Sahar El-Damati has banking experience extending for more than 31 years, during which she held numerous leading positions in local and international financial institutions, exhibiting her distinguished capabilities in the field. She was the managing director of Union Capital credit funds, an Egypt-based private equity firm focused on small and medium enterprises. Prior to that, El-Damati was appointed as Vice Chairperson of Banque Misr, Egypt’s second largest public sector bank, but resigned in 2018. El-Damati began her career in the United States as a researcher specialized in the tax policy department at the International Monetary Fund, before she moved to the World Bank in the financial policy and analysis department. She went on to become a senior credit analyst and marketing officer at the Commercial International Bank, followed by a position as the head of credit and portfolio management at the Social Fund for Development (currently the Mirco, Small, and Medium Enterprises Development Agency). Later, she moved to the Arab African International Bank, where she headed the risk management department and foreign branches as well as being a member of the Board of Directors, whilst simultaneously teaching banking and credit at the American University in Cairo and the Egyptian Banking Institute. In addition, she was also a board member of Schwepps Egypt, and the Egyptian Credit Bureau (I-Score). Moreover, El-Damati went on to take the position of Chief Risk Officer and member of the Board of Directors at HSBC for more than 10 years. She then moved on to Emirates- NBD, where she held the positions of Deputy Managing Director, and the Executive Chief Risk Officer, as well as being a Board Member. Additionally, she served as the Chairperson of Dwarf Company, and Board Member of Alcatel-Lucent, as well as a Member of the Egyptian-Emirati Business Council. El-Damati received her bachelor’s degree in Economics and her MBA from the American University in Cairo.