QFBA holds graduation ceremony for Kawader programme batch

Qatar Finance and Business Academy (QFBA) has concluded the fourth batch of its Kawader programme with the graduation of 21 young Qataris in a ceremony held yesterday.
During the ceremony, HE the Minister of Finance Ali Sherif al-Emadi lauded the programme and highlighted Kawader’s role in the development of a high-calibre, human capital base that can help drive the growth of the entire industry in Qatar.
QFBA CEO Dr Abdulaziz al-Horr said: “We honour 21 extraordinary students who exhibited dedication and spared no effort in order to make a difference in the country’s financial landscape. Armed with productive skills and precious knowledge, our Kawader graduates are now ready to take their newly-garnered proficiency to the next level and engage in the labour market, deal with its ever-evolving demands, and contribute to raising the bar of performance in the country’s emerging financial services sector.”
Since 2013, the Kawader programme, instituted by the QFBA, in partnership with the Qatar Financial Centre Authority (QFCA), served as an ideal platform for the country’s aspiring professionals to acquire skills and build competencies in cross-functional areas in the
financial sector.
In its fourth edition, the programme granted a group of students from different academic and professional backgrounds, including Qatar University, Stenden University, Georgetown University, and Carnegie Mellon University, the opportunity to embark on an immersive journey of learning and personal growth.
Over the course of four months, Kawader students took on a series of training-intensive operations, combining both theoretical and practical aspects, designed to cultivate Qatar’s next-generation business leaders and decision-makers in the financial services sector.
The theoretical component equipped students with soft and interpersonal skills, as well as workplace ethics that are necessary to pursue excellence in their future roles as professionals, which were reinforced by a qualification from the Institute of Leadership and Management, an International Certificate in Financial English, and either a Professional Banking Certificate or a Certificate in International Securities and Investments.
The academic phase was followed by a five-week internship programme, which served as the perfect platform for the trainees to practice their newly-acquired skills and talents in a real-world environment at some of the world’s most prominent financial institutions, playing a critical role in consolidating everything they had learned in the classroom.
This year, partner organisations that have hosted Kawader interns included the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Hilton Hotels Worldwide, HSBC Bank, KPMG Qatar, Qatar Central Bank, Qatar Financial Center, Qatar Financial Center Regulatory Authority, Qatar Investment Authority, Qatar Stock Exchange, and QNB Capital.
The experiential learning phase of the programme also exposed Kawader students to new world-class work environments and indispensable networking opportunities in the sector, further maximising their opportunities as employment-ready candidates who are able to support the financial and business sectors in Qatar.