Hisham Ezz Al-Arab

IWA Team

September 29, 2026

Hisham Ezz Al-Arab
CEO/Board Member, Commercial International Bank (CIB), Egypt

Hisham Ezz Al-Arab was reappointed as Chief Executive Officer and Executive Board Member of the Commercial International Bank (CIB) – Egypt, in November 2024.

CIB is the leading private-sector bank in Egypt, offering a broad range of financial products and services to its customers, which include more than 500 of Egypt’s largest corporations, enterprises of all sizes, institutions, and households. CIB’s strong brand and growth in retail and SME banking segments continues to introduce new customers to the bank. As a result, CIB has succeeded in becoming the most profitable private sector Bank operating in Egypt.

Ezz Al-Arab was previously the Chairman of the Commercial International Bank (CIB) – Egypt since March 2023; prior to his appointment in CIB, Ezz Al-Arab served as an advisor to the Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt for three months in 2022 before rejoining CIB as Non-Executive Director of the Board in November 2022. Ezz Al-Arab founded and chaired HE Advisory in 2020 till his appointment as CIB Chairman in March 2023.

As former Chairman, he transformed the institution from a wholesale lender into Egypt’s largest private-sector bank. The bank’s market capitalisation grew from EGP 1 billion ( $ 200 million ) at the beginning of Ezz Al-Arab’s term to EGP 100 billion ( $ 6.6 B ), making its stock — a blue chip component of the Egyptian Exchange — the global investment community’s preferred proxy for Egypt and a benchmark for the banking industry in emerging markets. He also inspired the CIB Foundation, a leading Egyptian voice for universal access to quality healthcare extended to underprivileged children.

He has over 40 years of experience as an international banker across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, had advised corporations on Growth Strategies, Resources Mobilization and Financial Risk Management and provided fundraising advice and strategic counsel to start-up fintechs.

Under Ezz Al-Arab’s leadership, CIB is embarking on a transformative five-year strategic journey spanning 2026 to 2030, designed to position the bank for long-term, sustainable growth amid an evolving macroeconomic landscape.