Category: Leaders

Mohamed Bin Issa Al Jaber – Billionaire Businessman and Philanthropist

Mohamed Bin Issa Al Jaber – Businessman – Founder, Chairman and CEO – MBI Group

Companies include:

  • Jadawel International Construction & Development – residential compounds in Saudi Arabia
  • Continentoil – oilfield services and petroleum company
  • AJWA Group for Food Industries – shareholder
  • JJW Hotels & Resorts
  • Amarante , 4 star hotels in France, Portugal and Egypt
  • Median , 3 star hotels in France
  • Grand Hotel, Vienna, Austria
  • Palais Corso, Vienna’s shopping & office complex
  • The Elton Collection, London
  • list not complete

Philanthropy :

  • MBI Al Jaber Foundation, UK registered charity – focus in the fields of education, cultural dialogue and good governance

Other/s :

  • Founding Patron and Donor of the ‘London Middle East Institute’ at SOAS
  • Endowed Chair – MBI Al Jaber Chair in Middle East Studies, at SOAS, University of London
  • MBI Al Jaber Building, Corpus Christi College, University of Oxford
  • The MBI Al Jaber Grand Hall, University of Westminister

Board/s:

  • Advisor Board, Middle East Centre, London School of Economics (LSE)
  • Nominated as UNESCO’s Special Envoy – Personal Representative for ‘education, human rights, tolerance and culture to build peace and democracy

Book:

Sheikh Mohamed Bin Issa Al Jaber. Yes, Arabs can too

Honours & Awards :

2002.  Awarded Honorary Fellowship at the School of Oriental and African Studies

2004.  Awarded Doctorate of Letters from University of Westminster

2004.  Awarded Honorary Degree, Doctor of Science, from City University, London

2005.  Appointed UNESCO Special Envoy for Education, Tolerance and Cultures

2005.  Awarded UNESCO Medal on the occasion of the organisation’s 60th anniversary

2005.  Awarded a Gold Medal by the French Government for services to Tourism and Culture.

2007.  Awarded Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organisation Gold Medal

2007.  Appointed UN Spokesperson for Global Forums on Reinventing Government

2008.  Nominated as Trialog Institut “Person of the Year”

2008.  Appointed Chairman of Mediterranean Peace Forum

2010.  Awarded Honorary Fellowship at University College London

2012.  Awarded ISESCO (Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) Gold Medal

2013.  Awarded a Senatorship by MODUL University

2017.  Received Dialogue of Cultures Award

Others:

  • Listed in Bloomberg Billionaire Index – n.194 – 2018
  • Listed in Sunday Times Rich List – n. 18 – May 13th, 2018

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Saudi Arabia

Issad Rebrab – Algeria’s Billionaire Businessman

Issad Rebrab – Founder & CEO – Cevital .

The 6th person listed in the Forbes 2020 African Billionaire Ranking.

A leader in food processing industries.

Cevital is the holding company. Algeria’s biggest privately held company. Own one of the largest sugar refineries in the world.

Other subsidiaries are :

  • Samha Home Appliances (Samsung Electronics)
  • Mediterranean Float Glass
  • Cevitas Minerals
  • Baticompos
  • CeviAgro
  • Nolis SpA
  • Hyundai Motor Algeria (HMA)
  • COGETP (Compagnie Générale des Équipements de Travaux Public) -Volvo and SDLG (China)
  • Associated Car & Truck Specialists (ACTS)
  • Prainsa Cevico Algeria
  • Metal Sides
  • Profilur
  • Evcon
  • Cogetp
  • Cevicar – Car Renting
  • Future Media
  • Cevital Minerals
  • Numilog
  • Numidis

Global Acquisitions:

  • Groupe Brandt – French Home Appliances
  • Luchini – Italian Steel Maker
  • German Water Purification Company
  • Oxxo – France (Premade window and door systems)
  • Alas – Spain (Window and door aluminium frames)

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Algeria

Nassef Sawiris – Egypt’s Billionaire Businessman

Nassef Onsi Sawiris – Businessman in Construction and Chemicals. Youngest of the 3 brothers Naguib Onsi Sawiris and Samih Onsi Sawiris. Children of businessman baron Onsi Sawiris

Business Interest/s

  • CEO – Orascom Construction Industries (OCI), one of the world’s largest nitrogen fertilisers producer with plants in Texas and Iowa. Trades on the Euronext Amsterdam Exchange
  • Orascom Construction – Trades on the Cairo Exchange and Nasdaq Dubai
  • Holdings include stakes in the cement giant Lafarge Holcim
  • Holdings include stakes in Adidas AG . Supervisory Board Member of Adidas AG, Germany

Sports :

  • Joint Owner : Aston Villa FC , British Football Club

Other/s :

  • Board of Directors – Cairo Stock Exchange ( 2004-2007)
  • Board of Directors – Alexandria Stock Exchange ( 2004 – 2007)
  • Board of Directors – Dubai International Finance Exchange (DIFX) (2008-2010)
  • Member – Cleveland Clinic’s International Leadership Board
  • Member – University of Chicago’s Board of Trustees

Education:

B.A. – Economics , University of Chicago

Philanthropy :

  • Donated USD 6 million to Chicago Booth School of Business
  • Donated USD 24 million to aid Egyptian studends and fund an executive education program (2019)

Scholarship Fund:

  • Onsi Sawiris Scholar Program (in honour of his father Onsi Sawiris) – 2015

General :

  • Listed in Forbes List of Billionaires 2020
  • Listed in Africa’s Billionaires of 2020
  • Fourth Richest African – Forbes 2019

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Egypt

Tawakkol Karman , First Arab Woman Nobel Peace Laureate (and Youngest) – 2011

Tawakkol Abdel-Salam Khalid Karman, Yemeni Journalist, Politician and Human Rights Activist.

Earned nicknames in Yemen ‘Iron Woman’ (aka) ‘Mother of the Revolution’

Nobel Peace Prize :

  • co-winner . Tawakkol Karman along with Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Leyman Gbowee were the co-recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize 2011

First/s :

  • First Female Arab to win the Nobel Peace Prize
  • Youngest Person to win the Nobel Peace Prize
  • First Yemeni to win the Nobel Peace Prize
  • Second Muslim Woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize

Awards, Others:

  • Social Entrepreneur of the Year – The Asian Awards (2019)
  • Awarded 1st Position ‘Top 100 Global Thinkers’ – by Foreign Policy (2011)

Other/s :

  • Member – International Advisory Board of the MBI Al Jaber Media Institute, Yemen
  • Member – Yemeni Journalists Syndicate
  • Content oversight in charge : Facebook (2020)

Co-Founder :

  • Women Journalists Without Chains

www.tawakkolkarman.net/en

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Taz Governorate, Yemen / Turkey

Sultan Qaboos of Oman , Arab World’s Longest Serving Ruler – January 2020

Sultan Qaboos Bin Said Al Said of the Sultanate of Oman, the longest-serving ruler in the Middle East and Arab World at the time of his demise, January 10th, 2020.

A 15th generation descendant of the founder of the House of Al Said. Aceded the throne on July 23rd, 1970.

More details can be googled about his 50 years as the absolute Monarch of the Sultanate of Oman.

Awards/ Honours:

  • Grand Star of the Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria  (Austria, 31 March 2001)
  •  Member 1st Class of the Order of Al Khalifa (Bahrain)
  •  Member of the Royal Family Order of the Crown of Brunei (Brunei, 15 December 1984)
  •  Grand Collar of the Order of the Nile (Egypt, 1976)
  •  Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour (France, 31 May 1989)
  •  Grand Cross Special Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (Germany)
  • Jawarhlal Nehru Award for International Understanding (India, 2004 – award yet to be presented)
  •  Recipient of the Star of the Republic of Indonesia , 1st Class or Adipurna (Indonesia)
  •  Grand Collar of the Order of Pahlavi (3 March 1974) (Iran)
  •  Commemorative Medal of the 2500th Anniversary of the founding of the Persian Empire (Iran, 14 October 1971)
  •  Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (Italy, 22 April 1974)
  •  Grand Cordon of the Order of the Chrysanthemum (Japan)
  •  Collar of the Order of al-Hussein bin Ali (Jordan)
  •  Collar of the Order of Mubarak the Great (Kuwait, 28 December 2009)
  •  Collar of the Order of Merit (Lebanon)
  •  Honorary Recipient of the Order of the Crown of the Realm  (DMN) (Malaysia, 1991)
  •  Collar of the Order of the Throne (Morocco)
  •  Grand Cross of the Orde of Ouissam Alaouite (Morocco)
  •  Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Netherlands Lion (Netherlands, 2012)
  •  Recipient of the Nishan-e-Pakistan, 1st Class (Pakistan)
  •  Collar of the Order of the Independence (Qatar)
  •  Recipient of the Badr Chain (Saudi Arabia)
  •  Decoration 1st class (December 1971) and Collar (23 December 2006) of the Order of Abdulaziz al Saud (Saudi Arabia)
  •  Member 1st Class of the Order of Temasek (Singapore , 12 March 2009)
  •  Grand Cross of the Order of Good Hope (South Africa), 1999)
  •  Knight of the Collar of the Order of Isabella the Catholic (Spain, 13 December 1985)
  •  Grand Cross of the Order of Civil Merit (Spain)
  •  Collar of the Order of Umayyad (Syria)
  •  Collar of the Order of Independence (Tunisia)
  •  Grand Cordon of the Order of the Republic (Tunisia)
  •  Collar of the Order of Etihad (Order of the Federation) (UAE)
  •  Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG) (United Kingdom, 8 July 1976)
  •  Knight of Justice (KStJ, 8 November 1976) and Bailiff Grand Cross (GCStJ, 19 March 1984) of the Venerable Order of Saint John (United Kingdom)
  •  Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO) (United Kingdom, 28 February 1979)
  •  Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB) (United Kingdom, 18 March 1982)
  •  Recipient of the Royal Victorian Chain (United Kingdom, 27 November 2010)

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The Sultanate of Oman

Nadia Mohamed elected ‘Council Member’ of St. Louis Park (MN) USA : November 2019

Nadia Mohamed was elected as ‘Council Member’ of the St.Louis Park City, Hennepin County, Minnesota, USA. She has many firsts to her credit .

Firsts :

  • The City Council’s first Somali elected member
  • The City Council’s first Muslim elected member
  • The City Council’s first Woman of colour elected member

Award:

  • St. Louis Park Human Rights Award (2018)

Profile:

  • Member – St. Louis Park Multicultural Advisory Committee
  • Volunteer – St. Louis Park High School’s High Achievement Program

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American / Somali American / Somalia

Abbas El Gamal Wins ‘Claude E Shannon Award’ : 2012

Dr. Abbas El Gamal – Electrical engineer wins several awards and one of amongst them listed above.

Best known for his works on network information theory, field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) and CMOS imaging sensors and systems.

Work :

  • Chair – Department of Electrical Engineering , Stanford University
  • Hitachi America Professor of Engineering, Stanford University
  • Director – Information Systems Laboratory, Stanford University
  • Assistant Professor – Department of Electrical Engineering, Stanford University

Education :

  • Ph.D :
  • M.S : Statistics
  • M.S: Electrical Engineering, Stanford University
  • B.S (Hons) : Cairo University, Egypt

Awards :

  • 2016 IEEE Richard W. Hamming Medal
  • 2014 Viterbi Lecture, University of Southern California
  • 2013 Shannon Memorial Lecture, UCSD
  • 2013 Member of the National Academy of Engineering
  • 2012 Claude E. Shannon Award , IEEE Information Theory Society
  • 2000 Fellow, Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers

Books :

Network Information Theory, (Cambridge University Press, 2011) – with Young-Han Kim

Business :

  • LSI Corporation – Director – 1984
  • Actel Corporation – Co-Founder – 1986
  • Silicon Architects – Founder – 1990
  • Pixim Inc – Co-Founder – 1998
  • InscoPix – Co-Founder – 2011

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American / American-Arab / Egyptian-American

Nawal El Moutawakel – Olympian – Gold Medallist .

Nawal El Moutawakel , Morocco. Olympic Gold Medallist. 400 metres hurdles, women. Summer Olympics – 1984

Positions :

  • Minister for Youth and Sports, Morocco – 2007
  • Council Member – International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) – 1995
  • Council Member – International Olympic Committee (IOC) – 1998
  • President – Assocation Marocaine des Sports ets Development (AMSD)
  • Vice-President – Moroccan Royal Federation of Athletics

Firsts :

  • First Woman from a Muslim majority country to win an Olympic Gold Medal
  • First Moroccan to win an Olympic Gold Medal

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Morocco

Khaldoon Al Mubarak : CEO & MD – Mubadala Investments -Abu Dhabi (UAE)

Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak . Leader. Emirati Entrepreneur. Businessman.

-CEO & MD – Mubadala Invesments Company

-Board Member (incl) First Abu Dhabi Bank, Aldar Properties, Ferrari etc.

-Executive Council Member of Emirate of Abu Dhabi / Chairman – Executive Affairs Office – Abu Dhabi

Sports:

-Chairman – Manchester City Football Club / Chairman: Abu Dhabi Motor Sports Management Company (ADMM)

-Member Board of Trustees New York University

Awards:

-Appointed ‘Commander of the Star of the Order of the Italian Solidarity ‘(2007)

-Appointed ‘Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) (2013)

-Awarded the Grand Gwanghwa Medal, the highest class of the South Korean Order of Diplomatic Service Merit

-Awarded ‘Asian Business Leadership Forum Award (ABLF) 2016

-Listed as One of the 100 World’s Most Influential Arabs (2017) by Arabian Business

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pix : scoopempire.com

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Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE)

First Arab American to Represent Dearbon in Michigan – Abdullah Hammoud : U.S.A.

Abdullah Hammoud. Politician.

First Arab American to represent the 15th District Dearborn in the Michigan House of Representative (2017).

Education:

-MPH – Master’s Degree – Public Health in Epidemiology and Genetics, University of Michigan -AnnArbor

-B.S. – Biology – University of Michigan-Dearborn

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pix: modeldmedia.com / modelD / Doug Coombie

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AMERICAN / American-Arab / LEBANON