New York: The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is to be the centre of attention for US investment institutions for two days in New York on the 18th and 19th May, 2009. Beltone Financial is hosting the MENA First Day at the New York Stock Exchange on Monday 18th May, 2009, following on from Beltone's highly successful Egypt Day, in February 2008, and then on the 19th May, 2009 when the MENA region's business leaders will meet many American institutional investors directly.
For the first time in New York, the chief executives of four of the MENA region's stock exchanges and many of its business leaders will highlight the many investment opportunities across the MENA region to Beltone Enclave's institutional client base across the USA and Canada.
Mr Aladdin Saba, Beltone Financial's CEO notes: "The MENA region has many variables which act to underpin the fundamental attraction of the investment opportunities which we continue to present to our clients on a daily basis." He notes that "The MENA region has a young demographic structure which calls for extensive infrastructure spending from transport to healthcare and education, which is being funded by strong, long term revenue streams from hydrocarbon exports. These revenues have also been supporting the fast growth of non-oil businesses over the past decade and which have also helped lead to some of the most dynamic capital markets in the world. As the region's leaders re-position the economies to maximise economic growth, and as Egypt awaits the visit of President Obama on the 4th June, we, and the world, are hopeful that peace can be achieved in the region which will serve to fundamentally alter the perceptions and the reality of the Middle East and North Africa."
Former United States Treasury Secretary, Mr David McCormick, will deliver one of the keynote addresses in the New York Stock Exchange, to the conference on May 18th. In addition, other notable figures at the conference include, Mr Jalil Tarif, the Chief Executive of the Amman Stock Exchange, Jordan, Mr Ahmed Saleh Al Marhoon, Chief Executive of the Muscat Securities Market, Oman, Mr Maged Shawky, Chief Executive of the Egyptian Stock Exchange, and Mr. Suliman Al Shahmy, of the Libyan Stock Exchange.
Many institutions have scheduled one-on-one meetings with the companies attending Beltone's conference from diverse sectors, encompassing construction, retail, telecommunications, automotive and manufacturing, amongst others.
The MENA region has witnessed a major rebound in its capital markets this year, seen through the rises in the region's stock market indices which have, in turn, attracted investors back to look at the region anew to assess new opportunities. Amongst these attractions which add to the long term investment opportunities are:
High liquidity in the MENA region's financial services sector, eg. the loan to deposit ratio in Egypt is only 55% versus over 100% in the UK. This liquidity can facilitate the growth of SMEs and the fast-growing private sector
Unlike western economies, consumers in many countries of the MENA region are not highly leveraged, if at all. Mortgage, credit card and auto loans are at much lower rates than in the western world
Several hundred of billions of dollars of necessary infrastructure spending over the next decade, including the construction of roads, railways, new airports, to healthcare and educational facilities, eg. a new secondary school is being completed every week in Saudi Arabia, and a new railway line from Jeddah to Mecca, and a further line to Riyadh are planned
Clean energy exports, eg. Qatar is shipping liquefied natural gas to the UK which will be sufficient to supply around 20% of the UK's natural gas requirements
It has been lost in analysis, that today's oil price level is similar to that in May 2007, a period when analysts were expecting a boom in the region based on excess liquidity
Low labour costs and skilled labour are attracting investment into the region's manufacturing sector, eg. Airbus Industries opening a manufacturing facility in Tunisia, while multinationals in Egypt enjoy labour costs as low as those in China.
Given the above, and other factors, the MENA region should expect a speedier recovery than other regions of the world.
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About Beltone Financial Holding SAE
Beltone Financial Holding is one of the fastest growing investment banks in the Middle East and one of the region's leading financial services firms, founded in 2002 by leaders in the financial services industry in the Middle East. Headquartered in Cairo, Egypt, Beltone Financial has attracted some of the brightest brains, growing to a staff of almost 300. Offices have been established in New York, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
Beltone serves institutions and high-net-worth investors in the world's most exciting investment market, outranking every other investment bank in the Middle East for year-on-year growth since its inception. Beltone Financial comprises divisions for asset management, private investment, private equity, brokerage and research.
Beltone's Vision is enriching individual, corporate and community wealth by engaging in transformational relationships. Beltone is a catalyst in the MENA region and beyond, innovatively leveraging synergies to benefit its clients, as it searches for the best investment opportunities to present to its clients on a daily basis. The focus of Beltone's strategy is innovation and product differentiation, for example, introducing the region's first 401-k type savings plan, the first MENA Equity Fund and a variety of new investment banking products.
For information on Beltone Financial's 'MENA First Day' Conference, please contact:
David Press
David.Press@fd.com
Governmental Figures & Heads of Stock Exchanges:
Mr. Ahmed Saleh Al Marhoon
Director General of the Muscat Securities Market
Prior to his appointment Mr. Al-Marhoon was General Manager of the Financial Services Company for three years and Financial Controller and a member of the management team at the Oman Refinery Company between 1986 and 1998. He joined the Oman Refinery Company after serving as Director of Marketing at the Oman Ministry of Oil and Gas between March 1985 and November 1986, where he had served as Economic Researcher. He holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA), awarded in the United Kingdom.
Mr. David McCormick
Treasury Under Secretary of Treasury Department (2007 - 2009)
An eye-witness to the major economic policy developments of the last 4 years, David McCormick brings a non-partisan, commonsense approach to the latest news on the future of the global economy. A central figure in shaping the worldwide response to the current economic crisis, nobody has a better perspective on the global economy than Dave McCormick. As under secretary of the Treasury in the fall of 2008, he was "at the table" with Henry Paulson, Ben Bernanke and other key decision makers as the group discussed how to handle the downward economic spiral that resulted in the implementation of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). Prior to his time at Treasury, he worked directly for President George W. Bush and was his principal advisor on all international economic and trade meetings. Dave was in the Oval Office when many major economic decisions were made and was a witness to history as government and business leaders charted the course for the global economy. His approach to current economic news is balanced and non-partisan, as he provides a refreshing perspective grounded in optimism for our economic future. During his tenure at the Treasury, McCormick traveled to and worked extensively with developing nations like China, India and Brazil, experience that he shares in showing what the role of emerging markets will mean to our collective global future and what America needs to do to stay competitive in this new economy. McCormick was called into government service after successfully starting and serving as a president of a publicly-traded global software solutions firm. McCormick is the author of The Downsized Warrior: America's Army in Transition and he currently serves as a professor at Carnegie Mellon University.
Mr. Duncan Niederauer
Chief Executive Officer of NYSE Euronext
Mr. Niederauer was appointed Chief Executive Officer of NYSE Euronext on December 1st, 2007. He is NYSE Euronext's President, co-Chief Operating Officer and head of US Cash Markets, as well as a member of NYSE Euronext's Management Committee, positions he has held since April 2007. Prior to joining NYSE Euronext, Mr. Niederauer served as co-head of Goldman Sachs' Equities Division execution services since 2005.
Mr. Jalil Tarif
Chief Executive Officer of the Amman Stock Exchange
Jalil Tarif is the Chief Executive Officer of the Amman Stock Exchange (ASE), a position he has held since the creation of the ASE in March 1999. During this period the ASE has implemented electronic trading system and all of the rules and regulations required to run the ASE. Prior to his work at the ASE, Mr. Tarif was the Deputy Director General of the Amman Financial Market (AFM) where he oversaw Jordan's entire capital market. During his six years as Deputy Director General, Mr. Tarif assisted in writing the new securities law that implemented the three separate entities that make up Jordan's Capital Market today.
Mr. Tarif is the Chairman of NSC-Unix users Group (Countries using the French Trading System), Atos - Euro Next. Mr. Tarif is also the Chairman of the Technical Committee of the Federation of Euro-Asian Stock Exchanges ( FEAS).
Mr. Maged Shawky
Chairman of the Egyptian Exchange
Mr. Maged Shawky is the chairman of the Egyptian Exchange since July 2005, after being the Deputy for the chairman for almost a year. He had also represented the Regulator (Capital Market Authority) as a board member of the Exchange for three years. He held the position of Senior Assistant to the Minister of Economy and Foreign Trade for Securities Markets issues for around 12 years. Mr. Shawky chairs the African Securities Exchanges Association. He vice-chairs the Federation of Euro-Asian Stock Exchanges. Mr. Shawky also serves as member of the board for the Economic Committee, National Democratic Party, Misr for Clearing Depositary & Registration. He is also a member of National Post Organization. Mr. Shawky was recently elected as a board member to the World Federation of Exchanges. Mr. Shawky holds a Master's Degree in Financial Economics from Queen Mary University of London, United Kingdom. Authored and co-authored number of research papers on corporate governance and modeling volatility of the market, some have been published in regional and international periodicals.
Mr. Nathanael Mauclair
Chief Executive Officer of NYSE Euronext
Nathanael Mauclair is located in the New York office of NYSE Euronext. He recently moved from the Paris office, where he had spent 10 years. He has a proven track-record in attracting foreign companies to list on the NYSE Euronext's European markets. He worked on the first Spanish and Canadian deals on Alternext, and on Proventec Plc (UK), the first AIM-listed company to cross-list its shares in Paris.
Leveraging his knowledge of the European equity capital markets, he is now responsible for promoting NYSE Euronext/Alternext product offerings to North American companies seeking a listing in Europe. He was involved in the cross-listings of Anheuser Busch (April '08) and Cliffs Natural Resources (April '09).
Nathanael holds a Masters degree in Business Sciences from the University of Birmingham, UK, and is a graduate of Clermont Business School, one of France's Grandes Ecoles.
Mr. Suliman. S. Alshahomy
Chairman and General Manager of Libyan Stock Market
Mr. Alshahomy was responsible for founding the Libyan Stock Market (LSM) in June, 2006 while serving as advisor to the Economic Secretary in the General People's Committee for Economics and Trade.
In April 2008, online trading began according to international standards, resulting in a large volume of high speed transactions on the LSM. The LSM joined the Union of Arab Stock Exchanges, the African Stock Association (ASEA), the African and Middle East Depository Agency (AMEDA) and the Association of National Numbering Agencies (ANNA).
The LSM is the cornerstone of Libya's emergence on the road to becoming a free-market economy. Joint-stock companies are listed in accordance with international standards that require disclosure of financial accounts and relevant company activities. The LSM is committed to transparency to give comfort to managements, their staff and investors. The LSM provides information to investors, opening up a new financial services industry to banks, insurance companies, investment funds and stock brokers.
MENA Presenters
Mr. Ahmed El Sewedy
Chief Executive Officer of El Sewedy Cables
Ahmed El Sewedy (El Swedy Cables) - Mr. Ahmed is the CEO of El Sewedy Cables and a number of its affiliates. Mr. Ahmed obtained his BSc in Electrical Engineering from Cairo University in 1986 and since then has been heavily involved in the family business, rising along the chain to become an instrumental element to El Sewedy Cables' success.
Dr. Alaa Arafa
Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer, and Director of Arafa Holding
Mr. Alaa Arafa is Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer, and a director. Mr. Alaa Arafa is Chairman of the Egyptian Garments Exporters Association, Vice Chairman of the negotiation team for the Egyptian-Israeli-U.S. Industrial Zones Agreement, a founder and a board member of Commercial International Investment Company, a leading investment bank, a founder and board member of Expolink, an exporters association, and a board member of the Egyptian Center for Economic Studies, the government's consultant on economic reform.
Mr. Amr Sheta
Executive Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors and Co-Chief Executive Officer of Orascom Development Holding
Amr Sheta serves as executive Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors and Co-CEO. He also serves as a member of the boards of a number of subsidiary companies of the Orascom Development Group.
Mr. Sheta has 19 years of experience in corporate as well as investment banking with an emphasis on private equity. He started his career at Chase National Bank Egypt in 1989 and was promoted to manager of the credit department in 1993. In 1996, he was involved in setting-up the bank's investment banking arm, Commercial International Investment Company (CIIC). From 2000 to 2005 he ran CIIC's proprietary private equity fund with a portfolio worth approximately CHF 350 million. Mr. Sheta has been associated with Orascom Development Group in various capacities since 1989. Since 1998 he has been a member of the board of directors of OHD, and its vice-chairman and Co-CEO since 2006. Mr. Sheta holds a Bachelor Degree in Economics and a Master Degree in Management from the American University in Cairo. He also holds a diploma in Project Appraisal and Investment Management (PAIM) from Harvard Business School.
Mr. Grahame Maher
Chief Executive Officer of Vodafone Qatar
Before Grahame Maher came to The Middle East to set up the first Vodafone operation in the Middle East he was the CEO of Vodafone's Czech.
In Czech Grahame led the team that handled the acquisition and integration of an innovative mobile business called Oskar that is now Vodafone Czech. This organisation is seen as one of the most innovative in the Group and is one of the top performing business in the Vodafone world.
Prior to this he was CEO of Vodafone Sweden. Within 12 months he led the team that stabilised the organisation and secured the future of Vodafone in Scandinavia via a sale and partnership model with Telenor Nordic.
Prior to Europe Grahame led the team that took Vodafone Australia through a major turn around program to achieve profitability for the first time in 6 years while growing market share in a tough market. Prior to this he was leading Vodafone New Zealand, where it took three years to increase the operator's market share from 16% to 53%.
Grahame's relationship with Vodafone started over 15 years ago. At that time Grahame began working with the mobile operator as a MVNO in South Australia.
Mr. Hassan Nouh
General Manager of El Ezz Steel Rebars
Mr. Nouh was appointed General Manager of Ezz Steel in February 2005. Prior to this appointment, he served as the finance manager of Ezz Steel from 2002 to 2005.
Mr. Hisham Ezz El Arab
Chairman of the Board & Chief Executive Officer of Commercial International Bank
Hisham Ezz AI-Arab has successfully directed the Commercial International Bank (Egypt) (CIB) to become Egypt's most profitable financial institution. Since joining CIB in April 1999 as Deputy Managing Director, Mr. Ezz AI Arab's vision has been key in transforming CIB from a niche corporate bank to Egypt's leading financial services group that caters to retail, business and corporate customers through numerous internal strategic business units and five strategic subsidiaries. His efforts were instrumental in aligning the bank's corporate governance with international standards. Since his nomination as the Chairman and Managing Director of CIB in September 2002, Mr. Ezz AI-Arab has accelerated CIB's strategic progress to become the highest-ranking bank in Egypt and receive a host of international awards and recognition from the world's most reputable financial institutions, including the "Best Bank Award" from Euromoney and Global Finance in addition to the highest credit rating for an Egyptian firm from Standard and Poor's and the Corporate Governance Award 2008 from Cairo & Alexandria Stock Exchange. Prior to Joining CIB, Mr. Ezz AI-Arab has led a distinguished international banking career as Managing Director in international investment banks in London (Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan and Merrill Lynch), Bahrain, New York and Cairo.
Mr. Karim El Sadek
Managing Director of Cambridge Weavers
Mr. Karim El Sadek has been, Cairo, since May, 2006. Prior to his appointment he was Deputy Director of Operations at Oriental Weavers, Cairo where he was previously Regional Export Manager, UK and France. Mr. El Sadek joined Oriental Weavers from Weber Shandwick Promoseven PR where he served as an account executive between 2002 and 2003. Prior to his work in Egypt, Mr. El Sadek was a shareholder analyst and an investor relations researcher at Fulcrum Research in London and also served with BJM Research and Consultancy and Onboard Info Ltd. as a market researcher. His experience in the UK included customer service with Bowne International (Financial) Publishing and in the late 90s, he worked in Malmo, Sweden in administration at Ellenbogen Lakarhus and customer service with Budcyklarna AB, a business-to-business services company. He holds an MBA and a BA (HONS) Politics & International Relations from the University of Kent and a Diploma in International Economics from Sweden's Borgarskolan Komvux Institute.
Mr. Maher Maksoud
CEO and Managing Director of SODIC
Maher Maksoud is the CEO and Managing Director of SODIC. He took over the management of SODIC in March 2006, bringing to the company his entrepreneurial spirit, vision and significant experience in the real estate market in Egypt. His mandate was to exploit the increasingly favorable Egyptian economic climate and real estate sector to turn SODIC into a major regional real estate player.
Mr. Mohamed Kamel
Vice President - Corporate Development - Egyptian Resort Company
Prior to his MBA, Mr. Kamel worked with KATO Investment (www.katoinvestment.com), one of Egypt's largest and most diversified industrial and services conglomerates with over twenty subsidiaries in eight divisions operating in manufacturing, aerospace, tourism, real estate, construction, logistics, banking, and trading. During his five-year tenure, Mr. Kamel assumed several roles in different divisions, starting with sales and marketing in the aerospace division out of the London office, followed by operations manager in the food
manufacturing division as part of a new turnaround team, then project manager in the logistics division creating the first modern privately-held bonded warehouse facility at Cairo International Airport with Lufthansa Cargo, and finally business development manager at KATO Investment's headquarters where he managed to secure several key JV partnerships and managed the debt-raising process from European banks for the aerospace division.
Following his MBA, Mr. Kamel worked as a consultant with Bain and Company in London, and then returned to KATO Investment, where he is now the group's
Corporate Vice President for Strategy.
Mr. Muhammad Al Ajeel
Chief Executive Officer of Jarir Investment & Chairman of Jarir Group
Muhammad Al Agil serves as the CEO of Jarir Investment and Chairman of Jarir Group, which comprises of Jarir Bookstore, Jarir Marketing, Jarir Furniture, Jarir Real Estate, Kite Arabia Ltd. and Kids Kingdom. Mr. Al Agil conceptualized and co-started Jarir Marketing and Jarir Bookstore chains, developing them into leading wholesalers and retailers in Saudi Arabia for stationery, school supplies, office machines, computer supplies, books, arts and engineering items. Jarir Marketing Company is listed in Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) with a market capitalization of more than US $ 1.2 billion, presently.
Mr. Pinak Maitra
Group Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Maitra joined KIPCO in 1988. He was appointed Vice President/ Financial Controller in 1991 and Group Chief Financial Officer in 1996. He is a member of the Group's risk management and strategy development team. He is also responsible for long range planning, performance analysis and budget evaluation of KIPCO Group companies. He is a Board member of Showtime, Millennium Finance Corporation and Pulsar Knowledge Centre. Prior to joining KIPCO, he worked for Arthur Young International. In 2008, he won the MENA Private Sector CFO of the Year award. Mr Maitra is a graduate of Osmania University, India.
Dr. Raouf Ghabbour
Chief Executive Officer of Ghabbour Auto
In 1985, Dr. Ghabbour established his own company, which developed into the Ghabbour Group of companies under the umbrella of the holding company GB capital. The company is currently involved in the complete automotive product range assembly, distribution, and services. In addition, dealing in automotive related products such as tires and spare parts. Finally, in 2006 Ghabbour Group penetrated the passenger and cargo transport market, expecting a huge growth potential in this area. Ghabbour Group employs over 6000 labor, operates 3 factories, and runs over 20 retail outlets and 8 service centers. The Group generates a business turnover of about 1 billion US dollars, which makes it distinctly the leader of the Egyptian Automotive. Besides the automotive business, Dr. Ghabbour is involved in agriculture, cultivating fruits and vegetables over a surface area of 2000 acres. While developing export markets in Europe and Middle East countries, the company retails crops domestically under the Ghabbour rand through its own retail chain.
Mr. Ibrahim Adel
Chief Communications Officer of Zain Group
Ibrahim Adel holds an executive MBA from ESSEC in Paris, an MA in Telecommunications Systems Management from Michigan State University as well as a BA in Finance and Business Economics from Wayne State University in the USA. As Chief Communications Officer of Zain Group, Ibrahim Adel is responsible for the Corporate Communications (External and Internal), Investor Relations and Corporate Social Responsibility functions under one leadership supporting and promoting the company's goal of being a top-ten global mobile operator by 2011. Mr. Adel has a proven track record of achievements and results orientation with over 17 years of senior management experience. Joining Zain (then known as MTC) in December 2003 as Investor Relations Manager and shortly thereafter promoted to Director, he has actively participated as a member of the finance and communications management team of the company. Ibrahim's experience straddles the telecom and financial services industries in communications and finance roles.
Mr. Samer Sallam
CEO of Paradise Capital & Chairman of Mathal Holdings
Mr. Samer Sallam held a number of senior level positions along his professional life. His key accomplishments were during chairing Mathal Holding, the private equity arm of the Sallam Family, where he managed to diversify the family's investment portfolio. He was also the CEO for Sony Egypt, turning around the company performance in a period of three years. Mr. Sallam also chaired Seasons Industries Company where he expanded its infrastructure by establishing a new plant for Ice tanks and established a trading and Distribution Company to handle the company's entire commercial & export activities. During his management, Seasons production capacity doubled to cater for the expanding business. During his early years of employment, Mr. Sallam was actively engaged in the acquisition of Ideal and Olympic Group's IPO. He also took the responsibility of developing the business, creating a centralized IT & HR department.
Beltone Management
Mr. Aladdin Saba
Chief Executive Officer of Beltone Financial
Mr. Aladdin Saba, Chief Executive Officer of Beltone Financial co -founded the firm in 2002. Mr. Saba was a co-founder of Hermes Financial, which in 1996 became EFG-Hermes. Prior to founding Hermes he was a Senior Portfolio Manager at Kidder, Peabody & Co. Inc. in New York. Mr. Saba holds a Master's degree in Business Administration from The Wharton School, and a further Master's degree in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania. He obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Biomedical Engineering from Cairo University.
Mr. Aly El-Tahry
Chairman of Beltone Financial
Aly El-Tahry is the chairman and co-founder of Beltone Financial, a regional financial services group operating in the fields of investment banking and asset management, with offices in Cairo, Dubai, New-York, Riyadh and Jeddah. In 1991, he co-founded Kidder, Peabody & Co.'s Middle-East regional office in Cairo where he was co-manager and was involved primarily in corporate finance activities such as privatizations. Aly co-founded Hermes in 1993, the largest investment bank in the Middle-East and up to the time of his departure as an executive in 1999, he managed, during two different periods, its sales and trading as well as the corporate finance divisions. In 2002, Aly co-founded Beltone Financial, which has assets under management of over 16.8 billion Egyptian pounds. Currently, Aly serves as director of two international investment funds and historically he served on the board of EFG-Hermes and the Cairo Stock Exchange. The October 1997 and September 1998 issues of Global Finance magazine named Aly as one of the 600 'World's Most Powerful People in Finance.' Aly received his MBA from the Krannert Graduate School of Management at Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA, in 1987. He also holds Bachelor of Science degrees in both Physics-Engineering and Mechanical Engineering from Washington & Lee University, Lexington, Virginia, USA, and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York, USA, respectively.
Mr. Angus Blair
Head of Research
Mr. Angus Blair, Head of Research, is spearheading the Research product across the MENA region with sectoral research teams specialising in all the key sectors of the region's markets. Mr Blair has more than 24 years' experience of investment banking. Prior to joining Beltone he was a consultant and was previously Head of Asset Management and Product Development at Al Rajhi Bank. Blair served as managing director of Safron Advisors, one of the first private equity firms specialising in the MENA region. Previously, Mr Blair headed the sales, trading and research operations of a number of emerging markets at ING Barings and ABN-AMRO.
Mr. Karim Baghdady
Managing Director of Beltone Enclave Securities Equity Sales
Mr. Baghdady joined Beltone Financial's Cairo office in 2006 and has since acquired a broad knowledge of Middle Eastern markets and companies. In October 2007, he was instrumental in forming the joint venture between Beltone Financial and Enclave Capital in New York, the first dedicated Middle Eastern brokerage catering to financial institutions in the U.S. Mr. Baghdady manages the institutional sales desk and oversees the distribution of Beltone research. Previously, Mr. Baghdady spent ten years at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) where, in 2002, he became a member of the NYSE working as a trader for the direct access firm Mogavero, Lee & Co. representing multi-billion dollar institutional clients. He is experienced in long/short, corporate repurchase, risk/arbitrage and capital commitment. Mr. Baghdady obtained a BA in Finance from Rutgers University and is a licensed registered representative.
© Press Release 2009
