UAE and South Africa strengthen bank ties

Cass Business School Dubai and the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) hosted a delegation from South Africa's Banking Sector Education and Training Authority, Bankseta. The 22-strong South African delegation was briefed on the DIFC's value proposition as well as the outlook for the UAE's financial services industry. Established by the South African Department of Labour, now the Department of Higher Education and Training, Bankseta aims to develop skills within the country's banking and microfinance sectors. Bankseta has worked with the Wits Business School in South Africa and Cass Business School in the UK to develop the International Executive Development Programme (IEDP), which aims to identify and develop potential future leaders of the South African financial services industry. Following a tour of the DIFC, the Bankseta delegation heard from Kevin Birkett and Aathira Prasad, respectively Head of Financial Services and Director of Macroeconomics and Statistics at DIFCA, as well as Chris Mouchbahani, managing partner at M Capital Group, and Venkatesh Srikantan, director of consumer banking at Barclays. "Prudent management of the banking sector is becoming absolutely critical as more people join formal banking and financial products become increasingly complex," said Max Makhubalo, Bankseta CEO, said.