AUC’s Mina Sami, assistant professor of Economics, and Wael Abdallah, assistant professor of Finance, have published a first-of-its-kind report on Africa’s crypto boom, aptly entitled “Does Cryptocurrency Hurt African Firms?” 

A lack of data around cryptocurrency in Africa, coupled with ever-increasing public interest, earned Sami and Abdallah recognition as among the top 10% of SSRN authors in the MENA region.

Their latest report, published in February 2022, shows that cryptocurrency negatively impacts African micro-entities, particularly those in “less competitive” sectors such as energy, financial, industrial, and consumer services. “Each 10% growth in the cryptocurrency market cap reduces the market value of African firms by 0.76%,” Sami and Abdallah’s paper outlines. 

It also finds that cryptocurrency trading in Africa has a particularly adverse effect on firms that are less experienced and highly indebted. 

Additionally, Sami and Abdallah outline how macroeconomic factors and companies’ internal policies are part of the adverse landscape created by the crypto boom. Even with cryptocurrency banned in many African countries, this fails to protect companies in less competitive sectors. 

The reason for this, Sami argues, lies in behavioral finance. “The pain of loss is higher than satisfaction from gains,” he affirms; consequently, with some sectors underperforming as the coronavirus pandemic shook businesses and economies globally, investors are looking for alternatives. 

In much of the world, including developing economies, the answer became crypto. 

The crypto boom is particularly worth watching in MENA and Africa as it may, on the surface, seem at odds with low financial inclusion levels plaguing emerging and developing markets in the same geographic vicinity—a shocking 57% of Africa’s population is unbanked.

Despite the parallels in many of these emerging markets, they are far from being a monolith. According to global data, 2.6% of Africa’s population are crypto users, although this figure is calculated through median ranges, and is not necessarily representative of every market in Africa. Egypt’s crypto users stand at 1.7 million, a massive number despite the stigma and skepticism with which the public widely views crypto and digital currencies, and as the Central Bank of Egypt does not yet allow crypto trading. Another commendable market is Kenya, ranking fourth globally with 8.5% of the country’s population being crypto users. 

Sami and Abdallah see that crypto’s popularity is poised to grow even more. “I believe there will be great growth in Africa’s crypto markets in the next year. People are unbanked and the stock market has high transaction costs, while cryptocurrency is decentralized and transaction costs are low…So the trend is very likely to grow in Africa, especially with the prospect of inflation and depreciating currencies in much of the continent; this makes crypto very attractive for traders…a safe haven,” Sami explains, grouping crypto with more traditional safe haven assets like gold and crude oil.

While Sami and Abdallah don’t offer a solid answer as to whether crypto should be legalized in more African markets, they do say that their findings call for an excruciating need for further innovation—this, they say, is the one prime aspect that might mitigate the adverse effect crypto growth has on African micro-entities.

“Firms must be more competitive in the market,” Sami affirmed, quoting Robert Solow, winner of a Nobel Prize in Economics, in saying, “What guarantees country-level economic growth in the long-term is innovation.”

He continued: “Real estate and IT thrive [in Africa] because they innovate, whilst in other sectors productivity is very low—something that we need to boost. Entrepreneurs in Africa are not well guided or backed with enough knowledge, which makes companies [especially SMEs] less productive.”

Speaking on the paper’s recognition and ranking, Sami said, “This opens a new area for research, encouraging researchers and academics to work on these topics. People living here in the region, or outside, need information and research about this market.”

In a rapidly changing world, there is no one easily digestible answer to tackle the threats posed by shifting market trends and novel prospective assets. Sami and Abdallah’s new report shows just that; with all the merits that crypto offers investors, and all the promise it holds in Africa, this comes at massive cost for conventional institutions and a host of less-than-lucrative sectors.

“The role of the government should be to increase innovation and improve regulation in the traditional financial markets, in order to compete with cryptocurrency,” concludes Abdallah. “In improving the efficiency of our financial markets, we must be more transparent and pass regulations that facilitate investment flows.”

These lessons will not only capitalize on crypto’s promise—despite most cryptocurrencies posing a generally high risk level—but also potentially reap wider gains for economies at large.

In an unannounced move, Egypt’s Central Bank raised key policy rates by 100 basis points and devalued the Egyptian pound by nearly 17% on Monday, March 21, leaving many panicked with flashbacks to 2016 when the bank floated the pound and its price plunged by 48%.

Samer Atallah '97, associate professor of economics and associate dean at AUC’s School of Business, was not surprised this time around — or the last. “We could see the signs of pressure on the currency since maybe late last summer or early fall,” he says. “It was clear that the price at which the dollar was trading for the pound in the market was lower than the value of a dollar.”

Indeed, many news outlets and financial institutions such as Bloomberg and JP Morgan rang warning bells ahead of the recent devaluation, pointing to rising inflation as well as a predicted drop in tourism from Russia and Ukraine due to the war.

Since the floatation of 2016, Atallah and others have hoped that Egypt’s Central Bank would transition to a managed float, allowing market forces to determine the dollar exchange rate, the professor explained.

“The reality is, however, if you go on Google and look at the graph showing the exchange rate, you’re going to find a very straight line for the past two years,” he says. 

This straight line is indicative of the bank’s control of the exchange rate, Atallah states. “We’ve had COVID, a decrease in tourism, fewer exports and still, no changes to the exchange rate. It is clear that the value of the Egyptian pound that is listed on your bank’s screen is not reflective of reality.”

Monday’s sudden change, however, has aligned the exchange rate to reflect that which many, including Atallah, previously estimated as a true rate.

Why Now?

Contrary to the whispers one might hear in the streets, the CBE’s move was not only a reaction to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Atallah believes. “While the last step in the race is probably [the conflict], it does not mean that we weren’t already moving in this direction,” he says, citing excessive reliance on volatile portfolio investments and the accumulation of external debt.

There is also chatter about the devaluation preceding the announcement of an additional incoming loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as a requirement for securing the funds, as the 2016 devaluation preceded a USD 12 billion dollar loan from the IMF.

While Atallah asserts that he can only speculate on such claims, he explained the difficulty of securing a loan with a quasi-fixed exchange rate.

What Now?

Seeing as this isn’t the first time for this to happen and with less than a decade between now and the last devaluation, what’s to come is rather predictable, according to Atallah: “For a country that relies very much on importing essential commodities, the effects are typical: this will lead to inflation,” he says. “Almost all food, almost everything that is energy is tied to the price of the dollar.”

Pointing out a contrast in how this affects foreign investors and the wealthy versus the average Egyptian, he continues: “While firms that invest in EGP are welcoming this, the people in the street are not. Even without people fully understanding the dynamic of how the dollar price affects the cost of living, once they are aware of the increase, they know that prices will rise and they will ask for higher wages and so on. It has become something inherent in our collective conscience.”

When asked about the pound regaining ground, as it slowly did in 2016, Atallah explains that any predictions are simply estimates and cannot be relied on. “The rates are based on highly sophisticated models that look at transactions, trade and asset pricing. They are also extremely sensitive to market conditions.”

Moving Forward

With devaluation rattling economic stability and escalating prices, and with less than a decade in between Egypt’s last devaluation and this one, many are wondering: How can we avoid repeating this again?

“If we don’t want this to happen again, we must do things differently,” Atallah stresses. “This means that whatever the amount of portfolio investment we get from abroad, we make sure to invest in productive capabilities, meaning projects that lead to jobs and exports, rather than debt instruments and infrastructure.” 

Dean of AUC’s School of Business Sherif Kamel '88, '90, '13 recently published his debut book, Leading Change in Challenging Times: Lessons of Disruption and Innovation from Egypt – Thoughts, Observations, and Reflections.

The book reflects the experiences and sentiments of Kamel, who grew inspired by Egypt’s history and attached to its cultural heritage and resilient people. Its underlying theme is the profound belief that Egypt remains uniquely positioned as the land of unparalleled opportunity, and that it can become an intellectual, cultural, economic and geopolitical powerhouse within a dynamic and changing world.

News@AUC caught up with Kamel to learn more.

Give us a summary of your book

The book is a collection of my personal thoughts, observations, reflections and beliefs on a number of subjects that are very dear to my heart.

It touches on Egypt—its history, the potential of its youth and the economy—and, on the organizational level, the importance of thought leadership, the governance model and how agile, adaptive and iterative the organization needs to be to be able to navigate the challenges we face every day. It also covers the culture within organizations and how entrepreneurial and innovative they should be. Finally, the book covers the institutional history of AUC’s School of Business.

The book is in a hybrid format: part memoir, part institutional history and part inspirational business leadership advice. It mainly focuses on a period of five years between 2009 and 2014—while I was serving as Dean of AUC’s School of Business.

This book is for a diverse audience, including students, scholars, learners, administrators, deans–especially of business schools, entrepreneurs, CEOs mentors, policymakers and the like.

Why the title, Leading Change in Challenging Times: Lessons of Disruption and Innovation from Egypt?

We live in challenging times—whether economically, socially or politically—and that affects individuals, organizations, businesses and society at large. 

The title also points to the changes that have been happening within the realm of organizational development and digital transformation, not just over the past few years, but over the past 40 years. 

What prompted you to write this book?

I've had experiences in government, civil society, the corporate world and academia. They all relate to one element, and that is human capital development, something I believe to be the most important asset in every society, and surely, Egypt.

So, I thought of sharing my experiences and insights, not only around accomplishments but also including failures, for there is a lot to learn from our various endeavors including and ups and downs. I firmly believe that sharing one’s experience is a huge privilege—it's an honor, not an obligation, so that we all learn from each other and build on each other’s journeys

The initial idea was to cover the School of Business, but then I realized that the school doesn't stand alone. It's part of a larger ecosystem and affects people inside and outside of our community. So I thought to look at the entire ecosystem of the school both on and off campus: how it develops, how it impacts itself and how it progresses while facing challenges and opportunities.

I also wanted to document the institutional memory of the School of Business. The legacy of the school extends 75 years. Since we launched our first programs in economics back in 1947, we have had quite an impact on higher education and the community, both in Egypt, and in the region we serve most, which is the Middle East and North Africa. 

Finally, I wanted to showcase the school to those that may not know much about it. My aim has always been to increase its global footprint, and that can only be done by telling the story of the school, its impact and its ongoing work on and off campus, including its portfolio of community development and services..

What is the book’s intended message?

The book aims to convey a number of messages. 

1. For the society: Human capital is Egypt’s most important asset and the potential game-changer for society.

2. For the individual: Learning and development come in different shapes and forms and––more importantly––it is a lifelong journey and never a destination. 

3. For the organization: Sustained organizational success requires thought leadership, a vision, strategic planning, efficient execution, an institutionalized corporate culture, proper governance, an empowered team and a dynamic and adaptive enabling environment for innovation and discovery.

4. For the future: The growing power and reach of digital transformation and the innovative capacities of entrepreneurial mindsets and offerings of tech-enabled startups will continue to transform lives and livelihoods creating opportunities for socioeconomic development and growth.

Describe your process for writing this book.

Writing this book was an interesting journey. I began collecting my thoughts to write something about the school back in 2014. I originally planned to finish this project in just two or three years, but after seven and a half years, the book was finally published.

The time it took was worth it, and overall the journey was extremely enjoyable, especially pinpointing the messages I wanted to get across, building on the history of the School of Business and looking forward at what to expect in the future of business and management education during a disruptive period.

Did you discover anything in particular that surprised you while writing this book? 

When you spend time accumulating experiences and journeys, things tend to pop up and you begin to think about them differently. Something I noticed was that my diverse experience across different sectors have never been focused on anything other than inspiration, collaboration, hard work, shared experiences, human capital development and relationships—that, to me, is the only way impact can be realized. It was nice to identify a thread linking the experiences of my career.

Can you summarize for us some important lessons you learned by leading AUC's School of Business?

I think that would require another book!

First, I want to highlight the importance of building and supporting a strong team. Part of doing this is creating a team that will challenge you. I myself am lucky to have such a team here at AUC.

Second, in an ever-changing and transforming world, it is very important to remain relevant and competitive. I don’t see myself as the dean of a business school, I see myself as the CEO of an intellectual enterprise. In this regard, you must always push for quality, for more diversity, for more innovation, competitiveness and agility. Don’t be afraid to take risks—even if you don’t reach your target, you will learn something new.

Next, I’ve learned the necessity of practicing what you preach. For years, the School of Business has been promoting entrepreneurship and innovation in Egypt. We must practice this by remaining entrepreneurial in leading the school and consistently raising the bar for ourselves.

Does the book touch on AUC's role in developing Egypt? If so, could you elaborate?

Yes, the entire book expands on the role of the School of Business in educating the next generation of business leaders, policymakers, entrepreneurs and change agents—whether in government, civil society or the private sector. For close to 103 years, AUC has been an integral, impactful player in Egypt’s higher education ecosystem through leadership, research, community development and services. 

The book’s summary calls Egypt the "land of unparalleled opportunities"—could you briefly explain this statement?

Egypt has a long history of cultural heritage. It's a growing population with ample resources and opportunities across different sectors, most of it remaining untapped.

In terms of people, we are capable of accomplishing much more than where we are today. The tourism, agriculture, industry and ICT sectors––to mention a few––have high potential as well, and for these sectors to reach their true potential, there must be an integrated development strategy that includes investing in Egypt’s human capital in education and lifelong learning with universities and higher education institutions with an invaluable role to play.

I dream and aspire that in the next few years, Egypt will start realizing some of these untapped opportunities.

What feedback have you received from readers so far?

I am delighted to say that people have so far found the book exciting. Readers have said that it has a personal tone of someone telling their story, which invites people to share and understand my journey. Readers have felt like they are a part of a conversation rather than reading lines of advice. This was exactly my intention. 

Anything else you’d like to add?

I’d like to end by stating that each journey has its unique added value. And I believe that each person, from all walks of life, can and should contribute something. All they need is an opportunity, an opening. 

It's up to those who are in these leading or enabling positions to provide that opportunity to others and help them grow and succeed. Doing so will bring a healthy mix of perspectives, and in turn more inclusion and diversity to organizations, both of which will strengthen them. 

This book is just one more attempt to highlight a unique journey that represents a business school in an emerging economy that has served society for many years. The narrative shows how things went, including the rights and the wrongs. We need to build on what has happened and take it to the next level. This book is for another 75 years of impacting society, introducing innovative offerings and engaging with different constituents for a better future to all.

Get your copy of Leading Change in Challenging Times here.

Want to learn more? Attend a virtual book talk on Leading Change in Challenging Times on Thursday, March 31 at 5 pm.

Undergraduate Students in AUC’s School of Business ranked third globally in the Canada-based Engineering Commerce Case Competition (EngComm), the “world’s only student-led multidisciplinary case competition.” The students also won awards for Best Business Solution, Best Engineering Solution and Most Economically Feasible Solution. 

The winning team –– made up of students Abdallah Sabah, Yasmin Tarek, Moustafa Awad and Nourhan Nada and led by Assistant Professor Hakim Meshreki –– first competed against five teams from AUC in the qualifying round then against 16 teams from prominent academic institutions worldwide in the final round. 

“This is the second time for me to take part in EngComm, albeit this time, the competition was fully online,” said Awad. “Despite not traveling, the competition was still as engaging, and I really enjoyed competing against top universities around the world once again. I’d like to give a shoutout to Dr. Hakim, who continuously produces winning teams in this competition.”

Established in 2013, the Canada-based Engineering Commerce Case Competition brings together students with a technical background in engineering and those in interactive fields such as business and economics. During this year’s final competition, the AUC students had to solve two case studies, each six hours long, as well as a 12-hour case study.

“My favorite case study was the 12-hour case, which centered around the development of aerospace vehicles and its implementation within the Canadian community,” said Tarek. “We designed a VTOL [vertical take-off and landing craft] and worked together to ensure its success for various applications ”

The competition took months of preparation, with the students practicing cases from previous years and meeting with former AUC contestants. “We spent more than 18 hours a week solving cases, with a total of over 100 hours, but the twist was that they were consecutive,” Tarek added. 

For the students, the experience was both educational and entertaining.

“It was truly riveting,” said Nada, echoing the same sentiment. “I learned so much throughout the entire journey, from the months of training to the actual competition. I got to engage in conversation with individuals of diverse backgrounds. I’m also glad I got to work with Professor Hakim and my teammates. It was a fruitful experience.”

“I am so honored to have experienced such a well-rounded and extensive competition as I can wholeheartedly say who I am today is not the same as when I first embarked on this journey,” said Tarek. “From the long, long hours of case study practice with my team members to the professional development training and feedback sessions provided by Dr. Hakim and Dr. [Ahmed] Tolba, I have learned so much about the importance of interdisciplinary connectivity. This experience taught me valuable lessons, such as the importance of diversity within a team and problem-solving frameworks within a professional setting. The competition encompassed life lessons behind case study practices, and I know it will benefit me for years to come.”

AUC's alumni left their mark at Egypt's Entrepreneur Awards, taking home a number of awards. The event is held to honor the country's brightest entrepreneurs. You can find the full list of awardees here. 

Best Egyptian Product: Salah El-Dardir '12

CLEO Pharmaceutical Industries 

FIntech: Omar Abdelwahed '16

Valify

Food and Beverage - Fast Casual: Sameh El-Sadat '05, Tarek El Nazer '06, Basel Mashhour '04

TBS Holding Ltd.

Food and Beverage - Fine Dining: Ayman Baky '96

Baky Hospitality Group LLC

General Tech Services: Tarek Bakry '02

zVendo

Media and Advertising: Dina Aly '04

Matter

Next Generation Family Intrapreneur of the Year: Shahira Diab '98

La Poire

Tourism: Youssef Fayez '04

Les Concierges Egypt

Transportation and Logistics: Omar Hagrass '10

Trella

UN Sustainable Development Goals - Environmental Sustainability: Yaseen Abdel-Ghaffar '09

SolarizEgypt

At its recent meeting, AUC's Board of Trustees approved the tenure of Assistant Professors Rania Samir, management; Nesrin Badawi political science; and Diaa Noureldin, economics. 

"Professors Rania, Diaa and Nisreen are all prime examples of AUC's commitment to excellence, and it  is a privilege to count them among our most dedicated faculty members. I am delighted to know that they will be educating AUC students for years to come while carrying out impactful and pioneering research. AUC continues to be fully committed to tenuring excellent faculty," said

Provost Ehab Abdel Rahman.

Samir has taught at AUC for 12 years, with the first four years being an adjunct faculty member.

"It is a great achievement that I have been working hard for during the past eight years," Samir said. "It will give me the drive to excel more in the different facets of work — teaching, research and service work."

Teaching in the Department of Management, her research interests include internet marketing, social media and innovation adoption. She has published a book on the Adoption of Web-based Marketing in the travel industry with Lambert Academic Publishing in 2011.

"AUC is a competitive environment that requires continuous self enhancement," she added. 

For Badawi, who teaches public and international law, tenure is a part of doing something she cherishes. 

"With tenure becoming a scarce commodity, particularly for mother academics, I feel extremely privileged and rewarded for a career that has been my passion for the past decade," she said. 

She has been teaching at AUC since 2010, and going into the next phase of her career, she intends to focus on examining the scope of judicial discretion and its impact on public life in Egypt. Her research interests include Islamic jurisprudence, international humanitarian law and the relationship between international law and Islamic law. She has experience working with UNHCR in refugee law and has offered consultancy work to several organizations on humanitarian law and Islamic law.

"I am extremely grateful to the tremendous support I have received from my department and my colleagues at AUC," she said. "I know I couldn’t have gotten there without their help and support. I am also indebted to my husband and my family without whom this wouldn’t have been possible and to my children who have shown great patience for the past years."

Noureldin, who teaches economics, has taught at AUC for 13 years. His research interests include econometrics, time series analysis, forecasting, quantitative finance and macroeconomics. He currently serves as advisor to the Egyptian Center for Economic Studies and as a research associate and thematic co-leader at the Economic Research Forum, a regional think tank focusing on the Middle East, in the theme of macroeconomics of natural resources, structural transformation and growth.

The AUC Venture Lab and the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development have collaborated to launch a capacity-building program for business incubators and accelerators

The newly launched program is part of the V-Lab's ongoing collaboration with Drosos Foundation and comes in tandem with the ministry’s Rowad 2030 project, aiming to stimulate and enrich the innovation process and empower entrepreneurs by creating a supportive startup ecosystem and opening up opportunities for job creation and youth participation. IncuDev will help individuals design and establish new incubators and accelerators or develop existing ones.

“We are thrilled to launch this new program in collaboration with the ministry to support the entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystems and empower fresh minds all over the country,” said AUC Venture Lab Director and Abdul Latif Jameel Endowed Chair of Entrepreneurship Ayman Ismail '95, '97. “This partnership is part of our continuous commitment to sharing the knowledge and experience we have acquired over the past eight years. We aim to help Egyptian startups better equip supporting organizations and encourage collaboration between the different entities, especially within Egyptian universities.”

Through the program, the teams behind incubators, accelerators and entrepreneurship support programs all over Egypt will be able to benefit from AUC Venture Lab’s experience as a leading accelerator that has supported more than 200 startups and created over 8,000 job opportunities. In addition, the program facilitates collaboration opportunities to streamline efforts, create a broader impact and allow participants to reach shared goals. The training curriculum offers participants tools and techniques for program development and design, operations and management, and capacity building for the founding team.

AUC Venture Lab is also committed to enriching the entrepreneurship space through training supporting organizations as part of its long-standing collaboration with Drosos Foundation.

“Drosos Foundation believes that supporting an enabling environment for youth to innovate and present viable business solutions to systemic social problems is key to sustainable development. The Foundation is proud to support the AUC Venture Lab to promote partnerships between policymakers and education institutions to pave the way for policy frameworks that enhance this enabling environment for young entrepreneurs,” said Wessam ElBeih, country director of Drosos Foundation.

In addition to the capacity-building program, the announced collaboration includes the expansion of Rowad Meter, a platform that brings together Egypt’s latest entrepreneurship-related data, figures and activities to measure the long-term impact of the program and the development of its participants.

“It was my dream to join the AUC School of Business,” said Kholoud Wael, accounting and finance junior student. “I was inspired by its global ranking, and since then, I’ve always wanted to join it.” Wael is a recipient of the HSBC Bank Egypt Endowed Public School Scholarship awarded to one student enrolled in a finance-related major. 

Wael has always been a fan of Egyptian talk show host Mona El Shazly ’96, perceiving her as a well-rounded individual who she took on as a role model. “Ever since I found out that she’s an AUC graduate, I immediately started exploring the University’s majors and learned more about the campus life,” she recounted.

While her passion growing up was equally distributed among business and journalism, she found herself leaning toward business when it was time to choose. Currently, she studies both finance and accounting because she believes they complement one another and are an integral part of our daily lives.

On aspirations, Wael wants to become a successful entrepreneur and is especially interested in FinTech.

“I’m sure that AUC will have a very great impact on my skills and enable me to achieve this goal. Not to mention, there are a lot of helpful resources at AUC, primarily the professors,” she emphasized. “They’re always there for us if we need any help and are always available to support us even outside the classroom.”

Among her favorite courses so far have been entrepreneurship and innovation with Associate Professor Randa El Bedawy, business finance with Associate Professor and Head of Finance Islam Azzam, and corporate finance with Adjunct Faculty Hany Genena. She also found a couple of core courses especially interesting, including education 1099 led by Assistant Professor Mustafa Toprak, the Arabic novel by Assistant Professor Dina Heshmat and scientific thinking by Assistant Professor Ahmed Abdellatif.

“Moreover, I’m benefiting a lot from the experience I am getting at AUC in different disciplines by joining the clubs and the other activities held by the University,” she added. Although campus presence is currently affected by COVID-19, she looks forward to participating in many more different activities that will add value to her and enable her to make more connections.  

On the note of the pandemic, Wael finds her experience with online learning quite challenging, mainly because of how much she misses the New Cairo campus and campus life.

“I miss going to face-to-face classes and interacting with professors. I also miss my friends and the university events,” she reflected. “Yet, there are always good sides to everything – and I think that this ‘online mode’ gave me a chance to spend more time with my family and to experience a new learning mode that taught me a lot. I managed to face this challenge and even landed an internship in addition to working at a startup part-time.”

Eduniversal and QS World University rankings have ranked different AUC programs as some of the top performing and highest delivering academic courses of study in the continent, and the world. Check out some of the recent rankings by school below. 

School of Global Affairs and Public Policy

-Master of Global Affairs: ranked #1 in international management in Africa (Eduniversal)

-Master of Public Administration: ranked #1 in public administration/management in Africa (Eduniversal)

-Master of Laws in International and Comparative Law: ranked #2 in international business law in Africa (Eduniversal)

-Master of Arts in Journalism and Mass Communications: ranked #3 in corporate communication in Africa (Eduniversal)

School of Sciences and Engineering

- Master of Engineering in Electronics and Communications Engineering: ranked #2 in Africa (Eduniversal)

- Master of Engineering in Electronics and Communications Engineering with a Concentration in Management of Technology: ranked #3 in Africa (Eduniversal)

- Architecture: ranked 151-200 globally. This is the highest level achieved by an architecture program in Egypt and the Arab world and second in Africa. (QS World University Ranking)

School of Business

- Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA): ranked #1 in Africa (Eduniversal)

- MBA, elective in Operations Management: ranked #1 in Africa (Eduniversal)

- Master of Science in Finance: ranked #1 in Africa (Eduniversal)

- Master of Arts in Economics in International Development: ranked #1 in Africa (Eduniversal)

- MBA: ranked #2 in Africa (Eduniversal)

“Today, Al Ahly Club, a big entity, and The American University in Cairo, also a big educational institution, collaborate toward a program that will benefit the community and the future leaders of society. The American University in Cairo, with its history, will help us prepare calibers who could benefit society with their knowledge on managing sports facilities.” - Mahmoud El Khatib, president, Al Ahly Sports Club

There is no doubt that a pressing market gap exists in Egypt, and in the region at large, when it comes to sports management. To fill this gap and address the fast-growing need for advanced training and development in this area, AUC's School of Business and Al Ahly Sports Club signed a memorandum of understanding on Sunday, April 11 at the club’s premises in Al Gezira to initiate a joint collaboration for co-creating a sports management hub at AUC's School of Business. The hub aims to develop a new generation of high-level management calibers in the different and progressing fields. of sports management

The partnership will support the development of sports management education in Egypt and the region by developing a range of programs addressing a broad spectrum of topics, including sports management, marketing, finance, event management, and sports psychology and ethics, sports economics and branding, and sports law, providing participants with practical know-how and a hands-on experience.

“What makes this program special is that it is looking at sports management in general and not looking at one sport in particular. The program will include a hands-on methodology through field visits to Al Ahly Club premises to experience firsthand the different aspects of managing a full-fledged sports operation,”  stated Serageldin.

The first sport management program will be initially offered virtually. Applications will open in July, while the program will be offered in September 2021.

“The AUC School of Business Executive Education is always seeking to collaborate with strong entities in specific industries and fields to enable it to develop educational programs of the greatest value to the market, whether in Egypt or across the Middle East and Africa. Our partnership with Al-Ahly sports club will ensure the development and delivery of a sports management program of the highest caliber, as well as secure the maximum exposure for the program,” said Mohamed Abdelsalam, executive director of the AUC School of Business Executive Education.

At the ceremony, Khatib and AUC President Francis Ricciardone signed the agreement, which will set the pace of sports management education in Egypt, the Middle East and Africa. The event was attended by a host of high-level executives from both institutions. 

"The sports management hub is a collaboration between two giants; namely Al Ahly and AUC's School of Business. The initiative, which is a culmination of two years of development and planning, will generate well-developed calibers in the Egyptian sports sector," commented Mohamed Serageldin ‘10, ‘18, member of the Al Ahly Sports Club board of directors. 

Established in 1907, Al Ahly is the leading Egyptian professional sports club with its football team being dubbed the African club of the century and considered the most successful football team in Africa and one of the continent's greatest African giants, it is also the most decorated club in the world with the biggest fan base in the region. The club specializes in developing and managing sports teams that compete locally and internationally. Aside from sports, Al Ahly has grown to participate in and initiate numerous social development integration activities, among which is an agreement with UNICEF to advocate for the rights of disadvantaged children across Egypt.

“This is a very special combination of the two brands, for our School of Business to offer its expertise in training and education, which is recognized around the world, to join with Al Nady Al Ahly with its history –– even longer than our 100 years –– at the heart of Egyptian national pride, accomplishment and fame in the world,” said Ricciardone.

With a clear vision to address the gap in sports management capabilities in the market and a responsibility to provide a global standard of education, this impressive partnership sees the leading business school in the region and the sports club of the century working hand in hand on the enhancement and development of this dynamic field.

Watch the full live event here.