InfraZamin Pakistan is an innovative, for-profit credit enhancement guarantee company, conceived and designed to issue guarantees for promoting private infrastructure projects. InfraZamin leverages the prior experience of InfraCo Asia and GuarantCo in supporting infrastructure projects in Pakistan, as well as Karandaaz’s local market knowledge and track record of investments focused on supporting financial inclusion.
InfraZamin aims to become a catalyst for greater private sector participation in long term local currency financing of infrastructure in Pakistan, thereby assisting with social and economic development objectives.
To address market failures in financing of credit worthy infrastructure projects via credit enhancement of local currency debt instruments in Pakistan.
Maheen has over twenty years of experience in investment banking, research and asset management. Currently she serves as the Chief Executive Officer of InfraZamin Pakistan, a Private Infrastructure Development Group (UK) company, and has played a crucial part in setting up operations and developing a project pipeline. Under her stewardship InfraZamin is fast establishing itself as a key player in financial markets with a view to catalyse private sector investment into infrastructure projects. InfraZamin’s credit guarantees assist in de-risking projects and transactions to enable access to finance to underserved sectors and companies.
In her previous appointment, Maheen Rahman served as the Chief Executive of Alfalah GHP Investment Management where, under her leadership, Alfalah Investments has grown to be one of the largest asset management companies in Pakistan. Prior to that, Ms Rahman was the Chief Executive of IGI Funds, Head of Research at BMA Capital Management, Corporate Finance Associate at ABN AMRO Bank and Investment Banking analyst at Merrill Lynch. She has the experience of working across multiple geographies during her career.
Maheen has been featured on Fortune’s “40 Under 40’s women to watch” list, in 2015. She is currently Independent Director at GlaxoSmithKlein Pakistan, Director for the British Overseas School, Director Nasra Public Schools, Advisor to KatalystLabs and Director of Centre for Economic Research in Pakistan. She is also the former Director of Special Technology Zones Authority, Pakistan, former Chairperson and Director of the Mutual Funds Association of Pakistan, former Director Pakistan Institute of Corporate Governance and former Member of the Prime Minister’s Task Force on Restructuring of Evacuee Property Trust Board.
In addition to her extensive work experience and professional achievements, Maheen holds a Bachelor of Science (Hons) degree in Economics from the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) and a Master of Science in Finance and Economics from Warwick Business School in the UK. She also has several capital markets certifications including Series 7 from the New York Stock Exchange and is a certified independent director from the Pakistan Institute of Corporate Governance.
Khusro Mumtaz is the Chief Risk Officer (CRO) of InfraZamin Pakistan overseeing IZP’s entire credit and risk management operations, including compliance risk. He is responsible for managing, identifying, evaluating and reporting all internal and external risks.
Khusro Mumtaz brings with him almost three decades of banking experience primarily in Credit Risk / Risk Management/Corporate Banking with diverse geographical experience. Prior to InfraZamin, he has served as Chief Risk Officer – JS Bank Ltd., Chief Risk Officer – NIB Bank, Pakistan (a Temasek Holdings group entity) and Chief Risk Officer – Standard Chartered Bank, Bahrain where he was responsible for the enterprise wide risk management of each of these entities. He has extensive experience in Corporate/ Commercial and SME lending, structured financing and portfolio management, policy and product development, setting underwriting standards and risk assessment criteria, and developing/automating loan origination systems and risk rating and pricing models. He started his career with American Express Bank and has also worked for Banque Saudi Fransi, MashreqBank and MCB Bank. Apart from Pakistan he has worked in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
Khusro holds a master’s in Business Administration from Rice University, USA
Moin Iqbal is an experienced energy professional with 15 years of experience in the utility and renewable energy domain. Until recently he has been leading GE Renewables for the ME & Pakistan as Sales Director. At GE he has successfully closed 500 MW of wind projects in the region. Moin brings with him almost 25 years of diverse experience, ranging from banking, strategy consulting, successful entrepreneurial venture & varied energy sector experience such as K-Electric and GE. As part of the turnaround team at K-Electric he was involved in various strategy and project roles including leading a companywide SAP ISU implementation as well as conceptualizing and implementing the Smart Grid initiative at K-Electric. Prior to joining K Electric, Moin was a strategy consultant with Accenture, Singapore focusing on growth strategy for Telecom and Logistics. Before that he led Tech Data, Pakistan (US IT Distributor) and helped them to develop a footprint in Pakistan. From 2000-2005, he successfully founded Pakistan’s first locally branded PC, that became Pakistan’s leading PC brand and was subsequently acquired by Dawood Group (Pakistan’s leading business group). Prior to his successful entrepreneurial venture, he was a corporate banker with Credit Agricole Indosuez, Pakistan. Moin holds a BBA (Hons) and an MBA degree from the Institute of Business Administration, Karachi (1998) and subsequently completed his Masters degree from INSEAD (France) in 2008.
Mr. Hamza Saboor joined InfraZamin Pakistan in May 2021 as Financial Controller. In this role, he is responsible for establishment and management of financial operations.
He has more than 12 years of work experience ranging from Multinational Audit firm, Service Industry and Financial Institutions. Before joining infrazamin Pakistan, Hamza was working as Financial Controller at Gerry’s International where he was heading VISA business unit finance department and was responsible for the establishment of independent finance. He was also project lead for the ground work up-until the implementation of Tier 1 ERP Solution (Oracle Cloud Fusion) at VISA and Fedex divisions. Hamza was also Chief Financial Officer at AWT Investments Limited (formerly Primus Investments Limited), an NBFC company having licenses for mutual fund and investment advisory. He has also been associated with Pak Oman Microfinance Bank Limited in the capacity of Manager Finance. Hamza started his career from KPMG Taseer Hadi & Co. specializing in Audit and Assurance services, Business Processing Outsourced and Risk Advisory in versatile industries specially the financial sector, which included statutory and financial audits, reviews and other engagements of reputable multinational and local organizations.
Hamza is an associate member of the Institute of Chartered Accountant of Pakistan (ICAP).
Asad joined InfraZamin Pakistan in December 2021 as Head of Human Resources. Prior to joining InfraZamin, Asad was leading the HR and Administration functions at REDtone Group where he was tasked with developing the HR framework for all group companies.
He has over 13 years of diverse experience in the financial, telecommunication and IT, BPO, food and beverage and logistics industries and has gained experience in the areas of talent management, organizational development, employee relations, rewards management, learning and development, HRIS and HR statutory compliance. Over the span of his career, he has led several talent and change centric initiatives by developing and implementing initiatives based on best HR practices targeting sustainable business outcomes. Asad has also been part of many start-up initiatives throughout his career where he has developed and executed the HR strategy.
He holds an MBA in Human Resource Management.
Waheed Khatri has joined us as VP and Head of Marketing and Corporate Communications. Waheed has twelve years of marketing experience in Pakistan. His previous role was as Marketing and Digital Head at Alfalah Investments where he spent three years developing the corporate communications department and enhancing the company’s brand and outreach programs. He has also worked at various digital and branding agencies such as Orange Room, Numberz Digital and MyGerry’s. He expertise lies in developing effective social media platforms, brand management, client and product outreach as well as campaign programs for awareness and capacity building.
Amna Mansoor Sohaib onboarded InfraZamin Pakistan Limited in October 2021 as Senior Credit & Risk Manager, responsible for credit risk assessments while simultaneously managing the holistic risk management function along with compliance framework.
Prior to joining InfraZamin Pakistan, she was with JS Bank Limited where she served as Head Credit Risk – International Banking, Financial Institutional Banking and the Pakistan Stock Exchange portfolios. Apart from JS, she has worked at Faysal Bank Limited in multiple roles involving both policy and credit risk assessments of various portfolios.
Amna brings with her fourteen years of diverse banking experience under both conventional and Islamic windows and is particularly skilled in the assessment of Commercial/SME, FIs and Corporate & Investment banking transactions. She was an integral part of the team that carried out the successful merger of ABN AMRO (Pakistan operations) and Faysal Bank Limited in 2010. She has also been involved in the development/implementation of loan origination systems, obligor/facility risk rating models and reviewing SBP’s draft revisions of Prudential Regulations for Corporate/Commercial Banking.
Amna holds an MBA Degree from Institute of Business Administration, Karachi with majors in Finance and MIS.
Aamra Islam joined InfraZamin in May 2021 as Manager Administration. In this role, she is looking after the administrative functions of the organization.
Ms Islam has ten years of experience in executive secretarial and administration. Prior to joining InfraZamin Pakistan she has served in various reputable organizations in her capacity as executive secretary and administration assistant namely Alfalah GHP Investment, R&I Electrical Appliances (Kenwood & Homage), Siemens Pakistan and Server4Sale.
During her time with Kenwood, she was recognized for her contribution in aspecial assignment as Civil engineering work Coordinator for the newly developed factory at Port Qasim, in addition to her regular responsibility as Secretary to CEO.
Ms Islam Holds an MBA degree in Human Resources from PAF KIET.
Boo Hock has helmed various portfolios in the financial sector, in a career that spans almost 30 years in rating corporate, project, securitization and structured finance bonds, as well as project finance consultancy and private equity.
Prior to advising on the establishment of InfraZamin Pakistan, Boo Hock was Deputy CEO of Danajamin – Malaysia’s first financial guarantor, for which he led the conceptualisation and establishment. Boo Hock also started up the Credit Guarantee and Investment Facility (CGIF) – the guarantee trust fund of the Asian Development Bank . As Vice-President, he built CGIF’s profile, team and zero-claim guarantee portfolio of USD1.6 billion equivalent across the ASEAN region. At CGIF, Boo Hock led the development of new guarantee structures and achieved numerous milestones for Southeast Asian local currency bond markets, including the signing of ASEAN’s first local currency bond reinsurance treaty.
He holds a BSc from Mount Union College and an MBA from Ohio University.
Navid Goraya brings with himself over 25 years of global experience in investment banking. Before joining Karandaaz as the CIO, he was leading a Strategic Advisory Firm, White Oak Advisors Inc, in New York providing cross-border advice to financial institutions. Earlier, at HSBC USA, Navid advised approx. USD 6 billion in specialized investment funds of HSBC and led a global wealth team covering North America, the GCC, and South East Asia. He has also led Investment Banking teams at IICG Bahrain, Qatar National Bank and Royal Bank of Scotland.
Navid has an MBA from IBA, University of Karachi). He serves as a nominee director on several investee companies of Karandaaz.
Phillip Skinner is the Managing Director of the Global Execution Team at GuarantCo. Since joining GuarantCo in 2016, Phil has worked on a number of infrastructure projects in Africa and Asia with a special geographic focus on Pakistan. Today he leads the team at GuarantCo responsible for due diligence, detailed structuring, credit approvals and documentation for over $250m of guarantee transactions per annum.
Prior to joining GuarantCo, Phil worked for the UK Green Investment Bank where he worked on a number of renewable energy transactions in the UK before joining the start-up team to establish UK Climate Investments LLP, a specialist fund targeting transformational green energy investments in some of the world’s most carbon intensive economies. Phil started his finance career at DNB Bank where he specialised in power and renewable energy transactions.
Phil holds a MSc in Development Economics from Oxford University.
Tayyeb Afzal is an accomplished C-level executive with extensive experience spanning over 45 years across various sectors in geographies. His expertise lies in financial services, manufacturing, and professional services, particularly in the areas of risk governance, leadership, financial management, and strategic planning.
As the first corporate leader in Pakistan to achieve certification in Risk Governance® from the DCRO Institute, Tayyeb has demonstrated a strong commitment to best practices in corporate governance and risk management. His expertise extends to serving as an independent director, business advisor, and mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs, reflecting his dedication to nurturing talent and fostering growth in the business community.
With a reputation for board-level excellence, Tayyeb is widely recognized for his impactful contributions to leading public and private companies in Pakistan. His leadership of audit committees, proficiency in financial optimization, and strategic guidance on initiatives such as IPO planning, M&A, and due diligence underscore his strategic vision and operational acumen.
Having worked in diverse international markets such as the U.K., Canada, and various Middle Eastern countries, Tayyeb brings a global perspective to his roles, leveraging his deep understanding of different cultural contexts and business environments. His experience in external and internal auditing, corporate banking, and equipment leasing further enhances his ability to add value across a spectrum of industries and functional domains.
Tayyeb’s professional credentials as a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England & Wales (ICAEW) and a Fellow of The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) of the UK attest to his technical proficiency and commitment to upholding the highest standards of ethical conduct and professional excellence.
In summary, Tayyeb Afzal stands out as a dynamic and visionary leader with a proven track record of driving business success through strategic foresight, analytical thinking, and a deep-seated commitment to fostering organizational growth and innovation. His blend of global experience, industry expertise, and leadership capabilities positions him as a valuable asset to any organization seeking to navigate complex challenges and capitalize on emerging opportunities in today’s dynamic business landscape.
Mr Muneer Kamal has over four decades of experience in the banking and financial sector. He started his career in 1979 at Citibank Pakistan where he served for 15 years in various capacities, including Director and Head of Public Sector & Financial institutions in Pakistan and Director of the Regional Training Centre for Asia Pacific at Citibank Singapore.
Kamal then joined Faysal Bank as the President and CEO where he spearheaded a major growth drive within the bank to increase the branch network and balance sheet size and strength. He then moved on to President and CEO of Union Bank in Pakistan and subsequently Vice Chairman and COO of Union Bank International. He was instrumental in various acquisitions done by Union Bank Ltd i.e Bank of America, American Express Cards, Emirates Bank International and Mashreq Bank’s Sri Lanka operations. Union Bank was considered a major success story and its operations were then later acquired by Standard Chartered Ltd to consolidate their position in Pakistan and the region. Kamal moved on post-acquisition to KASB Bank as President and CEO.
Mr Kamal’s diverse Corporate Governance experience includes having previously served as Chairman Pakistan Stock Exchange, Chairman National Bank of Pakistan, Trustee Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital, and Director at Engro Corp, DH Corp and Government Holding Private Ltd.
He currently serves as member Board of Governor, National School of Public Policy (NSPP) and serves on the board of GSK ( Pakistan ) and Karachi Education Initiative . NSPP is the apex body chaired by the President of Pakistan Dr Alvi, responsible for setting standard and content of training given to bureaucracy at various levels.
Mr. Zafar Masud is a seasoned banker, entrepreneur and public sector expert having around 30 years of proven track record of exceptional success stories in Banking, Development Finance, Energy and Corporate Governance.
He has earned rich banking experience while being at top positions in multinational banks within and outside Pakistan, including American Express Bank, Citigroup, Dubai Islamic Bank, and Barclays Bank PLC, where he had served as Regional Managing Director & CEO for Southern Africa, managing total balance sheet of US$ 3 Billion and 10,000 people.
Mr. Masud has been the Member of the Board of Directors of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), appointed in March 2013 for three years. He had served as the Member on the most prestigious and coveted Constitutionally Independent Monetary Policy Committee of the Government of Pakistan until his departure from the Board in August 2016. After successfully completing one three year term on the Board of Directors of SBP, was re-appointed on the Board of SBP for another term of three years in April 2016 – a testament of recognition of his exceptional performance as the Board Member of this most prestigious institution. He had served as the Chairman of Publications Review Sub-Committee and Members of Human Resources and Investment Sub-Committees of the Board. His contribution on the Board, particularly in the areas of Publications, Monetary Policy, Foreign Remittances/ Investments, Banking and Human Resources, has been recognized and praised, across the board.
He has contributed in the revitalization & transformation of National Savings, Ministry of Finance (MoF), Government of Pakistan (GoP), where he remained as Chief Executive/ Director General for two years (2016-18). He was instrumental in initiating a digital transformation of the organization with the support of Gates Foundation, Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office (formerly, DFID) Government of UK, USAID and the World Bank. During his tenure at National Savings, he had successfully launched welfare products for Differently-abled Persons and Shuhadah’s Families and set in motion the launch of Overseas Pakistanis Savings Certificates and Shariah Compliant Savings Schemes.
Between 2018 and 2020, he has worked as CEO (Interim) for InfraZamin Pakistan – a Private Infrastructure Development Group, UK driven initiative – for setting-up from scratch this first of it’s kind credit enhancement company in Pakistan for social infrastructure financing in local currency.
He also rendered his services as Director on the Boards of major public and private sector entities including Port Qasim Authority (PQA), Quaid-e-Azam Thermal Power (Private) Limited, Gadoon Textile Mills Limited, etc.
He has remained a member of the IMF motivated Task Force on Framing State Owned Entities (SOE) Law set-up by the Ministry of Finance, Government of Pakistan.
Mr. Masud was earlier appointed as Convener of one of the largest interest free loan programs in Pakistan — an innovative poverty-alleviation and social-safety project of the Ministry of Finance, Government of Pakistan. In addition to designing the entire program, he was credited for managing it end-to-end, quickest and smoothest execution, with exceptional success, including getting the program consented from IMF and the World Bank.
Since April 2020, Mr. Zafar Masud has been serving as President & CEO of The Bank of Punjab (BOP) – the second largest public sector bank in the Country with US$ 7 Billion in balance sheet size and over 14,000 staff. He is spearheading a strategic transformational drive to steer BOP towards cutting-edge digitally motivated financial institution, to be positioned in industry’s top-tier banks with focus on empathy, compassion and the best in class corporate governance practices.
He is leading the Board of Directors of Oil & Gas Development Company Limited – the largest entity in Pakistan in terms of market capitalization with foreign listing, as it’s non-executive Chairman.
Earlier in May 2020, he had miraculously survived the PK8303 airplane crash in Karachi. His colleagues dedicated a book to him called “The Miraculous Survivor”.
He has been decorated with the highest civil award of Hungary in August 2021 for spearheading the initiative to furthering Hungarian-Pakistani cross cultural ties, by restoring ~175-years old subcontinental artwork of Hungarian Artist August Schoefft.
Mr. Masud is an MBA (‘93) with specialization in Banking from the most prestigious Institute of Business Administration, University of Karachi (IBA Karachi).
He’s a regular contributor to local and international media, including Tedtalk, Franklin Covey International, etc., on the topics of banking, economics and energy and is also an author of a publication in two volumes titled “Out of the Box” which is a collection of his various newspaper articles, write-up and presentations on these topics, and two publications on economics & management are in works. Co-authored a publication on pension reforms with the DfID/ FCDO consultants for KPK. Featured, the only one outside Western Hemisphere, in 30 Transformative insights from Greatest Minds by best-seller author Scott Miller in his book “Master Mentors – Volume 2”.
Mr. Masud has a dedicated website (zafarmasud.com)
Maheen Rahman was appointed the Chief Executive Officer of InfraZamin Pakistan in 2020 and has played a crucial part in setting up InfraZamin Pakistan’s base operations and its initial structure. Maheen has over twenty years of experience in investment banking, research and asset management.
In her previous appointment, Maheen Rahman served as the Chief Executive of Alfalah GHP Investment Management where, under her leadership, Alfalah Investments has grown to be one of the largest asset management companies in Pakistan. Prior to that, Ms Rahman was the Chief Executive of IGI Funds, during her tenure, IGI Funds turned into a profitable entity from a loss incurring fund. Her other roles include, Head of Research at BMA Capital Management, Associate at ABN AMRO Bank and investment banking analyst at Merrill Lynch. She has the experience of working across multiple geographies during her career.
Maheen has been featured on Fortune’s “40 Under 40’s women to watch” list, in 2015. She has also represented on multiple forums in Pakistan including Independent Director at GlaxoSmithKlein Pakistan, Director of Special Technology Zones Authority, Pakistan, Director Nasra Public Schools and Advisor to KatalystLabs. She is also the former Chairperson and Director of the Mutual Funds Association of Pakistan, former Director Pakistan Institute of Corporate Governance and former Member of the Prime Minister’s Task Force on Restructuring of Evacuee Property Trust Board.
In addition to her extensive work experience and professional achievements, Maheen holds a Bachelor of Science (Hons) degree in Economics from the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) and a Master of Science in Finance and Economics from Warwick Business School in the UK.
The Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG) is an innovative infrastructure development and finance organisation which encourages and mobilises private investment in pioneering infrastructure in the frontier markets of sub-Saharan Africa and south and south-east Asia to promote economic development and combat poverty. PIDG delivers its ambition in line with its values of opportunity, accountability, safety, integrity and impact. Since 2002, PIDG has supported 171 infrastructure projects to financial close which provided an estimated 217 million people with access to new or improved infrastructure. PIDG is funded by the governments of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Australia, Sweden, Germany and the IFC www.pidg.org
PIDG TA can provide technical assistance and capital grants to the PIDG Companies to meet a range of needs associated with an infrastructure project’s lifecycle. PIDG TA can also provide up-front viability gap funding grants to support PIDG projects that require concessional funding to make a project with strong development impact financeable. To find out more visit: www.pidg.org
https://www.pidg.org/
InfraCo Asia’s portfolio spans 12 countries in South and Southeast Asia. InfraCo Asia provides early-stage development capital and expertise to catalyse sustainable infrastructure projects in the region’s emerging and frontier markets.
Impact
* Based on projects in operation and under construction
https://infracoasia.com/
KARANDAAZ PAKISTAN is a not-for-profit special purpose vehicle set up under Section 42 in August 2014. Karandaaz is the implementation partner of the Enterprise and Asset Growth Programme (EAGR) of the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO). Karandaaz promotes access to finance for micro, small and medium-sized businesses through a double bottom line investment platform and financial inclusion for individuals by employing technology-enabled solutions.
Impact
*Includes Karandaaz share in both debt and equity instruments
* * Includes 824,000 micro-enterprises and 820,000 jobs supported through Pakistan Microfinance Investment Company (PMIC)
* * * Includes growth capital, COVID support, and business development support provided through technical assistance
https://karandaaz.com.pk/
GuarantCo has a portfolio consisting of 19 countries and two multi-country projects in Africa and Asia. GuarantCo was established in 2005 to mobilise local currency credit solutions for infrastructure projects and to support the development of capital markets in lower income countries.
Impact
InfraCoAsia is a commercially managed infrastructure development and investment company of the Private Infrastructure Development Group.
60% Shareholding
A not-for-profit company promoting access to finance through commercially directed investments and digitally-enabled solutions.
40% Shareholding
A commercially managed credit guarantee and enhancement company of the Private Infrastructure Development Group.
Contingent Capital Provider
