The International Council for Small Business’ (ICSB) members elected senior vice president Ahmed Osman as the council’s first Egyptian president on Monday.
Osman will replace ICSB’s U.S. Incoming President Geralyn Franklin in June 2019, to become the first Egyptian president in the ICSB’s 63-year history.
This is also the first time for the ICSB to elect a president from either an Islamic or a Middle Eastern country.
The Washington-headquartered council is the world’s largest international SME organisation dedicated to advancing small business and entrepreneurship. Founded in 1955, the ICSB was the first international membership organisation to promote the growth and development of small businesses worldwide. It brings together educators, researchers, policy-makers, and practitioners from around the world to share knowledge and expertise in their respective fields.
Osman, who was elected for a one-year term, also served as President of the Middle East Council for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (MCSBE), the official host of the Global Entrepreneurship Week in Egypt. He is currently the chief executive of CHROME Project Management, a project management firm working with several government and private organizations on construction and real estate development projects in Egypt.
He has collaborated with the Egyptian government as technical advisor for the launch of Share Masr- Egypt’s street food vending initiative, which will be rolled out across 200 locations in Egypt during 2018, set to create over 5,000 micro businesses. He is also working on developing Egypt’s first entrepreneurial college town with a major real estate developer in Egypt in partnership with ICSB.
During the closing remarks of the ICSB World Conference held in Taipei, the voting results also revealed electing the Egyptian Amr Abouelazm as ICSB’s board member for Africa and Europe.
Australia, United States, Indonesia, Argentina, and Taiwan were also elected to the body on Monday.
