Aly El Tayeb

CEO, Shift EV

Aly Eltayeb is the co-founder and CEO of Shift EV, an electric mobility startup based in Cairo, focused on electrifying fleets in emerging markets through manufacturing grade and speed retrofitting with lego packs the company designs and manufactures. The company's technology is currently deployed with leading last mile logistics fleets, under a battery as a service subscription model. Shift EV is led by an MIT / Intel / GM and backed by Union Square Ventures and other global venture investors.

Prior to Shift EV, Aly led the business development and analytics team at Form Energy, a long duration storage startup based in Boston, USA that has raised $800mn in financing. Aly joined as the 8th employee where he led the company's market discovery, and the development of a grid optimization analytics platform to engage customers on big battery projects. Aly led the contracting of a first-of-a-kind grid scale long duration power project with a US utility, and the development of a multi GWh global pipeline of projects. Before Form Energy, Aly was an early stage innovation manager at Corning, a Fortune 500 in the material science space, where he was responsible for the assessment of investment opportunities in automotive and consumer electronics.

Prior to that, Aly developed a novel electrochemical carbon capture technology at MIT raising $1.65mn of non-dilutive funding to support R&D for commercialization. Aly holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering and MBA in Finance from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is a Cairo University graduate.

Amr Allam

CEO, Hassan Allam Holding

Company: Hassan Allam Holding

Current Position: Group Chief Executive Officer

Other key positions:
Chairman and CEO of Hassan Allam Utilities
Chairman Hassan Allam Technologies
Chairman Hassan Allam Trading & Engineering
Vice-Chairman 3S Ready-mix
Vice-ChairmanHassan Allam Construction

Education:Bachelor of Sciencein Civil Engineering from the American University in Cairo

Membershipsand Business Affiliations:
Vice president of the American Chamber of Commerce
Board Member-Young Presidents Organization(YPO)
Member of the Egyptian Engineers Syndicate
Member of the Egyptian Council for Economic Studies

Aly Eltayeb is the co-founder and CEO of Shift EV, an electric mobility startup based in Cairo, focused on electrifying fleets in emerging markets through manufacturing grade and speed retrofitting with lego packs the company designs and manufactures. The company's technology is currently deployed with leading last mile logistics fleets, under a battery as a service subscription model. Shift EV is led by an MIT / Intel / GM and backed by Union Square Ventures and other global venture investors.

Mr. Allam assumed his role as Group Co-Chief Executive Officer for Hassan Allam Holding (HAH) in 2010. He spearheaded the dynamic evolution of HAH’s corporate strategy and expansion through new investments, including launching Hassan Allam Utilities, HAH’s investment and development arm. Since 2010, the group witnessed a tenfoldgrowth in its turnover, with revenues growing from USD 0.2BNto USD 2BNin successfully transitioning intoa leading engineering and construction and infrastructuredevelopmentgroup in the Middle East and Africa. Today, the group ranks among the Engineering News-Record (ENR) list of the top 250 global contractors and engineering firms and continues to be the leading contractorand investorfor strategic projects.

Mr. Allam started his career in 2004 by joining the Consolidated Contractors Company as a project engineer. His site duties were primarily focused on technical office tasks, including cost control, procurement, and planning for three years.In 2007 he joined Hassan Allam Construction ashead of new businesses,where he incorporated two flagship investments in the Cement and Sugar sectors.Both investments were used as enablers for the constructionbusiness’s backlogand were later exited at very lucrativefinancial returns.

In 2010Mr. Allam incorporated and became the managing director of a specialized buildings construction company thatexclusively servedone of Egypt’s premium realestate developers. The company grew to represent almost 35%of the group’s backlog and revenue and later merged into Hassan Allam Construction. At that point,Mr. Allam was appointed as the Chief Executive Officerfor Hassan Allam Holding.

Today, beyond chartering the group’s growth into investment and development, Mr.Allamcontinues to oversee the group’s overallbusinessgrowth, profitability,and operationsto ensure efficiency, quality, service,andcost-effective managementand deliver a growing and sustainablereturn to HAH’s shareholders.

Karim Hussein

managing partner, Algebra Ventures

Karim Hussein is Managing Partner at Algebra Ventures. He is a technology veteran with deep experience in product and innovation management and rapid business growth and scaling – particularly in the healthcare and financial services markets.

Karim has been an active investor and mentor to a number of technology businesses in Egypt and the US. He is founder and Chairman of D-Kimia Diagnostic Solutions developing fast, affordable, and accurate medical diagnostics using nano-technology and focused on controlling the Hepatitis C epidemic in Egypt and globally.

Karim has served on the board of D-Kimia, Integreight, Shezlong.com, Prognos.ai, and Simplex Arabia CNC Solutions. He is also Chairman of the entrepreneurship committee of the Egyptian National Competitiveness Council, a mentor to high impact entrepreneurs through the Endeavor network, and a fellow of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.

Previously, Karim was SVP, Products and Engineering at WebMD, Inc., directing product management, technology strategy and engineering. Prior to WebMD, Karim was co-founder and CTO of Riskclick, Inc., a software firm specializing in commercial insurance applications. He also was a senior associate at Booz Allen & Hamilton where he was a member of the Global e-Commerce team.

Karim received his PhD in Information Systems from MIT and a dual BSc in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University. He has over 40 publications and a patent for his work on distributed computing.

Khalid Hamza

Director, Head of Egypt

Khalid Hamza is the Director, Head of Egypt at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). Based in Cairo, Khalid is responsible for the formulation and delivery of EBRD’s strategy and business plan for Egypt and manages a team of 70 staff with an annual business volume of over € 1 billion. An Egyptian/British national, Khalid joined the EBRD in London in 2012 as a Principal Banker in the Sustainable Infrastructure Group. In 2019 he was appointed as the Deputy Head of Office in Cairo to lead Egypt to become one of the Banks’ largest countries of operation.Khalid serves as the co-Chair of the International Cooperation Committee at the American Chamber of Commercesince 2019.Prior tojoining EBRD in 2012 in London, Khalid worked in Rasmala, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Commercial International Bank (CIB).

Leslie Reed

Mission director for Egypt, USAID

Leslie Reed began her tour as USAID Mission Director for Egypt in August 2020 and is leading USAID/Egypt to support US and Egyptian government priorities in climate change, COVID-19 response, anti-corruption, women's social and economic empowerment, economic growth, and social and economic inclusion, among others.  Before arriving in Egypt, she most recently served as Mission Director in South Sudan where she led the development of the mission’s new country strategy, the establishment of a new FSN (local staff) Advisory Leadership Council, and the USG humanitarian response to ongoing civil strife, historic floods, rising food insecurity and COVID-19. She served as Mission Director for Ethiopia from 2016 to 2019, where she led a major effort to promote Ethiopian government reforms, the development of the Mission’s new country strategy, and the USG's efforts to address several complex humanitarian crises. As Mission Director for Uganda from 2012–2016, Ms. Reed pioneered the Mission of Leaders Program that received agency-wide accolades for empowering staff to lead at all levels, resulting in greater development results.

Ms. Reed also served as Deputy Regional Mission Director for USAID's Southern Africa Mission, as USAID’s Assistant General Counsel for Africa in Washington D.C., and as a Foreign Service regional legal advisor in Lima, Peru, and Accra, Ghana.

Before joining USAID, Ms. Reed was a senior project finance officer and assistant general counsel for the Export-Import Bank of the United States and an associate with the law firm of Morrison & Foerster in Los Angeles.

Ms. Reed is a graduate of UCLA School of Law and the University of California, San Diego.

Mohamed Ismail Mansour

Co Founder and CEO, Infinity

Co-Founder & CEO,
Infinity Member of the Board of Directors, Infinity Power

Mohamed Ismail Mansour is Co-Founder and CEO, Infinity, a leading renewable energy solutions provider in Egypt and Africa and member of the Board of Directors, Infinity Power, a joint venture between Masdar and Infinity.

Mansour incorporated Infinity Capital in 2011, and co-founded Infinity in 2014, the only dedicated renewable energy solutions provider in Egypt that develops clean energy solutions across several sectors and scales. At Infinity, Mansour has played a key role in scaling the company from a small solar start-up to becoming Egypt’s largest renewable energy company dealing in solar, EV, wind, waste-to-energy solutions.

For nearly a decade, Infinity has been leading the shift to a sustainable future for Egypt and Africa, through meticulously developed, commercially viable energy solutions that provide efficient and sustainable access to energy resources for everyone. Infinity is Egypt’s largest contributor to the Benban Solar Park, Africa’s largest photovoltaic power station. Moreover, Infinity through its subsidiary Infinity Power is also Egypt’s market leader in utility-scale solar generation capacities connected to the grid.

Mohamed started his professional career as a third generation Mansour family member at McDonald’s Egypt, one of the Mansour family group companies, in January 1998. Since then, Mansour has helped grow McDonald’s Egypt, from 30 stores and EGP 150 million in revenues to currently over 100 stores and over EGP 2 billion in revenues.

He earned his Bachelor of Science Degree in Finance from Babson College in Wellesley, MA.

Nader Aboushadi

Group Treasurer - Dar Group

Nader Aboushadi is an award-winning Corporate Treasurer with over 20 years of Corporate Treasury and Global Banking experience, and a deep passion for early stage Venture Capital. In his current role as Group Treasurer of Dar Group, Mr. Aboushadi is responsible for Treasury, Banking, Corporate Finance, Cash Management, Derivatives, Hedging and Trade Finance for the organization. Mr. Aboushadi has been advising on, structuring, and executing funding strategies for private and publicly listed companies, has led several landmark debt-raising and debt-restructuring transactions in the region, has successfully built several treasury departments and has drafted and implemented treasury governance policies and procedures.

Prior to joining Dar Group, Mr. Aboushadi was the Group Treasurer of Al Fahim Group, Group Treasurer – Board Member of Mantrac Group, before which Mr. Aboushadi was the Deputy Director of the Group Corporate Treasury Department of Orascom Construction Industries. Prior to embarking on a career in Corporate Treasury, Mr Aboushadi spent a decade with leading financial institutions between the UK, UAE and Cairo, working with Merrill Lynch, HSBC and Barclays.   

Mr. Aboushadi is a member of the Association of Corporate Treasurers in the Middle East (ACT), who awarded him Treasurer of the Year in 2018, and the American Chamber of Commerce in the UAE. Nader sits on the Board of Dar Real Estate UK, Dar Egypt, United Oil SAE and Cairo Angels Holding, as well as Dar Group’s Sustainability Committee and Risk Committee. Mr. Aboushadi holds an International MBA from IE Business School in Madrid, a Bachelor’s Degree from the American University in Cairo and is a CFA Charter holder.

Dr. Sherif Elkholy

Partner and head of MENA, Actis

Partner and Head of the Middle East & Africa Infrastructure and Head of the Middle East & North Africa Private Equity, Actis  Cairo-born Sherif has spent most of his life in Egypt and the Middle East, apart from a period of time spent in London where he gained a Ph.D. in economics and an MSc. in finance and economic development (with distinction) at the University of London.  Sherif started his career at EFG-Hermes Private Equity, investing in Egypt, Jordan, and Turkey, and then did a brief stint in structured finance at HSBC. In 2004, Sherif joined Actis as an associate focusing on North Africa. Now a managing partner heading up Actis’ business across the Middle East and Africa, he has played various deal leadership, execution, investment management and exit roles across the MENA region in leading businesses including Yellow Door Energy, Emirates District Cooling Company, Lekela Power, Edita Food Industries, Honoris United Universities, Cleopatra Hospital Group, and El-Rashidi El-Mizan, as well as playing a key role in Actis’ acquisition of the management rights of private equity funds previously managed by Abraaj in 2019.  Sherif serves on the Economic Advisory Council of H.E. the Prime Minister of Egypt, is a member of the board of governors of the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt, and a member of the board of directors of the Egyptian Center for Economic Studies, and a member of the board of directors of Ahli United Bank Egypt. Sherif has also periodically lectured on private equity as an adjunct professor of finance at the American University in Cairo School of Business where he was awarded the “excellence in teaching award”. 

Simon Kitchen

EFG Hermes Research, MD, Head of Strategy

Simon Kitchen is the Head of Strategy at EFG Hermes - Research. He joined the the Firm in 2007, and previously led EFG Hermes’ economics coverage for North Africa and the Levant. Before EFG Hermes, he worked for Eurasia Group, a political risk consultancy in New York, advising investors on risks in the Middle East from 2001. Simon has a masters degree from Columbia University in New York, and an undergraduate MA from Edinburgh University in Scotland.

Tarek El Nahas

Group Head of International Banking, Mashreq Bank

As the Group Head of Mashreq’s International Banking, Tarek is responsible for supporting local and multi-national clients of Mashreq at each stage of their international expansion and focus on facilitating trade flows to and from the region, covering markets that include Africa and Asia.

As part of this overarching objective, Tarek formulates strategies for Mashreq’s international business segment; with the aim of increasing revenue and profit targets that contribute to the Bank’s objectives of solidifying its position in the international business arena.

Prior to joining Mashreq, Tarek spent 25 years at Citibank, most recently as the Head of Corporate and Investment Banking for North Africa, Egypt and Levant, managing teams across six countries in the MENA region.

Tarek has held several senior roles in Egypt, Algeria and the UAE and has extensive experience across a wide range of disciplines, including corporate finance, investment banking, derivatives and structured products, commercial banking and corporate banking.

Tarek’s wholesale banking experience extended to working with large corporates, financial institutions, sovereigns and the public sector.

Tarek holds a BA in economics and political science from the American University in Cairo and a MSc in economics from the London School of Economics.

Todd Wilcox

CEO and vice-chair, HSBC Egypt

HSBC Bank Egypt, Chief Executive Officer and Deputy Chairman

Todd Wilcox is the Deputy Chairman and CEO for HSBC Bank Egypt. Todd has an extensive international banking experience for more than 30 years. He joined Egypt from HSBC China, where he was appointed as Senior Executive Vice President, Deputy CEO and Executive Director of the Board. Todd has been in a series of leadership roles as he was appointed as CEO Brunei for the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation. Earlier in his career, he was appointed as CRO for Asia-Pacific overseeing 11 markets in the region and served as COO for Risk across all Asian markets. Todd was also appointed as Head of Retail Banking and Marketing, HSBC Bermuda and he had spent the first two years of his career within HSBC in Canada, helping to expand the Group’s operations. Prior to joining HSBC, Todd worked for Royal Bank of Canada in a wide range of business and functional roles.

Jorgo Chatzimarkakis

CEO, Hydrogen Europe

Jorgo Chatzimarkakis has been working at Hydrogen Europe since 2016. He currently holds the position of CEO of the association. He previously covered roles in the planning department of the Foreign Office of Germany, at Infineon Technologies and was Member of the European Parliament (2004-2014) inter alia in the ITRE Committee (Industry, Technology, Research and Energy) where he could contribute to lay the cornerstone for the first and the second Joint Undertaking on hydrogen and fuel cells. He was awarded Hydrogen Person of the Year at the World Hydrogen Awards 2022, “as a major player promoting hydrogen in Europe and world-wide, accelerating collaboration and industry development”.

Jorgo was born in Duisburg, Germany. He holds German and Greek nationality, and a degree in political science from the University of Bonn.

Khaled Nageib

CEO, Hydrogen Egypt

Over 30 years experience across the  value chain of energy, petrochemical and ports/maritime, renewables and hydrogen/ammonia. Covering engineering construction, operations, management, finance, policy and regulations.