Mohammed Abdal
October 22, 2018Mohammad Abdal is a founding member and chairman of the Middle East Investor Relations Association Chapter in Kuwait and a member of the globally recognized National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI).
Mohammad Abdal was appointed Chief Communications Officer of Zain Group effective July 10, 2015, heading three significant divisions within Zain Group: namely Investor Relations, Corporate Communications, and Corporate Governance & Compliance.
A Kuwaiti national, Abdal is a home-grown success story having joined Zain in 2001 as a finance executive soon after graduation. Over the next 16 years Abdal rose rapidly through the organization; playing a key role in various aspects of the company’s evolution and success from a local operator in Kuwait to becoming the leading telecom conglomerate it is today.
Abdal has led the Zain Group Investor Relations department since 2008 and in January 2012 was given the added responsibility of overseeing the Group’s Corporate Communications Department. In early 2014, he established the Group’s Corporate Governance division, one of the first companies in Kuwait to fully embrace the new compliance regulations initiated by the country’s Capital Market Authority.
Key milestones in Abdal’s impressive career at Zain include managing two of the largest capital raisings in the history of Kuwait, namely a US$4.5 billion capital rights issue in September 2008 and a US$2.3 billion rights issue in November 2005. Additionally, he has overseen the IPOs and listing of various Zain entities over the years, including the successful listing of Zain Saudi Arabia on the Tadawul Stock Exchange in March 2008, and a subsequent capital raising of US$1.6 billion in July 2012; as well as the IPO and subsequent listing of Zain Bahrain in December 2014. He was also involved in the IPO and subsequent listing of Zain shares in Zambia in 2008 (known as Celtel at the time), and in June 2015 was involved in the successful IPO and listing of Zain Iraq on the Iraqi Stock Exchange.
Abdal graduated in 2001 from Portland State University, Oregon, US with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a double major in Finance & Management Information Systems. He has also attended reputable executive programs in recent years that earned him several recognitions as a Certified Investments and Derivatives Auditor (CIDA), a Certified Investor Relations Officer and a Certified Corporate Governance Officer.
