Independent Chairman
Key
People
Sir Ron Kalifa
Independent Chairman
Sir Ron Kalifa has significant experience in the payments industry. He was Chief Executive Officer of Worldpay for over 10 years, building and leading Worldpay into a premier global payments company. He is also an operating partner to Advent International and its advisers. Sir Kalifa also sits on the boards of the England & Wales Cricket Board and is a member of the Council of Imperial College, London. He was awarded an OBE in 2018 and was knighted in 2022 in the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Honours list for his work supporting the financial services and technology industries.
Nandan Mer
Group Chief Executive Officer
Nandan is the Chief Executive Officer of the Group, working closely with the Chairman and Board members to set strategic expansion goals for the organisation and lead the Executive Management Team in the accomplishment of these objectives.
He also serves as Chairman/Director of Network International subsidiary companies for the Middle East and Africa.
Nandan holds a strong background in payments, consumer finance and corporate banking with a deep understanding of the Middle East and Africa as well as experience in India, Czech Republic, Israel, Russia and U.K markets.
His more than 30-year track record of successfully building and growing businesses to profitable scale and dominant market-share spans several markets globally, at leading financial institutions including American Express, Citigroup, United Bank for Africa (UBA) and most recently at Mastercard.
During his 11-year career at Mastercard, Nandan was Strategy Head for International Markets, President for the Japanese business and Head of Global Consumer Credit and Loyalty Solutions. Prior to that, Nandan was Head of UBA - International Corporate and Investment Banking. Before UBA, Nandan built and led consumer banking businesses for two decades with Citigroup in India, Czech Republic, Israel, Russia and the U.K. Nandan began his career at American Express Cards.
When not passionately engaged in business building, he enjoys playing golf and tennis.
Darren Pope
Senior Independent Non-Executive Director
Mr. Pope is a qualified accountant with over 30 years of experience in the financial services industry. Most recently, Mr. Pope served as CFO and Board Member of TSB Bank plc. Mr. Pope has held a number of other senior positions at Lloyds Banking Group, Cheltenham & Gloucester plc, Egg plc and Prudential plc. He previously served as an Independent Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Audit Committee of Virgin Money Holdings (UK) plc prior to its acquisition by CYBG plc (now Virgin Money UK plc) in October 2018. At CYBG plc he is currently a member of its Audit Committee. He is also a member of the Virgin Money UK plc boards.
Victoria Hull
Independent Non-Executive Director
Ms. Hull is a former Executive Director of Invensys plc, a FTSE 100 global industrial and software company, and former Executive Director of Telewest Communications plc. Ms. Hull has experience across many diverse sectors, including an extensive Corporate Governance and Remuneration Committee background. Her legal career commenced at Clifford Chance LLP in 1986 where she gained knowledge and experience working internationally on M&A for both public and private companies.
Anil Dua
Independent Non-Executive Director
Mr. Dua has extensive experience operating in the pan-African financial services sector. Mr. Dua is Founding Partner at Gateway, a private equity fund specialising in dynamic growth markets including Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Prior to this, Mr. Dua worked for over 35 years with Standard Chartered Bank in Asia, Africa, Europe and US, where he held various roles including Regional CEO West Africa and Regional Head of Origination and Client Coverage, Africa. Mr. Dua currently serves as a Non-Executive Director for Liquid Telecom, African Export Import Bank and Nouvobanq.
Habib Al Mulla
Independent Non-Executive Director
Dr. Habib has extensive experience in UAE law. Dr. Habib was Chairman of the CIArb (Chartered Institute of Arbitrators) UAE Committee and most recently served as Chairman of the board of trustees for the Dubai International Arbitration Centre (DIAC). Dr. Habib was the architect of the legal framework establishing the Dubai International Financial Centre. He also served as Chairman of the Legislative Committee of the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA). Dr. Habib has held numerous government positions, including as a member of the UAE Federal National Council, the federal parliament of the UAE, member of the Legislative Committee, member of the Economic Committee, Director of the Institute of Advanced Legal and Judicial Studies, in charge of training judges and prosecutors in the Emirate of Dubai and Chairman of the UAE Jurists Association.
Rohit Malhotra
Group Chief Financial Officer and Group Chief Strategy Officer
Rohit Malhotra is the Group's Chief Financial Officer. Having joined the Group in 2010, Rohit has held responsibilities in finance for many years and was appointed as Chief Financial Officer in 2015. Rohit has 20 years of experience in finance across the financial services and FMCG sectors. Prior to joining Network International, he was the Head of Financial Policy and Processes at Emirates NBD, where he led finance systems implementation across the Group. Prior to that, he led finance functions at both American Express and Nestlé in the South Asia Region. Rohit is a Chartered Financial Analyst from the CFA Institute of the United States of America and a Chartered Accountant from The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.
Monique Shivanandan
Independent Non-Executive Director
Ms. Shivanandan is a recognised technology leader with over 30 years of experience within the Telecommunications, Banking and Insurance sectors. Most recently she served as Group Chief Information Officer at the global insurer, Chubb, before which she held the same position at FTSE100 insurer Aviva plc where she delivered a large scale digital transformation. Monique has also held senior positions at BT Group and Capital One Financial and has previously served as a Non-Executive Director for JP Morgan Securities in the UK.
Diane Radley
Independent Non-Executive Director
Ms. Radley has specialized in finance, audit and risk related matters having previously led the Transaction Services Group at PwC South Africa and served as Chief Executive Officer at Old Mutual Investment Group. She has held a number of several non-executive and executive roles at major South African businesses and currently serves as a non-executive director at Transaction Capital Limited, Murray and Roberts Holdings Limited, Base Resources Limited and Redefine Properties Limited.
Ahmed Bin Tarraf
Regional Managing Director - Acquiring, UAE ahmed.bintarraf@network.globalAhmed is Regional Managing Director – UAE for Network’s Acquiring business, responsible for developing and implementing a comprehensive strategy to drive business growth in the country.
He joined the company in 2014 as Senior Vice President of Administration and has more than 18 years of experience in retail banking, branch operations, customer service, SME banking, sales and relationship management.
Chinwe Uzoho
Regional Managing Director - Processing chinwe.uzoho@network.globalChinwe Uzoho is Network International’s Regional Managing Director for West and Central Africa, based in Nigeria.
Chinwe brings nearly 30 years of experience in banking. She was previously the Group Head for Retail Banking at Access Bank PLC, reporting directly to the Executive Director of the Retail Banking Division. She drove both the sales performance of the Sector Heads for Retail Liability and Risk Asset Products and the Loyalty Scheme across various segments in Nigeria.
Chinwe holds a BSc Degree in Economics from the University of Uyo, an MSc in Global Consumer Marketing from the University of Liverpool in the UK, and an MBA with Distinction from the UK’s Bangor Business School. A Certified Chartered Banker, she is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Bankers in Scotland (MCIB) as well as an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Bankers Nigeria (ACIB).
In her free time, Chinwe likes to cook, dance, and involve herself in various charitable works.
Yazan Kharouf
Regional Managing Director – Acquiring, Jordan yazan.kharoof@network.globalYazan Kharouf joined Network in December 2000 and is currently responsible for all aspects of the company’s Acquiring business in the Levant region. He oversees the delivery of revenue targets, the management of Merchant relationships (new and existing) and ensures the product development roadmap meets market needs.
Yazan was previously Chief Financial Officer for Network’s Jordan operations and was the CFO of Othman Nasif Co. prior to joining Network
Amjad Al Sadeq
Regional Managing Director - Processing & Country Head, Jordan amjad.sadeq@network.globalAmjad joined Network International in March 2016 and is responsible for all aspects of the Company business in the Levant region. He also oversees the development and implementation of a comprehensive strategy to drive the growth of the Company’s business in the region.
He holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration, a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, and another degree in Electrical Engineering.
Amjad brings over 30 years of diverse experience in the payments industry with in-depth knowledge of acquiring, bank processing services, operations, electronic bill payments, e-commerce, mobile payments, EMV, Fintech and security. Amjad played major roles in supporting country Fintech solution through the past year, He has also played a key role in building the main ATM switch in Jordan (JONET). Amjad was previously the Regional Director of Emerging Markets Payments (EMP) Jordan, which was acquired by Network International in March 2016. Prior to working with EMP, he was the Executive Manager for Visa Jordan Card Services (which was fully acquired by EMP in June 2011).
Ahmed Samir
Regional Managing Director – Acquiring ahmed.samir@network.globalAhmed Samir joined Network in January 2017 and is currently responsible for all aspects of the company’s Acquiring business in Egypt. He oversees the development and implementation of a comprehensive strategy to drive business growth.
His previous roles at Network include Issuing GM and Chief of Products and Marketing – both for the Africa business. He has worked for leading multinational and regional institutions including ALEXBANK, Barclays Bank Egypt, Commercial International Bank (CIB), and Citibank Egypt.
Ahmed has more than 20 years of experience in banking and financial services management, with a proven track record in accelerating portfolio growth while boosting revenue and profit margins. His expertise covers retail banking, cards and assets management, portfolio management, profitability enhancement, digital payments, cost control, people management, identifying growth markets, and marketing and sales management.
Bassem Ramzy
Regional Managing Director – Processing bassem.ramzy@network.globalBassem Ramzy is Network’s Regional Managing Director, Processing- Northern Africa. In this role, Bassem supports the regional teams to grow and establish the company’s processing business in multiple sub-regions and countries. His focus is to drive Network’s strategy in Northern Africa with the support of the Country Managers and their teams.
Bassem was previously Network’s Regional Director – ELS (Egypt, Libya, Sudan) where his responsibilities included Revenue, P&L, Business Development and Client Relationships in the region. Prior to Network, Bassem worked in eFormalites-France, Egyptian Gulf Bank, Mashreq Bank and Citi. His competencies include Financial Accounting, Sales & Account Management and Credit. Bassem has Bachelor degrees in Commerce and Business Administration from Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt and the European Network of Information Centres, Paris, France.
Brendon Williamson
Regional Managing Director – Acquiring brendonw@dpogroup.comBrendon Williamson is Network/DPO’s Regional Managing Director for Acquiring in South Africa, and Managing Director of PayFast.
He is a veteran of the payments and e-commerce industry with 20+ years experience in sales, marketing and fraud management. He is passionate about and has a strong track record in growing businesses and has a deep understanding of the world of e-commerce payments. Brendon has been part of DPO’s growth for 10+ years as Chief Sales Officer, Chief Marketing Officer and most recently Head of Commercial.
Abhinav Nehra
Regional Managing Director – Processing abhinav.nehra@network.globalAbhinav Nehra is the Group’s Regional Managing Director – Processing, for Francophone Africa, responsible for bringing more focus and supporting Network’s growth in French-speaking African countries. He has led several digitization initiatives in the digital lending, payments and neo banking domains across Africa, driven by his passion and belief in the potential of the continent and its people.
Abhinav has more than 30 years of experience in banking and payments in markets across Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Europe. He started his career with Citibank India where he spent 18 years, during which he helped set up CitiFinancial India as CEO. He was Deputy CEO (Retail and Private Banking) of Bank of Kuwait and the Middle East.
He joined United Bank of Africa as Group Director (Retail) and set up UBA (RFS) retail financial services and helped expand the UBA franchise from two to 16 countries. Subsequently, he was appointed Group Director (Retail and Commercial) for Ecobank.
Abhinav is an avid golfer who is also passionate about travelling.
Carlo Ricci
Acting Co-Regional Managing Director – Processing carlo.ricci@network.globalCarlo Ricci is the Co-Regional Managing Director for Network International in the Southern Africa and Palops region.
He is responsible for managing and growing Network’s processing business in the region, with a focus on generating strong revenue streams by way of new financial institution and fintech partnerships.
Carlo comes with over twenty years of experience working in digital payments, financial technology and financial services across the African continent, the UK and Asia.
John Njoroge
Acting Regional Managing Director John.Njoroge@network.globalJohn Njoroge is the Group’s Acting Regional Managing Director for East Africa. He joined Network in 2021 as Country Manager for Kenya.
John started his banking career of over 20 years with Dinner Club Africa Limited. Before joining Network, he worked for I&M Bank in Kenya as Head of Card Centre and Alternate Banking Channels, a position he held for over 11 years. Prior to that, he was the Head of Transaction Banking at Ecobank Kenya and Cluster Head for Cross Border Transfers (Eastern and Southern Africa) at Ecobank. John was instrumental in launching Card Programs at Stanbic Bank where he served as a Regional Manager, and at NCBA Bank Kenya where he was Head of Card Services.
John is an Executive Committee Member of the Kenya Credit & Debit Card Association (KCDCA) and is the association’s current (outgoing) Chairman.
He is an ardent supporter of activities that strengthen the conservation and protection of natural resources.
Richard Kadiaka
Acting Co-Regional Managing Director – Processing richard.kadiaka@network.globalRichard Kadiaka is Network International’s Acting Co-Regional Managing Director for South Africa, responsible for driving the growth of the processing business across the Southern Africa market, including Portuguese-speaking countries. He drives the localisation of capabilities to align better with regional markets and offering regulatory-compliant processing services as well as market-relevant products.
A seasoned payments professional with over 18 years of banking and consulting experience across the African continent focusing on technology modernization, transformation, and program delivery, Richard brings together experience from different markets and different Financial Services Providers.
His passion for digital payments is in the life-changing impact of financial inclusion and accelerated distribution and access to modern payment methods. The role that Network International plays in enabling Banking institutions, MNOs and Fintechs to scale payments is directly aligned to this passion.