Meet Our Speakers
Reham Yehia is a professional in agricultural waste management with a degree in International Agriculture specializing in Organic Farming and Sustainability. She has aided numerous small companies in their R&D, fundraising, and business development. Reham chosen among 15 leaders from Africa and Europe to gain an intensive mentorship on growth strategy & business modelling at Enpact organization based out of Berlin, Germany. She was also awarded a scholarship to study food security at Business School Netherlands. Reham is the Co-Founder of Baramoda, one of the top 10 sustainable companies in the Middle East, and Environeur, Egypt's first online platform for waste management
Research Associate – Agronomist at ICARDA’s Soil, Water, and Agronomy Team. Her research interests include conservative agriculture, precision on-farm management, developing adaptive innovations to face climate change impacts over irrigated agriculture, and agricultural systems modeling and analysis. She holds a PhD in Agricultural Engineering from Ain Shams University (Egypt), and she is a specialist in bioengineering systems.
Nada Elassal is a pioneer in smart agricultural technology. Nada has extensive global experience spanning over 10 years in technology and Artificial Intelligence, having worked at leading international companies like Google, in addition to innovative startups and small businesses.Nada Elassal is the founder of LemonTree Labs, a pioneering startup specialized in smart agriculture applications. LemonTree Labs aims to improve the efficiency of agricultural operations and increase productivity by leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques.Nada Elassal holds a Master's degree in Artificial Intelligence and Computer Vision from York University in Canada, and a Bachelor's degree from the University of Alexandria in Egypt.
With 17 years of experience in multiple international, corporate, and multi-national companies. Handling various positions in operations, supply chain, project management, export, B2B & B2C sales, business planning and development. Main Sectors; Food & Beverage, metal fabrication, retail, recycling, farming, food security, Agri-tech technologies, milling and food ingredients. Eng. Mostafa worked at Sheet Metal Fabrication in Group Pyramid Egypt, AMC & Retail at Target Sourcing Services, Food and beverage at Pepsi Cola Egypt – PepsiCo, business development at Raya Holding, supply chain food manufacturing at Americana Group, and Business development & Investments at Al Monairy Group.
Is a broadly trained biophysical scientist focusing on the AFOLU sector. Currently he is working as a senior climatologist at ICARDA, based in Egypt. He is the ICARDA focal point for several OneCGIAR initiatives. In the ClimBER initiative, he focuses on policy shaping towards climate adaptation in Senegal and Morocco. In the F2R-CWANA, he works on scaling digital tools in Uzbekistan, Egypt, and Morocco. As the Egypt lead for Excellence in Agronomy, he works on enhancing digital augmentation to accelerate climate resilience and strengthen extension systems. Earlier, he collaborated with the World Bank to develop CSA investment blueprints for Jordan and Iraq. He collaborated with FAO to establish an evapotranspiration monitoring network in the MENA region and also coordinated the regional rainwater harvesting potential mapping project under the Regional Water Scarcity Initiative. He has a bachelor’s degree in agricultural sciences, a master's degree in agricultural physics, and a doctoral degree in ecohydrological modeling.
Akhlad Alabhar is the Founder and CEO of Egrobots, an innovative Agritech company leveraging AI and robotics to revolutionize farming practices. With over 14 years of experience in data analytics and AI applications. Akhlad's expertise lies in developing AI-driven solutions for agricultural optimization, focusing on crop disease detection, yield prediction, and resource management. His work at Egrobots aims to empower farmers with data-driven insights, promoting sustainable and efficient farming practices across the MENA region.
Dr. Adel is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Sudanese-Egyptian Integration Center in Cairo, and professor of economics at Sudanese universities. He is also the former director of the Information Center of the Ministry of Finance in Sudan, and the former Director General of Economic Affairs at the Ministry of Finance, Sudan. Dr. Adel is also a member of the Supreme Sovereign Committee for Reconstruction and Compensation in Sudan.
Iman Mostafa Kamel is the founder and managing director of Hazel Farm which introduced the “Agritainment” concept that combines farming with entertainment. Through Hazel Farm, she aims at raising awareness about the importance of organic food, mindful eating and being in touch with nature and taking care of the environment, by opening the farm to public visits and involving the guests in the farm process. Iman has 8 years of experience in International organizations namely the ILO and GIZ working on different activities including green jobs, waste management, youth employment, entrepreneurship and promotion of technical education.
Dr. Mohamed is a Senior executive with over 25 years of progressive experience in strategic leadership, operations management, business expansion, finance and supply chain. His career spanned work in UAE, Jordan, Iraq, Algeria, Sudan, Ethiopia, Mozambique, and Syria. Throughout his career he led various organizations, projects and teams in agriculture. He is Currently co-founder and CEO of Sanable Group and Grow for sustainable agriculture management. In the field of public work, Mohamed is a member of the Egyptian Junior Business Association and an active figure in the Agriculture Committee.
Mohanad Hesham Abouelrouse is the Founder and CEO of Life From Water, an international non-profit based in Egypt, Germany, and Canada. His organization empowers rural communities and small farmers in Africa by providing innovative solutions for clean and safe water access. Holding a Bachelor’s degree in Strategic Management and Innovation from the German University in Cairo and an MBA from Edinburgh Business School at Heriot-Watt University, Mohanad leads initiatives that enhance community resilience, foster sustainable development, and build capacity. His efforts focus on integrating community empowerment with sustainable water solutions, reflecting his commitment to addressing global water challenges and climate adaptation.
Dr. Hassan is the Director of On Farm Irrigation Improvement Projects (PMU) Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation. He is a Soil and Water/ Irrigation Expert in Rural community development, Food security, Design and construction of irrigation schemes (different sizes), carrying out land survey works, Establishment of farmers’ organizations, Soil fertility and crop management, Soil, water and plant analysis, Research projects, Wastewater management / reuse, Capacity building soil and water management (any level).
Senior Researcher at ICARDA’s Soil, Water, and Agronomy Team. His interests revolve around the improvement of on-farm water productivity, climate-smart water irrigation, soil health improvement, and on-farm water energy food and ecology management. He earned his Doctor of Engineering Science (Dr.-Ing.) in Irrigation and Hydraulics from Department of Hydrosystems Modelling and Water Resources Management, Technische Universitaet Berlin (TU Berlin), Germany.
Marwa Hussein is the director of the Agriculture and Natural Resources Program at CARE International in Egypt. As part of her role, Marwa is responsible for leading and managing the implementation of CARE's strategy for the development of the agriculture sector in Egypt. She manages and monitors relations with donors, sector key stakeholders and government authorities. Marwa joined CARE in March 2019 to support the organization's growing agriculture development portfolio where she found her passion in working with small farmers specially females and allow them to have equal opportunity as big farms in the market.
Coming from various sectors, Dr. Ibrahim brings extensive marketing and advertising experience spanning nearly two decades. Additionally, he holds an MBA degree and is in the final stages of completing his Doctorate. Since 2016, his passion for international trade has grown starting with the opening of his first trade branch in Bursa, Turkey, marking the beginning of his journey.
Dr. Mamdouh Issa: CEO & Managing Director of AHDO – Arab Health and Development Corporation
With twenty-three years’ experience in the fields of sustainable development, Mamdouh Issa is a Food Safety and Sustainable Development Expert for Arab Planning Institute (Arab Experts List), and an Editor-in-chief for "Food" Magazine. He is also Food content consultant for "Arab Food Gate”, Tutor and/or Translator for many international and local organizations, universities and institutions; i.e. The UN FAO, USDA; Farmer2Farmer, ERAS and TRADE, GIZ, EOS, National Institute of Planning, Konya University for Food and Agriculture - Turkieye, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University, Agriculture Export Council, Chamber of Food Industries, Egypt International Center for Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture.
Mr. Hany Wanas is the CEO & the Co-founder of Rabait Al Shamal co, KSA. During his journey he worked as the Trading manager of Ibdaa Al Baraka co. KSA, Co-founder Solis AgriServices _ Egypt, business development manager of Al Asmari co.-KSA, Area Sales manager Alyaseen co. KSA, Farm Manager Al Dakahlia – Egypt, and Phytopthologist (agronomist) at Al Maghrabi Farms – Egypt
With a robust educational foundation in Romano-Germanic Philology and Economics, she began her professional journey at Standartplast LLC in the automotive industry. Continuing as a Translator in 2003, she rapidly ascended to the Head of the Quality Management Systems Department, holding the position from 2006 to 2012. Her expertise then led her to excel in B2B sales, APQP project management, and key account management until 2020. Driven by a passion for international business development, she transitioned to the Export Support Center of the Ivanovo Region and Ecopack LLC. In her current role as Deputy Head of the Export Support Center, she has been instrumental in driving export initiatives and fostering global partnerships.
Karim is the co-founder and director of the technology operations unit of FarmGuru, a technology company that brings artificial intelligence to Egyptian and African farmers . He has been applying AI for the past eight years to challenge multidisciplinary problems in several fields including agriculture.Among the top 1% in the world in this field, he obtained two international patents and won several international artificial intelligence competitions, becoming the first Egyptian artificial intelligence expert.
Ragy is an innovative clean energy entrepreneur, recognized as a Certified Renewable Energy Professional and a member of the US Association of Energy Engineers. As the Founder & CEO of NoorNation, he has dedicated over 12 years to pioneering renewable energy solutions that bring clean energy and safe water to remote areas. Ray's work is driven by a vision to empower communities through sustainable innovations. His goal is to impact the lives of 1 million people in Africa by 2028, ensuring they have access to essential resources like clean energy and safe water.
Fathy Grewa is responsible for handling the international partnerships related to SMEs development at NBE. He has a diversified experience in banking and consulting covering SME development and finance ,value chains financing and development, strategy and competitiveness. Experience extends to understanding of key technical aspects of various sustainable technologies including solar energy and efficient water applications.Fathy holds an Economics degree from the faculty of Economics and political science , Cairo university and a Certificate in sustainable finance from the university of Oxford, coupled with professional certificates in Sustainable Finance, Small Business Lending, Green Finance, and Value Chain Financing from esteemed institutions like Moody's and Frankfurt School of Finance.
Senior Researcher at Biological Control Research Department – Plant Protection Research Institute and Climate Change Information Center – Agricultural Research Center, hold a PhD (2017) from the University of Bari-Italy in Doctoral School in Plant Science and Environmental Technology- Department of Soil, Plant and Food Science, Crop Protection section, (Entomology).Dr El Kenawy is Highly proficient expert with 10 years of experience preparing and drawing up policies and strategies for sustainable agricultural development and integrated pest management and investing in regional differentiation for specialized agricultural areas. Throughout my career, I established a network of national and international climate information sources which took steps toward including climate change issues in crop protection and ecosystem policies. Moreover, since i worked as a national consultant to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in 2021, Dr El Kenawy has a great experience in IPM Strategies and supporting climate change adaptation activities and mitigation analysis through education, training, and raising awareness, especially in providing information on capacity development at the national and regional levels, in addition to integrating climate change into sustainable development programs and poverty reduction strategies.Dr El Kenawy have experience working in many national and international projects. Dr El Kenawy was also a member of the technical committee of the Ministry of Agriculture for the Food Systems Summit, and I was also in the team developing the national action plan for disaster reduction in the agricultural sector. He is also currently the project coordinator for the NWFE Platform, which was launched at the 27th Climate Conference in Sharm El-Sheikh
Mr Stockil has more than 20 years experience building and managing strategic partnerships with leading African and global corporations to deliver shared value and growth across emerging markets. Over the past decade he has focussed on developing and implementing scalable technology solutions in the broader food system to provide access to training, finance, distribution and markets to thousands of African businesses. He is a sixth generation farmer from South Africa with experience growing crops and raising livestock and appreciates the challenges that farmers on the continent face, particularly in light of increased temperatures and irregular weather patterns. He is passionate about using his experience in developing and scaling technological solutions and building strong partnerships to deliver impact at scale through supporting the adoption and scaling of Iyris SecondSky covers across Egypt in partnership with Hyma Plastic.
Eng. Aly Samy Fahmy is a distinguished professional in the field of architecture and industrial innovation. Currently serving as the Deputy CEO at Hyma Plastic Eng. Aly graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture from the UK in 2022, Aly has since leveraged his academic background to excel in the business world. At the forefront of innovations in greenhouse films, Eng. Aly is working to enhance agricultural efficiency and sustainability in Egypt with collaborations between Hyma Plastic & International partners such as Iyris. His leadership drives a pivotal role in driving the company’s strategic initiatives and operational excellence and the development of advanced plastic solutions that support the country’s growing agricultural sector.
Dr Minster holds a Doctorate in Materials Science and over 10 years industrial experience in the Automotive and Aerospace manufacturing sectors.Throughout his career Titou has focused on understanding the potential of academic driven research to develop commercially viable products which always have the end user in mind. Titou is passionate about deployment of these novel technologies, ensuring the most critical and impactful challenges are addressed, particularly in mitigating the increasing effect of climate change. Driven by these principles, since his tenure at iyris has been leading efforts to to bring the most significant step change in novel agri cover technologies – iyris SecondSky to the market, to address the needs of the modern grower with crops suffering from heat stress.
Ahmed Aborich has a diverse work experience spanning several years. Ahmed began their career at Daltex Corp in 2003, where they served as a Technical Manager for a period of ten years. In 2014, they joined Dakahlia Group as a Farm Manager, and later transitioned to the role of Technical Team Manager from 2018 to 2020. In 2020, they joined Canal Sugar as a Senior Operation Manager for fresh products. Currently, they hold the position of Head of Operations at RedSea, starting from March 2023.Ahmed Aborich completed his Bachelor's degree in Agriculture, Agriculture Operations, and Related Sciences at Alexandria University from 1998 to 2003. Ahmed then pursued further education and obtained a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree in General field from the Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport between 2014 and 2017.