CAIRO: As an entrepreneur, there are a few people you’d be lucky to meet early on. If you’re lucky, you would even get their advice on how well the business is doing and how to move forward.
Egyptian telecom tycoon Naguib Sawiris undoubtedly tops this list.
Orascom Telecom CEO Sawiris sits as chairman of the board for Endeavor Egypt, an NGO that supports entrepreneurs by offering mentorship and access to an extensive network of consultants.
Endeavor’s first international selection panel recently chose three Egyptian and four regional companies to benefit from their services.
As part of the panel, Sawiris recently listened to and advised entrepreneurs from Egypt, Turkey, Jordan and Mexico as they presented their businesses for review.
Daily News Egypt sat down with Sawiris shortly after his meeting with Dina Serhan and Amr El Husseini, the wife and husband team behind Dina Serhan’s cooking school, TV show and restaurant consultancy. He offered his thoughts on their business, and on the culture of entrepreneurship in Egypt.
Daily News Egypt: What was your impression of the entrepreneurs (from the Dina Serhan culinary brand)?
Naguib Sawiris: My impression was very good of this couple. I like that the competitors are few. That’s the first rule: find a market niche.
Second, they are good-looking people. Life is not fair, God gives some people good looks, and they should take advantage. They [Dina Serhan and Amr El Husseini] portray elegance, a good family background and integrity. This is why Clinton was perceived as being charismatic and Bush was not.
Their other strength is a good background of education; they’re acceptably disciplined.
What challenges do they and other entrepreneurs face in Egypt?
The environment is difficult in Egypt. There is no understanding of the importance of training and certification and hygiene and quality cooking. The idea that you need to be trained [is unknown]; people here cook by virtue of experience.
I tried to improve their concept of how to change their business – I have some experience, as I used to own restaurants. So now they need real help to expand, especially financial resources.
What interested you in Endeavor?
Edgar Bronfman [Endeavor chairman and CEO of Warner Music Group] is inspiring. I consider him a businessperson that is close to God, like myself. You hardly find businessmen close to God; as Jesus said, and probably rightly, it is as difficult for the rich to go to heaven as for a camel to pass through a needle. If I don’t make it to heaven, it will be for other reasons, I won’t be prevented because I’m rich.
But seriously, when we met I was initially interested through his character, but the main reason is, what can you do better than to create more people of your own? What is better, to give a beggar in the street five bucks or a job? The best contribution I could make is that I’ve helped bring five, or 50, new entrepreneurs to the world.
What are the aspects of entrepreneurship that are outside the control of groups like Endeavor?
You cannot change the rules and laws. In Egypt, many of the rules are prohibitive to entrepreneurship. Investors cannot just give money with no return. [Endeavor] cannot create the environments that are needed for entrepreneurs to flourish, democracy and freedom, or fight issues that block entrepreneurs.
Are these detrimental factors changing in Egypt?
There is change. I’m not a big fan of the system, but it would be unfair to say there has not been progress, there has. Is it enough? No, definitely not. To achieve progress, [we must] change the constitution to make it world class, without cut corners and with clear articles. We need to change the way we treat the population, to have clear rules that everyone is treated equally whether Christian, Jewish, Nubian, Baha’i, his religion is his choice and his rights should be guaranteed by a standard of equality.
Do you agree that the culture of Egypt is not conducive to entrepreneurial risk-taking?
No. If there is no pain, there’s no gain; if you cannot risk you can’t succeed. .Rejection is a milestone and failure is part of success.
