Rokia Afzal Rahman ( – 5 April 2023) was a Bangladeshi banker and entrepreneur. She was the first woman bank manager in

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

. She served as one of advisers of the caretaker government of Bangladesh in 2001.

Career

Rahman worked in the banking sector until 1980. She then started an agro-business, R.R. Cold Storage Limited which was involved in importing and exporting of potatoes and storage of seeds and potatoes. She then bought another agro-business company, Imaan Cold Storage Ltd. In 1994, Women Entrepreneurs Association (WEA) in Bangladesh was formed with 150 members and Rahman was the founding president. In 1996, she founded Women in Small Enterprises (WISE) to promote the role of women in small enterprises and industries. Rahman served in the Latifur Rahman ministry from 15 July 2001 to 10 October 2001. Rahman was the chairman of the board of directors of the

Asian University for Women Asian University for Women (AUW) is an independent, international university in Chittagong, Bangladesh. AUW admits students solely on the basis of merit, regardless of their family's income level. Currently, 85% of AUW students are on scholarsh ...

Support Foundation in Bangladesh. She was the founding president of Bangladesh Federation of Women Entrepreneurs and the chairperson of MIDAS Financing Limited. Rahman was the chairperson of Mediaworld Limited, the holding company of '' The Daily Star''. She used to own shares in ABC Radio. Rahman was a board member in several organizations including BRAC, MIDAS, Manusher Jonno, BFF, MRDI, Smiling Sun, Health21.

Death

Rahman died at

Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital Mount Elizabeth Hospital, known colloquially as Mount E, is a 345-bed private hospital in Singapore operated by Parkway Health. Construction began in 1976 and the hospital officially opened on 8 December 1979. The hospital specialises in card ...

in Singapore on 5 April 2023, at the age of 82. She had two sons and a daughter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rahman, Rokeya Afzal 1940s births 2023 deaths Bangladeshi businesspeople Bangladeshi bankers Advisers of caretaker governments of Bangladesh Year of birth missing