Jointly developed by IsDBI and MBSC, the program combines executive education with practical learning to help leaders strengthen strategic execution, innovation, organizational transformation, and sustainable value creation.

The Strategic Business Leadership Program benefited from the support of three IsDB Group entities, namely the Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC), Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), and International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC).

The graduation ceremony took place on 27 August 2026 at the IsDB Headquarters in Jeddah. It brought together senior representatives from the IsDB Group, MBSC, and program partners, along with the graduating participants.

In his opening remarks, Dr. Sami Al-Suwailem, Acting Director General of IsDB Institute, emphasized the importance of investing in human capital, knowledge, and institutional capacity to help Member Countries address emerging challenges and unlock new opportunities. He thanked ICIEC, ICD, ITFC, MBSC and all the team members who contributed to the success of the program.

The ceremony featured keynote remarks from Dr. Khalid Khalafalla, CEO of ICIEC and Acting CEO of ICD, and Mr. Nazeem Noordali, COO of ITFC, whose participation underscored the Group’s commitment to strengthening private-sector development, trade, investment, risk mitigation, and economic opportunity across IsDB Member Countries.

Dr. Zeger Degraeve, Executive Dean of MBSC, reflected on the partnership with IsDBI and commended the caliber of the graduating cohort, emphasizing the importance of translating leadership learning into tangible organizational and societal impact.

Dr. Muhammad Azam Roomi, Professor of Entrepreneurship at MBSC and Faculty Director of the program, highlighted the practical dimensions of the learning journey, including entrepreneurial thinking, strategic decision-making, innovation, and opportunity recognition and urged the participants to change lives.

Mr. Yahya Rehman, Head of IsDBI’s Knowledge Leaders Section, highlighted the Institute’s role in developing human capital and providing knowledge-based solutions that contribute to sustainable economic advancement across IsDB Member Countries.

Two representatives of the graduating cohort, Mr. Hesham Ahmed Suqail and Ms. Mahwish Naeem, also shared the participants’ perspective, reflecting on the program’s value, practical learning experience, and opportunity for peer exchange across countries and professional backgrounds. They expressed their gratitude to the IsDBI and MBSC for the life changing experience and learning.

The ceremony concluded with the award of certificates and recognition of program partners. The graduation marks the beginning of the participants’ next stage of leadership, equipping them to contribute to stronger organizations, more innovative businesses, and greater economic and societal impact in their respective countries.

The IsDBI–MBSC partnership provides a continuing platform for developing leadership capabilities across the IsDB ecosystem and empowering a new generation of leaders to translate knowledge into action and learning into sustainable development outcomes.

The recognition marks the latest in a series of industry acknowledgements for the company, which in 2025 was awarded Best Digital Transformation Platform, Fintech Strategic Partner of the Year, and Best Financial Services Platform Africa. For CIT VERICASH, the Global Business Outlook award extends the company’s growing international profile at a moment when digital financial services adoption across sub-Saharan Africa is accelerating at institutional scale.

Those numbers are difficult to dispute. A single deployment of the VERICASH platform currently powers the digital banking operations of a pan-African banking group across 22 countries, processing over 500 transactions per second, handling more than 30 million digital services per day, and maintaining more than 7 million active subscribers. In the client’s first five years of full digital platform operations, the results compounded: 5x growth in digital subscribers, 10x growth in monthly transactions, and 30x growth in monthly financial transaction value, translating directly into higher fee income and lower servicing costs.

Building the Backbone of African Digital Finance

CIT VERICASH, a division of CIT GLOBAL, draws on the parent company’s 30-plus years of system integration and software expertise since its founding in Toronto in 1993, delivering award-winning technology to clients across more than 50 countries.

The cornerstone of the company’s performance is the VERICASH Fintech Enablement Platform, a centralized, integrated ecosystem designed to enable financial institutions to launch, operate, optimize, and continuously scale digital financial services through a single platform. Powered by an agile, low-code/no-code service builder, the platform allows commercial banks, digital banks, microfinance institutions, mobile money operators, and fintechs to rapidly deploy and evolve digital banking, agency banking, mobile wallets, payment ecosystems, lending, and other financial services while reducing complexity, accelerating time-to-market, and maximizing the value of existing infrastructure. Currently live in approximately 25 markets across Africa, the platform supports Tier 1 banks, digital banks, neobanks, and fintech operators with the technology, operational capabilities, and strategic enablement required to drive sustainable digital growth.

Global Business Outlook, in selecting CIT VERICASH for the 2026 award, pointed to the platform’s demonstrated ability to operate at institutional scale across fragmented regulatory environments, a challenge that continues to frustrate expansion-minded financial institutions across the continent.

Strategic Partnership That Goes beyond software delivery

To ensure sustainable, long-term client growth, CIT VERICASH anchors every deployment in a Strategic Partnership Model that extends far beyond traditional software delivery. Rather than acting as a technology vendor, CIT VERICASH operates as a long-term strategic partner, aligning technology, operational excellence, and business growth around shared success.

The partnership model combines a scalable fintech platform with dedicated Centres of Excellence, 24/7 operational monitoring, continuous platform optimization, development and customization capabilities, business intelligence and performance analytics, application quality support, and proactive fraud monitoring. Beyond technology operations, CIT VERICASH works alongside clients to evaluate business models, support licensing requirements, build operational teams, develop financial forecasts, and accelerate go-to-market execution for new digital service offerings.

Supported by a collaborative revenue-sharing model that aligns incentives between CIT VERICASH and its partners, this approach enables financial institutions to reduce technology risk, accelerate profitability, continuously evolve their digital capabilities, and unlock sustainable long-term growth.

This enterprise-grade approach has translated into critical long-term alliances. In East Africa, CIT VERICASH has formed a strategic alliance with Bluechip Technologies, combining the VERICASH platform with Bluechip’s localized market expertise to deliver agency banking, digital payments, and mobile wallets to banks, telcos, and fintechs. Further across the continent, a decade-long partnership with CWG PLC in West Africa that powers large-scale financial ecosystems.

A key differentiator shaping CIT VERICASH’s product direction is its approach to artificial intelligence. Rather than positioning machine learning as an optional layer, the company operates under a clear philosophy: “AI is not a feature. It is how the digital channel thinks, decides, and acts.” By embedding 360° AI-powered capabilities across retail, SME, and corporate banking, including personalized customer experiences, automated credit scoring, real-time transaction risk scoring, and proactive fraud prevention, the platform is built for the next generation of digital finance infrastructure, not the last.

A Pattern of Recognition

What distinguishes CIT VERICASH’s recent run of awards from standard industry noise is the consistency. Three industry recognitions in 2025, now followed by an international designation from Global Business Outlook in 2026, suggest a narrative that is beginning to cut through: a company that has spent years building infrastructure continues to be acknowledged because its clients are scaling profitable, inclusive digital services.

The timing is not incidental. Digital financial services adoption across sub-Saharan Africa accelerated sharply following the pandemic, and the institutions that emerged well-positioned were largely those that had invested in scalable ecosystems rather than attempting to build proprietary stacks. CIT VERICASH positioned itself on the right side of that structural shift.