Almas Holdings appoints Talal Rafi to the Board

Talal Rafi

Almas Group has shown growth in many significant areas relevant to the business, despite macro-level challenges. The country has demonstrated resilience and Sri Lanka’s ability to swiftly identify solutions. As a nation we have passed many major hurdles and some more to be addressed. Among this backdrop, the Almas Group has continued to expand its footprint on engagements, both locally and overseas. As seen from the top 20 Largest Shareholders of the companies in which Almas Group is represented, It’s evident that Almas believes in the potential Sri Lanka has to offer in the future. 

To steer the Almas group to new heights, the group has appointed a new independent non-executive board member with commendable achievements. The Group Chairman Imtiaz Buhardeen, board members Fathima Rizwana Imtiaz, A.M. Mohamedu Risvi, Ruzly Shamsudeen, Dr. Harshana Suriyapperuma, Shameer Buhardeen and Alternate Director Shakir Buhardeen warmly welcome the joining of Talal Rafi to the Almas Group.

Talal Rafi is an Economist and a Management Consultant. He is an Economist at the Deloitte Economics Institute and he is a member of the Deloitte Global Economist Network. He is also a Senior Management Consultant at Deloitte Consulting and has served on Deloitte’s global ESG Operations team.

Talal is an Expert Member of the World Economic Forum and he co-chairs the Global Plastic Innovation Network Action Group of the World Economic Forum. He is a regular columnist for the International Monetary Fund where his work is published by the IMF’s Fiscal Affairs Department in Washington DC.

He began his career as an entrepreneur and later moved into the development sector having worked for projects by USAID and the World Bank. He was on a selection committee of the Asian Development Bank’s #DigitalAgainstCovid-19 Innovation Series and as a member of the team of experts at Chatham House London helped formulate recommendations for the G20 on gender equality post-Covid. He is a World Bank Youth Climate Ambassador. He serves on the advisory committee on regional development at the Export Development Board of Sri Lanka and is on the Enterprise Operations Committee at Moratuwa University.

He has given talks globally, including at the NASDAQ Center, S&P Global and the Central Bank of Sri Lanka and he is a regular contributor in thought leadership for the Davos Agenda. Talal’s work has been published by the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Asian Development Bank, World Economic Forum, UNFCCC (United Nations), London School of Economics, and Forbes.

The group acquired Almas Equities last year (former Assetline Securities) and has successfully recommenced its operations and merged well with the industry to provide much-needed services to investors both overseas and locally. The company has provided new opportunities to many who are seeking career progression and as a result, a dynamic team is being formed and is expanding rapidly. Almas is planning to scale up its operations further and is currently in the process of finalising another premises to be brought into the group to keep up with the expansion plans. 

Almas Equities has introduced Sri Lanka’s first-ever White List Index which is widely used by investors who are investing based on Whitelist principles. Almas Equities has conducted many digital engagements, webinars and sessions to educate and create awareness about the market.  

The group is very optimistic about what the future holds, particularly regarding the opportunities offered by the Colombo Stock Exchange to investors. Considering the current valuations offered by the market as a whole and individual companies with compelling value propositions, Almas believes now is the time for entry and consolidation. 

The group will continue to explore options and the Board believes the addition of Talal as an independent non-executive director would make a notable contribution towards implementing strategies, that will positively impact all the stakeholders during its journey to become the next ground-breaking conglomerate in the country.