Accounting/Auditing

Mr. Akram Reda
Executive Manager - Risk Services
Ernst & Young Egypt

Akram Reda graduated in 1988 from Helwan University with a bachelor’s in commerce and business administration specializing in accounting. He received his master’s degree in international business administration in 2001 from ESLSCA, Paris, and is also a Certified Management Consultant (CMC) from the UK. Reda is a registered charted accountant with the Egyptian Society of Accountants and Auditors, an associate member of the Institute of Internal Auditors, as well as the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.

Reda is currently the executive manager of risk services at Ernst & Young and is responsible for directing the business risk services team in Egypt. Before joining Ernst & Young, he worked for Arthur Andersen for 8 years and was the manager in-charge of Andersen’s Business Consulting and Business Process Risk Consulting practices. Reda has also attended several local and international training courses with Andersen and Ernst & Young. Prior to Andersen, Reda worked for four years as the corporate strategic planning and performance measures manager for a group of companies in the steel industry. He is experienced in the validation, planning and implementation of strategic and business plans for corporations in Egypt as well as regionally.

Some of Reda’s notable work experience includes providing business process risk consulting (internal audit) services for various industries in Egypt including trading, services, and implementing projects funded by EU donors as well as the World Bank. Reda also developed written policies and procedures manuals for major organizations and banks in Egypt and the Middle East.

Ms. Amna Shaheen '03 & '06
Business Analyst - Transaction Advisory Services
Ernst & Young Egypt

Amna Shaheen is currently a business analyst in the transaction advisory services of Ernst & Young. She is experienced in financial analysis and reporting of banks’ performances and peer bank performance. She has participated in a number of projects undertaken with large multinational organizations in Egypt covering financial consulting services (due diligence reviews and financial modeling) for clients such as National Bank for Development, Good News Group and the Arab Bank PLC.

As a business analyst, Shaheen contributed as a team member in financial due diligence for the restructure and privatization of the four state owned insurance companies, namely, Misr Insurance, Al Chark Insurance, National Insurance and Egypt Reinsurance. Before joining Ernst & Young, Shaheen worked for the Arab African Bank for a period of 3 years in the performance analysis and budgeting unit.

In summer 2002, Shaheen received her bachelor’s in accounting from The American University in Cairo. She returned to AUC to receive her master’s degree (2006) in business administration with a concentration in finance.

Advertising

Mr. Ihab Gohar
Managing Director
Animation Advertising

Ihab Gohar is the founder of Animation Advertising, a full-service advertising agency with 53 employees, and has been the managing director since it was established in 1989. With his extensive experience in the advertising industry, Gohar has been the driving force behind the company’s various activities. He is responsible for Animation's strategic direction and growth, the management of complicated events, large corporate accounts and Egypt's best-known fashion and furniture catalog, Selections.

Gohar combines managerial and technical functions to continually produce innovative advertising solutions for Animation Advertising clients such as Tetra pak, Juhayna, Gemma, Olympic Electric, Toyota, Arma Food Industries, Ideal Zanaussi, Raya Holding Company, Piraeus Bank, and EzzDk Steel, among others.

Gohar is a member of the Egyptian Advertising Association, the Federation of Egyptian Industries, the Canadian Egyptian Business Council and Friends of the Opera NGO. He graduated from the Faculty of Tourism and Hotel Management, Helwan University in 1989.

Banking

Mr. Ahmed Issa Abu-Hussien
Head of Strategic Planning
Commercial International Bank - Egypt

Ahmed Abu-Hussein is the head of strategic planning at the Commercial International Bank (CIB), a position he has held since 2003. He led M&A processes including target selection, valuations, due diligence and management presentations on both the buying & selling sides and is currently leading the development and establishment of CIB-Algeria.

As the founder of the bank’s first strategic planning unit, he played a significant role in the Board of Directors decision to launch a mergers and acquisitions program as an alternative growth method and became the program manager.

Abu-Hussein started his banking career in 1993 at CIB where he held various positions, including securities brokerage head of research and corporate banking group manager. Throughout his work experience, he originated, analyzed and executed private equities, project finance, syndicated loans, commercial lending, bond issuance and privatization transactions. He is a cofounder of CIBC, Egypt’s second largest securities broker and was appointed head of its equity research.

Abu-Hussein graduated from Ain-Shams University in 1991 with a bachelor’s degree in accounting. In 2003, he earned his MBA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, in addition to attending postgraduate coursework at Harvard University.

Aside of Abu-Hussein’s rigorous professional life, he enjoys activities such as snorkeling, photographing, reading and hiking.

Biology/Quality Assurance

Mr. Ramy Hassan '04
Food Safety Technologist
Master Foods Egypt For Trade & Industry LLC

Ramy Hassan is currently the food safety technologist at Master Foods Egypt, a position he has assumed since July 2004. He is responsible for building the capability within manufacturing to ensure finished product & raw material conformance, as well as conducting disaster checks analysis and reporting data to ensure continuous improvement in this area. His accountabilities include the implementation & assessment of HACCP in the factory and the upkeep of the HACCP manual and processes.

Hassan’s other responsibilities include defining the food safety and GMP standards, and up keeping of the factory GMT standards, as well as following up on all exceptions and setting quality standards. He is also in charge of the up keep of the pest control standards and systems.

Hassan manages the microbiological lab and its processes, which entails maintenance and development, in addition to conducting microbiological assessment of all new processes in the factory. He is a graduate of The American University in Cairo with a major in biology and a minor in chemistry, class of June 2004.

Broadcasting

Ms. Samar Bashat '92 & '96
Correspondent
El Arabia TV

Samar Bashat graduated from The American University in Cairo with a bachelor’s in mass communication & journalism in 1992; later she earned a diploma in television journalism (1994) and MA in mass communication (1996).

Bashat began her professional career in 1992 working in Reuters Television as a news co-coordinator for the Cairo bureau. Two years later, she started working for the Middle East Broadcasting Center (MBC) as a correspondent for news and other programs such as Good Evening Arabs and Health Business. In 2001, she joined Abu Dhabi Space Channel, where she was the correspondent for “Dunai” program, a daily 2-hour program discussing different social, political and economic issues. Her main responsibilities were producing and reporting in-depth stories on different events, social trends, as well as cultural and economic issues.

Bashat left Abu Dhabi Space Channel and joined Orbit Network in 2003. She was the writer and director of a one-hour, bi-monthly program, which presented profiles on various charity organizations. One year later, she joined El Arabia TV as a correspondent, a position she holds till present. Her main responsibilities include reporting and producing feature stories and in-depth reports for news and news programs. During her professional career in broadcasting, Bashat had also been teaching television production at Misr International University (MIU) as an assistant lecturer from 1998-2002.

Business Development/Sales

Mr. Hesham Sewilam '96
Sales Director
Sc Johnson Egypt

Hesham Sewilam graduated from The American University in Cairo with a BA in economics in 1996. He got his MBA in general management from Georgia State University and Cairo University, a degree he earned with honors in 2002.

In 1997, Sewilam embarked on his career with Gillette Egypt as assistant brand manager. One year later, he shifted to sales and worked as a sales representative and in a few months, was promoted to sales supervisor. He was responsible for supervising the business of Gillette’s main distributor, and was able to achieve 10% above budget for the 8 months assignment.

Sewilam joined Coca-Cola Egypt in 1999 in the management training program. In April 2000, he became operations development manager, and in October of the same year he assumed the position of branch manager. He managed the sales volume, distribution and display objectives for direct and indirect channels in the new Shoubra branch. In June 2002, Sewilam was promoted to sales systems execution manager, where he developed and implemented a pre-selling system nationwide for direct distribution routes.

Sewilam joined Colgate-Palmolive Gulf States as the market development manager of Kuwait and Bahrain; he managed the company’s sales, distribution & consumer marketing activities.

When he joined SC Johnson Egypt in 2003, he was first appointed as key accounts and business development manager, and in 2004 assumed his current position as sales director. Among his achievements in the current position, over the past 3 years, are growing sales and company earnings by 55% & 60 % respectively, building distribution from 47% to 67%, as well as upgrading and consolidating 35% of the company distributors.

Chemistry

Mr. Hossam Ahmed '97
Logistics & Supply Chain Manager
AstraZeneca Egypt

Hossam Ahmed is currently the logistics and supply chain manager and a site board member of AstraZeneca Egypt. His many achievements include accelerating supply “go-live” date of the first batch of local production of a $42 million factory as well as setting up planning, purchasing and warehousing divisions. As supply chain manager, he is accountable for Egypt’s product security and compliance with global policies.

Ahmed has a solid 10-year experience in progressive strategic management of supply chain, operations, logistics and production in Fortune100 companies spanning a breadth of industries including pharmaceuticals, foods, consumer households and FMCG. He launched his career as a production chemist with Johnson & Johnson Egypt and in a span of two years became a production supervisor. In 2000, Ahmed experienced a career transition at J&J when he assumed the position of distribution & environmental manager progressing into other managerial roles in the following four years. Before his current position, Ahmed was the demand planning & replenishment manager at Kraft Foods Egypt and product supply manager at S.C. Johnson Egypt.

After receiving his bachelor’s degree in chemistry at the American University in Cairo in 1997, Ahmed earned his master’s degree in international business administration in 2000 from ESLESCA University in France.

Communications/Public Relations

Ms. Dalia Wahba '90
Communications & Development Director
CID

Dalia Wahba helped to found CID, a private sector communication and business consultancy firm in Egypt established in 1995 to help organizations optimize their performance by providing business and communication consultancy services.

Wahba holds a post-graduate degree in integrated marketing communication and has extensive experience in designing and managing integrated marketing communication programs for private sector companies in different fields including information technology, telecommunication, financial and other business areas. She has expertise in development communication through designing and rolling out public awareness and outreach programs for a number of issues as diverse as capital market development, mortgage finance and environment.

Wahba contributes her expertise to strategic management and marketing through performing strategic assessments, executive coaching, and strategic planning with business associations and private sector companies. Notable achievements include developing partnerships and alliances between Egyptian associations and European counterparts, facilitating cooperation with multinationals, setting up organizational structures, and designing association membership development strategies.

Wahba is a certified management consultant from the Institute of Management Consultancy of the UK. She holds a diploma in IMC, International Association for Advertising, and a Bachelor of Arts in mass communication and a minor in business administration from The American University in Cairo. She was engaged in a number of management and marketing communication programs in Egypt, the US and Europe.

Computer/Software Development

Ms. Manal Alfi Milad '90
Service Delivery Manager
IT Worx

Manal Milad is currently holding the position of service delivery manager at ITWorx, the largest software professional services firm in Egypt. She is responsible for a sector locally served by the company: the Egyptian Electronic Government and other local accounts. One of her main missions at her current job is to secure a long-term relationship with clients. While managing the overall performance of projects, she cooperates with various ITWorx teams and third parties in order to ensure the smooth execution of projects targeting to meet and exceed customers’ expectations. In order to achieve such target, Milad is handling multi responsibilities spread amongst various managerial duties and technical tasks.

In 1990, Milad earned her bachelor’s in computer science at The American University in Cairo with business administration as her minor. She started her professional life at DigitalTest GmbH as a software engineer then moved to PSD (an affiliate of DigitalTest GmbH) where she spent almost five years. This allowed her to build a deep technical expertise that enabled her to enlarge the scope of her role as she began to assume managerial responsibilities.

She then joined ITWorx in 2000, climbing the professional ladder gradually; she started as a senior software engineer going through the team leader and project leader positions, which led her to occupy her current post on top of the career path hierarchy at ITWorx.

Enjoying a fruitful combination of technology and business in her educational background, together with a seven-year hands-on experience within ITWorx, Milad was entitled to play a critical role in exploring the company’s growth opportunities. This is shown through her contribution to the continuous enhancement and refinement of ITWorx processes in different areas; not to mention her participation in defining ITWorx long term plans and identifying business opportunities based on technology areas.

Construction Engineering

Mr. Ahmed Osman
Business Development Manager, Egypt & North Africa
Projacs International

Ahmed Osman earned his bachelor’s in civil engineering (1997) and his MSc in highway management and engineering (1999) from the University of Birmingham, UK. In 2005, he received the Project Management Professional (PMP) certification from the Project Management Institute in the USA.

Ahmed is currently the business development manager for Egypt & North Africa, at Projacs International, a leading project management firm in the Middle East where he played a pivotal role in the development of regional offices for the company in Egypt and Morocco.

During his eight years of work at Projacs, Ahmed has successfully developed technical and commercial proposals for projects awarded in Egypt, Morocco, Sudan, Yemen, and Tunisia. In addition, he successfully assessed, negotiated and bid for Joint Venture projects with leading international firms. These projects cover many sectors such as hotels, retail, corporate, industrial and leisure. He has extensive experience in contract administration, commercial management, auditing, pre-qualification of contractors and consultants and procurement activities gained in several multi-million dollar projects. Some of his notable recent local project awards include Vodafone C3 office building at Smart Village and Nozha & Nasr City Center mega malls, Mountain View I & II residential compounds and the Hilton Khartoum hotel renovation.

Consulting

Mr. Ahmed Elsharkawy '94
Senior Associate
Booz Allen Hamilton - Dubai

Ahmed El Sharkawy is a senior associate at Booz Allen Hamilton - Dubai, a position he has held since 2001. Working in a leading management consulting firm, he managed a large number of strategy and implementation engagements within telecom and media covering topics of finance, HR, corporate planning, business development, marketing, sales & customer services, network planning, telecom and media regulations, as well as broadcasting and media production. Over the course of the last 6 years, Sharkawy has undertaken a number of notable large-scale projects such as conducting operational due diligence and valuation of a major telecom operator, developing a 3G market entry strategy for an integrated operator, redesigning all customer facing processes, particularly customer care and direct sales, for a telecom operator, developing business cases for a thematic TV channel, a production studio and a radio channel.

El Sharkawy’s career began in 1996, with Henkel Egypt, as a brand manager where he managed a portfolio of household brands with combined sales in excess of 110 Million EGP.

El Sharkawy graduated in 1994 from The American University in Cairo with a BSc in mechanical engineering. In 1996, he received his master’s in engineering management from the University of Michigan, followed by his MBA from INSEAD, France in 2000.

Aside of his professional life, El Sharkawy enjoys the rigorous activities of horseback riding, squash, water skiing and scuba diving. He enjoys reading general history and the history of ancient civilizations.

Development

Mr. Hesham Fekry
Community Development Advisor
Plan International Egypt

Hesham Fekry is currently the community development advisor at Plan International Egypt, a position he has assumed since 1999. His main accountabilities include developing, maintaining and updating guidelines and criteria to help with the design, efficient implementation and evaluation of community planning and community managed projects. He provides training and consultation to program unit’s staff and local communities, evaluates organizational, administrative and financial capabilities of community development associations, and develops community planning schemes.

Upon his graduation in 1982 with a bachelor’s in social work, Fekry joined Plan International Egypt as a community development supervisor, a field job. He was then promoted to program unit manager and continued in fieldwork for the next 10 years. Starting 1994, he assumed the positions of program health coordinator, sponsorship coordinator, and community training coordinator before engaging in his current job.

During his professional experience in development, Fekry has undertaken a wide variety of tasks from fieldwork with families and communities, to training Plan front line staff and community leaders as well as managing Cairo program unit for all sponsorship issues.

Diplomatic Mission

Dr. Hesham ElNakib '84
Spokesperson and Head of Press and Public Diplomacy
Minister Plenipotentiary
Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Hesham ElNakib graduated from The American University in Cairo (1984) with a bachelor’s in political science and a minor in economics. Three years later, he earned his Master of Arts in international relations from the International Institute of Public Administration in Paris, France. To enhance his diplomatic career, ElNakib received a Doctor of Philosophy in history (2001), specializing in the history of international relations and foreign policy, from the Institute of Oriental Studies at the Russian Academy of Science in Moscow.

ElNakib embarked on his diplomatic career with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs right after graduation. After spending 2 years as a diplomatic attaché at the Egyptian Diplomatic Institute, he engaged in his first assignment as third secretary at the Cabinet of the Minister of Foreign Affairs. In 1988, he took his first international assignment at the Embassy of Egypt in Vienna, Austria to return a year later as second secretary in the Office of the Political Director of the Egyptian President’s Bureau. ElNakib then undertook his second international assignment (1992-1997) as second secretary and later promoted to first secretary of the Egyptian Embassy in Washington D.C.

During the last 10 years, ElNakib has assumed various positions with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including director and counselor, North American Department (1997-2000); director of the cabinet of the First Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs (2000-2001); and his current position as spokesperson and head of press and public diplomacy effective 2007. Intermittently, he was assigned his third international post (2001-2007) as director, press counselor and spokesperson of press and information office of the Embassy of Egypt in Washington DC, and minister plenipotentiary with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Information.

ElNakib wrote a number of commentaries and letters to the editor of various international journals and magazines, including New York Times, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal; he also wrote a number or articles in El Sayasa El Dawleya in Al Ahram newspaper. He is a member of the Academy of Political Science in New York and the National Press Club in Washington DC (2001-present). His biography has been published in Who’s Who in America 58th edition.

Education/Teaching

Mr. Timothy Jack
Dean for Student Success
Narmer American College

Timothy Jack is currently the dean for student success at Narmer American College. His vast knowledge in the field of education stems from his 30 years of experience as an educator. He has worked in universities, international schools as well as NGOs around the world. His 23 years of oversees experience has taken him to many nations in North America, Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

Jack worked in private schools in Chicago, in Hitachi Corporation in Japan, as well as the Agricultural University in Nanjing China. He also worked in Kenya at the International Foundation for Education on a special project for refugees of the Rwanda Burundi war.

His experience in the Middle East includes working in Saudi Arabia for Aramco in the development of their curriculum for adult learning, and in Morroco at Ifrane Boarding International School.

Electronics

Mr. Tarek Seada
Operations Director
Giesecke & Devrient Egypt

Tarek Seada is the operations director of Giesecke & Devrient (G&D) Egypt, a position he has held since February 2006. He is responsible for managing the technical operations of the telecom, payment, personalization and application development teams and overlooks the progress of all running customer projects. During his four years of work at G&D, Seada assumed the positions of IT manager, technical manager for cards & solutions and project manager for G&D personalization center. At this latter assignment, he was responsible for setting up the first certified chip cards personalized center in the Middle East.

Prior to G&D, Seada’s employers included Raya Integration, Middle East Network Solutions, Abu Dhabi Cultural Foundation and Regional Information Technology & Software Engineering Center (RITSEC) where both his technical and managerial skills were mastered. He worked as a senior web and software developer, technical team leader and project manager. He managed numerous projects including the Secure Internet Payment System (SIPS), the Saudi Hollandi Bank (KSA) EMV Issuing Strategy project, the General Taxation Automation project and Vodafone Egypt Multi Access Portal project.

Seada received his BSc in 1992 from Cairo University, Faculty of Electronics & Communication Engineering. He extended his educational journey in 1995, by receiving his MBA with a focus on information technology management from the Maastericht School of Management.

Engineering – Energy, Oil and Gas

Mr. Yousri Hassaan
Exploration Director
Vegas Oil & Gas

Yousri Hassaan is currently occupying the position of exploration director at Vegas Oil & Gas, a Greek oil and gas exploration and production company. He has full responsibility for developing and running the exploration and production business in the Gulf of Suez area and the Western Desert. This includes planning, tendering, acquisition, processing and executions in association with carrying all seismic and geological data interpretation. Hassaan accountabilities include managing and supervising all the geological and geophysical activities and procedures, communicating and promoting areas to partners, as well as following up on all administration exploration aspects.

Hassaan has worked for more than 20 years as a seismic interpreter using 2D and 3D seismic data in different oil provinces in Egypt, North Africa and the Middle East. He was responsible for following up on geophysical operations including seismic acquisition and processing in operated and non-operated areas. Due his professionalism and hard work, 8 oil and 4 gas discoveries were made.

Hassaan assumed the positions of geophysicist and senior geophysicist at Western Atlas, EGPC, Repsol Exploracion Egipto S.A. and Repsol Madrid. He graduated from Ain Shams University with a BSc in geology in 1982.

Engineering – Manufacturing

Mr. Ahmed Salama
Plant Director
Kraft Foods Egypt

Ahmed Salama is currently the plant director at Kraft Foods Egypt where he is responsible for optimizing the allocation of resources, planning, budgeting, and implementing capital projects to cover all capacity needed requirements as well as upgrading plant organization capabilities.

Salama started his career in manufacturing in 1996 when he assumed the position of production manager at Quest International Egypt. In less than 2 years he became the factory manager overseeing the factory and the logistics. In 2000, he transferred to Pepsi Cola Egypt as the general manager of the Tanta plant. Salama then moved to SC Johnson Wax Egypt and in the span of three years he assumed the positions of operations manager and general manger of the SC Johnson Egypt Trading Company.

Prior to his shift to the manufacturing field, Salama worked as a site engineer at the Housing & Development Bank and in the project management department of Kocks Consult GmbH, Germany. He holds a bachelor’s in civil engineering from Cairo University (1989), and a Master of Science from Hanover University, Germany (1994).

Finance

Mr. Sherif Samir '88
Chief Financial Officer
XEROX Egypt

Sherif Samir has over 16 years of experience in the field of treasury and finance. He joined Xerox in 1991 as a treasury analyst and became treasury manager in 1996. In the following years he assumed various positions with added responsibilities to hold the post of treasury, finance leasing managing director & finance controller in January 2003. He was responsible for directing the management of all aspects of Xerox Egypt’s financial operations to enhance profit margins, internal controls and currency risk control.

Samir relocated to Xerox Corporation in the United States in 2005 to become manager for operations financial analysis and support for four regions. In 2006 he returned to Egypt to assume the position of deputy finance director. A few months later he was promoted to financial director, where he currently develops the financial strategies necessary for the optimization of financial goals of the company. He also directs the management of programs to review and ensure the implementation of improved financial and tax planning as well as putting proper controls in place to maintain the internal control standards of Xerox Corporation.

Sherif Samir graduated from The American University in Cairo (AUC) in 1988 with a bachelor degree in business administration. He received his MBA in 2002 from the Arab Academy –OUDA in finance and banking.

Human Resources

Ms. Michelle Moarbes
Market Unit Northern Africa Human Resources Director
Ericsson

Michelle Moarbes holds currently the position of human resources regional director for the Northern Africa Market Unit at Ericsson. Based in Cairo, the headquarters of Northern Africa Unit, Moarbes heads the HR of the Unit that consists of 11 countries, with more than 600 employees. She is responsible for leading and translating the Ericsson HR vision and strategies in the region, while initiating and managing various development plans. Prior to this function, Moarbes served Ericsson in many regional management assignments, while being in charge of management development programs

Moarbes joined Ericsson in 2000 after a lengthy career in the human resources field, which started in 1988 at the Inter-Continental Hotels in Dubai and subsequently gained her vast HR knowledge and experience at Honeywell, Philips, and Spinneys. She earned her bachelor’s degree in translation and languages in 1987 from the “Universitee Saint Joseph” in Lebanon.

Insurance

Mr. Hesham Abdel Shakour
Senior Manager – Finance
Commercial International Life Insurance Company-CIL

Hesham Abdel Shakour is currently senior manager – finance at CIL, a position he has assumed since 2001. He is a member of the senior management team taking part in the strategic and business planning of the company. He acts as the secretary for the board of directors, which includes being responsible for the regulatory issues for the AGM & EGM. At his current job he oversees the finance & budgeting functions, which entails liaising with fund managers to manage 6 funds with more than 900 million EGP, managing both the operational and investment functions. He is also engaged in the planning and implementation of the HR services and ensures that contractual agreements are administered according to applicable policies, procedures and guidelines.

Abdel Shakour started working with CIL in 1999 as a finance manager. In this position, he established and maintained the General Ledger system and trained staff on regulatory reporting. Prior to that he worked at Arab International Bank in supervisory roles.

Abdel Shakour received a bachelor’s in accounting from Cairo University in 1987 and a modern accounting certification from The American University in Cairo (1995). He completed his management certification from Henely Management College, London, UK in October 2002.

Investment

Mr. Angus Blair
Head of Research
Beltone Financial

Angus Blair has over 20 years experience in investment banking and financial services. In summary, he was the former head of research for Penney Easton (now part of Grieg Middleton); member of double Extel-rated team at Kitcat & Aitken; UK market strategist at Baring Securities; head of equities for a number of emerging markets, including Portugal, Turkey and Greece - with specific responsibility for the Middle East & North Africa (MENA) region at ING Barings and head of equities, sales and trading for the MENA region with ABN AMRO; managing director of Safron Advisors (MENA region and Turkish private equity investment); head of investments and product development for Al Rajhi Banking & Investment Corporation; CEO of MENA Financial, and now head of research for Beltone Financial, the Cairo-based regional investment bank.

Blair was instrumental in ING Barings & ABN AMRO winning a number of landmark equity capital market deals from the Arab capital markets (including the first fund to allow foreigners to invest into the Saudi stock market, and the first GDR from Egypt for Commercial International Bank, amongst others). He has also won a number of awards for coverage of the MENA markets (including No 1 in the annual Institutional Investor survey, and Emerging Markets Superstar for Global Finance magazine). He expanded into private equity investment for the MENA region, and then co-founded a company set up to provide consultancy services for companies based in, and looking to invest into, the MENA region.

At Beltone Financial, Blair has returned to building research coverage of the MENA region’s capital markets, with one of the fastest growing financial institutions in the region, and through BMG, its partner in Saudi Arabia. Beltone Financial is a full-service investment bank, with asset management, corporate finance, brokerage, custody, private equity and research divisions with offices in Egypt and the UAE, and in Riyadh and Jeddah with its joint venture partner BMG.

Blair has a close relationship with many key individuals across the Arab region. He has been a regular commentator, for over a decade, within the global media on economic, financial and political developments concerning the Arab world. His family has been involved across the Middle East for 60 years.

IT/Telecommunications

Mr. Mahmoud Soliman '95
President & CEO
Salec Egypt

Mahmoud Soliman is currently serving as the president and CEO of Saudi Logistics and Electronics Company (Salec), a private regional information technology and telecommunications company based out of Egypt with operations in 3 countries. Prior to that, he was country managing director for Salec in Egypt, where he established the Salec Egypt operations in 1999.

Soliman joined, what is now called, Raya Information Technology upon his graduation. In 1997, he co-founded and became managing director of a private IT and telecom systems integrator company in Egypt which focused on the growing Internet access market.

He participates and is actively involved in a number of private and governmental initiatives and committees in the telecom and Internet sectors in Egypt and KSA. Such initiatives include the establishment of the Internet Society of Egypt, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology’s workgroup on the telecom law and practices, and the IEEE Egypt chapter.

Soliman graduated in 1995 with a BSc in computer science and a minor in business administration from The American University in Cairo.

Journalism

Ms. Dina Ezzat
Assistant Editor & Chief Diplomatic Correspondent
Al-Ahram Weekly

Dina Ezzat is currently the assistant editor & chief diplomatic correspondent at Al-Ahram Weekly. She has been a practicing journalist for the past twenty years and has covered a wide range of topics including home news, women’s rights, and the news of Arab, foreign & top regional officials as well as heads of states and ministers. For over ten years, she has covered regional developments especially the Arab-Israeli conflict and the Iran and Iraq stories. Ezzat has also contributed two chapters on women’s legal and gender rights to two books published in the years 1994 and 1995 by Panos – a British NGO based in London that caters for women and minority rights.

Ezzat started her career in journalism, in1987, at Al-Ahram daily and Al-Shabab magazine. Four years later, she joined Al-Ahram Weekly in its launching stage and has worked there since its zero issues. Ezzat enriched her journalism experience when she spent six months in the newsroom of the widely circulated US daily, USA Today, in 1993; she free-lanced to Arab and British newspapers. In 2006, Ezzat studied global security threats for three months in the Geneva Center for Security policy.

Ezzat received her bachelor’s degree from the English-French department at the faculty of Al-Alsun, Ain Shams University (1988) and earned her master’s from the same department in 1993.

Market Research

Mr. Hany Mwafy
Egypt Country Manager
ACNielsen

Hany Mwafy is currently the country manager of ACNielsen Egypt. He embarked on his career 14 years ago as a machine and equipment salesperson and worked his way up to handling global projects. He has diverse experience on local, regional, and global levels spanning different industries such as energy, lubricants, food, personal care, cosmetics, and consumer paper products. His work has included the management of globally and regionally recognized business with British Petroleum, Americana, Unilever, and Nivea. He considers himself a corporate entrepreneur that is fortunate to get paid for doing what he loves.

Mwafy’s edge lies within his passion for sharing his experience and knowledge to people beyond the boardroom. In that respect, he has delivered lectures on strategic marketing and marketing planning for Knowledge Horizon. He enjoys looking at business differently by complementing analytical business models with creativity and imagination that translates into tangible performance results. Mwafy holds an MBA with a concentration in international marketing, a diploma in marketing and sales, and a law degree.

Aside of his active career life, Mwafy enjoys spending his spare time with his wife and two daughters, socializing with friends, engaging in extreme sports and reading.

Marketing

Ms. Nancy Tawfik Girgis '91 & '94
Franchise Senior Brand Manager
Flavors Category North East Africa Region
Coca-Cola Egypt - Atlantic Industries

Nancy Girgis graduated from The American University in Cairo with a bachelor’s in business administration & a minor in economics (1991) and later received her MBA in 1994. She embarked on her career as assistant brand manager in Lever Egypt SAE (Unilever) just after her graduation and was promoted in the following years till she became senior brand manager in 1996.

In 1998, Girgis joined Johnson & Johnson SAE as a group product manager where she successfully achieved a 30% increase in brand volume of a moisturizing cream as well as a 25% cost reduction for another brand. A year later, she was promoted to marketing manager but left to join Coca-Cola Egypt, where she became region brand manager. In addition to setting brand strategy and aligning it with the agreed regional/divisional strategy, Girgis was also responsible for leading projects and assigning responsibilities to team members to ensure timely delivery. She had a direct involvement in annual plan preparations and market research projects, among other things.

Currently, Girgis is the franchise senior brand manager in Coca-Cola Egypt. Among her achievements, to name only a few, are setting short and long term strategies for products, developing promotional strategies, initiating unique selling points for Coca-Cola products and looking for potential opportunities within the beverages industry.

Psychology/Clinical Psychology

Dr. Georgette Savvides '95
Head of Inpatient & Outpatient Psychological Services
Behman Hospital

Georgette Savvides is currently the head of inpatient and outpatient psychological services at Behmen Hospital where she has clinical responsibilities as well as supervising 4 psychologists and 3 trainees. Savvides has worked for numerous employers including North East London Eating Disorder Services, the Institute of Criminal, Environmental and Substance Use Research (Cairo), and North East London Mental Health Trust-Children and Adolescents Services. She has also worked in several clinics and administered private patients.

Specializing in issues of eating disorders and drug abuse, Savvides has participated in a number of conferences, trainings and Research. She is a member of the British Psychological Society, the National Register of UK Counselors, the British Association for Counseling and Psychotherapy and the National Center for Eating Disorders.

Savvides graduated in 1995 from The American University in Cairo, majoring in psychology. In 2000, she received her master’s in clinical and public health aspects of addiction from King’s College, followed by a doctorate in counseling psychology (D.Coun.Psy) from City University in 2004.

Savvides has delivered numerous presentations, published articles and was hosted by a local radio station to discuss issues related to common psychological problems faced by society. She has taught introductory courses in psychology at The American University in Cairo and at Delta Academy of Modern Science.