Chairman’s Dialogue Series – Egypt: Business Opportunities and a Gateway to Africa

RUNDOWN

17:15    Registration
17:30    Networking Drinks
18:15    Opening Remarks
18:20    Fireside Chat
19:00    Q&A
19:25    Closing Remarks

ASHK President's Circle Members Exclusive: The first ten President’s Circle Members to register will be invited as our guests to join an exclusive dinner with the speakers following the program. Seats for the post event dinner are limited and a confirmation will be sent by email following registration.

ASHK President's Circle Member: Free admission
ASHK Members Ticket: HKD150
Non-Member Ticket: HKD200

Asia Society Hong Kong Center is proud to present the Chairman’s Dialogue Series, a specially curated series of marquee events bringing together distinguished guests from around the world for conversations with Ronnie Chan, Chairman of Asia Society Hong Kong Center. 

In this conversation, Mr. Chan will be joined by Mr. Mounir Nakhla, Founder and CEO of MNT-Halan, Africa’s latest “unicorn” company, a fintech start-up currently providing financial services in Egypt with plans to expand in the Middle East, Africa, and beyond. Mr. Nakhla will share his experience in starting up a successful enterprise in Egypt, and the opportunities and challenges for businesses in Africa and the Middle East.

Mounir Nakhla is the Founder and CEO of MNT-Halan, Egypt’s leading fintech eco-system and the largest growing lender to the unbanked and underbanked driving the fintech boom in the MENA region. MNT-Halan recently received the largest funding in Egypt and the Middle East in the past 12 months, with a valuation that exceeds USD 1 billion.

The MNT-Halan digital ecosystem includes small and micro business lending, consumer finance, payments and e-commerce. With 1.3 million monthly active users, MNT-Halan has served more than 5 million customers in Egypt, of which 3.5 million are financial clients and over 2 million are borrowers.

Mounir is a serial entrepreneur, having founded multiple businesses in the last  decade. In 2010, Mounir founded Mashroey, an asset-based microfinance company that focused on selling 2 and 3 wheelers and developed to become a full-fledged consumer finance company. In 2014, he founded Tasaheel, currently Egypt’s largest microfinance company, followed by Halan, a fintech company, in 2017, and Raseedy (now Halan Cash), a payment company, in 2019. Today MNT-Halan is a comprehensive digital ecosystem and a regional first in financial super apps[HB1] [AV2] .  Nakhla strongly believes in the power of microfinance to improve financial inclusion and women’s economic empowerment. Last year, MNT-Halan partnered with DEG and UN Women in support of these causes.

In his early career, Mounir joined Environmental Quality International in 2000, becoming Managing Partner in 2008, helping it become Egypt’s leading microfinance consultancy. Mounir holds a Masters of Science in Environment & Development from the  London School of Economics, and a Bachelor of Science in International  Business Studies from the European Business School.

Mr. Ronnie C. Chan is the Chair of Hang Lung Group Limited and its subsidiary Hang Lung Properties Limited, both publicly listed in Hong Kong. Hang Lung expanded into mainland China in 1992, developing, owning and managing world-class commercial complexes in key tier one and tier two cities. In 1986, Mr. Chan co-founded Morningside, a diversified investment group engaged in private equity and venture capital investments in North America, Asia, and Europe. He founded and chairs the China Heritage Fund, and is a co-founding Director of The Forbidden City Cultural Heritage Conservation Foundation in Beijing. Mr. Chan is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Chair Emeritus of the Asia Society and Chairman of its Hong Kong Center, and Co-Founder and Chairman of the Centre for Asian Philanthropy and Society. He serves or has served on the governing or advisory bodies of several think tanks and universities, including: Peterson Institute for International Economics, World Economic Forum, East-West Center, Pacific Council on International Policy, Eisenhower Fellowships, The Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation, University of Southern California, Indian School of Business, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Yale University, Tsinghua University, and Fudan University.

Sign up link:

Sponsor:

Friends of Asia Society:

Sign-up link

The views and opinions expressed are those of the speakers and participants and, unless expressly stated to the contrary, do not reflect the opinion, position or official policy of Asia Society Hong Kong, its members, or its committees. Asia Society Hong Kong does not endorse or approve, and assumes no responsibility for the content of the information presented.