Visa announced the appointment of Dr. Saeeda Jaffar as Group Country Manager, and Senior Vice President, for its operations across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region.

Dr Jaffar will join the global digital payments leader to oversee its presence in six countries and will be based in Dubai.

In her new role, Jaffar will report directly to Andrew Torre, Regional President for the Central Europe, Middle East & Africa (CEMEA) and will be part of the CEMEA Leadership Team.

Jaffar joins Visa with deep financial services and payments expertise. She has spent the past five years serving as Managing Director for the Middle East at Alvarez & Marsal, while previously holding leadership positions in the Middle East for both Bain & Company and McKinsey & Company, working with private and public sector clients.

Dr Jaffar holds a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering from Boston University, and a Masters of Science and a Doctorate in Chemical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), which she gained through the HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum EDAAD Scholarship.

“The past year has brought tremendous change to commerce in the Middle East with consumers and merchants shifting to digital with greater speed and urgency. As we continue the path towards recovery, Visa’s mission to help individuals, businesses and economies to thrive is more important than ever.

 

With digitisation high on the regional government agenda, I am looking forward to further helping establish Visa as a partner of choice, while unlocking growth opportunities for new and existing clients and partners across the GCC.”

said Dr Jaffar.

Featured image: Dr. Saeeda Jaffar, Group Country Manager and Senior Vice President at Visa