Revealed: Top 5 most powerful Arabs in Egypt

Egyptians are the third largest group in our 2018 Arab Power list with seven entries.

Interestingly our highest ranked Egyptian this year is also a new entry and comes from a quite different background to many of his peers.

Others have been regularly entries on our list in recent years and in 2018 we also have a strong representation of women.

Nearly half of Egyptians on this year’s list are women who hold top roles in a variety of fields including Nemat Shafik, director of London School of Economics and Dalia Mogahed, director of research for the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding

Read: Revealed: Top 5 most powerful Arabs in Saudi Arabia

Read: Revealed: Top 5 most powerful Arabs in the UAE

Read on to find out the top five most powerful Arabs from Egypt –

1. Mohamed Salah

Footballer, Liverpool FC / Egypt National Team

Sector: Sport

Overall rank: 19

Salah made his professional debut at Egyptian Premier League side El Mokawloon in May 2010 and has since gone on to impress in Switzerland, England, Italy and for his country’s national team. During this time the 25-year-old has won several accolades including a place in the team of the tournament for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations and African Player of the Year in January. An icon in his home country, Salah cemented his fame after helping Egypt secure its first World Cup appearance since 1990. He is also well loved at his current team, Liverpool FC, after scoring 25 goals in all competitions (at the time of writing) since signing from Italy’s Roma for a club record $51.2m in June last year.

2. Mohamed Mansour

Chairman, Mansour Group

Sector: Diversified

Overall rank: 33

Egyptian businessman and former politician Mansour is his country’s third richest man with a net worth of $2.7bn, according to Forbes. He oversees the family conglomerate founded by his father Loutfy, the Mansour Group, which is reported to be Egypt’s second largest company with total revenues of more than $6bn. Outside of the family business, which is one of General Motors’ biggest global dealerships, operates its own private equity fund and has partnerships with Caterpillar, McDonald’s and UPS, Mansour has led an impressive political career – serving as Egypt’s transport minister from 2006 to 2009. He is also chairman of SME non-profit the Lead Foundation and the Egypt-US Business Council.

3. Nassef Sawiris

CEO, OCI

Sector: Industry

Overall Rank: 59

With a net worth of $6.8bn, Nassef Sawiris is Egypt’s richest man, adding $1.5bn to his fortune from a year ago thanks to upticks in the share price of several of his holdings including fertilizer manufacturer OCI (which he runs), sports brand Adidas and cement giant LaFargeHolcim. At the start of 2018 OCI looked set to boost its fortunes further after signing a $45m contract with Emaar Misr to help build phase one of the Marassi Marina project in his home- country Egypt. The CEO’s influence has extended to various boards around the world over the years, including NASDAQ Dubai and Belgium’s Besix.

4. Naguib Sawiris

Chairman, Orascom

Sector: Telecoms

Overall rank: 60

Returning to this year’s list is Nassef’s older brother Naguib, who has a smaller – yet still substantial – fortune of $4.1bn. Having stepped down as CEO of Orascom Telecom Media & Technology in 2017, Sawiris remains as executive chairman and keeps busy with numerous other roles including board member of the Arab Thought Foundation, advisory board member for the National Bank of Kuwait and member of the International Advisory Committee to the NYSE Board of Directors. He also hit the headlines in 2015 when he offered to buy an island to help refugees fleeing the Syrian conflict – a plan that later failed to materialise.

5. Hoda Kotb

Host, NBC

Sector: Media

Overall Rank: 80

Already a familiar and popular figure on American television, Hoda Kotb’s stock rose yet further at the start of 2018 when she was promoted to the role of co-anchor for huge NBC News morning show, Today, following the departure of Matt Lauer. In the process, her pairing with Savannah Guthrie became the first female-only anchor duo in Today Show history, airing to millions of people every day. A popular author, with three books under her belt, Kotb became a household name on Dateline NBC – a show she continues to present alongside her new responsibilities.