Maher Mikati | Chief Executive Officer
areeba

Maher Mikati has been the chief executive officer of areeba since 2017. He is leading the company into a regional payment processing provider in the Middle East and Africa by powering banks, fintechs, merchants, governments and individuals with the latest payment technology solutions and outsourcing services. For the past years, Maher has been critical in setting the strategy that transformed the company’s offerings from a traditional payment service provider to a modern and advanced one, supporting digital first issuance, e-commerce, and mobile wallets.  This strategy, combined with the company’s scalable and trusted solutions, helped areeba evolve and expand regionally to operate in 6 countries: UAE, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Qatar and Lebanon. Maher Mikati holds a degree in Business Administration from the American University of Beirut, Lebanon, as well as an MBA from INSEAD in France. Previously an Executive Director at Investcom Holding, Maher managed and oversaw all new business ventures in the EMEA region. Later, as the Managing Director of Areeba Cyprus Ltd. (Investcom’s telecom operator in Cyprus), he actively led the complete rollout of the first private mobile operator in the country. Currently, Maher is a member of M1 Group’s Investment Committee. He is a board member of Growthgate Capital and All We Wear Group (the Holding company of Pepe Jeans, Hackett and Façonnable). He is a director of the Mikati Foundation and has been a member of the AUB Board of Trustees since 2014. He is currently the Deputy CEO of M1 Group and CEO of M1 Fashion.