Mahmoud Hashim al-Kooheji

Company: Aluminium Bahrain (Alba)
Position: Chairman

Biography: Appointed chairman of Alba in March 2008, Mahmoud Hashim al-Kooheji is also deputy chief executive officer (CEO) of Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company (Mumtalakat), a sovereign wealth fund set up to manage government holdings in companies such as Alba.

He is a prominent architect of the government’s privatisation programme and a former assistant undersecretary at the Finance Ministry. His arrival at Alba from Gulf Air heralded a restructuring of the organisation, which owns one of the world’s largest aluminium smelters. Part-owned by Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) and Germany’s Breton Investments, the Alba smelter produces 870,000 tonnes a year of high-grade aluminium, about 55 per cent of which is exported.

Al-Kooheji’s arrival is thought by some industry observers to signal that the government is considering a future sale of at least part of its 77 per cent stake in the company.

Contact: (+973) 1783 0000
Company website:www.aluminiumbahrain.com