Career
Central Banker
First Vice-Governor, Banque Du Liban (Central Bank of Lebanon), April 2009 – March 2019:
Guided the Central Bank’s strategic and organizational development work streams, initiating and leading its management modernization projects. Oversaw the Information Technology, the Cash Operations, Banking Statistics, and BDL’s Branch Network departments.
Member of the Central Council, the Open Market Committee, and the Reserves’ Investment Committee. Chair of the Financial Inclusion Committee, the Information Security Management Committee, and the Islamic Banking Regulatory Committee.
Strategic Advisor, Commercial Banker, and Financial Inclusion Expert
- Partner and Executive Board Director, Vita F&B Capital, a MEA-focused strategic advisory firm, (2019 – present): leading the strategy formulation and steering the company; advising on business development; serving as the quality assurance partner; and managing stakeholder interest to deliver projects with lasting sustainable impact;
- Deputy General Manager; Head of Branch Network; Regional Manager; Director of Total Quality Management program at leading commercial banks in Lebanon – Byblos and Fransabank – and the UAE -Mashreq, 1990 – 2009;
- Chair of the Advisory Council for the Islamic Finance Qualification (IFQ), in collaboration with the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI), the UK, 2009 – 2019.
Senior Domestic and International Posts
- Alternate Governor for Lebanon at the International Monetary Fund and the Arab Monetary Fund 2009 – 2019;
- Jury Panelist, the “Lebanese Excellence Award” for the private and public sector organizations, a program funded by the European Union 2009 – 2019;
- Executive Director for the Levant countries at the Arab Monetary Fund Board 2013 – 2016 and 2019 – 2021;
- Vice-Chair of the Examining Committee for the candidates of the Diplomatic Corps in Lebanon 2015 – 2019;
- Member of the Lebanese Council of Ministers’ Committee tasked with selecting public sector leaders, 2010 – 2014.
Intellectual Leadership and Academia
Talks and publications on topics of global interest: https://raedcharafeddine.net/.
Over two hundred lectures across five continents on economic, governance, and social challenges of the Middle East, including 10 different talks on Arab Countries in Transition, role of central banks times of turbulence, FinTech and financial inclusion, conflict management and peace-building as well as organizational and personal development. Lectured at Columbia, Cornell, Harvard, Stanford, Tufts, the University of California – Irvine, and Yale in the United States; HEC, McGill, the University of Toronto, and Cisco Toronto Innovation Centre in Canada; Sciences Po and HEC in France; the Graduate Institute in Geneva; Erasmus University in Rotterdam; the World Policy Conference; the Bank of International Settlement, inter alia.
Faculty member (part time) at the American University of Beirut, the Lebanese-American University, University of Balamand, and Hariri-Canadian University, 1996 – 2008.
Social and Economic Reformist
Board member in, and senior advisor to, several NGOs that focus on alleviating poverty, improving education, healthcare, social justice, women empowerment. Volunteer consultant for the United Nations Development Program in Beirut on conflict transformation.
Following long family tradition, focus on intercultural and interfaith dialogue and building trust through cooperation. Host to several conferences and activities in Lebanon and internationally; including joint organization of “Common Terms” a series of annual interfaith conferences 1996 till 2011 (e.g., “The Indispensability of Christians in Lebanon and the Levant”, Sydney 2016. In the same spirit, held a private working meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican in February 2019.
Mountaineer
Avid mountaineer, Mount Kilimanjaro (Tanzania), Mount Ararat (Turkey), Monte Rosa (The Alps), Toubkal – Mount Atlas (Morocco), Lebanon’s Ten Summits, and Jabal El Shams (Oman).
Studies
Masters and Bachelor degrees in Business Administration from the University of North Carolina, Charlotte, USA. Executive programs in the areas of Leadership and Strategy at Harvard and MIT; Behavioral Economics at the London School of Economics.
