Naguib Sawiris is an Egyptian businessman and politician. He was born on June 15, 1954. He is the son of Onsi Sawiris, who established Orascom Group, and the eldest of three brothers. Naguib Sawiris is an Egyptian Christian, follows the teachings of the Coptic Orthodox Church.
He is married, with four children and lives in Cairo, Egypt. He speaks Arabic, English, German and French.
Education and Career
Naguib Sawiris holds a diploma in Mechanical Engineering with a Master in Technical Administration from the Swiss Institute of Technology, ETH Switzerland and a Diploma from the German Evangelical School, Cairo, Egypt.[1]
In 2010, Naguib Sawiris was listed in Forbes magazine as the 374th richest person in the world, with a personal wealth of US$2.5 billion.
Naguib Sawiris joined Orascom in 1979. The Orascom Group is the country’s largest private sector employer and has the largest market capitalization on the Cairo & Alexandria Stock Exchange. Sawiris established and built the railway, information technology, and telecommunications sectors of Orascom. The conglomerate was later split into separate operating companies: Orascom Telecom (OT), Orascom Construction Industries (OCI), Orascom Hotels & Development and Orascom Technology Systems (OTS) . OTH was established in late 1997 and since then has been chaired by Sawiris.
He was executive chairman of the telecommunications companies Wind Telecom and Orascom Telecom Holding (OTH) before turning to politics in May 2011. OTH launched the first mobile operator in Egypt, Mobinil in 1998.
Naguib Sawiris is the recipient of numerous honorary degrees, industry awards and civic honors, including the French Legion of Honour and the Sitara-e-Quaid-e-Azam award, conferred upon him in 2006 by Pervez Musharraf “for services rendered to the people of Pakistan in the field of telecommunication, investments and social sector work.” In November 2011, the Canadian International Council recognized him as the 2011 CIC Globalist of the Year.
His Political Activity
He is considered a nationalist and supporter of liberalism. He favored a gradual transition during the 2011 Egyptian revolution and played as a mediating figure between the protesters and Hosni Mubarak’s people. Although he expressed concerns about the military caretaker government he favored changes that increased democracy and stability. He is the founder of the liberal Free Egyptians Party. In 2009, Sawiris launched the Arabic-language ONTV television network, which has adopted a politically liberal stance and, in addition to its popular Ramadan serials, hosts two of the most-watched talk shows in Egypt.
In late June 2011, his tweet of Mickey Mouse with an Islamic beard and dressed in a Jilbāb and Minnie Mouse wearing a full Muslim veil caused controversy, accusing him of racism and Islamophobia. Sawiris’ tweet of Mickey and Minnie Mouse in salafi garb led to calls for a boycott of the various businesses in which he has invested, including Mobinil and the Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper.
About Orascom Telecom
Orascom Telecom is a leading international telecommunications company operating GSM networks in high growth markets in the Middle East, Africa and Asia, having a total population under license of approximately 415 million with an average mobile telephony penetration of approximately 52% as of March 31st, 2012. Orascom Telecom operates GSM networks in Algeria (“OTA”), Pakistan (“Mobilink”) and Bangladesh (“banglalink”) and has an indirect equity shareholding in Globalive Wireless Canada (“Wind Mobile”). In addition it has an indirect equity ownership in Telecel Zimbabwe (Zimbabwe) and through its subsidiary Telecel Globe, OTH also operates in Burundi and the Central African Republic. Orascom Telecom reached over 82 million subscribers as of March 31st, 2012.
Orascom Telecom is traded on the Egyptian Exchange under the symbol (ORTE.CA, ORAT EY), and on the London Stock Exchange its GDSs are traded under the symbol (ORTEq.L, OTLD LI).
About Wind Telecom S.p.A
In early 2005, Sawiris founded Weather Investments (later called Wind Telecom) and led the leveraged buyout of a majority stake of Wind Telecommunications in Italy, taking over as its chairman. A year later, he led Weather Investments’ acquisition of Tim Hellas in Greece and re-branded it Wind Hellas. In November 2006, Wind Telecommunications floated the largest ever PIK debt in Europe and used the proceeds to complete the buyout of Wind from ENEL, resulting in the Sawiris Family owning 98% of Weather.
In October, 2010, VimpelCom Ltd., Russia’s second-largest mobile phone operator, and Sawiris agreed to merge their phone assets in a transaction valued at about US$6.5 billion. Sawiris announced his plan for a new company with the companies not included in the merger: the Egyptian mobile-services company, Mobinil, the North Korean GSM operator, Koryolink, Mena Cables, and non-GSM companies. In January 2011, the company changed its name from “Weather Investments S.p.A.” to “Wind Telecom S.p.A.”.
References
http://www.africansuccess.org/visuFiche.php?id=430&lang=en
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naguib_Sawiris
http://www.orascomtelecom.com/Investor_Relations/Contents/default.aspx?ID=437
