The Abraaj Group appoints Sarah Alexander as a Managing Director

In her new role, Ms. Alexander will serve The Abraaj Group's North American stakeholders providing them with fresh perspectives on global growth markets and drawing on Abraaj's local presence in 30 of the world's fastest-growing economies. She will assume her new role with the Group in February.

Commenting on the appointment, Arif Naqvi, Founder and Group Chief Executive, The Abraaj Group, said: "We are delighted to welcome Sarah to The Abraaj Group. As the founding Chief Executive Officer of EMPEA she has been a globally recognized voice in private equity for nearly a decade and has nurtured the development of the industry in growth markets. Her appointment is testament to our strategy of strengthening our relationship and communication with all of our key stakeholders in North America. We are confident that her wealth of knowledge on growth markets, our industry and of the wider private and public financial context in which it operates, make her ideally suited to sharing Abraaj's insights and experience with a diverse global audience."

Sarah Alexander added: "The Abraaj Group has built a distinguished track record in growth markets over the past two decades based on its unrivalled, in-depth knowledge of the individual countries in which it operates and an extensive international network. It has been central to shifting private equity in growth markets from a fringe alternative asset class to a crucial investment class it is today. I am looking forward to working directly with such an impressive team, and to playing a part in Abraaj's continued development."

Sarah Alexander was instrumental in founding the Emerging Markets Private Equity Association (EMPEA), the global non-profit organization that is the leading voice promoting the development of the private equity and venture capital industry in growth markets. She grew the organization to more than 300 member firms representing 60 countries and more than $1 trillion in assets under management, while developing the industry's leading research products and programs.

Prior to joining EMPEA, Ms. Alexander was a private equity investor in Asia from 1999-2004. She started her career in public service as a foreign policy adviser to the US House of Representatives, before working on international trade and finance policies for the Department of State, and subsequently for the World Bank Group on private sector participation in development finance.

Ms. Alexander holds an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School, a Masters of Public Administration from Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School, and a B.A. in history, summa cum laude, from Emory University.