OREANDA-NEWS. Renaissance Capital, a leading emerging- and frontier-markets investment bank, has appointed Ahmed Badr as Head of MENA Equities and CEO of its new Dubai office, which is due to open later this summer. Mr Badr's appointment is the first of several planned MENA-focused hires for the Firm in the short term, as the Dubai office supports the Firm's expansion into MENA. Renaissance is strengthening its team with world-class professionals as part of a commitment to the region's future growth, building out its frontier markets product and supporting its development in this promising region.

Reporting to Ben Samuels, Global Head of Equities at Renaissance Capital, Ahmed will be responsible for the Firm's MENA business development and management on a day-to-day basis. Mr Badr joins Renaissance Capital from Credit Suisse, where he headed the MENA equities franchise in Dubai and Riyadh (one of the most successful equity franchises in the Middle East). Prior to this, he spearheaded equity sales efforts at Credit Suisse in Dubai; having previously been a top-rated analyst heading MENA real estate and infrastructure research at the bank. He joined Credit Suisse in 2008 from HC Securities, where he was a senior analyst covering real estate and construction. Mr Badr has 10 years' experience in financial markets in the MENA region, and holds a BA degree in Business Administration from Ain Shams University in Cairo, Egypt.

Renaissance Capital has also appointed Omar Darwish as a MENA-focused sales-trader and execution trader; and Omair Ansari as a research analyst for MENA and Frontiers. Both will spend two months in the Firm's London office before relocating to Dubai this summer.

Mr. Darwish has six years' experience trading the MENA markets, having worked in Cairo, Dubai and Riyadh. He has built an extensive client list across MENA, the UK, Europe and the US, which will support the launch of Renaissance Capital's MENA product. Omar started his career at Commercial International Bank in Egypt in 2008, and then spent two years at Credit Suisse in Dubai and Riyadh, before joining Renaissance Capital.

Mr. Ansari worked on the buy side in Dubai from 2006-2011, for Marshall Wace Asset Management and Gulfmena Alternative Investments; and on the sell side from 2011-2014 for both Religare Capital and Arqaam Capital. He graduated from McMaster University in Canada with a degree in Business, in 2006.

“MENA region is a key part of our Frontiers and Emerging EMEA growth strategy,” said Ben Samuels, Global Head of Equities at Renaissance Capital. “We will leverage off the strengths in our client franchise in Russia, Turkey, South Africa and Sub-Sahara Africa to build a world-class MENA product. We view Frontiers as a structural growth story, and we are dedicating significant resources to make sure we are providing investors with best-in-class research, trading, banking and access to MENA and Africa.”

Renaissance Capital research notes that the MSCI Frontier Markets Index contains 26 countries, the stock exchanges of which have a combined market capitalisation of \$1.1trn and a three-month average daily traded volume of \$3.6bn. The 26 countries have a combined population of 890mn (13% of the world's population), and \$3.4trn of GDP based on the IMF's 2013 estimates. Renaissance Capital is confident that many of the MENA countries will be among the most promising points on the world's economic map over the coming decades.