Dr. Ahsan H. Mansur, Independent Director of the BRAC Bank Limited (BBL) Board and an eminent economist of the country, has been elected as the new Chairperson of BBL’s Board.
He is succeeding Sir Fazle Hasan Abed KCMG, the Founder Chairperson of BRAC Bank. Sir Fazle is retiring from his role as both Chairperson and Member of the Bank’s Board of Directors. This transition is effective from Monday.
This is part of Sir Fazle’s long-established practice of building strong succession at BRAC Bank. Sir Fazle is the Founder Chairperson of BRAC Bank; he led the Board as the Chairperson from 2001 to 2008 and then rejoined the Board as Chairperson in February 2013. With Sir Fazle at the helms, BRAC Bank has proven itself to be one of the most successful financial institutions in Bangladesh, ensuring inclusion of the unbanked population in the financial system. In the bank’s formative stage, keen on visualising the future, he led the BRAC Bank to become the most modern, customer-friendly and technologically advanced bank in Bangladesh.
“I have been planning for my succession at BRAC for many years. Building strong leadership and gradually transitioning from my roles as the Chairperson of BRAC-affiliated entities are part of that process. Now, at the age of 83, I feel the time is right for me to step down as the Chairman of BRAC Bank’s Board of Directors and elect a new Chair who is well-versed in banking and the administration of financial institutions,” Sir Fazle said.
Dr. Ahsan H. Mansur was inducted as an Independent Director to the Board of BRAC Bank in May 2017. Dr. Mansur started his career as a Lecturer in Dhaka University’s Department of Economics in 1976. Following that, he had a long and distinguished career at the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He joined the IMF in 1981 and thereafter completed his PhD in Economics (on general equilibrium analysis) from the University of Western Ontario, Canada in 1982. Working in Middle Eastern, Asian, African and Central American countries, he also served as the IMF Senior Resident Representative to Pakistan during 1998-2001 and as the Fiscal Advisor to the Minister of Finance, Government of Bangladesh (1989-91). After retiring from the IMF, Dr. Mansur established the Policy Research Institute of Bangladesh as its Founder Director and Executive Director.
“BRAC Bank was founded to create greater financial access for the “missing middle” – the small and medium entrepreneurs of Bangladesh who needed institutional financing to grow and prosper. Encouraging entrepreneurship is key to sustaining Bangladesh’s flourishing economic growth. I am confident that, under the able guidance of Dr. Mansur, BRAC Bank will remain true to its vision and continue to generate growth opportunities for the promising entrepreneurs of the country. This will, in turn, create an opportunity for BRAC Bank to grow and flourish particularly if the synergy between BRAC Bank and its subsidiary bKash is fully leveraged,” Sir Fazle added.
Under the guidance of the new Board Chair, BRAC Bank will continue to finance small enterprises and to serve its valued customers with superior products and services in order to meet their banking needs in full.
