Sabah Hamad al-Sabah al-Binali has joined Shuaa Capital as vice chairman of its wholly-owned credit finance unit, Gulf Finance Corporation. Al-Binali will contribute strategies to help the Dubai-based Gulf Finance to implement its plan for growth that includes diversification of its credit portfolio and geographic expansion starting with Saudi Arabia.

From 2007 until his new appointment, al-Binali served as principal and chief investment officer of Saffar, a finance company he helped found that specialized in growth stage private equity opportunities throughout the Middle East. He also served for ten years as chair of Zawya, an online business intelligence platform focusing on the Middle East & North Africa, and for three years as founding managing of Credit Suisse Saudi Arabia, among other positions in banking and finance. Al-Binali holds a BSE from Princeton and a Ph.D. from Columbia, both in computer science.