STAR BUSINESS DESK

Mastercard has appointed Zakia Sultana as its country manager for Bangladesh with immediate effect.

She succeeds Syed Mohammad Kamal, who is set to retire from Mastercard later this year, according to a press release.

Zakia joined Mastercard in 2015 and has since played a key role in advancing financial inclusion initiatives and business development efforts that helped expand the company’s footprint and strengthen partnerships in Bangladesh.

In her new role, she will lead Mastercard’s operations and engagements in Bangladesh, focusing on expanding digital payments adoption, strengthening partnerships with customers and ecosystem stakeholders, and promoting a more inclusive and connected payments landscape.

She will report to Sandun Hapugoda, group country manager overseeing Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka.

Zakia brings more than 26 years of experience in telecommunications, financial services and large-scale transformation programmes.

Throughout her career, she has led major business and infrastructure initiatives, including the rollout of 3G and 4G networks and the expansion of high-growth operations. She has also built and scaled platforms across multiple sectors.

She began her career at Grameenphone in project and change management before joining Airtel, where she served for a decade as head of operational excellence. She later held leadership and board-level roles at Banglalink and worked closely with leading financial institutions, including HSBC.