logo
episode-header-image
Sep 2024
1h 2m

E81:The families that shaped MENA and wh...

Loulou Khazen
About this episode
I sat down with Farida El Agamy, an entrepreneur, a lawyer and expert on the MENA family business landscape, to get a peak into the rise and challenges of the families that shaped our region from the Almajdouie and Zamil families in Saudi Arabia, to W.J. Towell in Oman, the Sawiris in Egypt and Juma Al Majid in the UAE and many more. Those family businesses ... Show More
Up next
Jun 16
HE Faisal Belhoul on the UAE That Came Out of the War: Capital, the World Cup and the IPO
Where do you put your money in the Gulf right now? Loulou sits down with one of the UAE's most experienced investors to read the region as it actually is in June 2026: the regional war still the dominant story, the World Cup just under way and more. HE Faisal Belhoul is a veteran ... Show More
48m 22s
Jun 2
Two top angel investors are DOUBLING down on the GCC, but what are they investing in?
Abdullah Mutawi, Partner & Head of Corporate MENA at Taylor Wessing, and Kushal Shah, Private Markets Investor, join Loulou for a conversation (episode 103) on where opportunity really sits in the GCC today. They unpack angel investing, founder red flags, why many startups fail d ... Show More
1h 2m
May 19
The $240M startup trying to fix trade in the Strait of Hormuz
Gaurav Biswas, Founder & CEO of Trukker, joins Loulou for a timely conversation on what happens to GCC supply chains when the Strait of Hormuz is disrupted. They unpack how cargo was rerouted through alternate ports, land bridges, and trucking networks while food security, indust ... Show More
52m 51s
Recommended Episodes
Oct 2020
Debating bricks or clicks with Majid Al Futtaim Properties CEO Ahmed Galal Ismail
With brick and mortar retail seeing declining growth in developed markets fueled by competition from e-commerce, Majid Al Futtaim tells a story that might look a little different in emerging markets. Malls here still see growing popularity and Majid Al Futtaim’s retail brands are ... Show More
42m 45s
Mar 2021
A Family Business at a Crossroads: Scaling and Succession
In 2000, Rohit Gera turned his family’s boutique real estate development firm in Pune, India, into a dynamic innovator in housing solutions for urban Indian families. Today Gera Developments stands at a crossroads, with Gera planning the end of his managerial career. How should t ... Show More
27m 8s
Jun 2025
Ayman Tamer
Ayman Tamer is the Chairman of the Tamer Group, a third-generation business with a 100-year history in Saudi Arabia.Ayman tells me how his grandfather opened the first pharmacy in the Arab peninsula in 1922 and its evolution to one of the largest healthcare companies in the regio ... Show More
32m 16s
Jun 2025
Beyond the Silk Roads: Middle Eastern Venture Investing - With Noor Sweid, Founder and Managing Partner of Global Ventures
Today we welcome one of the Middle East’s most successful angel investors and venture capitalists, listed in 'FORBES 100 Most Powerful Business Women 2025'. Noor Sweid explains her journey, from early career in management consultancy and relocating to Dubai, followed by growing a ... Show More
49m 6s
May 2020
Where preparation meets opportunity: How TPay Mobile put Egypt on the Fintech map
Sahar Salama, Founder and CEO of TPay Mobile In a country with low banking penetration and high mobile adoption, Sahar Salama saw a business opportunity in creating a payment solution through telecom operators. She used her experience at Link Development to create a direct operat ... Show More
30m 52s
Mar 2025
The Key to Thriving Family Business Across Generations
Timothy Cosulich is the sixth generation of the family enterprise Fratelli Cosulich Group, which was founded in Italy in 1857. For several generations, the company has been a major player in many industries and sectors. Today, the activities span more than 15 business units, 133 ... Show More
40m 53s
Jun 2020
Triple Digit Growth: How SAP created a digital safety net for businesses (Ep 13)
Hoda Mansour, Managing Director of SAP Egypt and Frontier Markets Hoda Mansour was twice recognized by Forbes as one of the most influential businesswomen in the Middle East for her work in SAP in the UAE, Oman, and Egypt. SAP’s Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software is amon ... Show More
37m 11s
Dec 2024
E121: What Billionaires Do Differently in Investing with Ron Diamond
In this episode of How I Invest, David Weisburd speaks with Ron Diamond, a renowned expert in the family office space and the founder of Diamond Wealth. Together, they explore the transformative role family offices are playing in private markets, the impending $84 trillion wealth ... Show More
38m 25s
Nov 2020
Growing a diagnostics powerhouse with Integrated Diagnostics Holding CEO Hend El Sherbini
Hend El Sherbini took over her mother’s testing facility MK Lab in Egypt and rebranded it to Al Mokhtabar in 2004, with the intention of providing affordable and quality testing beyond Cairo.  16 years later, El Sherbini sits atop Integrated Diagnostics Holding, a merger of Al Mo ... Show More
42m 59s
Nov 2019
Back from the brink: How Gourmet Egypt survived the float of the EGP
After a ten-year run leading a high-end retailer of imported food in Egypt, Jalal Abu Gazaleh nearly fell off a cliff when the devaluation of the EGP saw prices skyrocket, inflation go through the roof — and an effective ban on imports put in place.  In today’s episode, Jalal tal ... Show More
26m 3s