Manal Hussein,Ph.D.

Executive Chairwomen of New City Housing & Developments “NCHD”

Dr. Manal Hussein, former Chairperson and CEO at Orascom Develoment Egypt. She is a senior consultant to a number of multinational reputable companies and a board member in various other distinguished board entities. She was the senior consultant to Lazard Freres from 2014 to 2018. She currently heads the AmCham women in business for the second term in the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt.

Prior to that, and for a period of 23 years since 1993, Dr. Abdel Razek has served in the Egyptian government, 9 years as the Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade (2003 – 2004) and the Deputy Minister of Finance (2004 – 2013), and 7 years as a member of the Shura Consultative Council appointed by the President (2004 – 2011). During her work with the government, Dr. Abdel Razek attended several national and international conferences in addition to several training courses among them the Executive Program for Leaders in Development “Managing Political and Economic Transitions” at Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government, USA (1999).

Dr. Abdel Razek was the Chairperson of E-Finance, the market leader in the field of electronic payment, from March 2008 until October 2010. She was the Chairwoman of Orascom Development Egypt (ODE), the biggest subsidiary of Orascom Development Holding, from 2014 to 2020. She was the advisor to the chairman of Orascom Development Holding, Mr. Samih Sawiris, for a year before appointed as the Chairwoman, during which she was mainly responsible to convert El Gouna, into a Carbon Neutral City. Dr. Abdel Razek’s efforts ultimately culminated in El Gouna being the first destination in Africa and the Middle East to receive the Global Green City Award in 2014 – an award sponsored by the UNEP and handed to cities displaying substantial progress in environmental sustainability, highlighting the company’s dedication to environmental sustainability and social responsibility.

Dr. Abdel Razek received her education at Cairo University where she obtained her B.Sc. in Mass Communication in 1986 with honors. She subsequently obtained her MA in Public Administration from the American University in Cairo in 2000. In June 2001 she earned the Frank G. Wisner Award in recognition of her outstanding master’s thesis. She then obtained her Ph.D. dissertation in Public Administration with highest Honors from the Faculty of Economics and Political Science, Cairo University in 2008. Dr. Abdel Razek’s academic career has peaked in her post as a visiting professor teaching Business Ethics at Misr International University (MIU) for the academic year of 2012.

Dr. Abdel Razek participated in researches, studies, and reports, which are related to developing small and medium enterprises. She published various publications on timely topics, namely an article entitled “International Financial Crisis and its Effect on the Egyptian Economy, Cairo University 2010. She is the book author of The Administrative and The Legal Framework for Transforming the Informal Sector into the Formal Sector (2009). The book is the first to be published that explains the real problems facing the transformation of the Informal Sector in Egypt from a practical viewpoint.