Naguib Sawiris

Mr. Naguib Sawiris founded Orascom Telecom Holding (OTH) and led it to become the leading regional telecom player until the much-publicized merger deal with VEON (formerly VimpelCom Ltd.), creating the world’s sixth largest mobile telecommunications provider in April 2011.

Today, he is Executive Chairman of Orascom Investment Holding, a holding company with a diversified investment portfolio targeting high-growth sectors where it sees opportunities of transformation and community impact in Egypt and Africa, including telecommunications and destination development.

Mr. Sawiris is Chairman of La Mancha Holding, the private natural resource investment vehicle of the Sawiris family group with equity investments in Endeavour Mining, Golden Star Resources and Altus Strategies. Mr. Sawiris is also  Chairman of Ora, a company undertaking high-end real estate developments in various prime locations around the world.

In 2015, the Sawiris family acquired a majority stake in Euronews where Mr. Sawiris is Chairman of the board. The Sawiris family also has ownership in several assets in the media business in Egypt.At international and regional levels, Mr. Sawiris served and is serving on a number of boards, committees and councils including International Advisory Committee to the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), International Advisory Board to the National Bank of Kuwait, London Stock Exchange’s Africa Advisory Group, External Advisory Council to the Global Institute for Advanced Study at NYU, the Boards of Trustees of the French University in Egypt (UFE) and the Arab Thought Foundation.

Mr. Sawiris is also the recipient of numerous honorary degrees, industry awards and civic honors, including the “Legion d’Honneur“ (the highest award given by the French Republic for outstanding services rendered to France). In July 2011 Mr. Sawiris was awarded the Honor of Commander of the Order of the “Stella della Solidarietà Italiana” (Star of Italian Solidarity). In 2006, the prestigious “Sitara-e-Quaid-e-Azam” award was conferred upon him by General Pervez Musharref for services rendered to the people of Pakistan in the field of telecommunication, investments and social sector work. Mr. Sawiris holds a diploma of Mechanical Engineering with a Masters in Technical Administration from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zürich) and a Diploma from the German Evangelical School, Cairo, Egypt.