Who we are

  • Our VisionBe a model financial institution that promotes private sector-led economic and social development in Pakistan.

  • Our Mission Provide client centric financial services to micro, small and medium enterprises and under- served populations in a sustainable and responsible manner.

Our values

Open

Committed

Entrepreneurial

Innovative

Our Shareholders

Our Board members

Dr. Claude Falgon

Dr. Falgon is currently a member of the Board of Directors of Advans Pakistan and has been working as consultant for developmental financial institutions, commercial banks, and microfinance institutions for more than 20 years, in several countries across the globe. His areas of expertise include: financial, operational and institutional audits of banks and microfinance institutions; microfinance regulation; transformation of micro credit systems into sustainable MFIs. Dr. Falgon has chaired and participated in consulting missions in the financial sector, in over fifteen countries including Mediterranean Region, Africa and Asia.

Steven Duchatelle

Steven Duchatelle is a member of the Board of Directors of Advans Pakistan with extensive professional experience in financial services, and has expertise in Micro-Finance sector. He has held various positions in world-class financial institutions and consulting firms that have enabled him to gain practical knowledge of both retail banking and micro-finance operations across varied functions including: strategy, governance, operations, business development, organization, internal controls and risk management.

Eelko Bronkhorst

Currently as a member of Board of Director at Advans Pakistan, Eelko Bronkhorst is a Partner at emerging markets finance firm Financial Access Capital Partners, based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Mr. Bronkhorst has extensive experience in both the profit and non-profit sector,with particular focus on development finance, turnaround management and building businesses in the financial sector. He is particularly active in the Microfinance, Agrifinance and Renewable Energy Finance area in various geographies. 

More

In joint cooperation with various NGOs, donor organizations, development banks and private sector banks Mr. Bronkhorst has successfully developed and implemented various initiatives and PPP programmes to improve access to finance to these sectors in East Africa and Asia. With a degree in Masters of International Law Degree from the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands and Advanced Management Programme at INSEAD, France, Bronkhorst has held various leadership positions at multinational financial institutions across USA, Asia, Europe and Middle East.

Emmanuel Aris

Emmanuel Aris has extensive professional experience in business administration and international investment: after graduating from a French business school with a Masters in Finance and Management, his career ranges from being an expert in the creation of a business unit and has dedicated himself to the development of the Advans Network of microfinance institutions, successively holding the positions Investment Analyst and Investment Officer.Emmanuel has worked on several Greenfield projects in Sub-Saharan Africa and North Africa, performing on-site market research, feasibility studies and fundraising, as well as working on complex regulatory and legal issues.

More

Between 2011 and 2016, Emmanuel was entrusted with the overall responsibility of the design, creation and supervision of Advans Tunisie. In 2015, he negotiated the restructuring of Advans Bank Tanzania and its subsequent transformation into Letshego Bank (T). Emmanuel currently serves at the Board of Advans Pakistan, La Fayette Microfinance Bank (Nigeria), Advans Cameroun, Advans Banque Congo and Letshego Bank (T) Limited (Tanzania). As a board member of institutions, he is involved in providing strategic direction and supervision at the managerial level.

Yusra Arshad Gillani

A Barrister and transactional lawyer as a profession, Ms. Gillani brings with herself varied experience working for a not for profit company and being a consultant at a corporate/commercial law firm. With a degree in BA Economics and Politics, from University of London, Ms. Gillani did her CPE/ Post Graduate Diploma in Law from BPP Law School London, UK and completed her Bar Vocational Course, Lincolns Inn from Inns Court School of Law London, UK. She has worked for leading organizations including Acumen Fund, and Mandviwalla Law Firm. 

More

Apart from being involved in the mergers and acquisitions, her Expertise ranges from; corporate governance, private equity, financial services, not for profits, start-ups to general contract work. She currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors for Advans Pakistan.

.

Aeyesha Gulzar

Aeyesha Gulzar is a strategy development practitioner, with over seventeen years of progressive leadership experience focusing on strategic planning, Economic Growth, Value Chain Development, Private sector engagement, Enterprise Development and has contributed to policy formulation in Pakistan and abroad. Ms Gulzar has worked and consulted for Multilaterals, development organizations, governments and global Fortune 500 companies in the US and Europe. She has conceived and initiated advocacy forums and think tanks for policy development, conducted evidence based research projects and facilitated and trained local and international teams, fostered innovative financing models to blend public, development and private capital for scalable business, economic and social outcomes.

More

Her expertise includes Global Alliance creation, organizational capacity development, Agribusiness, Enterprise and value chain development. Ms. Gulzar has majored in MIS (with honors) from the University of Connecticut and has read Strategic Leadership at Yale University, USA; she has also been trained in Leadership at Harvard Business School and Social Entrepreneurship from Oxford University, UK. She has worked in the US, UK, EU, Africa, UAE, India, Iran and Pakistan on agribusiness partnerships, enterprise development and value creation strategies.She is currently advising the Chief Minister Punjab and the Additional Chief Secretary on Agriculture and Rural Economy, for the provincial Punjab government, championing a Public-Private-Producer partnership model for the first time in Pakistan. She is also board member at several public sector organizations and private companies in Pakistan. Ms Gulzar has been hailed as being in the “frontline of changing leadership in Punjab” by the Punjab Commission on the Status of Women; Women of Substance publications, 2017-2018.

Our Team

Guillaume Valence - CEO

Guillaume Valence is currently serving as the Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors of Advans Pakistan. Guillaume is a graduate with Master’s Degree in Management and Management of Public Instituion from ICN Business School degree, Commercial Institute of Nancy, EQUIS accreditation and IAE Nancy 2 University. He is a seasoned banker and a prominent microfinance professional, with around 20 years of diverse experience working with renowned financial institutions.

More

Prior to joining Advans Pakistan in 2019, he was the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of La Fayette MFB (Nigeria). His experience with Advans Group was spread across different countries with variety of cross-functional expertise including, SME Financing, Branch Operations, Risk and Financial analysis, Risk Management and Business Development.

Awais Masood - DCEO/Chief Financial Officer & Company Secretary

Awais Masood is currently serving Advans Pakistan in the capacity of CFO and Company Secretary and has over 10 years of experience with extensively working in the areas of Business Risk Assessment and Assurance, Internal Auditing, Accounting and Financial Management, Budgeting, Financial analysis and Business cycle controller in diverse corporate working environments.

More

He is a fellow member of Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA – UK) and CFA level-3 candidate. His career varies from working for organization like The House of Habib (HOH) - managing the internal audit function of the Group, MAF Hyper Market Pakistan (Pvt.) Ltd (Carrefour Group) as Business Controller and Pak Oman Asset Management Company Limited as Head of Internal Audit, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer and Company Secretary, over the period of 9 years.

Junaid Siddiqui - Head Information Technology

Mr. Junaid  is a experienced IT professional; he has done MS Computer Science from Muhammad Ali Jinnah University and has more than 17 years of experience as an IT professional. His career is composed of varied spectrum of roles. He served in reputable organizations namely Telenor Micro Finance Bank, CubeXS Weatherly (PVT) Ltd, Cyber internet Services Pakistan and as Head of IT Infrastructure in Summit Bank Ltd.

More

Working across varied functions and having spent considerable time in branchless banking, Allied Systems and Digital banking – he is hands on with the Implementation of new applications and Business Management projects.

Zubair Hafeez - Head of Risk & Compliance

Zubair Hafeez is currently heading the Risk & Compliance function at Advans Pakistan. He is a seasoned audit professional with over 10 years local and international experience is accounts/finance, taxation and audit.He is a member of ACCA UK. He has worked with leading companies including Ernst & Young in the Assurance and Advisory business services division, and Alwardi Group in Kingdom of Bahrain leading the internal audit department.

More

He is a member of ACCA UK. He has worked with leading companies including Ernst & Young in the Assurance and Advisory business services division, and Alwardi Group in Kingdom of Bahrain leading the internal audit department.

Samiha Ali Zahid- Chief Head of HR

Samiha brings with her over 18 years of cross functional experience in leading Digital Transformations, OD, HR, Marketing & Communications & while creating cohesive and high performing teams. She holds a Masters’ Degree in Public Administration, and is a Certified Trainer and a Certified Board Director.

More

Her unique expertise of Green Field Operations and Digital Banking makes her amongst the very few experienced individuals in the country. She has a proven performance history of architecting multifaceted end to end HR transformational activities & roll outs leading to effective cultural change & enhanced company performance. This also includes managing the design, communication & execution desired for the successful implementation of multiple projects/initiatives. She also champions in creating seamless People Experience & a positive employer image for attracting & retaining high performance talent.

Ghulam Farid - Head Branch Banking

As Head Branch Banking, Farid manages the network of branches encompassing their operations, commercial and lending business of the bank. He is a seasoned microfinance profession who brings with him over 13 years of multi-market experience in the microfinance industry.His career spans over working in various capacities starting from Relationship Manager and growing into Branch Manager, Area Manager, and Regional Business Head in microfinance industry.

More

He worked his way up in different roles with Mobilink Microfinance Bank including Head Marketing & Product Development; last being Head Channel Development & Partnerships.In addition, Farid has an extensive knowledge of the microfinance industry working closely with rural/urban segment, has grip on individual and group based lending model - implementing efficiency measures and ability to travel extensively in operational areas. In his stint as Head of Channel Development & Partnership he spearheaded the implementation of digital and hybrid channel usage for lending businesses.

Farid’s competencies include extensive knowledge of retail banking: payments, loans, sales & distribution, and quality assurance. With a Master’s degree in Business Administration, he brings with him strong analytical ability, proven history of setting high performance teams, & developing managers. He has been credited for setting high standards for producing results, and delivering them with principles.