Naguib Onsi Sawiris, born June 15, 1954 is an Egyptian businessman and politician. 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.
OTH has 20,000 employees and manages 11 GSM operators around the globe. In the beginning, OTH’s strategy was to target underpenetrated high population markets. However, soon after it started to pursue more developed markets with the launch of Wind Mobile by its Globalive subsidiary in Canada in December 2009. Moreover, OTH launched the first mobile operator in North Korea in 2008, “Koryolink”.
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.
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.”.
Associations
At international and regional levels, Naguib Sawiris serves on the following Boards, Committees and Councils:
▪ Member of the international advisory committee to the NYSE Board of Directors (IAC) since November 2005
▪ Board member of the International Advisory Board to the National Bank of Kuwait
▪ President of the German-Arab Chamber of Industry and Commerce for 2008–2009
▪ Board member of the Supreme Council of Sciences and Technology formed by a presidential decree issued by the former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. The council’s board includes Nobel laureate Dr Ahmed Zewail, Dr Farouq el-Baz and Sir Magdy Yaqoub.
▪ Co-chair, the Egyptian Italian Business Council
▪ Board member on both the Board of Trustees and the board of Directors of the Arab Thought Foundation
▪ Board of Trustees member of the French University in Cairo
▪ Board member of the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs
▪ Board member of the Consumer Rights Protection Association of Egypt
▪ Chairman of the Board of Endeavor
Political involvements
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 Free Egyptians Party, which favors a civil/non-religious state.
Political difficulties
In late June 2011 his tweet of Mickey Mouse with an Islamic beard and dressed in a Jilbab and Minnie Mouse wearing a full Muslim veil caused controversy, accusing him of racism and islamophobia.
Awards & recognitions
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 will recognize him as the 2011 CIC Globalist of the Year.
Education:
Naguib Sawiris holds a Diplom (similar to a Master’s) in Business Administration and Mechanical Engineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich, Switzerland and the Abitur (diploma) from the German Protestant School, Cairo, Egypt.
