Alba chief executive officer Ali Al Baqali tells Fastmarkets special correspondent Andrea Hotter about his long and hard path to the top and outlines the company's strategy in the current challenging global climate for primary aluminium producers.
Ali Al Baqali was fishing with his brother-in-law when he noticed a large silo structure in a terminal at a distance. He could make out a logo on the side: Alba. Although he did not know it at the time, he was staring at the alumina silo in the calciner and marine terminal for Aluminium Bahrain (Alba).
A passionate fisherman, these trips at sea were a regular occurrence for the Bahraini undergraduate, who was in his final year of study.
"I asked my brother-in-law, 'Is there any possibility after I graduate from university that I can get a chance to work in a big company like Alba?' He told me, 'I am not sure, but anything is possible.'"
Even back then, aluminium producer Alba was considered one of Bahrain's key prestigious companies to work for, with good salaries and benefits - "If you worked at Alba, this became your company...