Meet Our Speakers
Farouk holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business and Commerce from Ain Shams University. With over 30 years of robust banking experience, he transformed the Agricultural Bank from a specialized institution into a comprehensive, full-service bank catering to all sectors. His efforts not only established the bank as a cornerstone of financial inclusion in Egypt but also facilitated substantial growth in the agricultural sector.
During Farouk’s tenure, the Agricultural Bank of Egypt witnessed notable improvements in performance metrics, fulfilling its mandate to support the agricultural sector and promote sustainable rural development.
Throughout his career of more than 35 years in diverse business settings spanning national, multinational, private, public and non-profit organizations, Khaled led culturally diverse teams and disciplines in diplomacy, international political and economic relations, as well as corporate affairs and development, and has a strong record of professional achievements in the banking, telecommunications, technology, and construction industries.
He served as a diplomat in the Egyptian Foreign Ministry from 1989 to 2001, serving as third secretary of the Egyptian Embassy in Sofia, Bulgaria (1991-1995), First Secretary of the Egyptian Embassy in Bonn, Germany (1996-2000) and Deputy Director of COMESA department (2000-2001).
He also held various leadership positions in government relations and public affairs in a number of companies, banks and government agencies from 2001 to 2020, where he served as Director of Communications, Corporate social Responsibility and media at Vodafone Egypt (2001-2004) and Director of Government Relations and development at Intel Middle East and Africa (2006-2007), Director of Media and Corporate Affairs at Orange Egypt (2007-2009) and Head of Corporate Communications and CSR at National Bank of Egypt (2010-2012), as well as several leading positions in a number of Gulf countries between 2012 and 2020.
Khaled holds a Bachelor degree in Architecture from Faculty of Engineering, Cairo University, and a Postgraduate Diploma in International Relations and Economics from Georgetown University at Washington, D.C.
Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation & Official spokesman of the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation
Dr. Mohamed El Kersh holds an important role amongst Young leaders in agricultural and veterinary field in Egypt. With years of experience and dedication to the agriculture industry in Egypt, Dr. Mohamed is part of many projects that create an important impact in developping the industry.
in Addition to being the ministry's spokesperson, Dr. Mohamed hold the position of Chairman of PRIME, is a Member of the Council of the General Union of Veterinarians and also a member of Scientific Committee and decision of the Skills development committee, Supervisor of the Department of Digital transformation of the Ministry of Agriculture & also a FAO consultant in Egypt for strategy development.
Louay El Kout is a partner and operational manager of Kat Farms, founded by the late Samy Elkout in 1975, to introduce modern irrigation systems like drip and pivot in Egypt. In 1982, Kat Farms pioneered greenhouse farming in Noubariya, introducing new varieties of melons, watermelons, and tomatoes. In 1998, Louay founded K&S Agro to grow and export fruits and vegetables, successfully exporting to the EU and UK. He co-founded the Egyptian Growers Organization in 2015, consolidating grape exports under one brand. EGO now exports to markets in the EU, UK, Africa, China, Canada, and Brazil. Louay has nearly 30 years of agricultural experience.
Abdelhamid Morsy is a seasoned tech professional with a diverse background spanning system, advertising, and fintech. He began his career at IBM, where he honed his skills in cutting-edge technology and innovation. He then moved to Yahoo, playing a key role in digital transformation and advertising solutions. Following this, he ventured into entrepreneurship, launching his own adtech startup. Currently, he is the Head of Sales for Dopay in Egypt, a leading fintech company revolutionizing payroll payment solutions. His deep expertise across multiple tech disciplines gives him a unique perspective on the intersection of technology and business growth
He has 20 years -experience of dynamic Marketing, Brand management, project management, PR, Events & communication activities. Skilled in organizing resources and establishing business priorities with wide canvas experience in project planning, Territory Management and Sales promotions. Has worked with a number of Corporate organizations like MTN-Uganda, MTN-Rwanda, Breweries in Rwanda and Burundi, Centenary Bank etc. Currently the Chief Business Executive of TRADELINK CHAMBER-UGANDA, designing business strategies that will drive the Chamber to realize its objectives and keep it competitive and relevant in the dynamic business world for the benefit of member Companies. TRADE LINK CHAMBER is an independent membership trade development organization established to support Agriculture and Trade in Uganda through economic integration, competitiveness, and sustainable growth. Tradelink Chamber membership Comprises of importers, Traders, Farmers and Distributors from a wide range of trades and industries including but not limited to: AGRIBUSINESS, FOOD, TEXTILES, ICT, ELECTRONICS MACHINERY &TOOLS, POWER & ENERGY, etc.. Comprising of member Companies and individual business entrepreneurs, the Chamber is dedicated to supporting Uganda businesses access international Markets, suppliers and manufacturers for high quality products in various industries.
Coming across with 18 Years of Experience in the SMEs, mainly in SMEs Business Development strategies and Focused on SMEs Credit Products. Tamer holds an MBA, Business Development, Royal British college of the United Kingdom. He graduated from the Faculty of commerce, Cairo University. He also holds the following certifications: Training of Trainers (TOT) Certificate- Dale Carnegie, Credit Course – Egyptian Banking Institute, Products Development- Egyptian Banking Institute, SMEs Banking Certificate- Egyptian Banking Institute, Thinking for Change Certified Facilitator.
Zeina Salama is a passionate entrepreneur and co-founder of Tulima Farms, a climatepositive, hydroponic farm in Egypt. With a focus on sustainable agriculture, Tulima currently grows grow over 175 varieties of vegetables and fruits using innovative, pesticidefree methods that conserve water and maximize land use. Driven by her commitment to community and women empowerment, Zeina strives to make clean, healthy food accessible year-round. She also oversees product development, branding, and operations
Professor of agricultural mechanization and the Agricultural Engineering Research Institute (AEnRI) - Agricultural Research Center of Egypt (ARC). Expert in the design, development, and fabrication of agricultural machinery. He was a member of the Egyptian farm's project with Africa and had long experience in agricultural mechanization applications and development in African countries.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
A commercial lawyer with 18 years of practice. A Trade
expert with robust experience in Trade Policy, Trade Facilitation, Trade
Agreements, Trade Negotiations, Trade Promotion, Regional Integration, Market
Access Investment Policy, and Laws, providing private sector development to
Business Support Organizations/Associations, Trade Promotion Agencies, national
Governments, and Regional Economic Communities, institutional capacity building
on trade and traderelated issues on the national and regional exchange of goods
and services. Trade Policy Research and Analysis – wide experience in Market
Research, Intelligence, and Trade information collating trade policy analysis,
and assessing challenges emanating from changes in national, regional, and
international trade and tariff policies. Sourcing Funding and Implementing
Development Partners Funded Projects. An advocate of the High Court of Kenya,
M.B.A-Strategic management
Dr Ishmael Amoako a trained Plant pathologist specialized in Mycology. He works with Ghana Cocoa Board at the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana. His current work involves protection of cocoa tree (the chocolate tree) against diseases. He ensures that quality cocoa beans are available for the chocolate and confectionary industry. He has 15 years experience in identifying agro-chemical inputs that are compatible with cocoa production and are environmentally sustainable
Mashoko Chakanyuka is Head – Youth Employment in Agriculture based in Nairobi, Kenya within AGRA which is a proudly African-led institution focused on scaling agricultural innovations that help smallholder farmers towards increased incomes, better livelihoods, and improved food security in many different African countries such as Rwanda, Kenya, Nigeria and Tanzania. In this role Mashoko leads AGRA’s efforts to effectively engage young people as both drivers and beneficiaries of food systems transformation. Mashoko has over 15 years working in various capacities in Ag-food systems work including market development, access to finance, strengthening farmer cooperatives, youth groups and agri-SMEs facilitating their participation in mainstream markets.
He has been a Professor of Biological Sciences for over 20 years. His interdisciplinary background covers Agriculture (BS), International Affairs (MA), Environmental Science (MS), and Entomology (PhD). He is a trained and accomplished facilitator in eLearning, Critical Thinking, Problem-Based Learning, Case Studies in teaching science, and is certified in Quality MattersTM rubric. This diverse foundation has shaped him into a versatile expert capable of addressing complex challenges through innovative approaches tested at over 20 countries in Africa, Central America, the Middle-East, the Far-East, and the United States. Additionally, Prof. Otieno’s partnerships on the African Continent include; The Arab Health and Development Organization (AHDO), the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA), the Mastercard Foundation, and Winrock International.
Mrs. Dorra Fiani is the founder and president of Knowledge Economy Foundation, Egyptian NGO specialized in the nexus water food energy with focus on digital agriculture and participation to multi-stakeholder rural development consortiums in Egypt and Africa, such as EU Led LEAP4FNSSA and FS4Africa projects. Pioneering since 2015 Bashaier Platform, the first digital agribusiness extension services and marketplace platform, focused on value chain strategies and inclusive small farmers’ approaches, together with an agribusiness entrepreneurship digital platform. International multi-disciplinary expert, with 30+ years’ experience in managing her own company and establishing foreign subsidiaries in Egypt, together with extensive links to European markets.