H.E.Dr. Sahar Nasr
Her Excellency Dr. Sahar Nasr was sworn in as the Egyptian Minister of Investment and International Cooperation on February 16, 2017. On March 14, 2017, Dr Sahar temporarily assumed the charge of the post of Minister of Public Business Sector. Dr. Nasr earned her Professorship from the Supreme Council of Universities. She is a Professor of Economics at the American University in Cairo and a Lecturer at several Egyptian and foreign universities. Throughout her academic career, she published over 60 research papers, technical reports and books merging her technical and practical expertise in the fields of international finance, economic development, private sector and SME development, as well as the fields of financial reform, the labor market, women empowerment, and economic legislation. These papers and reports were published in scientific periodicals, including those of Cambridge and Oxford University in the UK, Berkley University in the USA, and scientific periodicals published by the World Bank. Some of these studies and research papers have contributed to drafting and structuring economic policies in various developing countries and emerging markets, including Egypt. Since assuming her role as Minister of International Cooperation on September 19, 2015, Dr. Nasr has made several strides in restructuring and reforming the Ministry, such as the establishment of a unit for monitoring and evaluation and a policy development and strategic planning unit in order to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of Official Development Assistance (ODA) to Egypt. Furthermore, Dr. Nasr has focused on strengthening Egypt’s ties with its existing international partners, as well as exploring new opportunities for cooperation, all through the establishment of mutually-beneficial partnerships. This has involved consolidating Egyptian-Gulf relationships, expanding and deepening ties with African states, and exploring new relationships with Asian partners. She is the National Coordinator of the National Committee for the Follow-Up on the Implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Dr. Nasr also serves as Governor of Egypt to several institutions such as The World Bank, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa, and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. Dr. Nasr has been a member of the Economic Development Council of the Presidential Office through which she provided economic consultations to the President and drafted several proposals for the development of Egypt’s economic policies, boosting economic development efforts, coordinating and streamlining development initiatives and programs across different ministries and authorities, as well as to ensure the modernization of the economic performance system. Her Excellency was granted the 2015 prize of the most influential woman in the Arab economic sector. Dr. Nasr has extensive experience in negotiating and securing international grants and loans, especially within her role as Lead Economist at the World Bank. She has managed funds exceeding US$ 4.3 billion that were injected into the Egyptian economy in the areas of economic reform, economic policy development, small and medium enterprise (SME) development and social housing. Furthermore, she has broad expertise in organizing and heading committees of several international economic aid and foreign investment funds, as well as in the coordination with several international organizations, on top of which is the United Nations. Dr. Nasr’s career heavily involved designing and supervising numerous reform and finance programs in the Middle East, Asia, Latin America, and Central and Eastern Europe. She has accomplished numerous success stories in the areas of economic and financial strategy design; monitoring progress and implementation of financial sector programs including legislative, supervisory and structural reforms; development of micro, small and medium enterprises to promote inclusive growth and job creation, design and management of social housing finance programs, as well as constructing partnership schemes between the World Bank Group, Governments of a diverse group of developing countries and other local/international organizations.
Mohamed Farid Saleh
Mohamed Farid Saleh is chairman of the Egyptian Exchange (EGX) and the Federation of Euro-Asian Stock Exchanges. Previously, he served as chairman and CEO of Dcode EFC. Mr. Farid has worked as an external consultant on venture capital and financial leasing for the World Bank Group in Egypt, was a member of the Capital Market Advisory Committee established by the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority, and served as vice chairman of EGX. In addition, he has served as a senior financial economist and head of the capital markets unit at the Ministry of Investment, where he participated in the formulation and implementation of the two phases of the Non-Banking Financial Sector Reform Plans adopted by the Egyptian government. Mr. Farid has also been a part-time lecturer on financial markets, international finance, and financial derivatives at the American University in Cairo and the Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport (AASTMT). He has a BSc in foreign trade and economics from Helwan University; an MBA from the AASTMT; an MSc in economics, finance, and investment from the University of York; an MSc in quantitative finance from Cass Business School; and a certificate in venture capital from the University of California, Berkeley.
Sherif Samy
Sherif Samy is an investment and financial markets advisor. He is non executive chairman or board member in a number of companies operating in the financial and real estate sectors. He recently completed his four year term as . chairman of the Financial Regulatory Authority, Egypt’s regulator of all non banking financial services: capital market, insurance, private pension funds, leasing, mortgage, factoring and microfinance. He was a board member of the Central Bank of Egypt (2013-2017) and prior to that board member of Banque Du Caire (2010 – 2013) and starting from 2007 served for four consecutive terms on the board of the General Authority for Investment & Free Zones. Sherif was the first managing director of Banque Misr’s investment arm “Misr Capital” which managed a significant private equity portfolio in addition to managing two large mutual funds. He previously served as board member of the SME Development Fund in addition to numerous listed and privately held companies operating in the capital market, textile, urban development, engineering, education, logistics and mining sectors
Khaled AbuBakr
Khaled AbuBakr is Executive Chairman and cofounder of TAQA Arabia and Chairman of the Egyptian Gas Association. He is a well known regional veteran, entrepreneur and manager in the energy sector and specially the Gas industry. Based in Cairo, TAQA Arabia is the leading private sector energy distribution company in Egypt, investing and operating energy infrastructure including gas transmission and distribution, power generation and distribution, a 50 MW solar energy and marketing of oil products. Through its 3400 professional employees TAQA serve more than 1 million customers. Mr. AbuBakr serves in several organizations as: Vice President Programs of the Board of Governors for AmCham Egypt, Board Member of the International Gas Union its Regional Coordinator for Africa & Middle East, and President of the Italian Egyptian Business Council.
Gary Baker, CFA
As managing director of Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), Gary Baker leads the EMEA team to deliver measurable value to CFA Institute stakeholders and constituents throughout the region. He is responsible for the strategic direction of the EMEA region and strengthening relationships with our 40 member societies, as well as with institutions, universities, regulators, and institutional partners. n his role, Baker aims to strengthen the voice of CFA Institute on behalf of members to key stakeholders in the region. He is responsible for supporting CFA Institute policy development in EMEA, advancing the impact of advocacy efforts, and supporting EMEA member societies in delivering value to members and candidates. He also has a key focus on increasing charterholder commitment to continuing education. Baker additionally has management responsibility for Research functions across CFA Institute including Financial Analysts Journal, Future of Finance and the Research Foundation. Baker is based in London. aker has been engaged in financial market investment research for the past 30 years with a highly successful track record in a wide range of sell-side strategic, analytic, and management roles. He previously worked at Merrill Lynch for 20 years in a number of global roles, including managing director and Chief European Equity Strategist. Most recently, he was Deputy Head of Research with Jefferies in London. During his career, Baker has been a leader in country, regional, and global roles across Europe, Asia, Australia, and the United States. e holds a master’s degree in geography from Cambridge University and earned the CFA charter in 1997.
Basil El-Baz
Basil El-Baz is the Chairman and CEO of Carbon Holdings, a mid-to-downstream O&G development company, with over 20 years’ experience in the petrochemical industry. He graduated from Harvard University where he studied economics and government with a focus on industrial economics. He has developed and financed two major industrial greenfield projects in Egypt; First being Egypt Basic Industries Corporation (EBIC) which represents and still is the only project to receive a comprehensive loan guarantee from the Export-Import Bank of the United States. Second being, Egypt Hydrocarbon Corporation (EHC), with a transaction value of approximately US$550 million. EHC is widely considered as the first major industrial project to close in post-revolution Egypt. In December 2012, Carbon Holdings concluded its US$114 million acquisition of the Egyptian polypropylene producer, Oriental Petrochemicals Company (OPC). After a technical and commercial restructuring OPC re-commenced commercial operations in the fourth quarter of 2015. Most importantly, Carbon Holdings is developing the circa US$10.8 billion Naphtha Cracker and Polyethylene Complex project named Tahrir Petrochemicals Corporation (TPC) that is currently in an advanced stage of financing. The project is being financed by the Export – Import Bank of the United States (US EXIM), the United Kingdom Export Finance (‘UKEF”), Overseas Private Investment Corporation of the United States (OPIC), Euler Hermes of Germany and Export Development Canada (EDC).
Amr Abou Elazm
Amr Abou Elazm is the chairman of Tamweely Microfinance Company. Previously, he was the vice chairman, CEO, and co-founder of Tanmeyah Micro Enterprise Services and served as the deputy director of the German Development Bank (KfW) in Egypt. Mr. Abou Elazm has also worked for the Social Fund for Development, where his focus was project management for small and microfinance projects implemented through commercial banks. In addition, he has served as the senior economist at the Economic Reform Monitoring Unit and assistant to the adviser of the minister at the Ministry of Economy and International Cooperation and at the Commercial International Bank of Egypt. Mr. Abou Elazm is recognized as one of the main resource executives in Egypt in the field of policy structuring and management of financial services, microfinance, and small and medium-sized enterprise projects. He has participated in the formulation of the National Micro Finance Strategy for Egypt and is a lecturer on entrepreneurship development, financial services delivery, and management. Mr. Abouelazm is a board member and VP of the International council for small business (ICSB), treasurer and board member of the Middle East Council for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (MCSBE) and member of the financing and resources committee at the Ministry of Antiquities. He is a Board Member and Member of the restructuring committee, HR and product development committee of Nasser Social Bank and has recently been appointed as a board member of the Micro Small and Medium Enterprise Development Authority. Mr. Abou Elazm received a BA in economics and a master’s degree in development, specializing in commercialization and development of micro-enterprises, from the American University in Cairo.
Tim Fox
Tim Fox is chief economist and head of research at NBD. In this role, he is responsible for the development, coordination, and production of economic and financial analysis and reports, with a focus on global and regional economies and financial markets. Prior to joining Emirates NBD, Mr. Fox was a director of FX strategy at Dresdner Kleinwort in London. He previously held senior economics and strategy positions at a number of global financial institutions in London and New York, including Credit Suisse and Standard Chartered, where his focus ranged from G10 to emerging market economies and currencies. Mr. Fox is a frequent commentator on global and regional business channels and regularly writes articles for a number of prominent newspapers and publications. He is a graduate of the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Khaled Al Gazawi
Dr. Khaled Al-Gazawi is the Chief Executive Officer of Ebdaa Bank for Microfinance in Bahrain since April 2014. Beside this role, Khaled serves as a board member of the National Microfinance Bank of Jordan, Ebdaa Bank for Microfinance in Mauritania; Innovation and Partnership Bank of Sierra Leone, Ebdaa Microfinance Company in Palestine, and Ebdaa Bank for Microfinance in Syria. He also serves as a member of the technical committee of Ebdaa Microfinance Company in Lebanon. arlier in his career, Dr. Al-Gazawi served as the General Manager of Grameen – Jameel Microfinance LTD (GJ). Khaled also served as a Resident Advisor for the Arab Gulf fund for development (AGFUND) in Lebanon, and led the efforts to create the newest AGFUND’s microfinance bank in Lebanon; Ibdaa; which was functional in less than 70 days from commencing setup. Between 2007 and early 2012, Khaled worked for the First Microfinance Foundation – Egypt (FMF-E) as the Chief Executive Officer. FMF-E is the local affiliate of the Aga Khan Agency for Microfinance (AKAM). Beside the extensive microfinance consultancy work Khaled did, he was among the founding team and served as the CEO of the Jordan Micro Credit Company (Tamweelcom), the leading Jordanian Microfinance institution in Jordan, owned by the Noor Hussein Foundation and funded by United States Agency for International Development (USAID). n total, Khaled has over 19 years of experience in micro-finance, plus an extensive experience in banking, marketing, and business consultancy. Dr Al-Gazawi is a certified Trainer in various fields of microfinance, such as business planning, delinquency management, interest rate setting, accounting, operational risks management and financial analysis. Khaled holds a PhD. degree in International Management from the US, and an MBA from Jordan.
Ashraf Ghazaly
Ashraf Ghazaly is chief executive officer and managing director of NI Capital, where he oversees the firm’s IPO program, aimed at reinvigorating capital markets and channeling foreign direct investments into the country through the rigorous selection and listing of promising state-owned entities. He also manages the firm’s private equity investment fund, Ayady for Investment and Development, partnering with private-sector investors to create job opportunities across key industries, including agriculture, tourism, financial services, industrial, and media. Mr. Ghazaly has played a prominent role in bridging the gap between public and private institutions—leveraging the firm’s unique global network to promote private participation and enhance the performance and profitability of these public assets— with the goal of enabling economic growth. Prior to joining NI Capital, Mr. Ghazaly was the CIO of Palm Hills Developments. He also served as deputy managing director of Fleming CIIC Investment Securities. Mr. Ghazaly holds a bachelor of science and an MBA from California State University and a postgraduate degree in corporate finance from London Business School.
Walid Hassouna
Walid Hassouna is the chief executive officer of EFG Hermes Finance. In addition, he is a non-executive board member of Tanmeyah Micro Enterprise Services and EFG Hermes Leasing, both subsidiaries of EFG Hermes Finance. Previously, Mr. Hassouna was general manager and head of structured finance and investment banking at Bank Audi, where he closed structured and project finance transactions. He has structured and executed several award-winning deals in project finance and mergers and acquisitions in Egypt and Gulf Cooperation Council countries, in addition to several investment banking transactions. Mr. Hassouna has also served as the head of structured finance and syndication at Banque Misr, where he successfully managed to top the league table of the Middle East and North Africa region in syndicated loans. He earned a BBA from Cairo University, where he graduated with highest honors; an MBA from Georgia State University’s J. Mack Robinson College of Business; and the Islamic Finance Qualification from the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment.
Amer Abdulaziz Khansaheb, CFA
Amer Abdulaziz Khansaheb is the President of the CFA Society Emirates. He is the Managing Director of Khansaheb Investment, a UAE Family Business with investments in Construction, Infrastructure, Real Estate, Healthcare and Leisure. His expertise includes Real Estate Development, Construction Management, Financial Analysis, and Business Management. Mr. Khansaheb graduated from the American University of Beirut with a degree in Civil & Environmental Engineering in 2005. In 2009, he received his MSc in Project Management from the British University in Dubai. He has been a CFA Charterholder since 2010.
Ashraf El Khatib, CFA
Ashraf El Khatib, CFA, is senior vice president at NI Capital, where he is responsible for deal sourcing and managing a number of portfolio companies. In addition, he manages Creative Media Ventures, a venture capital media and media tech fund. Before joining NI Capital, Mr. El Khatib managed a number of venture days in Spain and Germany and consulted several startups and subject matter experts in Europe, the United States, and the Middle East, with a focus on strategy and mergers and acquisitions. He also worked for PwC as deals senior manager, where he led deals across eight jurisdictions in the Middle East and Africa. Mr. El Khatib founded a startup and has had leadership roles in the startup and innovation space with IE Business School, PwC, CFA Institute, and the World Bank. He was the recipient of the CFA Institute Global Most Innovative Initiative in 2011 award and of the Best EMEA Talk award at the 2017 CFA Institute Society Leadership Conference. He earned an MBA from IE Business School in Madrid and holds a CPA designation.
Racha Al Khawaja
Racha Al Khawaja is group chief distribution and development officer at Equitativa, the manager of Emirates REIT, where her focus is on strategically expanding the business with a wide client base of family offices, institutions, conglomerates, and international broker/dealers. She has over 18 years of experience in developing and selling financial services and products to institutional customers in Europe and the Middle East and North Africa region, and she speaks English, Arabic, and French. Previously, Ms. Khawaja served as head of institutional coverage at Menacorp and as business manager in the Middle East at Fidessa. She has also worked at various international banks and institutions, including Lehman Brothers, State Street, and Bloomberg. Ms. Khawaja has a bachelor of science degree in mathematics from University College London and an MBA from Imperial College London.
Rosanna Lockwood
Rosanna Lockwood is a British-qualified broadcast journalist based in Dubai. She has worked variously as a presenter, editor, reporter, and producer for major television and radio news organisations in the United Kingdom, the Middle East, and Russia. Until recently, Ms. Lockwood was based in Moscow as a news anchor for RT International, presenting nightly live television news bulletins to English-speaking audiences around the world. She has also worked for the BBC, Bloomberg, and ITN in the United Kingdom, covering local, national, and international stories. Before training to be a journalist, Ms. Lockwood started her career in investment communications and has a special interest in finance and business topics. She now puts this knowledge to use at Reuters in Dubai, where she freelances as a television news correspondent covering Gulf stock markets and Middle East business alongside offering her services as a professional event host and moderator in the region.
Dave McCurdy
Dave McCurdy is president and CEO of the American Gas Association. Previously, he served
as president and CEO of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers (Alliance) and as president and CEO of the Electronic Industries Alliance (EIA). Mr. McCurdy also had a successful business consulting and investment practice as chairman and CEO of the McCurdy Group, L.L.C. Before his tenure at EIA, he served as member from the Fourth Congressional District of Oklahoma in the United States House of Representatives. Mr. McCurdy was appointed by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to the Defense Policy Board and served on the board in both the Bush and Obama administrations. He also held a commission in the United States Air Force Reserve, attaining the rank of major and serving as a judge advocate general (JAG). He currently serves on a number of not-for-profit boards and as vice president, resource development, of the Economic Club of Washington, DC. Mr. McCurdy received the 2017 Business–Government Relations Award from the Bryce Harlow Foundation for honesty, integrity, and strategic smarts in his 18-year career as an association CEO. He is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma and received his JD from Oklahoma Law School. As a Rotary International Graduate Fellow, Mr. McCurdy studied international economics at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland.
Tarek Abdel Rahman
Tarek Abdel Rahman is co-chief investment officer at Palm Hills Developments. Previously, he founded Akanar Partners, a dedicated corporate finance and merger and acquisition advisory firm, and was a senior investment banker at Beltone Financial, where he led a number of client engagements across several sectors. Mr. Rahman has also served as an associate with Citigroup’s investment banking unit in London, working on debt and syndicated finance transactions. In addition, he spent several years on the buy side with EFG-Hermes’ Private Equity department, after beginning his career with HSBC’s Corporate Banking Group in Cairo. Mr. Rahman graduated from the American University in Cairo and received an MBA from London Business School.
Amlan Roy
Amlan Roy is chief global retirement strategist at State Street Global Advisors . He also serves as a senior research associate at the London School of Economics and as guest finance professor at the London Business School. Dr. Roy is an experienced global macro-finance researcher and thought leader specialising in demographics related to economics, investments, and social policy who presents to institutional clients in the private and public sectors across more than 30 countries. Earlier in his career, he was with Credit Suisse Investment Bank, most recently as head of global demographics research. Dr. Roy developed global risk and asset allocation models and served as an international expert on financial architecture. Prior to that, he spent a decade in academia with a distinguished teaching career in the United States and United Kingdom. He was UK Economic and Social Research Council fellow, a Ponders fellow, a Boston University doctoral scholar, and a Government of India National Scholar.
Ahmed Abou El Saad, CFA
Ahmed Abou El Saad is Chairman at Rasmala Egypt Asset Management. Previously, he was head of asset management at Naeem Holding and head of capital markets at MI Bank. Mr. Abou El Saad has also served as head of surveillance at the Cairo and Alexandria Stock Exchange, where he was on the executive committee that works on introducing new instruments and regulations to the market. He is president of CFA Society Egypt, secretary general of the Egyptian Investment Management Association, and a member of the board of directors of the Egyptian Exchange. Mr. Abou El Saad has a bachelor of arts from Alexandria University, an MBA from the Arab Academy for Science and Technology, and a professional certificate in project finance and investment appraisal from the Harvard Institute for International Development.
Fadi Al Said, CFA
Fadi Al Said is a Portfolio Manager/Analyst on the Middle East and North African Equity (MENA) team. He began working in the investment field in 1998. Prior to joining Lazard in 2014, Fadi was Head of Investments and Portfolio Manager for ING Investment Management Middle East. Previously, he was a senior fund manager in the Asset Management division at NBD Investment Bank where he managed the two flagship funds (MENA Equities and GCC Balanced Funds). Prior to that Fadi was at Noor Capital where he was a Senior Vice President heading up the Asset Management division. He also worked for Damac Invest as a Senior Portfolio Manager, where he co-managed a multi-billion Dirham portfolio invested in the MENA region. He was responsible for leading a team covering Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE and other emerging markets. Prior to that, Fadi was the Head of Research at Al Jazira Bank in Saudi Arabia. He started his career working in the Arab Bank in Jordan. Fadi holds an MBA from Cass Business School (London City University) and a BSc in Economics from the University of Jordan. Fadi is a CFA® charterholder.
George Spentzos, CFA
George Spentzos, CFA, is a director at LNG Capital, non-executive director at NOW Bank, and member of the Board of Governors at CFA Institute. Previously, he served as an EMEA financial institutions group managing director (head of key client program) at Société Générale, based in London. Prior to that, Mr. Spentzos ran the fixed-income advisory group at Credaris, an asset manager based in the United Kingdom, where his team implemented investment strategies and client portfolio solutions. Previously, he was head of structured credit at Brevan Howard after having worked at Cheyne Capital, where he managed a long–short fund. Mr. Spentzos started his financial career at Nomura International, trading credit derivatives and corporate bonds for the bank, and at Amoco in Canada and the United States in a variety of engineering and business development roles. A past chair and fellow of CFA Society United Kingdom, he is also an executive advisory board member of the Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver. Mr. Spentzos earned an undergraduate degree in chemical engineering from the University of British Columbia and an MBA in finance from the University of Denver.
Arshad Sufi
Arshad Sufi is an energy professional with 36 years of diverse experience across the globe. He has a proven track record of managing complex businesses involving multi-billion dollar investments and portfolios with a wide understanding of the oil, gas and LNG industry. Mr. Sufi has a PhD from Stanford University. He started his career in the US and has worked with multinational companies in the UK, Canada, Egypt, Oman, Nigeria, Trinidad, and Qatar. From 2010 till 2015, he was president of BG Egypt, one of the largest gas producers in Egypt. Mr. Sufi is now co-founder and chairman of METAS Energy, a consulting company that is based in Egypt but targeting the wider Eastern Mediterranean, Middle East, and South Asia.
Abdel Nasser Taha
Abdel Nasser Taha is CEO of CFLD Egypt (the real estate sector). CFLD is the international city developer for integrated cities in China. He is the President Founder of Fiabci Egypt Chapter (the international federation of Real Estate) and real estate development expert with an architectural engineering background. During his 30 years of experience he was hired as adviser for “Suez Canal Economic Zone” & “The New Administrative Capital of Egypt.” He served as Head of the Development in Emaar Egypt, Morocco & the Economic City in Saudi Arabia with very successful records. He also worked as the Development Head for His Highness the governor of Dubai & Gulf Finance House. Mr. Taha is known in the Egyptian market as a main public speaker in most of the real estate conferences
and international events and as a member of the task force of City program of the United Nation for sustainable development of cities.
Ahmed Zahran
Ahmed Zahran is a co-founder and CEO of KarmSolar, an Egyptian joint stock company in the field of off-grid and on-grid solar innovations, where he is responsible for guiding, coordinating, and overseeing the commercial and technical growth strategies. He has 10 years of experience in renewable energy and carbon trading from his work at Shell in the United Kingdom and Tunisia and at Egyptian Kuwaiti Holding in Egypt, where he served as a business development manager for renewable energy and clean development mechanisms and initiated the company’s carbon trading and renewable energy business. Mr. Zahran is also a co-founder and former board director of Nahdet El Mahrousa, one of the largest youth-run non-governmental organizations in Egypt, which works on various youth development projects. He is a member of the board of trustees at TIEC, a hub for innovations and entrepreneurship in information and communication technology. Mr. Zahran has a certificate in social entrepreneurship from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, a diploma from the European College of Liberal Arts in philosophy and literature, a BA in business administration and finance from the American University in Cairo, and an MSc in economics from SOAS University of London.
