amount of theoretical information within the field of information security, such as application security, compliance, and data governance. The practical implementation made me consolidate the information I had acquired in a way that suits the nature of the banking and finance sector.”

Strategic partnerships are considered one of the pillars of success of EIF, as it was able to establish more than 35 strategic partnerships with prominent local and international entities. These partnerships contribute to enhancing the educational and training capabilities of the Institute and expanding the scope of its programmes to include various aspects of the banking and finance sectors. Among these entities is partnership with Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation, Department of Finance, the Executive Office to Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Terrorism Financing, Scholarships Office, NAFIS, the Department of Human Resources in Sharjah, Harvard University, Columbia University, Wiley Edge company, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, British Institute of Banking and Finance, CyberGate, Cisco, and other leading entities that share their expertise.

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