In today’s episode, Hashem caught up with Feras Jalbout, founder of fintech app Baraka. A UAE-based platform, Baraka’s motto is empowering the investor and encouraging broader financial literacy among millennials and Gen Z’s in the Middle East. Hashem and Feras also discussed his pivot from private wealth management to launching Baraka, the future of crypto ... Show More
Sep 8
El Primo’s Jonathan Colin on trading 10 years in fine dining for a taco place & the supper club that paid for it
“I could have opened Mediterranean. Japanese. Anything I already knew how to run. But my heart wasn’t going to be in it.”Jonathan Colin, founder of El Primo, spent seven years at LPM Dubai and two at Zuma Abu Dhabi — long enough to know exactly how to open another one of those. H ... Show More
47m 41s
Jun 2026
“I observe. I document. And more recently, I speak my mind.” Hani AlMalki on Dubai’s F&B reset, credibility over clout, and a restaurant career built without a restaurant.
Hani AlMalki — aka Bedouinfoodie — returns to podcast for a second sit-down, and it lands nothing like the first. When war hit the region, he started writing: a daily diary on his Instagram Stories that became required reading for Dubai’s food community, built on the one thing m ... Show More
56m 43s
Apr 2026
“If you tell me we're not going to build, then probably replace me. There is no need for having me.” Karim Awad on leading EFG Hermes mid-revolution, a decade of building, and why legacy is measured by what remains after you leave
Karim Awad walked into EFG Hermes at one of the most turbulent moments in Egypt's recent history — a company caught mid-revolution, a bruised brand, and a region that wasn't sure it wanted to stabilise. What he did next is what this conversation is about. Karim and Hashem talke ... Show More
53m 4s
Aug 2021
The future of cryptocurrency and blockchain in MENA
In this episode, I speak with Talal Tabbaa, the co-founder and COO of Jibrel; a Swiss blockchain development company building decentralized financial products on Ethereum. He is also the co-founder of CoinMENA, a regulated crypto-currency exchange and serves on the Board of Middl ... Show More
1s
Jul 2021
Banking the Unbanked — with Pierpaolo Barbieri
Pierpaolo Barbieri, the CEO and founder of Ualá, tells us about the booming fintech space, incumbent banks, and crypto. Ualá is an Argentine fintech company that is working to bring Latin Americans the necessary financial tools they need to run a business, pay their bills, and pa ... Show More
55m 52s
Oct 2023
The evolution of the fintech ecosystem in the region - conversation with Hisham Al-Falih, Co-Founder & CEO of Lean Technologies
In this episode Sheinal Jayantilal - partner at McKinsey - sits down with Hisham Al-Falih, Co-Founder & CEO of Lean Technologies, MENA-based open-banking platform, to discuss the evolution of the fintech ecosystem in the region over the years and the next frontier for the company ... Show More
9m 9s
Nov 2025
Mentorship, Networking & Growth: Lessons from Mohamed Al Banna
What happens when Mohamed Al Banna — adviser to the UAE royal family, Group CEO of Lead Ventures, and serial investor — sits down to talk energy, entrepreneurship, and the art of building networks?In this episode of Luca’s Insight Track, host Luca Allam explores how Mohamed went ... Show More
57m 34s