Dr. Rania Nafea

Biography:

Professional Biography

Dr. Rania is an accomplished academic, researcher, and higher education leader, currently serving as an Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship and Management at Al Yamamah University in Khobar, Saudi Arabia. She holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance and an MBA in Marketing and International Business from the American University in Cairo, Egypt, as well as a Doctorate of Business Administration (DBA) from the Maastricht School of Management (MsM) in the Netherlands, specializing in knowledge management, innovation, leadership, and culture.

Marking her 26^th year in the workforce, Dr. Rania brings together a unique blend of industry and academic experience that bridges the gap between corporate practice and higher education. Her early career began in corporate finance with HSBC Egypt, where she specialized in debt restructuring, corporate risk assessment, and financial consulting. She has provided critical advisory support to high-risk bank clients by carefully analyzing financial statements and recommending tailored strategies to improve their financial positions. Her work included proposing policy and structural reforms for struggling companies, helping them regain stability and operational efficiency. At HSBC, Dr. Rania specialized in debt restructuring, designing repayment solutions that allowed clients to continue servicing principal amounts without jeopardizing business continuity. She also developed detailed business and industry studies aligned with HSBC Group guidelines, providing valuable insights into client operations and sector risks. Her role required close collaboration with the legal department to coordinate actions against defaulting companies, ensuring compliance and risk mitigation. She also prepared comprehensive reports for senior management on overdue loans, offering data-driven recommendations to strengthen recovery strategies. Notably, she demonstrated strong negotiation skills by securing higher collateral from clients, reinforcing the bank’s position and minimizing exposure to financial losses. Through her expertise, Dr. Rania has consistently combined analytical precision, strategic foresight, and negotiation acumen to deliver impactful outcomes that benefit both financial institutions and their clients.

She later advanced into financial management with British American Tobacco (BAT), where she held the position of Marketing Finance Executive North Africa - reporting, budgeting, and cost control functions. She ensured smooth year-end closings in line with company plans and managed monthly and quarterly Hyperion reporting, including variance analysis to explain deviations from targets. She was responsible for overseeing SAP cost centers, conducting balance sheet reconciliations, and preparing annual budgets for representative offices. In her role, Dr. Rania supported regional offices in processing invoices and queries, compiled monthly management reports, and ensured compliance with internal audit recommendations. She also contributed to the preparation of the company plan, aligning regional performance with corporate strategy. Demonstrating innovation, Dr. Rania established an Activity-Based Costing system to monitor marketing expenditures, enhancing transparency and cost control. Through her work, she strengthened financial management practices, improved reporting accuracy, and reinforced accountability across multiple operations in North Africa.

Her corporate expertise expanded further through her work with Logic Consulting, delivering HR consulting and organizational restructuring projects for leading firms such as the General Holding Corporation (GHC), Emirates Iron and Steel Factory (EISF), and Borouge (ADNOC Opco). At General Holding Corporation (GHC), Dr. Rania led several strategic HR initiatives to strengthen organizational efficiency. She conducted a full organizational review, benchmarking GHC against regional peers and recommending a restructured model based on Harvard’s five business factors. Working with senior management, she developed a competency model to define the company’s values and core capabilities, and compiled job descriptions for more than 40 roles, clearly outlining duties, qualifications, and reporting structures. Dr. Rania also designed an objective performance management system and an integrated recruitment framework, supported by training sessions for managers and employees. In addition, she analyzed the company’s salary and grading structure, recommending the streamlining of grades, and conducted external benchmarking with HCSEC (Zones Corp.) and ADNOC, identifying pay gaps and providing actionable recommendations. At Borouge (an ADNOC subsidiary), Dr. Rania developed a comprehensive policy and procedures manual aligned with ADNOC Group standards and best practices, as well as a practical employee handbook that outlined employee rights, duties, and policies to ensure clarity and consistency across the organization.

Transitioning into academia, Dr. Rania has held teaching and leadership roles in Egypt, Dubai, Saudi Arabia (Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd University), Canada, and Bahrain. Dr. Rania’s teaching skills are rooted in her ability to integrate experiential learning, case-based methods, flipped classrooms, and technology-enhanced simulations into her pedagogy, enabling students to engage critically and apply knowledge in real-world contexts. These skills are supported by her postgraduate certificate from George Brown College’s College Teachers Training Program—a unique program designed specifically to bridge the gap between international educators and classroom techniques in Canada. Notably, this program is the only one of its kind offered in Ontario, equipping Dr. Rania with advanced instructional strategies that align with Canadian higher education standards while enhancing her ability to foster inclusive and effective learning environments.

In Canada, she served on Seneca Polytechnic’s Research Ethics Board (REB) and worked with regulatory bodies such as the Program Advisory Committee (PAC) and the Postsecondary Education Quality Assessment Board (PEQAB), gaining deep expertise in governance and program quality assurance. She played a key role in program mapping with international partners in France, Belgium, and Germany, supporting student mobility and exchange opportunities. Dr. Rania also contributed to program and curriculum reviews, ensuring that degree-level learning outcomes aligned with provincial standards. She worked closely with Seneca International to promote global experiences, while also focusing on student retention and academic advising, helping students manage their workload, transfer credits, and remain engaged. Her innovative teaching included the introduction of business simulations in strategy and innovation courses, and mentorship of student entrepreneurs through Seneca’s HELIX incubator.

In Bahrain, Dr. Rania joined the University of Technology where she restructured the traditional capstone courses, transforming them from purely research-based projects into entrepreneurship-driven business plans developed in collaboration with INJAZ Bahrain. This strategic shift not only aligned the courses more closely with real-world applications but also gave students the opportunity to pitch their innovative ideas before a panel of academics and industry professionals. As part of this initiative, students showcased their prototypes in booths, simulating an authentic entrepreneurial environment. This milestone marked the launch of UTB’s first Entrepreneurship Development Program, which has since become a cornerstone of the university’s entrepreneurial culture. Notably, the program continues to thrive even after Dr. Rania’s departure and is currently running its 7th successful round, reflecting the lasting impact of her vision and leadership. She also organized the first UTB SIMDTE Conference (2023), forging partnerships with Taylor & Francis, the Bahrain SMEs Society, and the Bahrain Association of Banks (BAB). Her contributions extend to community engagement, where she represented UTB at Manama Entrepreneurship Week, served as a panelist and guest speaker at national and regional forums, and mentored students in competitions such as Trade Quest with Bahrain Bourse.

Dr. Rania is also a dedicated MBA thesis supervisor with the Maastricht School of Management (MsM) – Offshore Program in Kuwait, where she has supervised over 30 theses spanning business plans, consultancy projects, and academic research. These projects have explored diverse themes such as entrepreneurship, employee engagement, e-learning, service quality, and organizational performance across Kuwait, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia. Through these experiences, Dr. Rania has demonstrated her ability to bridge academic rigor with industry relevance, nurture student talent at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and contribute meaningfully to the entrepreneurial and higher education ecosystems across multiple regions.

Her commitment to advancing entrepreneurship education extends beyond the classroom. Dr. Rania has been selected as a main author for the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) Reports 2024/2025 and 2025/2026, serving as part of the Bahrain National team. This prestigious role, under the patronage of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce and the Women Entrepreneurship Center at RUW (Royal University for Women – Bahrain), reflects her passion for developing the entrepreneurial ecosystem and promoting women’s contribution to sustainable economic growth.

Beyond her professional achievements, Dr. Rania is a proud wife and mother of two children who are currently studying at the University of Waterloo in Canada—her daughter in Nanotechnology Engineering and her son in Data Analytics. Her personal passions are equally inspiring: she is a jewelry designer who crafts her own pieces, a seasoned Mediterranean cook, and dreams of opening her own fusion bistro that doubles as a meeting hub for young entrepreneurs, combining her love for food, creativity, and mentoring the next generation of innovators.