Salem Ali al-Sharhan

Company: Etisalat
Position: Chief financial officer (CFO)

Biography: Salem Ali al-Sharhan is the most powerful of a handful of managers who were made heads of the most important functions at Etisalat in 2006.

Al-Sharhan controls the budgets for chief marketing officer Essa Haddad and chief operating officer Ahmed Abdulkarim Julfar. Haddad is in charge of Etisalat’s sales and Julfar has to deliver the services, both fixed-line and mobile. Al-Sharhan’s two years in charge have been noticeable for Etisalat’s increased willingness to embrace the debt markets.

Shortly after becoming CFO in 2006, he arranged a revolving debt facility with US bank Citigroup, Deutsche Bank and UK banks Barclays and HSBC. He is currently working with three global ratings agencies to provide Etisalat with its first ever debt ratings.

Al-Sharhan also gave the firm’s first ever briefing to analysts in Egypt earlier this year, revealing the performance of its subsidiaries for the first time.

Contact: (+9712) 618 2173
Company website: www.etisalat.ae