Chambre des conseillers : le projet de loi sur la grève approuvé en commission    Nasser Bourita réitère la position constante du Maroc soutenant le Conseil de direction présidentiel en tant qu'autorité légitime au Yémen    Le soulèvement du 31 janvier 1944, une illustration éloquente de la mobilisation des Marocains pour la défense de la dignité de la nation    Commerce au Sahara : Une lettre du chef du Polisario à la présidence de l'UE    Sahara : Réaction modérée de l'Algérie après la rupture des liens entre le Ghana et la «RASD»    MRE : les transferts grimpent à plus de 117,7 MMDH en 2024    Faire de la Bourse de Casablanca le tremplin financier de l'industrie marocaine    Washington confirme l'entrée en vigueur samedi de droits de douanes contre la Chine, le Canada et le Mexique    USA: Plusieurs blessés dans le crash d'un petit avion près d'un centre commercial à Philadelphie    CAN 2025 au Maroc : Le calendrier complet des matchs    Un fonctionnaire de la prison locale El Arjat 2 se suicide avec son arme de service    Chutes de neige et fortes pluies localement orageuses dans plusieurs provinces    Missing Moroccan students in London found, police confirm    Le gouvernement, conformément aux Hautes Directives Royales, poursuit la réforme de l'enseignement en toute responsabilité    Diaspo #374 : Mohamed Bouzia, telling the story of Moroccan-Dutch migration through journalism    Trade in the Sahara : A letter from the Polisario leader to the EU presidency    Diaspo #374 : Mohamed Bouzia, une migration au Pays-Bas à travers le journalisme    Mort de Horst Köhler, ancien envoyé personnel des Nations unies pour le Sahara marocain (2017-2019)    Au Pakistan, vaste purge au sein de l'Agence fédérale d'investigation après le naufrage meurtrier de migrants au Maroc    81 % des Français favorables à des sanctions économiques contre l'Algérie si elle ne reprend pas ses ressortissants    Liga : L'Athletic Bilbao recrute l'attaquant marocain Maroan Sannadi    Maroc-Bavière : Mezzour et Gotthardt explorent les possibilités d'une coopération stratégique    Aéronautique : près de 26,45 MMDH d'exportations en 2024    Marrakech-Safi : des initiatives pour renforcer l'entrepreneuriat féminin    Marché des capitaux : près de 106,7 MMDH de levées en 2024    L'Oriental fait le point du projet de développement régional doté de 250 M$    Recettes voyages : un record de 112,5 MMDH en 2024    Un homme interpellé à Mechra Bel Ksiri en possession de 922 comprimés psychotropes    Le PI déterminé à conquérir la présidence du prochain gouvernement    Le Cinéma marocain à l'honneur au Festival International du Film de Dublin    Le Musée du Football Marocain ouvre ses portes : un voyage au cœur de la passion nationale    Lekjaa : La CAN 2025, une étape clé vers le Mondial 2030, avec un Maroc-Argentine en ligne de mire    Le journaliste Ayoub Errimi n'est plus, le monde médiatique en deuil    Les défis des PME au centre de la 166e session ordinaire de l'assemblée générale du CESE    Omar Hilale élu à l'unanimité vice-président de la Commission de consolidation de la paix des Nations Unies pour l'année 2025 : Le Maroc continue de renforcer son rôle dans l'instauration de la paix mondiale    CAN Maroc 25 : Le calendrier dévoilé    SM le Roi adresse un message de condoléances à Donad Trump suite à l'accident aérien à Washington    LDC : City-Real, le Choc des barrages !    Le Turc Baykar implantera «uniquement» une infrastructure de maintenance pour ses aéronefs vendus au Maroc    Ouverture des inscriptions pour la 2e édition du programme « Berklee at Gnaoua and World Music Festival »    Cinéma : Brady Corbet impose son talent avec "The Brutalist"    Exposition : "Reconversion" à la galerie Dar D'art de Tanger    La philatélie marocaine rend hommage aux instruments de la musique Arabe    Zellige marocain. Mounir Akasbi : « Le logo de la CAN 2025 est incontestablement authentique et sa référence est le Zellige fassi »    L'entraîneur marocain Issam Charai rejoint le staff technique des Rangers écossais    La cellule de Had Soualem liée à Daech illustre le danger de l'enrôlement en ligne    Football : Achraf Bencherki s'engage avec Al-Ahly d'Egypte    Le Président de la Transition en Syrie : Nous travaillons pour l'unité du pays et la paix civile    







Merci d'avoir signalé!
Cette image sera automatiquement bloquée après qu'elle soit signalée par plusieurs personnes.



Diaspo # 31: When reinsurance takes Chakib Abouzaid on a trip to the Arab world
Publié dans Yabiladi le 10 - 03 - 2018

Chakib Abouzaid is a Moroccan national who managed to lead a successful life abroad. Operating in the field of reinsurance in the United Arab Emirates, he built himself a solid career to learn from.
Chakib Abouzaid has an impressive charisma and a confident voice when speaking about all the countries he lived in. On the phone, the 60-year-old man was happy to share his experience and know-how. He built a career in the reinsurance field, and gradually imposed himself reaching the highest positions. As impressive as it may sound, Chakib Abouzaid left the Kingdom of Morocco to live in several countries, first to study in France, then in Tunisia, Lebanon, Bahrain and finally to work in the United Arab Emirates.
The Meknes-native is from a middle-class family. Son of a carpenter, he was enrolled in a Koranic school in the same city. He grew up in a big family with his grandmother and learned so many things from his self-taught uncle. «Everyone in my family used to read the Kuwaiti magazines 'Al Arabi' and 'Dar Al Hilal', which have helped me later in my career. Indeed, I love Arab countries and ended up visiting them all», he told Yabiladi.
When he was 18 years old, Chakib flew to France to study in Bordeaux and Grenoble and succeeded in school : He got a Bachelor, a Master's degree and an advanced postgraduate degree in Development Economics. «During this period, I met students who later became brilliant economists, ministers and senior officials, such as Salaheddine Mezouar, Saad Belghazi and others», he recalled.
While studying, Chakib Abouzaid joined the National Union of Students of Morocco. He was also a member of the committees that fought against repression in Morocco during the 80s. «The political struggle has opened my eyes to so many things, I got interested in geopolitics, history, and critical thinking... These were good days for me, I had a scholarship to study, the French universities were open wide to us and we met great teachers, political activists from all over the world», said the man who is specialized in Islamic finance.
Destiny
«In the mid 1980s, social science graduates and PhDs were suffering from unemployement. It had even become a problem for me, I did not want to go back to Meknes, staying jobless and reaching out to my dad, as I had been independent since I was 18 years old».
However, destiny had better things for Chakib Abouzaid. The turning point of his life took place during a trip to Tunis in the summer of 1987 : «I was in front of the Arab Maghreb Development Finance Institute, I decided to go back and find out. A Tunisian friend of Moroccan origins explained to me that a contest is organized annually to recruit Maghrebi students to train them in the field of insurance and banking», he told Yabiladi. Chakib Abouzaid applied, sat for the test and succeded.
«I still had to find a sponsor to pay for my Master's and my salary. A very nice lady introduced me to the man who became my teacher, mentor, and boss for 17 years. So I went back to the Institute, hoping to have a position».
Working hard, Chakib Abouzaid graduated as a valedictorian. Working in the field of reinsurance, he went to London to study English and worked as an intern at the world's largest broker at the time. «Despite a lot of hardship, the 90s had a lot of opportunities for me, I traveled all over Africa and the Middle East and made successful business meetings», he said.
Lebanon and then Bahrain
A few years later, Chakib Abouzaid was in the middle of a painful experience when his wife passed away because of an illness. «I realized very quickly that there is one simple choice, and it was letting go of my sorrow and getting back on track», said Chakib with a sigh.
In the summer of 2000, his boss offered him to head their office in Beirut. Chakib packed up to start a new life. «I worked hard. In Lebanon, I was in the middle of a country that I knew and loved», he said. In 2002, the Meknes-native met his current wife, and married her on the same year. «Life was going well, until the day a big explosion happened not far from my office, on February the 14th 2005. The Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Al Hariri was among the victims. This attack made me think about the 'peace' that followed the Lebanese civil war. We had to think of a plan B».
Chakib Abouzaid started looking for another position, and ended up managing the new subsidiary of the Arab reinsurer Arig, Takaful Re. In October 2005, he moved to Bahrain to occupy this prestigious position in the field of Islamic finance.
«My new job within Takaful Re helped me grasp the field of Islamic Finance. I created a market, I traveled a lot in the Middle East and Asia and I made a lot of interviews. In 2007, I came to Morocco to visit some companies and talk to them about the Takaful insurance», he explained. However, the 2008 crisis ended up slowing down «the growing market» for Takaful Re.
Retirement in Morocco?
In 2012, Chakib became a dad and his life was turned upside down : «My priority now is my family. I resigned five days after the birth of Yasmine (his daughter, ed). It was a relief, the relations with the shareholders had become execrable,» says Chakib Abouzaid. Since then, he has worked as Group Chief Marketing Officer for GroupMed, an offshoot of BankMed Group Hariri.
Now, the 60-year-old leads a peaceful life, punctuated by trips to Morocco. «My dream is to live and work in Morocco. And in retirement, set up a microinsurance structure with NGOs and/or micro-credit organizations, to help the poor, and at the same time devote myself to my favorite activity : teaching reinsurance, insurance economy and Takaful», said the Moroccan economist.
«My journey that began in Meknes continues in Dubai today, but who knows where it will end? I dream of a semi-retirement surrounded by my family in Morocco


Cliquez ici pour lire l'article depuis sa source.