Emirates NBD Expands Ruwad Graduate Programme Internationally

2 Min | 29 May 2024

Ruwad was launched in 2021 as an elite graduate programme
Accelerates talented spaniratis into leadership positions through a combination of professional experiences across spanirates NBD’s strategic projects both within the UAE and its global offices, and secondments at top-tier corporate partner organisations
Now Ruwad is expanding again, adding Singapore-located FinTech collaboration platform APIX as one of its global partners

Dubai, UAE, 29 May 2024: Emirates NBD, a leading banking group in the MENAT (Middle East, North Africa and Türkiye) region, announces the global expansion of its highly successful Ruwad graduate programme, in partnership with APIX Singapore (APIX), a premier FinTech collaboration platform. This strategic alliance signifies a pivotal moment for Ruwad. Now in its fourth year, the graduate programme has already built a reputation for attracting the UAE’s best and brightest, and critically, fast-tracking them into management roles with the end-goal of accelerating them into Emirates NBD’s C-suite, aligned with its long-term nationalisation ambitions.

Ruwad’s distinctive approach offers Emirati graduates an accelerated leadership journey. This is achieved through a combination of first-hand experience working on Emirates NBD’s most high-profile strategic projects, combined with a 12-month secondment at one of Ruwad’s growing list of top-tier partner organisations including Visa, KPMG, Avaya and Mastercard, and international secondments at Emirates NBD’s global offices. Now with APIX Singapore onboard, Ruwad graduates can expand their horizons even further by gaining expatriate experience during their secondment and supporting APIX’s most transformative FinTech partnerships and innovation.

Eman Abdulrazzaq, Group Chief Operating Officer at Emirates NBD, said: “We are delighted to announce the extension of our successful Ruwad graduate programme overseas in partnership with APIX in Singapore. This exceptional opportunity allows our best Emirati graduates to explore and immerse themselves in an international work culture, and critically, gain in-depth knowledge about the FinTech partnerships that are continuing to redefine banking both globally and here at Emirates NBD. Ruwad’s continued expansion, especially with a growing list of premium corporate partners supporting us to offer this one-of-a-kind graduate programme is testament to its early success in attracting and developing Emirates NBD’s future leaders.”

Sourav Ghosal, Head of Commercial and Strategy, APIX, said: "We are thrilled to partner with Emirates NBD, supported by our local partner, Bridge DFS, on the Ruwad programme. This collaboration offers future Emirati business leaders access to our global innovation network in Singapore, bringing cutting-edge innovation to the UAE and Emirates NBD. This partnership also allows us to benefit from the high-calibre talent that the Ruwad programme attracts. The UAE is a key market for us, and we remain committed to supporting Emirates NBD in the future."

Placement in Ruwad is offered to a small cohort of approximately 20 Emirati graduates once annually, selected from the UAE and world’s best universities. For more information on Ruwad and Emirates NBD’s other Emiratisation initiatives, visit their dedicated Emiratisation website: https://www.emiratesnbd.com/en/careers/join-emirates-nbd.

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