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Group CEO and Chairman of the Executive Committee
Mr. Karim Awad is Group Chief Executive Officer, Chairman of the Executive Committee, and a member of the Board of EFG Hermes Holding. With over 21 years of experience, Mr. Awad started his career in EFG Hermes in 1998 in the Investment Banking department, eventually heading the division in 2007 and leading several high-profile local and regional transactions. He assumed managerial roles in the Firm thereafter, first as CEO of the Investment Bank in 2012 and then as Group CEO in 2013.
Since then, Mr. Awad has led a substantial restructuring that included streamlining its expenses and divesting its non-core assets, they key being its stake in Lebanese bank Credit Libanais. Working together with the EFG Hermes senior management, Mr. Awad spearheaded a major shift in the Firm’s strategy that transformed EFG Hermes from a MENA-based investment bank to a frontier markets financial solutions house. To achieve this vision, the Firm focuses on six pillars: hiring the best people, improving the Firm’s positioning in markets it operates in, selectively expanding its geographical presence, enhancing its product offering, increasing profitability metrics and ensuring that public responsibility remains front and center in all its operations.
During the past seven years, the Firm was able to enhance its market share in its core sell-side operations of investment banking, brokerage, and research while expanding its presence to six new markets that span sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. The Buy-side business was completely revamped through the consolidation of its regional asset management business with affiliate Frontier Investment Management (FIM) in 2017 and the re-emergence of an active Private Equity division that is a key player in renewables, education, and healthcare. The Firm was also able to significantly increase the suite of products it offers to clients by building full-fledged non-bank financial institution platform that currently includes leasing, factoring, microfinance, consumer finance, mortgages, payment and insurance in addition to fixed income and structured products platforms. The strategic shift helped drive growth in the Firm’s revenues that reached EGP 5.5 billion and profits that topped EGP 1.3 billion in 2020 all while maintaining a strong commitment to the communities we operate in through an active CSR policy and actively adopting progressive ESG standards.
Mr. Awad holds a BA in Business Administration from the American University in Cairo.
Ms. Mona Zulficar has served as non-executive Chairperson of EFG Hermes Holding since April 2008. Ms. Zulficar is a Founding Partner and Chairperson of Zulficar & Partners Law Firm, a specialized law firm consisting of 11 partners and more than 50 associates, established in June 2009.
The Firm has since grown into one of the top ranked law firms in Egypt. Ms. Zulficar was previously Senior Partner at Shalakany Law Firm and Chair of its Executive Committee for several years.
Ms. Zulficar is recognized in local and international legal circles as the precedent setter and one of Egypt’s most prominent corporate, banking, and project finance attorneys. As an M&A and capital markets transactions specialist, Ms. Zulficar has led negotiations on some of Egypt and the Middle East’s largest and most complex successful transactions over the past three decades.
Ms. Zulficar also played an instrumental role in modernizing and reforming economic and banking laws and regulations, both in her capacity as former board member of the Central Bank of Egypt during the banking reform program from 2003 to 2011 and as a prominent member of national drafting committees. Ms. Zulficar is a leading human rights activist recognized locally and internationally, and has initiated several successful campaigns for new rights legislation including women’s rights, freedom of opinion, and family courts. Ms. Zulficar served as VP of the Constitutional Committee, played a key role in drafting the 2014 Egyptian Constitution, and is currently member of the National Council for Human Rights.
Ms. Zulficar was recently elected President of the first Egyptian Microfinance Federation, currently the Egyptian Federation for Financing Medium, Small and Micro Enterprises, and chairs several NGOs active in social development and microfinance for underprivileged women. Internationally, Ms. Zulficar served two terms as an elected member of the United Nations Human Rights Council Advisory Committee until 2011.
Ms. Zulficar holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics and Political Science from Cairo University and an LLM from Mansoura University, as well as an honorary doctorate degree in Law from the University of Zurich.
Mr. Yasser El Mallawany is the Non-Executive Vice Chairman of the EFG Hermes Board. Since becoming the Chief Executive Officer of the Firm in 2003, Mr. El Mallawany has played a key role in driving the consolidation of Egypt’s investment banking sector and facilitated the emergence of EFG Hermes as the leading Arab investment bank.
He began his career serving for 16 years at Commercial International Bank (CIB), formerly Chase National Bank, finally serving as the General Manager of the Corporate Banking Division. Mr. El Mallawany joined EFG Hermes during the Firm’s merger with CIIC. Mr. El Mallawany holds a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Cairo University.
Takis Arapoglou is a consultant with an earlier career in International Capital Markets and Corporate & Investment banking and later in managing, restructuring and advising publicly listed Financial Institutions and Corporates, primarily in SE Europe and the Middle East.
Most recent executive assignments include: Managing Director and Global Head of the Banks and Securities Industry for Citigroup; Chairman and CEO of the National Bank of Greece; Chairman of the Hellenic Banks Association; CEO of Commercial Banking at EFG-Hermes Holding SAE.
He is currently holding the following non-executive board positions: Chairman of Bank of Cyprus Group, Chairman of Titan Cement International S.A., Chairman of Tsakos Energy Navigation (TEN) Ltd, Independent board member of EFG-Hermes Holding SAE and a Board member of Bank Alfalah Ltd., representing the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
He is a member of the International Board of Advisors of Tufts University, Boston, Ma., a member of the Business Advisory Council for the International MBA program at the Athens University of Economics and Business.
He has degrees in Mathematics, Engineering and Management from Greek and British Universities.
Marwan Elaraby is a Non-Executive Member of the EFG Hermes Board. He is based in Dubai where he serves as the Regional Managing Partner for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Shearman & Sterling. His practice focuses on advising governments and private capital clients on a variety of corporate and capital markets transactions across several industries. Marwan first joined Shearman & Sterling in New York in 1995 and became a partner in 2004. He previously served as Managing Director at Citadel Capital, one of the leading private equity firms in the Middle East, and Africa. Marwan also served as Executive Director in EFG Hermes’ investment banking group, where he worked as an investment banker advising clients on numerous capital markets and M&A transactions in the Middle East.
Marwan is a New York-qualified lawyer. He holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from the American University in Cairo and a Juris Doctor (J.D.) from Columbia University School of Law.
Jean Cheval is a Non-Executive Member of the EFG Hermes Board. He joined Natixis in June 2009. Between 2009 and 2012, he was in charge of the Debt and Finance Department (Structured Finance) of Natixis CIB and of the European Area between 2011 and 2012. He became Head of Finance and Risk, member of Natixis Senior Management Committee, and second Senior Manager of Natixis, from September 2012 till October 2017.
Previously, he spent most of his career (1983-2001) at Credit Agricole lndosuez, where he was successively Chief Economist, Head of Strategic Planning and Budget, Head of Structured Financing, and Head of the Middle East and Asia before being appointed General Manager. He has been a Director of Al Bank Al Saudi Al Fransi (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia), WAFA Bank (Morocco), and Banque Libano-Française.
He has also been Head of Banque Audi France, Chairman of Banque Audi Switzerland (2001- 2005), and member of the board of Audi-Saradar Bank (2002-2006).
He previously worked for the Ministry of Industry and the French Planning Agency.
Jean Cheval graduated from the Ecole Centrale de Paris (Engineering School) and the University of Berkeley.
Mr. Zubyr Soomro is a Non-Executive Member of the EFG Hermes Board. He has recently moved on from his role as the Chairman of the Pakistan Microfinance Investment Company, a market-based entity majority owned by KfW and a DFID subsidiary and established to be the apex for the 45 microfinance lenders in Pakistan. His engagement with the microfinance sector extends over 20 years and has involved equity and debt investments, advisory work, and board roles in the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund, Acumen Pakistan, and Grameen Foundation USA. He has also been on the Board of Directors of Pakistan's central bank, the State Bank of Pakistan, and its Securities and Exchange Commission. In addition, he is on the board of governors of the Layton Rahmatulla Benevolent Trust, a leading eye-care provider handling a million patients per year, and Aitchison College, an institution set up in the 19th century to groom leaders for the subcontinent.
Pakistan's new government recently appointed him as the Chairman of the National Bank of Pakistan, which is one of the largest banks in the country. It is majority government owned and has a global network and over 1500 domestic branches. In addition he has been appointed to the board of Sarmaya Pakistan, which is a sovereign fund set up in March 2019 to take on the oversight of the country's 204 government-owned corporate entities of which 33 are in the financial sector.
Mr. Soomro spent the majority of his career at Citibank in international corporate, investment, consumer, and private banking, with over 33 years at the bank including work across the Middle East, Turkey, Africa, the UK, and Pakistan. He retired in 2008 as Managing Director and Country Head for Pakistan. During his Citibank career, Mr Soomro took a three-year leave of absence to become the Chairman and President of United Bank Ltd , an 1800 branch government-owned institution with presence in ten countries.He was tasked with restructuring the bank for privatization. In 2004, the central bank awarded him the Quaid e Azam Centenary Gold Medal for his work at United Bank Ltd and his contribution to financial sector reform as Chairman of the Pakistan Bank's Association.
He held the position of Chairman of the Karachi Stock Exchange from 2010 to 2011, and was a member of the government's Economic Advisory Council from 1997-2000 and again from 2013-2018. Additionally, he has been President of the American Business Council, and President of the Overseas Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in addition to being Chairman of the Pakistan Bank's Association.
Mr. Abdulla Khalil Al Mutawa is a non-executive Member of the EFG Hermes Board. He is a competent and dedicated investment professional with more than 35 years of experience and a comprehensive background in Finance and Administration. He holds a B.Sc. degree in Business Administration from the University of North Carolina, USA. Mr. Al Mutawa is currently the General Manager of the Private Office of H.E. Sheikh Suroor Bin Mohammad Al Nahyan.
He has been a Member of the Board of Directors of ADCB since 1997. His ADCB Committees Memberships include Member – Board Audit & Compliance Committee. Mr. Al Mutawa has also been a Member of the Board of Directors of Bank Alfalah Limited, Pakistan, since 1997, in the following Committees: Chairman Board Audit Committee (BAC), Member, Board of Directors, Remuneration & Nomination Committee (BHR&NC), Chairmen, Board Strategy & Finance Committee (BS&FC), Member, Board Risk Management Committee (BRMC), Member, Board Compensation Committee (BCC), Member, Board Information Technology Committee (BITC). He is also the Chairman of Makhazen Investment Company, Abu Dhabi and a Board Member of Abu Dhabi National Hotels Company – Abu Dhabi.
Mr. Khalid Mana Saeed Al Otaiba is a Non-Executive Member of the EFG Hermes Board. He has been Office Manager for His Excellency Dr. Mana Saeed Al Otaiba, the personal advisor to His Highness the President of the UAE Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, since 2005. He also holds the post of Deputy Chairman of the Al Otaiba Group of Companies. Mr. Al Otaiba leverages his over 17 year career spanning numerous industries to serve as the Director of Alfalah Insurance Company Limited, Pakistan, Chairman of Liwa International Investment Tourism and Royal Mirage Hotel & Resort Ltd, Morocco, and Chairman of Ghantout International and Bank Alfalah and Director of Royal Mirage Masdar Abudhabi. Mr. Al Otaiba holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Economics from Suffolk University in Boston, Massachusetts.
Mr. Ramsay Zaki is a Non-Executive Member of the EFG Hermes Board. In 2014, he founded Wafra Export, a fruit export company which owns a state-of-the-art packing house and grows its products on a 360 acre plot. Mr. Zaki was part of the EFG Hermes team for 18 years, starting as Head of Operations Brokerage in 1995 and ending his tenure as Chief Operating Officer.
As COO, Mr. Zaki was responsible for managing operational matters, including compliance-related functions. Mr. Zaki’s contribution to EFG Hermes included growing the backbone of the firm in all countries and lines of business, allowing it to grow rapidly while maintaining the highest degree of corporate governance and ethics and weather major economic and political events in the region. He was also part of the Firm’s Board through to 2013.
Prior to joining EFG Hermes, Mr. Zaki worked for five years at Commercial International Bank (CIB) where he headed the team responsible for extending credit to the Egyptian pharmaceutical industry. During his time at CIB, he was able to more than double loans to the sector and capture a 70% market share of all private sector pharmaceutical companies operating in Egypt. He was also heavily involved in the merger negotiations between the two biggest private sector pharmaceutical companies in the country. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Cairo University.
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Mr. Collins is a Non-Executive Member of the EFG Hermes Board . He is the CEO and senior managing director of Ripplewood Advisors, the successor to Ripplewood Holdings , which he founded in 1995. Ripplewood has successfully invested in and built companies globally, including in Asia, Europe andthe Middle East. It has consistently delivered superior returns from investments totaling more than $40 billion in enterprise value.
Ripplewood has played an instrumental role in transforming and strengthening prominent financial institutions including: AS Citadele banka of Latvia, Commercial International Bank of Egypt, and Shinsei Bank of Japan and has invested in a broad range of industries including automotive, chemicals, consumer electronics, food, real estate, and telecommunications. Ripplewood’s investment in Internet provider Gogo began the revolution in in-flight connectivity that is now becoming pervasive.
Many Ripplewood investments remain public companies. Before founding Ripplewood, Mr. Collins worked for Onex, Lazard Frères, Booz Allen Hamilton and Cummins. He formerly served on several public-company boards, including Advance Auto Parts, Asbury Automotive, Citigroup (after it accepted public funds), Commercial International Bank, Gogo, Rental Services Corporation and Shinsei Bank. He also served as an independent director at Weather Holdings, a large private emerging-markets telecom operator that was sold to VimpelCom.
Mr. Collins also sits on the Board of Directors of Banque Saudi Fransi and SODIC. He is the Chairman of AS Citadele banka and is involved in several not-for-profit and public sector activities, including the Trilateral Commission and the Council on Foreign Relations, NEOM, McKinsey and Yale Divinity School Advisory Boards. He is Chairman of the Advisory Board for the Yale School of Management, co-chair of the Advisory Council of the NYU Global Institute for Advanced Study and a member of the Investment Advisory Committee to the New York State Common Retirement Fund.
Mrs. Critchley is a Non-Executive Member of the EFG Hermes Board. She is a Partner of Ripplewood, and runs the day-to-day operations. Before joining Ripplewood, Mrs. Critchley was a Founding Partner of Resolution Operations, which raised GBP 660 million via a listed vehicle at the end of 2008, and went on to make three acquisitions in financial services (Friends Provident plc for USD 2.7 billion, most of Axa's UK life businesses for USD 4 billion, and Bupa for USD 0.3 billion). This consolidation strategy was financed through a combination of debt and equity raisings, as well as structured vendor financing. Until forming Resolution Operations, Mrs. Critchley was a Managing Director at Goldman Sachs International where she ran the European FIG Financing business. Mrs. Critchley has structured, advised, or invested in transactions with more than fifty global financials and corporates. Mrs. Critchley has a First Class Honours Degree in Mathematics from University College London.
Group CEO and Chairman of the Executive Committee
Mr. Karim Awad is Group Chief Executive Officer, Chairman of the Executive Committee, and a member of the Board of EFG Hermes Holding. With over 21 years of experience, Mr. Awad started his career in EFG Hermes in 1998 in the Investment Banking department, eventually heading the division in 2007 and leading several high-profile local and regional transactions. He assumed managerial roles in the Firm thereafter, first as CEO of the Investment Bank in 2012 and then as Group CEO in 2013.
Since then, Mr. Awad has led a substantial restructuring that included streamlining its expenses and divesting its non-core assets, they key being its stake in Lebanese bank Credit Libanais. Working together with the EFG Hermes senior management, Mr. Awad spearheaded a major shift in the Firm’s strategy that transformed EFG Hermes from a MENA-based investment bank to a frontier markets financial solutions house. To achieve this vision, the Firm focuses on six pillars: hiring the best people, improving the Firm’s positioning in markets it operates in, selectively expanding its geographical presence, enhancing its product offering, increasing profitability metrics and ensuring that public responsibility remains front and center in all its operations.
During the past seven years, the Firm was able to enhance its market share in its core sell side operations of investment banking, brokerage, and research while expanding its presence to six new markets that span sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. The buy side business was completely revamped through the consolidation of its regional asset management business with affiliate Frontier Investment Management (FIM) in 2017 and the re-emergence of an active Private Equity division that is a key player in renewables, education, and healthcare. The Firm was also able to significantly increase the suite of products it offers to clients by building full-fledged non-bank financial institution platform that currently includes leasing, factoring, microfinance, consumer finance, mortgages, payment and insurance in addition to fixed income and structured products platforms. The strategic shift helped drive growth in the Firm’s revenues that reached EGP 5.5 billion and profits that topped EGP 1.3 billion in 2020 all while maintaining a strong commitment to the communities we operate in through an active CSR policy and actively adopting progressive ESG standards.
Mr. Awad holds a BA in Business Administration from the American University in Cairo.
Group Chief Operating Officer, EFG Hermes
Mr. Mohamed El Wakeel is the Group Chief Operating Officer at EFG Hermes. Following three years at HSBC, Mr. El Wakeel joined the Firm in 2000 as part of the operations team of the Brokerage division. Through his efforts in streamlining the Brokerage division’s operations to ensure best-in-class practices and efficiency, he has since moved up the ranks, first heading brokerage operations for Egypt then becoming the Securities Brokerage Group’s Head of Operations. As Head of Operations, Mr. Wakeel played a pivotal role in setting up, and integrating the operations of the Firm’s newly launched offices in new markets. Furthermore, his role included strengthening the IT infrastructure, upgrading the Firm’s security framework, and enhancing in-house app development to encompass the requirements of all lines of business.
Prior to becoming Group COO, he was Group Head of Market Operations at the Firm, where his hands-on experience has been key to the enhancement of EFG Hermes’s operations across multiple lines of business.
Ms. Inji Abdoun joined the Human Resources department at EFG Hermes in June 2007 as HR Manager for the UAE with a mandate to establish HR for the Group’s operations, while contributing to the department’s Group-wide initiatives with a focus on talent management. Her mandate saw an expansion in early 2008, as she took on an active role in the integration of the then-newly acquired Oman operation, as well as the enhancement of the HR offering in the KSA operation and later the integration of the Kuwait operation.
In 2009, Ms. Abdoun became the Group Head of Human Resources, overseeing the full spectrum of the department’s functions across the Group while working closely with the Firm’s management team providing HR insight to business issues. As of 2017, Inji became the Group’s Chief Human Resources Officer, continuing to oversee the Group’s HR activities and working with the executive team as part of the group’s Executive Committee.
Prior to joining EFG Hermes, Ms. Abdoun assumed HR management roles at LINKdotNET (an OT subsidiary), Fayrouz International (a Heineken subsidiary), as well as a role in career advising and placement at the American University in Cairo’s Career Advising and Placement office (CAPS), accumulating more than 19 years of experience in the field.
Ms. Abdoun is a SHRM Senior Certified Professional and a certified Myers-Briggs practitioner, and holds an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management.
Mr. Abdel Wahab Mohamed Gadayel is EFG Hermes Holding’s Group Chief Risk and Compliance Officer, a post he has held since 2013. Prior to this, he served as Group Head of Compliance for three years, where he played a key role in initiating and evolving the Group’s policies and procedures and enhancing the Group’s compliance framework.
Mr. Gadayel joined EFG Hermes in 1998 as Operations Officer, later being promoted to Deputy Head of Operations,— a role he held until 2004.
He also worked on integrating newly acquired offices in the lower GCC region as the Group rapidly expanded into new markets during his tenure as Managing Director of Operations at EFG Hermes UAE between 2004 and 2009.
Mr. Gadayel is a Cairo University graduate, where he majored in Economics and minored in Political Science.
Mr. Walid Hassouna is the Chief Executive Officer of EFG Hermes Finance, the Non-Bank Financial Institution platform and a member of the Executive Committee of EFG Hermes. He is also the Head of DCM and Chairman of PayTabs Egypt and EFG- EV Fintech.
Mr. Hassouna is also a Non-Executive Board Member of valU, Tanmeyah Microenterprises, EFG Hermes Corp-Solutions, Tokio Marine Life Insurance, and Bedaya for Mortgage — all subsidiaries of EFG Hermes Finance. He is also a Board Member at Karm Solar and previously the CEO of valU.
Prior to joining EFG Hermes in 2016, Mr. Hassouna was General Manager and Head of Structured Finance and Investment Banking at Bank Audi. Over a 17-year banking career that began at Misr International Bank, he closed structured and project finance transactions in excess of USD 15 billion.. He also structured and executed several award-winning deals in project finance and M&A within Egypt and GCC, in addition to several investment banking transactions. He has also been the Head of Structured Finance and Syndication in Banque Misr where he successfully managed to top the league table of the MENA region in syndicated loans.
Mr. Hassouna is a B.B.A holder from Cairo University, where he graduated with highest honors. He also holds an MBA from J. Mack Robinson College of Business, Georgia State University as well as an Islamic Finance Qualification from CISI- UK.
Ms. Mona Zulficar has served as non-executive Chairperson of EFG Hermes Holding since April 2008. Ms. Zulficar is a Founding Partner and Chairperson of Zulficar & Partners Law Firm, a specialized law firm consisting of 11 partners and more than 50 associates, established in June 2009.
The Firm has since grown into one of the top ranked law firms in Egypt. Ms. Zulficar was previously Senior Partner at Shalakany Law Firm and Chair of its Executive Committee for several years.
Ms. Zulficar is recognized in local and international legal circles as the precedent setter and one of Egypt’s most prominent corporate, banking, and project finance attorneys. As an M&A and capital markets transactions specialist, Ms. Zulficar has led negotiations on some of Egypt and the Middle East’s largest and most complex successful transactions over the past three decades.
Ms. Zulficar also played an instrumental role in modernizing and reforming economic and banking laws and regulations, both in her capacity as former board member of the Central Bank of Egypt during the banking reform program from 2003 to 2011 and as a prominent member of national drafting committees. Ms. Zulficar is a leading human rights activist recognized locally and internationally, and has initiated several successful campaigns for new rights legislation including women’s rights, freedom of opinion, and family courts. Ms. Zulficar served as VP of the Constitutional Committee, played a key role in drafting the 2014 Egyptian Constitution, and is currently member of the National Council for Human Rights.
Ms. Zulficar was recently elected President of the first Egyptian Microfinance Federation, currently the Egyptian Federation for Financing Medium, Small and Micro Enterprises, and chairs several NGOs active in social development and microfinance for underprivileged women. Internationally, Ms. Zulficar served two terms as an elected member of the United Nations Human Rights Council Advisory Committee until 2011.
Ms. Zulficar holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics and Political Science from Cairo University and an LLM from Mansoura University, as well as an honorary doctorate degree in Law from the University of Zurich.
Mr. Zubyr Soomro is a Non-Executive Member of the EFG Hermes Board. He has recently moved on from his role as the Chairman of the Pakistan Microfinance Investment Company, a market-based entity majority owned by KfW and a DFID subsidiary and established to be the apex for the 45 microfinance lenders in Pakistan. His engagement with the microfinance sector extends over 20 years and has involved equity and debt investments, advisory work and board roles in the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund, Acumen Pakistan and Grameen Foundation USA. He has also been on the Board of Directors of Pakistan's central bank, the State Bank of Pakistan, and its Securities and Exchange Commission. In addition he is on the board of governors of the Layton Rahmatulla Benevolent Trust, a leading eye-care provider handling a million patients per year, and Aitchison College, an institution set up in the 19th century to groom leaders for the subcontinent.
Pakistan's new government recently appointed him as the Chairman of the National Bank of Pakistan, which is one of the largest banks in the country. It is majority government owned and has a global network and over 1500 domestic branches. In addition he has been appointed to the board of Sarmaya Pakistan which is a sovereign fund set up in March 2019 to take on the oversight of the country's 204 government-owned corporate entities of which 33 are in the financial sector.
Mr. Soomro spent the majority of his career at Citibank in international corporate, investment, consumer, and private banking, with over 33 years at the bank including work across the Middle East, Turkey, Africa, the UK, and Pakistan. He retired in 2008 as Managing Director and Country Head for Pakistan. During his Citibank career, Mr Soomro took a three year leave of absence to become the Chairman and President of United Bank Ltd , an 1800 branch government-owned institution with presence in ten countries. He was tasked with restructuring the bank for privatization. In 2004, the central bank awarded him the Quaid e Azam Centenary Gold Medal for his work at United Bank Ltd and his contribution to financial sector reform as Chairman of the Pakistan Bank's Association.
He held the position of Chairman of the Karachi Stock Exchange from 2010 to 2011, and was a member of the government's Economic Advisory Council from 1997-2000 and again from 2013-2018. Additionally, he has been President of the American Business Council, and President of the Overseas Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in addition to being Chairman of the Pakistan Bank's Association.
He has a Bachelor of Science degree from the London School of Economics, a Master’s degree from the School of Oriental and African Studies, and graduated from Executive Education Programs in 2015 and 2017 on Financial Inclusion from Harvard Business School and Harvard Kennedy School.
Mr. Ramsay Zaki is a Non-Executive Member of the EFG Hermes Board. In 2014, he founded Wafra Export, a fruit export company which owns a state-of-the-art packing house and grows its products on a 360 acre plot. Mr. Zaki was part of the EFG Hermes team for 18 years, starting as Head of Operations Brokerage in 1995 and ending his tenure as Chief Operating Officer.
As COO, Mr. Zaki was responsible for managing operational matters, including compliance-related functions. Mr. Zaki’s contribution to EFG Hermes included growing the backbone of the firm in all countries and lines of business, allowing it to grow rapidly while maintaining the highest degree of corporate governance and ethics and weather major economic and political events in the region. He was also part of the Firm’s Board through to 2013.
Prior to joining EFG Hermes, Mr. Zaki worked for five years at Commercial International Bank (CIB) where he headed the team responsible for extending credit to the Egyptian pharmaceutical industry. During his time at CIB, he was able to more than double loans to the sector and capture a 70% market share of all private sector pharmaceutical companies operating in Egypt. He was also heavily involved in the merger negotiations between the two biggest private sector pharmaceutical companies in the country. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Cairo University.
Mr. Collins is a Non-Executive Member of the EFG Hermes Board . He is the CEO and senior managing director of Ripplewood Advisors, the successor to Ripplewood Holdings , which he founded in 1995. Ripplewood has successfully invested in and built companies globally, including in Asia, Europe andthe Middle East. It has consistently delivered superior returns from investments totaling more than $40 billion in enterprise value.
Ripplewood has played an instrumental role in transforming and strengthening prominent financial institutions including: AS Citadele banka of Latvia, Commercial International Bank of Egypt, and Shinsei Bank of Japan and has invested in a broad range of industries including automotive, chemicals, consumer electronics, food, real estate, and telecommunications. Ripplewood’s investment in Internet provider Gogo began the revolution in in-flight connectivity that is now becoming pervasive.
Many Ripplewood investments remain public companies. Before founding Ripplewood, Mr. Collins worked for Onex, Lazard Frères, Booz Allen Hamilton and Cummins. He formerly served on several public-company boards, including Advance Auto Parts, Asbury Automotive, Citigroup (after it accepted public funds), Commercial International Bank, Gogo, Rental Services Corporation and Shinsei Bank. He also served as an independent director at Weather Holdings, a large private emerging-markets telecom operator that was sold to VimpelCom.
Mr. Collins also sits on the Board of Directors of Banque Saudi Fransi and SODIC. He is the Chairman of AS Citadele banka and is involved in several not-for-profit and public sector activities, including the Trilateral Commission and the Council on Foreign Relations, NEOM, McKinsey and Yale Divinity School Advisory Boards. He is Chairman of the Advisory Board for the Yale School of Management, co-chair of the Advisory Council of the NYU Global Institute for Advanced Study and a member of the Investment Advisory Committee to the New York State Common Retirement Fund.
Mr. Collins has a BA in Philosophy from DePauw University and a MBA in Public and Private Management from Yale University’s School of Management. Mr. Collins received an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from DePauw University in 2004 and has been an Adjunct Professor and Visiting Fellow at New York University. He has served as a Visiting Lecturer at the Yale Law School and is Senior Fellow and Director of the Henry P. Becton Fellowship Program at the Yale School of Management.
Mr. Yasser El Mallawany is the Non-Executive Vice Chairman of the EFG Hermes Board. Since becoming the Chief Executive Officer of the Firm in 2003, Mr. El Mallawany has played a key role in driving the consolidation of Egypt’s investment banking sector and facilitated the emergence of EFG Hermes as the leading Arab investment bank.
He began his career serving for 16 years at Commercial International Bank (CIB), formerly Chase National Bank, finally serving as the General Manager of the Corporate Banking Division. Mr. El Mallawany joined EFG Hermes during the Firm’s merger with CIIC. Mr. El Mallawany holds a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Cairo University.
Ms. Mona Zulficar has served as non-executive Chairperson of EFG Hermes Holding since April 2008. Ms. Zulficar is a Founding Partner and Chairperson of Zulficar & Partners Law Firm, a specialized law firm consisting of 11 partners and more than 50 associates, established in June 2009. The Firm has since grown into one of the top ranked law firms in Egypt. Ms. Zulficar was previously Senior Partner at Shalakany Law Firm and Chair of its Executive Committee for several years.
Ms. Zulficar is recognized in local and international legal circles as the precedent setter and one of Egypt’s most prominent corporate, banking, and project finance attorneys. As an M&A and capital markets transactions specialist, Ms. Zulficar has led negotiations on some of Egypt and the Middle East’s largest and most complex successful transactions over the past three decades.
Ms. Zulficar also played an instrumental role in modernizing and reforming economic and banking laws and regulations, both in her capacity as former board member of the Central Bank of Egypt during the banking reform program from 2003 to 2011 and as a prominent member of national drafting committees. Ms. Zulficar is a leading human rights activist recognized locally and internationally, and has initiated several successful campaigns for new rights legislation including women’s rights, freedom of opinion, and family courts. Ms. Zulficar served as VP of the Constitutional Committee, played a key role in drafting the 2014 Egyptian Constitution, and is currently member of the National Council for Human Rights.
Ms. Zulficar was recently elected President of the first Egyptian Microfinance Federation, currently the Egyptian Federation for Financing Medium, Small and Micro Enterprises, and chairs several NGOs active in social development and microfinance for underprivileged women. Internationally, Ms. Zulficar served two terms as an elected member of the United Nations Human Rights Council Advisory Committee until 2011.
Ms. Zulficar holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics and Political Science from Cairo University and an LLM from Mansoura University, as well as an honorary doctorate degree in Law from the University of Zurich.
Mr. Zubyr Soomro is a Non-Executive Member of the EFG Hermes Board. He has recently moved on from his role as the Chairman of the Pakistan Microfinance Investment Company, a market-based entity majority owned by KfW and a DFID subsidiary and established to be the apex for the 45 microfinance lenders in Pakistan. His engagement with the microfinance sector extends over 20 years and has involved equity and debt investments, advisory work, and board roles in the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund, Acumen Pakistan, and Grameen Foundation USA. He has also been on the Board of Directors of Pakistan's central bank, the State Bank of Pakistan, and its Securities and Exchange Commission. In addition, he is on the board of governors of the Layton Rahmatulla Benevolent Trust, a leading eye-care provider handling a million patients per year, and Aitchison College, an institution set up in the 19th century to groom leaders for the subcontinent.
Pakistan's new government recently appointed him as the Chairman of the National Bank of Pakistan, which is one of the largest banks in the country. It is majority government owned and has a global network and over 1500 domestic branches. In addition he has been appointed to the board of Sarmaya Pakistan, which is a sovereign fund set up in March 2019 to take on the oversight of the country's 204 government-owned corporate entities of which 33 are in the financial sector.
Mr. Soomro spent the majority of his career at Citibank in international corporate, investment, consumer, and private banking, with over 33 years at the bank including work across the Middle East, Turkey, Africa, the UK, and Pakistan. He retired in 2008 as Managing Director and Country Head for Pakistan. During his Citibank career, Mr Soomro took a three-year leave of absence to become the Chairman and President of United Bank Ltd , an 1800 branch government-owned institution with presence in ten countries.He was tasked with restructuring the bank for privatization. In 2004, the central bank awarded him the Quaid e Azam Centenary Gold Medal for his work at United Bank Ltd and his contribution to financial sector reform as Chairman of the Pakistan Bank's Association.
He held the position of Chairman of the Karachi Stock Exchange from 2010 to 2011, and was a member of the government's Economic Advisory Council from 1997-2000 and again from 2013-2018. Additionally, he has been President of the American Business Council, and President of the Overseas Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in addition to being Chairman of the Pakistan Bank's Association.
He has a Bachelor of Science degree from the London School of Economics, a Master’s degree from the School of Oriental and African Studies, and graduated from Executive Education Programs in 2015 and 2017 on Financial Inclusion from Harvard Business School and Harvard Kennedy School.
Mr. Ramsay Zaki is a Non-Executive Member of the EFG Hermes Board. In 2014, he founded Wafra Export, a fruit export company which owns a state-of-the-art packing house and grows its products on a 360 acre plot. Mr. Zaki was part of the EFG Hermes team for 18 years, starting as Head of Operations Brokerage in 1995 and ending his tenure as Chief Operating Officer.
As COO, Mr. Zaki was responsible for managing operational matters, including compliance-related functions. Mr. Zaki’s contribution to EFG Hermes included growing the backbone of the firm in all countries and lines of business, allowing it to grow rapidly while maintaining the highest degree of corporate governance and ethics and weather major economic and political events in the region. He was also part of the Firm’s Board through to 2013.
Prior to joining EFG Hermes, Mr. Zaki worked for five years at Commercial International Bank (CIB) where he headed the team responsible for extending credit to the Egyptian pharmaceutical industry. During his time at CIB, he was able to more than double loans to the sector and capture a 70% market share of all private sector pharmaceutical companies operating in Egypt. He was also heavily involved in the merger negotiations between the two biggest private sector pharmaceutical companies in the country. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Cairo University.
Mr. Collins is a Non-Executive Member of the EFG Hermes Board . He is the CEO and senior managing director of Ripplewood Advisors, the successor to Ripplewood Holdings , which he founded in 1995. Ripplewood has successfully invested in and built companies globally, including in Asia, Europe andthe Middle East. It has consistently delivered superior returns from investments totaling more than $40 billion in enterprise value.
Ripplewood has played an instrumental role in transforming and strengthening prominent financial institutions including: AS Citadele banka of Latvia, Commercial International Bank of Egypt, and Shinsei Bank of Japan and has invested in a broad range of industries including automotive, chemicals, consumer electronics, food, real estate, and telecommunications. Ripplewood’s investment in Internet provider Gogo began the revolution in in-flight connectivity that is now becoming pervasive.
Many Ripplewood investments remain public companies. Before founding Ripplewood, Mr. Collins worked for Onex, Lazard Frères, Booz Allen Hamilton and Cummins. He formerly served on several public-company boards, including Advance Auto Parts, Asbury Automotive, Citigroup (after it accepted public funds), Commercial International Bank, Gogo, Rental Services Corporation and Shinsei Bank. He also served as an independent director at Weather Holdings, a large private emerging-markets telecom operator that was sold to VimpelCom.
Mr. Collins also sits on the Board of Directors of Banque Saudi Fransi and SODIC. He is the Chairman of AS Citadele banka and is involved in several not-for-profit and public sector activities, including the Trilateral Commission and the Council on Foreign Relations, NEOM, McKinsey and Yale Divinity School Advisory Boards. He is Chairman of the Advisory Board for the Yale School of Management, co-chair of the Advisory Council of the NYU Global Institute for Advanced Study and a member of the Investment Advisory Committee to the New York State Common Retirement Fund.
Mr. Collins has a BA in Philosophy from DePauw University and a MBA in Public and Private Management from Yale University’s School of Management. Mr. Collins received an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from DePauw University in 2004 and has been an Adjunct Professor and Visiting Fellow at New York University. He has served as a Visiting Lecturer at the Yale Law School and is Senior Fellow and Director of the Henry P. Becton Fellowship Program at the Yale School of Management.
Mr. Yasser El Mallawany is the Non-Executive Vice Chairman of the EFG Hermes Board. Since becoming the Chief Executive Officer of the Firm in 2003, Mr. El Mallawany has played a key role in driving the consolidation of Egypt’s investment banking sector and facilitated the emergence of EFG Hermes as the leading Arab investment bank.
He began his career serving for 16 years at Commercial International Bank (CIB), formerly Chase National Bank, finally serving as the General Manager of the Corporate Banking Division. Mr. El Mallawany joined EFG Hermes during the Firm’s merger with CIIC. Mr. El Mallawany holds a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Cairo University.
Takis Arapoglou is a consultant with an earlier career in International Capital Markets and Corporate & Investment banking and later in managing, restructuring and advising publicly listed Financial Institutions and Corporates, primarily in SE Europe and the Middle East.
Most recent executive assignments include: Managing Director and Global Head of the Banks and Securities Industry for Citigroup; Chairman and CEO of the National Bank of Greece; Chairman of the Hellenic Banks Association; CEO of Commercial Banking at EFG-Hermes Holding SAE.
He is currently holding the following non-executive board positions: Chairman of Bank of Cyprus Group, Chairman of Titan Cement International S.A., Chairman of Tsakos Energy Navigation (TEN) Ltd, Independent board member of EFG-Hermes Holding SAE and a Board member of Bank Alfalah Ltd., representing the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
He is a member of the International Board of Advisors of Tufts University, Boston, Ma., a member of the Business Advisory Council for the International MBA program at the Athens University of Economics and Business.
He has degrees in Mathematics, Engineering and Management from Greek and British Universities.
Jean Cheval is a Non-Executive Member of the EFG Hermes Board. He joined Natixis in June 2009. Between 2009 and 2012, he was in charge of the Debt and Finance Department (Structured Finance) of Natixis CIB and of the European Area between 2011 and 2012. He became Head of Finance and Risk, member of Natixis Senior Management Committee, and second Senior Manager of Natixis, from September 2012 till October 2017.
Previously, he spent most of his career (1983-2001) at Credit Agricole lndosuez, where he was successively Chief Economist, Head of Strategic Planning and Budget, Head of Structured Financing, and Head of the Middle East and Asia before being appointed General Manager. He has been a Director of Al Bank Al Saudi Al Fransi (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia), WAFA Bank (Morocco), and Banque Libano-Française.
He has also been Head of Banque Audi France, Chairman of Banque Audi Switzerland (2001- 2005), and member of the board of Audi-Saradar Bank (2002-2006).
He previously worked for the Ministry of Industry and the French Planning Agency.
Jean Cheval graduated from the Ecole Centrale de Paris (Engineering School) and the University of Berkeley.
Marwan Elaraby is a Non-Executive Member of the EFG Hermes Board. He is based in Dubai where he serves as the Regional Managing Partner for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Shearman & Sterling. His practice focuses on advising governments and private capital clients on a variety of corporate and capital markets transactions across several industries. Marwan first joined Shearman & Sterling in New York in 1995 and became a partner in 2004. He previously served as Managing Director at Citadel Capital, one of the leading private equity firms in the Middle East, and Africa. Marwan also served as Executive Director in EFG Hermes’ investment banking group, where he worked as an investment banker advising clients on numerous capital markets and M&A transactions in the Middle East.
Marwan is a New York-qualified lawyer. He holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from the American University in Cairo and a Juris Doctor (J.D.) from Columbia University School of Law.
Mr. Ramsay Zaki is a Non-Executive Member of the EFG Hermes Board. In 2014, he founded Wafra Export, a fruit export company which owns a state-of-the-art packing house and grows its products on a 360 acre plot. Mr. Zaki was part of the EFG Hermes team for 18 years, starting as Head of Operations Brokerage in 1995 and ending his tenure as Chief Operating Officer.
As COO, Mr. Zaki was responsible for managing operational matters, including compliance-related functions. Mr. Zaki’s contribution to EFG Hermes included growing the backbone of the firm in all countries and lines of business, allowing it to grow rapidly while maintaining the highest degree of corporate governance and ethics and weather major economic and political events in the region. He was also part of the Firm’s Board through to 2013.
Prior to joining EFG Hermes, Mr. Zaki worked for five years at Commercial International Bank (CIB) where he headed the team responsible for extending credit to the Egyptian pharmaceutical industry. During his time at CIB, he was able to more than double loans to the sector and capture a 70% market share of all private sector pharmaceutical companies operating in Egypt. He was also heavily involved in the merger negotiations between the two biggest private sector pharmaceutical companies in the country. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Cairo University.
Mrs. Critchley is a Non-Executive Member of the EFG Hermes Board. She is a Partner of Ripplewood, and runs the day-to-day operations. Before joining Ripplewood, Mrs. Critchley was a Founding Partner of Resolution Operations, which raised GBP 660 million via a listed vehicle at the end of 2008, and went on to make three acquisitions in financial services (Friends Provident plc for USD 2.7 billion, most of Axa's UK life businesses for USD 4 billion, and Bupa for USD 0.3 billion). This consolidation strategy was financed through a combination of debt and equity raisings, as well as structured vendor financing. Until forming Resolution Operations, Mrs. Critchley was a Managing Director at Goldman Sachs International where she ran the European FIG Financing business. Mrs. Critchley has structured, advised, or invested in transactions with more than fifty global financials and corporates. Mrs. Critchley has a First Class Honours Degree in Mathematics from University College London.
Mr. Karim Awad is Group Chief Executive Officer, Chairman of the Executive Committee, and a member of the Board of EFG Hermes Holding. With over 21 years of experience, Mr. Awad started his career in EFG Hermes in 1998 in the Investment Banking department, eventually heading the division in 2007 and leading several high-profile local and regional transactions. He assumed managerial roles in the Firm thereafter, first as CEO of the Investment Bank in 2012 and then as Group CEO in 2013.
Since then, Mr. Awad has led a substantial restructuring that included streamlining its expenses and divesting its non-core assets, they key being its stake in Lebanese bank Credit Libanais. Working together with the EFG Hermes senior management, Mr. Awad spearheaded a major shift in the Firm’s strategy that transformed EFG Hermes from a MENA-based investment bank to a frontier markets financial solutions house. To achieve this vision, the Firm focuses on six pillars: hiring the best people, improving the Firm’s positioning in markets it operates in, selectively expanding its geographical presence, enhancing its product offering, increasing profitability metrics, and ensuring that public responsibility remains front and center in all its operations.
During the past seven years, the Firm was able to enhance its market share in its core sell side operations of investment banking, brokerage, and research while expanding its presence to six new markets that span sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. The buy-side business was completely revamped through the consolidation of its regional asset management business with affiliate Frontier Investment Management (FIM) in 2017 and the re-emergence of an active Private Equity division that is a key player in renewables, education, and healthcare. The Firm was also able to significantly increase the suite of products it offers to clients by building full-fledged non-bank financial institution platform that currently includes leasing, factoring, microfinance, consumer finance, mortgages, payment, and insurance in addition to fixed income and structured products platforms. The strategic shift helped drive growth in the Firm’s revenues that reached EGP 5.5 billion and profits that topped EGP 1.3 billion in 2020 all while maintaining a strong commitment to the communities we operate in through an active CSR policy and actively adopting progressive ESG standards.
Mr. Awad holds a BA in Business Administration from the American University in Cairo.
Ms. Mona Zulficar has served as non-executive Chairperson of EFG Hermes Holding since April 2008. Ms. Zulficar is a Founding Partner and Chairperson of Zulficar & Partners Law Firm, a specialized law firm consisting of 11 partners and more than 50 associates, established in June 2009.
The Firm has since grown into one of the top ranked law firms in Egypt. Ms. Zulficar was previously Senior Partner at Shalakany Law Firm and Chair of its Executive Committee for several years.
Ms. Zulficar is recognized in local and international legal circles as the precedent setter and one of Egypt’s most prominent corporate, banking, and project finance attorneys. As an M&A and capital markets transactions specialist, Ms. Zulficar has led negotiations on some of Egypt and the Middle East’s largest and most complex successful transactions over the past three decades.
Ms. Zulficar also played an instrumental role in modernizing and reforming economic and banking laws and regulations, both in her capacity as former board member of the Central Bank of Egypt during the banking reform program from 2003 to 2011 and as a prominent member of national drafting committees. Ms. Zulficar is a leading human rights activist recognized locally and internationally, and has initiated several successful campaigns for new rights legislation including women’s rights, freedom of opinion, and family courts. Ms. Zulficar served as VP of the Constitutional Committee, played a key role in drafting the 2014 Egyptian Constitution, and is currently member of the National Council for Human Rights.
Ms. Zulficar was recently elected President of the first Egyptian Microfinance Federation, currently the Egyptian Federation for Financing Medium, Small and Micro Enterprises, and chairs several NGOs active in social development and microfinance for underprivileged women. Internationally, Ms. Zulficar served two terms as an elected member of the United Nations Human Rights Council Advisory Committee until 2011.
Ms. Zulficar holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics and Political Science from Cairo University and an LLM from Mansoura University, as well as an honorary doctorate degree in Law from the University of Zurich.
Takis Arapoglou is a consultant with an earlier career in International Capital Markets and Corporate & Investment banking and later in managing, restructuring and advising publicly listed Financial Institutions and Corporates, primarily in SE Europe and the Middle East.
Most recent executive assignments include: Managing Director and Global Head of the Banks and Securities Industry for Citigroup; Chairman and CEO of the National Bank of Greece; Chairman of the Hellenic Banks Association; CEO of Commercial Banking at EFG-Hermes Holding SAE.
He is currently holding the following non-executive board positions: Chairman of Bank of Cyprus Group, Chairman of Titan Cement International S.A., Chairman of Tsakos Energy Navigation (TEN) Ltd, Independent board member of EFG-Hermes Holding SAE and a Board member of Bank Alfalah Ltd., representing the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
He is a member of the International Board of Advisors of Tufts University, Boston, Ma., a member of the Business Advisory Council for the International MBA program at the Athens University of Economics and Business.
He has degrees in Mathematics, Engineering and Management from Greek and British Universities.
Mr. Collins is a Non-Executive Member of the EFG Hermes Board . He is the CEO and senior managing director of Ripplewood Advisors, the successor to Ripplewood Holdings , which he founded in 1995. Ripplewood has successfully invested in and built companies globally, including in Asia, Europe andthe Middle East. It has consistently delivered superior returns from investments totaling more than $40 billion in enterprise value.
Ripplewood has played an instrumental role in transforming and strengthening prominent financial institutions including: AS Citadele banka of Latvia, Commercial International Bank of Egypt, and Shinsei Bank of Japan and has invested in a broad range of industries including automotive, chemicals, consumer electronics, food, real estate, and telecommunications. Ripplewood’s investment in Internet provider Gogo began the revolution in in-flight connectivity that is now becoming pervasive.
Many Ripplewood investments remain public companies. Before founding Ripplewood, Mr. Collins worked for Onex, Lazard Frères, Booz Allen Hamilton and Cummins. He formerly served on several public-company boards, including Advance Auto Parts, Asbury Automotive, Citigroup (after it accepted public funds), Commercial International Bank, Gogo, Rental Services Corporation and Shinsei Bank. He also served as an independent director at Weather Holdings, a large private emerging-markets telecom operator that was sold to VimpelCom.
Mr. Collins also sits on the Board of Directors of Banque Saudi Fransi and SODIC. He is the Chairman of AS Citadele banka and is involved in several not-for-profit and public sector activities, including the Trilateral Commission and the Council on Foreign Relations, NEOM, McKinsey and Yale Divinity School Advisory Boards. He is Chairman of the Advisory Board for the Yale School of Management, co-chair of the Advisory Council of the NYU Global Institute for Advanced Study and a member of the Investment Advisory Committee to the New York State Common Retirement Fund.
Mr. Collins has a BA in Philosophy from DePauw University and a MBA in Public and Private Management from Yale University’s School of Management. Mr. Collins received an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from DePauw University in 2004 and has been an Adjunct Professor and Visiting Fellow at New York University. He has served as a Visiting Lecturer at the Yale Law School and is Senior Fellow and Director of the Henry P. Becton Fellowship Program at the Yale School of Management.
Ms. Mona Zulficar has served as non-executive Chairperson of EFG Hermes Holding since April 2008. Ms. Zulficar is a Founding Partner and Chairperson of Zulficar & Partners Law Firm, a specialized law firm consisting of 11 partners and more than 50 associates, established in June 2009.
The Firm has since grown into one of the top ranked law firms in Egypt. Ms. Zulficar was previously Senior Partner at Shalakany Law Firm and Chair of its Executive Committee for several years.
Ms. Zulficar is recognized in local and international legal circles as the precedent setter and one of Egypt’s most prominent corporate, banking, and project finance attorneys. As an M&A and capital markets transactions specialist, Ms. Zulficar has led negotiations on some of Egypt and the Middle East’s largest and most complex successful transactions over the past three decades.
Ms. Zulficar also played an instrumental role in modernizing and reforming economic and banking laws and regulations, both in her capacity as former board member of the Central Bank of Egypt during the banking reform program from 2003 to 2011 and as a prominent member of national drafting committees. Ms. Zulficar is a leading human rights activist recognized locally and internationally, and has initiated several successful campaigns for new rights legislation including women’s rights, freedom of opinion, and family courts. Ms. Zulficar served as VP of the Constitutional Committee, played a key role in drafting the 2014 Egyptian Constitution, and is currently member of the National Council for Human Rights.
Ms. Zulficar was recently elected President of the first Egyptian Microfinance Federation, currently the Egyptian Federation for Financing Medium, Small and Micro Enterprises, and chairs several NGOs active in social development and microfinance for underprivileged women. Internationally, Ms. Zulficar served two terms as an elected member of the United Nations Human Rights Council Advisory Committee until 2011.
Ms. Zulficar holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics and Political Science from Cairo University and an LLM from Mansoura University, as well as an honorary doctorate degree in Law from the University of Zurich.
Mr. Khalid Mana Saeed Al Otaiba is a Non-Executive Member of the EFG Hermes Board. He has been Office Manager for His Excellency Dr. Mana Saeed Al Otaiba, the personal advisor to His Highness the President of the UAE Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, since 2005. He also holds the post of Deputy Chairman of the Al Otaiba Group of Companies. Mr. Al Otaiba leverages his over 17 year career spanning numerous industries to serve as the Director of Alfalah Insurance Company Limited, Pakistan, Chairman of Liwa International Investment Tourism and Royal Mirage Hotel & Resort Ltd, Morocco, and Chairman of Ghantout International and Bank Alfalah and Director of Royal Mirage Masdar Abudhabi. Mr. Al Otaiba holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Economics from Suffolk University in Boston, Massachusetts.
Mr. Yasser El Mallawany is the Non-Executive Vice Chairman of the EFG Hermes Board. Since becoming the Chief Executive Officer of the Firm in 2003, Mr. El Mallawany has played a key role in driving the consolidation of Egypt’s investment banking sector and facilitated the emergence of EFG Hermes as the leading Arab investment bank.
He began his career serving for 16 years at Commercial International Bank (CIB), formerly Chase National Bank, finally serving as the General Manager of the Corporate Banking Division. Mr. El Mallawany joined EFG Hermes during the Firm’s merger with CIIC. Mr. El Mallawany holds a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Cairo University.