Ahmed Thabet al-Absi

Position: General manager, International Bank of Yemen

Biography: Ahmed Thabet al-Absi has been the general manager of the International Bank of Yemen since 1996. The bank, one of the country’s oldest lenders, was set up in what was then the Yemen Arab Republic in 1979.

International Bank of Yemen is owned by several influential Yemeni families, including the Saudi-Yemeni Bin Mahfooz family. It is the second-largest bank in the country and controls about 15 per cent of the banking system assets and weathered the crisis of 2011 well.

However, with Yemen’s economy suffering slow growth after two years of decline and a number of contractors struggling to meet payment requirements for loans, largely due to government non-payment, the bank faces some stiff challenges over the coming years. Al-Absi has worked at International Bank of Yemen for the duration of his career.

Contact Tel: (+967) 1 407 000