Azizi Bank is one of the largest commercial

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

s in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

. It has 56 branches including extension counters and around 88

automated teller machine An automated teller machine (ATM) is an electronic telecommunications device that enables customers of financial institutions to perform financial transactions, such as cash withdrawals, deposits, funds transfers, balance inquiries or account ...

s across Afghanistan. The bank opened on June 13, 2006, and is headquartered in the Wazir Akbar Khan neighborhood of

Kabul Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...

, Afghanistan. Mirwais Azizi is the founder and chairman of the bank. Azizi Bank currently has around 1,326 employees, 12% of whom are females. During the

2021 Taliban offensive The 2021 Taliban offensive was a Offensive (military), military offensive by the Taliban insurgent group and allied militants that led to the fall of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the end of the nearly 20-year War in Afghanistan (200 ...

, some members of the Taliban escorted female employees of Azizi Bank in

Kandahar Kandahar is a city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city, after Kabul, with a population of about 614,118 in 2015. It is the capital of Kandahar Pro ...

and ordered them not to return to work.

Farhad Azizi

Farhad Azizi is a

UAE The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a federal elective monarchy made up of seven emirates, with Abu Dhabi serving as i ...

based

businessman A businessperson, also referred to as a businessman or businesswoman, is an individual who has founded, owns, or holds shares in (including as an angel investor) a private-sector company. A businessperson undertakes activities (commercial ...

billionaire A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least 1,000,000,000, one billion units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. It is a sub-category of the concept of the ultr ...

investor An investor is a person who allocates financial capital with the expectation of a future Return on capital, return (profit) or to gain an advantage (interest). Through this allocated capital the investor usually purchases some species of pr ...

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entreprene ...

and the CEO of Azizi developments. He is the chairman of Azizi Bank, one of the largest

commercial bank A commercial bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and gives loans for the purposes of consumption and investment to make a profit. It can also refer to a bank or a division of a larger bank that deals with whol ...

s in

, which he established in 2006 with $7.5 million in equity capital and has since reached up to $80 million. He is the CEO of Azizi Group of companies which was founded in 1989 with a presence in realty, banking, investment, and hospitality. , he was arguably the richest person and family of Afghani origin. He featured in the list of "

Arabian Business ''Arabian Business'' (''AB'') is a weekly business magazine published in Dubai and focusing on global and regional news analysis. The brand is aimed at the English and Arabic-speaking communities and is published in both languages. Its circula ...

as one of the 100 Inspiring leaders in the Middle East" in March 2018. He is regarded as one of the richest people of Afghanistan with a monopoly in petroleum products. Azizi Developments is a Dubai-based property developer.

Early life

After moving from Afghanistan to Dubai as a young boy along with his father Mirwais Azizi, they founded the Azizi Group in 1989. A graduate of the University of Tulsa, Azizi obtained an MBA in finance management from Boston-Suffolk University. After completing his studies, Farhad spent time in Europe before moving back to the UAE.

Career

In 2007, Azizi Developments was established. In 2006, Azizi Bank was found, now the largest commercial financial institution in Afghanistan. They also acquired Bakhtar Bank (now Islamic Bank of Afghanistan) which is regarded as one of the reputed banks in Afghanistan. Before the

2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...

and Dubai housing crash in 2009, Azizi Developments sold off-plan properties in Dubai. The majority of buyers could not continue payments and Azizi instructed that their deposits be handed back. In 2013, Azizi Developments resumed the construction of projects. Presently, the company has more than 200 projects under various stages of development with a current portfolio in Dubai valued over AED 45 billion. His petroleum business Azizi Hotak Group, which was started with an initial investment of $80 million, operates in 10 countries.

Companies

List of companies/organizations owned by Azizi; * Azizi Hotak General Trading Group * Azizi Investments * Azizi Developments * Azizi Bank * Bakhtar Bank (now as Islamic Bank of Afghanistan) * Azizi Hospitality * Azizi Foundation

References

External links

{{official website, https://www.azizibank.af/ Banks of Afghanistan Banks established in 2006