Egypt's Ahmed Kabeel will join 450 other executives from around the world in summer business course

Scholarship inspired by the 'Celebration of Entrepreneurship' event in Dubai and supported by Riyada Enterprise Development

Dubai, November 8, 2010: Switzerland-based IMD, one of the world's top-ranked business schools, is proud to announce a unique scholarship for a young Arab entrepreneur to attend IMD's prestigious executive education program, Orchestrating Winning Performance (OWP).

The scholarship, inspired by the 'Celebration of Entrepreneurship' event in Dubai and supported by Riyada Enterprise Development (RED) - a small and medium enterprise investment platform, goes to 34-year-old Egyptian Ahmed Kabeel.

Kabeel is founder and CEO of OMS, a regional company and one of Egypt's top IT-service exporters with more than 170 employees and clients in 21 countries in the Middle East and Africa.

Kabeel, who started his career at the age of 18 as a salesman in a computer company, will take part in OWP at IMD's campus in Lausanne, Switzerland, in June, together with 450 other executives from companies around the world.

"The Celebration of Entrepreneurship has inspired us to offer this scholarship funded by both IMD and Riyada Enterprise Development. We hope that this small contribution will support and stimulate entrepreneurship in the region, and will be the beginning of a trend to encourage training for entrepreneurs in this fast-growing region," said IMD Executive Director Dr. Hischam El-Agamy.

 "OWP is our global business programme for individuals and teams from all types of organizations, from startups and multinationals to non-profit organizations, and from every industry," Dr El-Agamy continued. "It's aimed at executives who are seeking the latest management thinking, and practical, innovative solutions for their businesses. It allows them to anticipate global business trends, boost performance, broaden perspectives and expand their network. We trust that Ahmed Kabeel will be able to benefit from these unique aspects of OWP and apply these learnings immediately after the program concludes."

IMD offers similar scholarships to young entrepreneurs from Africa and India and other parts of the world.

"We are really proud to be joining with IMD to offer this scholarship to a young Middle Eastern entrepreneur," said Fred Sicre, Executive Director at Abraaj Capital, of which RED is a subsidiary. "This is exactly what our region needs: young, talented entrepreneurs who are given the chance to expand their horizons and learn from the experience of others. This empowers potential and enhances the entrepreneurial spirit of our societies."

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About IMD:
Based in Switzerland, IMD is consistently top-ranked among business schools worldwide. With more than 60 years' experience, IMD takes a real world, real learning approach to executive education. IMD offers pioneering and collaborative solutions to address clients' challenges. Our perspective is international - we understand the complexity of the global environment. Real-impact executive learning and leadership development at IMD enables participants to learn more, deliver more and be more. (www.imd.ch).

About Ahmed Kabeel:
Ahmed Kabeel, 34, is the founder and CEO of OMS, a leading IT consulting services firm based in Cairo. Ahmed started his career at the age of 18 as a sales person in a small computer company. On graduating in 1997, he started an IT services unit in his father's company. In 2001 he spun-off OMS as a separate company with a capital of $5,000 and a 12-man team. In the following years and driven purely by organic growth, OMS grew into a regional IT services company. OMS today boasts more than 170 employees serving clients in more than 21 countries across the Middle East and Africa. OMS is one of Egypt's top IT-services exporters and enjoys an impressive list of references and awards. Ahmed is the full-time CEO of the OMS group of companies, including two in Egypt and one in the United Arab Emirates. He is also the Vice Chairman of the ICT Export Council in Egypt. He is highly recognized by his partners and technology providers for his entrepreneurial drive, vision and attention to quality. Ahmed holds a B.Sc. in accounting from the University of Ain Shams in Egypt.

About Riyada Enterprise Development:
Riyada Enterprise Development (RED) is the small and medium enterprise (SME) investment platform of the Abraaj Group. It is a targeted US$500 million initiative focused on investing in SMEs in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), including Turkey and Pakistan. RED targets individual investments of between US$500,000 and US$15 million, with a focus on providing growth capital for influential minority and, in some cases, majority stakes in SMEs. It is sector agnostic but prefers entrepreneurially run and innovative businesses that are scalable into new regional markets, and that can leverage technology to support their work. Its primary focus is on profitable SMEs in need of capital and institutional and strategic support to grow. The RED initiative operates at both a regional and country-specific level, providing economies of scale and the ability to facilitate geographic expansion of its portfolio companies. The RED team is a dedicated unit within the Abraaj Group that operates solely on the SME initiative through a network of local offices that currently includes Dubai, Amman, Cairo, Ramallah and Beirut, with additional local offices being established in target countries throughout the region. For more information on RED, please visit www.abraaj.com.

About Abraaj Capital:
Abraaj Capital is the biggest private equity group in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia (MENASA). Since inception in 2002, it has raised close to US$ 7 billion and distributed almost US$ 3 billion to its investors. Headquartered in Dubai, the Abraaj Group operates eight offices in the region including in Istanbul, Cairo and Riyadh. Funds managed by the Abraaj Group or its predecessor entities have made 36 investments in 11 countries and achieved more than 20 exits. More than 75 world-class investment professionals work for Abraaj Capital, which manages seven funds; four buyout funds; Riyada Enterprise Development Fund, a Fund dedicated to small and medium enterprises; ASAS, an income-generating, sale-and-leaseback Fund; and a real estate Fund. Assets under management at the end of 2009 were US$ 6.1 billion. Funds managed by the Abraaj Group have holdings in about two dozen companies in the region including Air Arabia, the region's biggest low-cost carrier; Acibadem Healthcare Group, Turkey's largest privately owned hospital operator; and Al Borg Laboratories, the Middle East's biggest privately owned medical-testing laboratory company. Abraaj Capital has won many regional and international awards, including five consecutive years as 'Middle Eastern Private Equity Firm of the Year' from London-based Private Equity International. Abraaj Capital Ltd., a member of the Abraaj Group, is licensed by the Dubai Financial Services Authority. The group is also an associate member of the European Venture Capital Association. 

For further information please contact:
Nicholas Nesson
ASDA'A Burson-Marsteller
Dubai, UAE
Tel: +971-4-3355969
Fax: +971-4-3356080
E-mail: n.nesson@asdaa.com  

© Press Release 2010