Bader Nasser Al-Kharafi

Bader Nasser Al-Kharafi (born 17 August 1977) is a Kuwaiti businessman. He is the Vice chairman and Group chief executive officer of Kuwait’s Zain Group. In 2018, he was ranked number one in the 100 most influential Arabs list by Arabian Business. After the death of his father, Nasser Al-Kharafi, he took over the directorship of the Al Kharafi groups' executive committee in 2012.

Al-Kharafi was born on 17th August 1977. He received his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Kuwait University in 2002. Later in 2016, he completed his MBA from London Business School.

After graduation, Al-Kharafi joined Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC), but soon he moved to M.A & Al-Kharafi group in 2002 and started working as a Coordination Engineer. He is currently holding senior management positions at various companies such as Gulf Bank of Kuwait, Foulath Holding, Diamond International Motors, and Gulf Cables & Electrical Industries.

In 2010, Al-Kharafi headed the US$10.7 billion acquisition of African operations by Bharti Airtel from Kuwait's Zain in a deal that made the Indian firm the world's fifth biggest telecom operator by subscribers.

In early 2014, he joined the Middle East Advisory Board of Coutts, the wealth division of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group. In the same year, Zain KSA, a subsidiary of Zain Group appointed Al-Kharafi as the Vice Chairman in 2014. By 2019, the subsidiary posted its fifth successive quarterly profit.

In 2017, Al-Kharafi became the CEO of Zain Group by replacing the Scott Gegenheimer.

In February 2019, he became the Chairman of the Board of the Executive Committee and a member of the Board of Nomination and Remuneration Committee of Boursa Kuwait, the country's only stock exchange.

In September 2019, BNK Automotive owned by Al-Kharafi signed the new Volvo agency agreement in Kuwait making BNK Automotive the new official exclusive importer for Volvo Cars.

In November 2019, Al-Kharafi acquired controlling stake in Gulf Cables by purchasing 29 percent of Company’s shares worth around US$ 500 million.

• In 2014, Al-Kharafi has been featured in the World’s 100 Most Powerful Arabs 2014.

• In 2015, Al-Kharafi ranked as the 2nd Most Powerful Young Arab Personality under 40 while ranking first in Kuwait.
• In 2017 and 2018, Al-Kharafi was listed as 100 World’s Most Influential Arabs in a survey conducted by Arabian Business.

Al-Kharafi has been considered as one of the leading advocate for sustainable development in the middle east region. For the sustainable cause, he is associated with Kuwait Food Bank which actively involved in providing nutritious meals to the poor and creating public awareness on lessening food waste. More than 5,700 Kuwaiti families have benefited from this initiative. The food bank has also taken up the responsibility to provide skills and training to the members of poor families so that they can find decent employment in Kuwait.

Also, for imparting right training and development among Kuwaiti youths in the field of entrepreneurship, he is offering support and guidance through INJAZ Kuwait. Through this initiative he is further planning to invest into schools, education initiatives and curriculums.

Additionally, the recent launch of WE ABLE in the year 2019, Al-Kharafi is leading Zain’s Disability Inclusion Program which aims to position Zain Group as Disability Inclusive by 2022.