Bahrain Development Bank’s chief technology officer Nada Mohamed Abdulrahman has been named “Most Outstanding Digital Transformation – 2022” at the World CIO 200 Summit, spotlighting how a state-backed lender can still set the pace on fintech innovation.
Hosted in Manama under the patronage of HH Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the summit gathered tech leaders from across the region; Abdulrahman topped a shortlist of 17 CIOs representing both public- and private-sector heavyweights. Judges cited her role in overhauling Bahrain Development Bank’s (BDB) core infrastructure, swapping legacy systems for cloud-ready stacks and embedding the latest cybersecurity standards. A centrepiece of that journey is tijara, a digital platform due to launch later this year that will let Bahraini SMEs apply for financing, upload KYC documents and track disbursements entirely online—a first for the local development-finance market.
BDB chief executive Dalal Al Qais said the award validates the bank’s strategy of coupling finance with seamless digital service to better serve entrepreneurs and align with national goals for an expanded, tech-driven SME sector. For founders, the recognition matters: a nimbler BDB could mean faster loan approvals and API hooks that integrate directly with accounting apps, reducing paperwork that typically slows growth spurts. The accolade also feeds into Bahrain’s broader push to position home-grown tech talent—particularly women, who remain under-represented in regional C-suites—as catalysts for economic diversification.
SMEs keen to beta-test tijara can register interest via BDB’s website ahead of its Q4 launch.
