Female founder of Saudi bank sets up $100 bln fund

The first female Saudi senior economist at National Commercial Bank and the founder of Gulf One Investment Bank, Nahed Taher, has set up a joint investment vehicle with one the largest US pension funds, which will deploy as much as $100 billion to finance Saudi projects, leveraging the kingdom’s privatization agenda, The National newspaper reported.

The joint venture between the fund and Taher’s Seeds Consulting is set to start by year-end to offer long-term financing with lower than average interest rates to large-scale projects across various industries related to water, health care, power, renewable energy, oil and gas, petrochemicals and education, she said.

Taher is currently working with Saudi ministries with a view to investing in build-operate-transfer projects, public-private partnerships, semi- privatization projects and industries in the kingdom and across the Islamic world.

Beyond Saudi Arabia, the Arab world’s largest economy, the venture will also look to work in the UAE, Egypt, Lebanon, and Jordan, she added.