Kuwaiti citizens are proud of the National Bank of Kuwait (NBK), the country’s largest bank by assets, and for good reason. NBK views itself as a pillar of the corporate and financial community. It deserves to win this award for several reasons, starting with its willingness to connect with worthy new initiatives.
Last year, the bank disbursed $75 million to community schemes. Tamaka, a youth programme, helps Kuwaiti graduates to discover their career path and acquire new skills that enable them to thrive in the private sector.
Bankee’s main aim is to supercharge financial literacy rates among students. The programme, co-sponsored by the country's education ministry and Nazaha, Kuwait’s anticorruption authority, instils educational, social and financial values in primary and middle-school students – in effect it makes them better and more financially self-aware citizens. The pilot phase includes 11 middle schools for the academic year 2022/23; it has trained and onboarded more than 500 teachers and helped around 5,000 students.