Leadership

Shaikh Isa bin Khalid Al Khalifa

Shaikh Isa bin Khalid Al Khalifa is the Founder and Managing Director of Seaspring W.L.L., a Bahrain-based international investment consultancy firm with a strategic focus on bringing distinct investment solutions from various sectors including, but not limited to healthcare, biotech, technology, and cybersecurity to the Gulf region. These include arranging growth equity in Biotricity Inc., a leading remote cardiac telemetry company based in Redwood City, California, and My Next Health, a genomic-based AI and quantum platform healthcare company in Toronto, Ontario.

Prior to founding Seaspring, Shaikh Isa was a private equity associate with Oasis Capital Bank in Bahrain where he helped raise over US $245M in paid up capital, in addition to establishing a clean, tech focused fund. Prior to this, Shaikh Isa was Assistant Manager of Corporate Banking and Finance at Citibank Bahrain where he was a key member of the team that oversaw the refinancing of Alba’s potline 5.

Shaikh Isa holds a Master of Science in Global Financial Analysis from Bentley University, Waltham, MA.

Omar Syed

Omar joined Mumtalakat as Chief Investment Officer in 2021 with over 20 years of experience in private equity, with a track record of origination, execution, and portfolio management of companies across diverse sectors in the US, Europe, MENA, Turkey, and South Asia including restructuring and turnaround of portfolio companies.

Omar received his Master’s in Accounting from Concordia University, and a Bachelor of Engineering in Chemical Engineering with a minor in Management from McGill University in Canada. He is also a CA and a CFA charter holder.

Rasha Sabkar

Mrs. Rasha Sabkar joined Mumtalakat in February 2021 and is currently Managing Director – Legal, Compliance, Procurement & Sustainability.

Prior to Mumtalakat, she served as Deputy General Counsel and Board Secretary for Investcorp, a global alternative investments firm.

Prior to joining Investcorp, Rasha founded and managed her own legal consultancy practice, representing financial institutions and corporate clients. She also held various legal positions at international law firms in New York and Bahrain.  Rasha is qualified to practice law in the State of New York and in Bahrain.

In 2019, Rasha was named by Financial News as one of “The 50 Most Influential Women in Middle East Finance”. She also currently serves as a Board Member and Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee of Bahrain Real Estate Development Company (Edamah), a Board Member and member of the Audit and Risk Committee of Arcapita, and a Board Member of the Bahrain Economic Development Board. She also served as a Board Member and member of the Nomination, Remuneration, and Corporate Governance Committee of Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba).

Rasha holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and a Bachelor of Arts in Government & Law (Honors) from Lafayette College, USA.

Bruce Cox

Bruce Cox is an experienced Non-Executive Director, CEO, COO and CFO spanning a career of more than 40 years. He has worked in a broad range of industrial, manufacturing and mining environments. His career has spanned the Steel, Aluminium, Alumina, Bauxite, Diamond, Iron Ore, Platinum, Uranium, and Copper manufacturing, refining, smelting and mining sectors. He has held senior executive positions in BHP for 23 years and Rio Tinto for 16 years. In these roles, he has lived in Australia, Chile, Zimbabwe, USA, UK, and Canada.

Bruce's last executive roles with Rio Tinto were Managing Director of Pacific Operations for Rio Tinto Aluminium, CEO Pacific Aluminium and Managing Director Rio Tinto Diamonds.

Bruce has been Chairman of the Australian Aluminium Council, Chairman and Director of the Tomago Smelter, Chairman of Queensland Alumina Refinery and was a non-executive director of the listed company ERA. Bruce is currently on the advisory board for Ajlan & Bros Mining and Mineral Processing Investments, Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Audit Committee for Aurelia Metals (ASX listed) in addition to his role on the Board for Aluminium Bahrain. He has a Bachelor of Commerce and MBA and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Marwa Al Saad

Marwa Al Saad is the Managing Director of Human Capital at Mumtalakat, with over 15 years of experience in different areas of the field of human resources management such as talent management and development and organizational design and effectiveness.

Prior to joining Mumtalakat, Marwa worked for a number of international and local blue-chip companies such as General Mills Inc, Cummins Power Generation, KPMG, Tatweer Petroleum, and most recently YBA Kanoo Holdings WLL, where she headed the group HR function, and she currently chairs Mazad’s Board of Directors and is currently a member of the board of the Bahrain Development Bank (BDB).

Marwa holds a Master's Degree in Human Resources Management from Purdue University, Krannert School of Management, USA.

Ahmed Al Shaikh

Ahmed Al-AlShaikh appointed as Chief Operating Officer in Maaden Aluminum in 2025. He was Chief Transformation Officer leading the transformation project since 2022. Ahmed was appointed as Chief of Staff in 2021, where he established the Board Affairs function and supported the CEO.

Ahmed Al-AlShaikh joined Maaden in 2011, initially as part of the Phosphate Business Unit. He has worked in supporting marketing operations and business development across Maaden’s phosphate business. Ahmed also led the post-acquisition integration of the Meridian Group, a Maaden subsidiary operates in Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique.

He is serving as a board member and vice chairman of Qassim Cement Company and a board member of Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba). He served as a board member of Maaden Marketing Services Africa (MMSA), and he was a member of the Meridian (a Maaden subsidiary) Management Committee, and a member of the International Fertilizer Strategic Advisory Team. Prior to joining Maaden, Ahmed worked at SABIC for over two years.

Ahmed holds a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering from King AbdulAziz University and a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Southampton. He has also completed executive training programs at Harvard Business School, INSEAD, and London Business School.

Khalid Al Rowais

Khalid Salem Alrowais is an accomplished high performing management executive with over 35 years of experience across a variety of roles ranging from CFO, business and development, strategy and planning and an expert at continually refining and advancing an organization. Khalid is a visionary and strategic leader who has a significant track record of strategic transaction in financing, joint ventures and acquisitions. He possesses an in-depth experience in equity and debt markets as he led an IPO and right issuance transactions in the Saudi stock market.

Highly energetic, forward thinking and creative individual whose key strengths include an ability to resolve recurring problems, drive forward ambitious and strategic growth and sustainability plans. Demanding roles with multinationals have honed his leadership skills to become an engaging and influential communicator who can build productive relationships with people from all backgrounds.

Riccardo Picca

Riccardo Picca is a senior international executive with more than two decades of leadership experience in industrial transformation, operational excellence, digital strategy, and corporate governance across the life sciences, industrial technology, manufacturing, and energy sectors.

He currently serves as Senior Director, Global Digital Transformation and Operational Excellence for the Drug Product Division of Thermo Fisher Scientific, where he leads digital and performance improvement initiatives across a global pharmaceutical manufacturing network.

Previously, Mr. Picca held senior leadership roles at Sandvik AB, leading strategy, digital transformation, and operational excellence initiatives in the machining and industrial technology sector. Earlier in his career, he served as Vice President, Corporate Strategy and Business Development at ITT Inc., overseeing corporate strategy, portfolio development, and international M&A in diversified industrial businesses. He also worked at McKinsey & Company, advising industrial, energy, and manufacturing clients on strategy and operational transformation, and began his career at Tenaris in the energy industry.

Mr. Picca is fluent in Italian, English, Spanish, and French. He holds an Executive MBA with Honors from SDA Bocconi, an M.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from Politecnico di Milano, and an M.Sc. in Industrial Engineering from Ecole Centrale de Lyon. He is also a Master Lean Six Sigma Black Belt.

Armando Martinez

Armando Martinez is a transformational energy leader with over 30 years of global experience across utilities, renewable energy, and infrastructure development. Throughout his career, he has been guided by the conviction that decarbonisation and strong financial performance are not competing priorities — but mutually reinforcing ones.

He served as Chief Executive Officer of Iberdrola S.A., Europe’s largest utility by market capitalisation (~€120 billion), where he led a comprehensive energy transition strategy that delivered over 60% share price appreciation during his tenure. Under his leadership, Iberdrola managed an operational portfolio of approximately 58,000 MW across nuclear, solar, wind, hydro, and battery storage, with a presence in more than 13 countries across Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific.

Prior to becoming CEO, Armando held senior executive roles at Iberdrola including Global Managing Director of Networks — overseeing a €50 billion regulated asset base across Spain, the UK, the US, and Brazil — and CEO of Iberdrola México, where he oversaw the growth of Iberdrola’s greenfield business in the country to approximately 11 GW of installed capacity and over $1 billion EBITDA, consolidating Iberdrola as the largest private utility in Mexico.

He brings extensive board and governance experience as former Chairman of Scottish Power Energy Networks, Avangrid Networks (NYSE: AGR), Iberdrola España, and Iberdrola México.

Armando holds a degree in Industrial Engineering from the Universidad de Valladolid and a Graduate Business Administration qualification from IPADE Business School. He is a Spanish national based in Madrid, married with three children.