Human-centered design thinking approach is a core part of the AUC educational experience.

By integrating design thinking into the curriculum, AUC is teaching students to approach complicated problems with a sense of empathy, creativity and resilience, explained Hoda Mostafa, professor of practice and director of the University’s Center for Learning and Teaching (CLT).

Design thinking is a methodology used by Fortune 500 companies, including Apple and J.P. Morgan, to transform their way of operating and develop innovative, customer-centric products and services. International development institutions, such as the World Food Programme and UNESCO, have employed it to create policies and programs that effectively address poverty, gender inequality and other complex global challenges.

To read the full article, click here.

The American University in Cairo School of Business partnered with the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt (AmCham Egypt) in March 2021 to provide AUC graduate students with a unique chance to become AUC Postgraduate Temporary AmCham Members.

Membership of AmCham Egypt offered graduate students a multitude of unique advantages, including access to information about market development updates, business discussion forums, and more.

14 students joined the AmCham Egypt community since the start of this partnership, of whom seven have already confirmed their membership renewal for the year 2022 after experiencing first-hand the wide array of benefits that this membership has to offer.

A pivotal theme the School espouses is that of experiential learning. This encompasses providing students with knowledge relating to real-world business practices, hands-on experience and expert know-how. This partnership with AmCham Egypt is one of the School’s efforts to provide postgraduates with the opportunity to gain this much-needed practical expertise to aid them in better understanding the complexities of the business world.

For many of those graduates, the knowledge they have acquired through their membership was the highlight of their experience. “The membership helped a lot in terms of enriching my background and empowering my knowledge. The monthly bulletin also enlightened my information both on a macro and micro level," emphasized Haytham Abdelhamid, CRO of Easy Lease.

In similar regard, the Director of The Applied Studies Department at AUC, Rafik Raouf highlighted how his interactions with AmCham’s services and members have continuously helped him gain insights and valuable information. “The AmCham membership was a unique one, every interaction adds value, not wasting one’s time," he stated.

State Counselor Mohamed Fawzy also highlighted the practical knowledge gained from his membership. “AmCham boosted my vision about the practical and day-to-day difficulties of corporations in Egypt".

The membership also aided some postgraduate students with completing their thesis. “My partnership with AmCham regarding my thesis was fruitful and made me exceedingly happy to be a part of this successful entity,” stressed Mustafa Hassan, the technical member in the ministerial office of the head of Accountability State Authority.

To make the best out of this experience, Amir El Naghy, managing director of KMK Chemicals, decided to enroll his company in AmCham, too. “I will be renewing my membership this year and joining the corporate membership for my company the following year," mentioned El Naghy.

AmCham Egypt is an overseas affiliate of the US Chamber of Commerce in Egypt. AmCham Egypt aims to facilitate trade and investment between Egypt and the US, promote a more prosperous and socially responsible business environment, and provide its network of members as well as general communities within the Egyptian business environment as a whole with a plentiful array of business services and networking opportunities.

For more information about program membership criteria and eligibility, click here.

On June 19, the AUC School of Business celebrated its top 10 percent of graduating students from the classes of January 2022 and June 2022 during the annual Recognition of Excellence Ceremony (REC), which was held at AUC Tahrir Square's Stage Garden.

During the ceremony, the school recognized the academic performance of 41 undergraduate and graduate students across all majors. The school also recognized one of its distinguished alumni, Nelly El Zayat, co-founder and director of Newton Education Services, as well as some of its top performing faculty and staff.

Lastly, the school celebrated students who made a difference this academic year, including the student team that won third place at the international ENGCOMM competition lead by Hakim Meshreki, assistant professor and CEMS-MIM academic director, as well as the students who took part in the first round of the school’s exclusive CO-OP program.

Join us while we take a look back at the awardees of this year's Recognition of Excellence Ceremony.

Impactful Faculty

Medhat Hassanein, distinguished professor of finance and banking, received the Distinguished Faculty Appreciation Award. Hassanein served as the minister of finance in Egypt from 1999 to 2004, and is a member of many local and international professional associations. He has served as chairman and board member of banks (investment, commercial and development), public holding companies and private corporations.

Dina Abdel Fattah, assistant professor and interim chair of economics, received the Excellence in Service Award. Abdel Fattah has also worked as an independent consultant with a number of local, regional and international organizations as a migration, gender and labor market expert.

Hamed Hassouna, instructor and chief regional director at Union de Banques Arabes et Francaises (UBAF), received the Adjunct Faculty Excellence in Teaching Award. Hassouna teaches banking and finance postgraduate courses at the school. He manages trade finance business in Egypt and the GCC and has 33 years of experience in different international and local Institutions.

Mina Ayad, assistant professor of economics, received the Excellence in Teaching Award. Ayad's research is specialized in statistics, theoretical, and applied econometrics, and many of his papers have been published in prestigious international peer-reviewed journals. He previously worked as an economist and statistician at the Ministry of Economics in Paris.

Mohamed Basuony, associate professor of accounting, received the Excellence in Research Award. Basuony's work experience includes more than 25 years as a trainer with multinational companies across the GCC and North Africa regions. He teaches undergraduates as well as post-graduates in the UK, Egypt and Kuwait.

Outstanding Staff

Hala Barakat, director of the AUC School of Business Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CEI), received the Management Excellence Award. Being an entrepreneur herself, she was directly involved in all the ups and downs of the business world which has enabled her to guide and mentor young entrepreneurs in different fields.

Hala ElBehairy, research associate at J-PAL MENA at AUC, received the Staff Excellence Award. ElBehairy works on evaluating the impact of the Egyptian Ministry of Social Solidarity’s program to improve access to nurseries and employment services on mothers' labor market outcomes and early childhood development.

Mohamed Teleb, clerk I at the Decision Support Unit, received the Staff Excellence Award. Teleb joined the AUC School of Business in 2008 and started his work at the support services unit at the Management Center. Then he joined the finance team in 2009.

Alumni Leaving a Mark

School alumna Nelly El Zayat, co-founder and director of Newton Education Services, received the Distinguished Alumni Award for her exceptional work in bridging the gap between education and the job market in Egypt over the past 20 years. El Zayat is also advisor to the Minister of Education on Early Childhood Education and Education Policy.

Resilient students

Fall 2021 graduate Mariam El Sabban received the Omar Mohsen Memorial Award and Spring 2022 graduate Moustafa Awad received the Stephen S. Everhart Distinguished Business Award.

Graduates who received certificates for their excellent academic achievements:

Master of Arts in Economics

Salma Maher Abdelghany, Fall ‘21 (Highest GPA)

Nourhan Hossam Elhadba, Spring ‘22

Master of Arts in Economics in International Development

Alanoud Ehab Mohamed, Fall ‘21 (Highest GPA)

Mustafa Ahmed Abdellah, Spring ‘22 (Highest GPA)

Master of Business Administration

Sally Matta Hanna, Fall ‘21 (Highest GPA)

Executive Master of Business Administration

Moustafa Sherif Elsheneiti, Fall ‘21 (Highest GPA)

CEMS Master in International Management

Noor Absher Sorour, Fall ‘21 (Highest GPA)

Malak Mohamed Fayed, Spring ‘22

Master of Science in Finance

Fayrouz Hesham Negm, Spring ‘22

Bachelor of Accounting

Salma Hany Abouahmed, Fall ‘21 (Highest GPA)

Nadine Sabry Hamza, Fall ‘21

Ahmed Mohamed Alamri, Fall ‘21

Nathalie Nabil Kamel, Spring ‘22 (Highest GPA)

Haya Ihab Mandour, Spring ‘22

Alia Adham Fahim, Spring ‘22

Bachelor of Business Administration

Farah Mohsen El Batran, Fall ‘21 (Highest GPA)

Malak Ayman Abdelaziz, Fall ‘21

Omar Osama Abo Mousallam, Fall ‘21

Sondos Osama Allam, Fall ‘21

Abdelrahman Hatem Hassanein, Spring ‘22 (Highest GPA)

Karim Mohib Elhawary, Spring ‘22

Salma Ahmed Ghanem, Spring ‘22

Zeyad Ahmed El Shayeb, Spring ‘22

Aishah Said Habib, Spring ‘22

Marina Morcos Mikhail, Spring ‘22

Adham Mohamed Radwan, Spring ‘22

Bachelor of Business Administration in Management of Information and Communication Technology

Abdelrahman Bassiouny Abou Qerrsh, Fall ‘21 (Highest GPA)

Seif Khaled Abdelshaheed, Spring ‘22

Yousra Mounir Ismail, Spring ‘22

Bachelor of Arts in Economics

Salma Alaaeldin Gafaar, Fall ‘21 (Highest GPA)

Nada Yacoub Abdelsayed, Fall ‘21

Mina Malak Hanna, Fall ‘21

Youssef Mohamed Abdellatif, Fall ‘21

Yara Salah Shousha, Spring ‘22 (Highest GPA)

Moustafa Mohamed Awad, Spring ‘22

Maryam Ahmed Mahdy, Spring ‘22

Eisha Mohamed Afifi, Spring ‘22

Five alumni from AUC's School of Business were named among Forbes Middle East's Top 100 CEOs in the Middle East for 2022.

The list's rankings are based on overall experience and time in their current role, company size in terms of revenues, assets and market cap, achievements in the last year, innovations and initiatives implemented by the CEO and impact within their country and region.

Here are the five AUCians on the list:

Hatem Dowidar ‘01  | CEO of e&

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Hussein Abaza ‘84  | CEO and managing director of the Commercial International Bank

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Adel El Labban ‘77, ‘80  | CEO of Ahli United Bank

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Elham Yousry Mahfouz ‘84  | CEO of Commercial Bank of Kuwait

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Karim Awad ‘99  | CEO and chairman of EFG Hermes

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The Arabization of case studies has been a long-awaited initiative of the AUC School of Business and the University at large. Its widespread impact on the teaching and learning of business in Egypt and the region will be undeniable.

AUC School of Business and the region’s first case center El-Khazindar Business Research and Case Center (KCC) has taken on this challenging initiative and on May 24 it finally saw the light during a high-profile launch event held at the AUC New Cairo Campus.

During the launch event a panel of AUC School of Business professors, as well as Merihan Khairy, General Manager for Egypt Intracity trips at Swvl, the tech-enabled ridesharing services and the subject of one of KCC’s most successful case studies, discussed the significance of Arabizing case studies and the importance of their use in business education. The floor was then open for discussion with the audience, which included deans and professors from business schools all over Egypt.

Why Case Studies Matter

KCC Co-founder and Managing Director of Qalaa Holdings Hisham El Khazindar delivered a keynote speech emphasizing what inspired him to fund the center in the first place. “Case studies are a way of learning by doing, it allows students to debate real cases and provide knowledge that lasts a lifetime,” highlighted El Khazindar adding, "Yes, AUC is an English-speaking university, yet we are still rooted in Egypt. And as such we want to spread this method of teaching and the use of the cases that we worked on amongst Arabic-speaking institutions. This is why the Arabization of case studies is a crucial step to reach this goal.”

“Case studies inspire students on a personal level because they showcase success stories of companies and entrepreneurs navigating business problems,” said Ayman Ismail, associate professor, Abdul Latif Jameel endowed chair of entrepreneurship, and founding director of the AUC Venture Lab.

"Case studies help students rediscover themselves," commented Samer Atallah, associate professor of economics and associate dean for graduate studies and research.

“I started using case studies in my classes this semester and it really made a difference,” agreed Riham Halim, marketing professor at Tanta University Faculty of Business. “Case Studies can be applied to multiple types of courses and topics such as research and development, strategic management, and brand management,” she added.

The professors emphasized the changing dynamics of today’s business students. “Today’s students are smart and ambitious, but their brains are wired differently. They cannot sit in classes and listen to a professor lecture for hours anymore. They need more engaging classes,” explained Ismail.

“Nowadays, information and knowledge is easily accessible online. Teaching with case studies is a more skill-oriented method, which provides a higher value to the students,” agreed Maha Mourad, associate professor and associate dean for undergraduate studies and administration. "Not to mention, most cases cover companies that students are already familiar with. This makes the students more knowledgeable about the job market before graduation,” added Mourad.

“We always push our faculty to develop research with impact. Targeting A and B journals is important and so is working on cases and publishing them in case repositories,” elaborated Mourad, adding: “Needless to say, for faculty to teach with cases they developed personally is incredibly rewarding.”

"International entities rank universities based on innovation. Allowing students and professors to work on solving and writing cases is a great way to improve a university's impact and innovation," noted Mourad.

Since its inauguration, KCC aimed at spreading the use of local case studies in the School’s classrooms. “Our goal is to spread the culture of cases beyond AUC and in other business schools in Egypt and the region," highlighted Ahmed Tolba, co-founder of KCC, associate professor of marketing, and chair of the Department of Management.

“The problem with governmental universities in Egypt is that the number of students in each lecture is huge, which makes it difficult to teach using cases. It would be great if KCC can provide training on how to use case studies in my teaching for larger audiences,” commented Alaa Game’, professor at Alexandria Faculty of Business French Section.

Case Studies Beyond Business Education

The significance of case studies goes beyond the walls of a classroom, too. "Arabizing case studies would help expand the reach of cases to native Arabic-speaking youth. Cases are not only aimed for business students, but it also allows students and young professionals from non-business fields and who might not be able to afford a formal business education to learn from existing case studies to expand their business knowledge," explained Merihan Khairy, general manager for Egypt Intracity Trips, Swvl.

Merihan also highlighted how she uses case studies in her hiring process at Swvl. “Case studies are an essential part of our interviews,” she mentioned.

“The skills that are available today are not what students will need tomorrow. Case studies enhance the skills of the talents available in the market and Arabizing them will expand the base of participants and beneficiaries,” underlined Mahmoud Dawoud, marketing and training coordinator at the Egyptian Knowledge Bank.

In addition, companies that become the subject of a case study benefit a lot from the innovative out-of-the-box ideas that can come out of them. “Case studies allow companies to overcome their problems through new ideas from students,” emphasized Mourad.

The Significance of Arabization

“Case studies are a vital pedagogical tool that bridges the gap between theory and practice, and provides students with hands-on experiences,” emphasized Engy Magdy, director of KCC, adding: “KCC has several partnerships and collaborations with case institutions across the globe that help us in providing high-quality cases, after undergoing rigorous review processes, as well as disseminating our cases.” Engy also emphasized that publishing case studies in Arabic will give KCC an edge over other publishers as none of them publish in Arabic.

“Since 2016, our case studies have been available through the Egyptian Knowledge Bank and the Arabization is a great initiative that will facilitate the introduction of case studies and what they are to larger audiences,” expressed Mahinour Ouda, publishing relationship manager at Emerald Publishing, one of KCC's partners.

“Our role as school of business is to showcase the companies that exist in Egypt on a global level. We wanted to develop case studies that reflect what is happening on the ground in the Egyptian market,” highlighted AUC School of Business Dean Sherif Kamel, adding” “More than 1000 of our students participated in writing case studies over the past 15 years and KCC organized multiple workshops to train our faculty on using case studies in class.”

After Arabizing existing English case studies, AUC School of Business hopes that other business schools in Egypt start writing their own Arabic case studies as well. "We are here to help and provide capacity building,” stressed Atallah while inviting the wider business education community to connect with KCC and the School over the next period.

On June 18, AUC Venture Lab hosted its first V-Lab Summit at AUC Tahrir Square campus, a full-day event filled with expert knowledge, networking opportunities and the latest in the entrepreneurship ecosystem. The event featured valuable panels and inspiring one-on-one discussions as well as exclusive workshops and startup pitches during the spring 2022 Demo Day.

Celebrating outstanding entrepreneurs: The AUC Venture Lab Award

The V-Lab Summit seized the opportunity to celebrate outstanding and impactful entrepreneurs through the AUC Venture Lab Award. The spring 2022 AUC Venture Lab Award for outstanding entrepreneurial endeavors and efforts in supporting the ecosystem was received by Ahmed Zahran, CEO and co-founder at KarmSolar, and the KarmSolar team. This was followed by a fireside chat with Zahran and Ayman Ismail, associate professor, Abdul Latif Jameel Endowed chair of entrepreneurship at AUC School of Business and founding director of AUC Venture Lab, discussing the growth and innovation of KarmSolar and its impact on the environment.

Exclusive workshops and networking opportunities

The event hosted a range of business workshops delivered by the V-Lab team as well as guest speakers tackling “Surviving with Innovation by Evidence-based Entrepreneurship” with Expert, Startup Advisor and Innovation Consultant Hani Naguib, “Delivering Value in Products that Can Really Sell” with AUC Venture Lab Acceleration Manager Yasmine Nagaty and Senior Program Coordinator Verina Rizkallah, and “Investments 101 for Entrepreneurs” with AUC Angels’ Investment Associate Mohamed Ihab.

As part of the networking opportunities offered for startups during the summit was a session with three leading experts in the Venture Capital (VC) world: Basil Moftah, general partner of NClude, Rafeh Saleh, founding partner of Cubit Ventures and Tamer Azer, partner at Shorooq Partners. Some of the V-Lab’s rising graduates and alumni engaged with the experts in a safe setting of feedback and advice, where each startup addressed some of its staggering challenges and how to solve them, in addition to discussing investment strategies and scaling support.

Thought provoking panel discussions and fireside chats

Business insights, growth opportunities and firsthand advice arose from the first panel of the day under the title “Building Investable Startups” featuring Ahmed Ashour, co-founder and CEO of Pylon, Enas Siam, co-founder and COO of Flextock, Hossam Taher, co-founder, CEO and head of product at Orcas, and Hussein Momtaz, co-founder and CEO of Koinz and moderated by Mohamed Rahmy.

This was followed by another fireside chat titled “Can Startups Save the Planet” with Sarah El Battouty, UNFCCC ambassador and founder of ECOnsult and MuBun Sustainable Furniture. Along with moderator Yasmine Nagaty, acceleration manager at AUC Venture Lab, El Battouty talked about the different policies and opportunities in the green economy space and how startup innovation could impact the environment.

The third fireside chat titled “Enabling Scalable Startups” was with none other than Mirna Arif, general manager of Microsoft Egypt. The discussion, moderated by AUC Venture Lab’s Associate Director Lina Zalat, tackled how corporations perceive opportunities and risk in startups and how their resources can pave the way for startups’ growth, as well as the disruptive ideas and agility that entrepreneurs bring to the corporate space.

During the last fireside chat of the day titled “Digitizing Payments for SMEs”, Islam Shawky, co-founder and CEO of PayMob and Basil Moftah, general partner at Nclude discussed with moderator Ayman Ismail PayMob’s mission to digitize payments for SMEs by offering easy-to-use and customer-centric solutions. The speakers took a deep dive into PayMob’s journey with their latest investor NClude and how they tapped the fintech market and the story of their latest investment round.

In the panel discussion titled “Fintech Opportunities and Trends”, some of the leading faces of the ecosystem brought some valuable insights – between payments, infrastructure, savings, financing and regulations. They talked about how startups disrupt what used to be traditional spaces and the kind of impact and support startups can provide for unbanked segments with financial tools and financial inclusion. The panel included Ahmed Mahmoud Abdeen, founder of ElGameya, Fatma El Shenawy, co-founder and CSO of Khazna, Saeed Talaat, co-founder and CEO of KlickIt and Walid Hassouna, founder and CEO of ValU, along with Mohamed Hamza, open innovation program manager of Banque Misr.

The last panel of the night was titled “Investing in Uncertain Times” and hosted some of Egypt’s leading investors including Ameer Sherif, partner at Khawarizmi Ventures, Eslam Gomaa Darwish, founding general partner at Nclude, Rafeh Saleh, founding partner at Cubit Ventures, Wael Nafee, partner at Raed Ventures. Moderated by Amr El Abd, consultant at the World Bank, the panel dug deep into the investment scene and the rising trends amidst the global challenges, and shed the light on challenges startups face in the investment scene and how investors assess startups and decide on investing in them.

Spring ‘22 V-Lab Demo Day

For the first time, the Spring ’22 Demo Day was incorporated as part of the V-Lab Summit. Following Dean Sherif Kamel’s opening remarks, Haytham El Maayergi, group chief operating and transformation officer of Arab African International Bank (AAIB), the V-Lab Startup Acceleator’s corporate leadership co-founder, delivered a keynote address.

After a short introduction on the V-Lab’s work over the past years in helping entrepreneurs seek new grounds for innovations and opportunities by Ismail, Wessam El Beih, country director Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon at DROSOS FOUNDATION, delivered a keynote speech celebrating the longstanding partnership between DROSOS FOUNDATION and AUC Venture Lab.

The Arab African International Bank Cycle 18 cohort featured 13 startups covering the industries of e-commerce, healthtech, digital, sustainability and logistics. The founders pitched their innovations live in front of a wide array of ecosystem stakeholders including VCs, angel investors, corporate executives and banking experts. The AUC Venture Lab Startup Accelerator is supported by Corporate Leadership Co-Founder the Arab African International Bank, DROSOS FOUNDATION, Mountain View and Hivos.

To introduce the spring ‘22 cohort of the AUC Venture Lab Fintech Accelerator, Amin Khairy, head of financial inclusion and strategic partnerships at the Commercial International Bank (CIB Egypt), delivered a keynote speech highlighting the bank’s strong role in supporting the Fintech Accelerator throughout the years.

Representing the Fintech Accelerator’s partner, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Menan Omar, economic development practitioner at the World Bank, also delivered a keynote speech launching the spring ’22 Fintech cohort’s Demo Day pitches. Omar highlighted IFC’s support for the Fintech Accelerator, empowering founders on their entrepreneurial journey.

The spring ’22 Fintech Cycle included five startups: Technopolitan, SWFT, BNFT, Wyrd and Receety, whose founders dazzled the audience with their tech solutions in prop-tech, payments and savings, lending, financial inclusion, consumer and micro-finance and sustainability. The Fintech Accelerator is powered by CIB Egypt and is in partnership with IFC and Mastercard.

Did you miss the V-Lab Summit? Watch the full event here.

“I urge all of you to engrave this moment into your memories for you are witnessing the rise of many stars, class of Fall 2021, together we can inspire galaxies of greatness for generations to come,” stated Mayson Hatem, graduating class representative, as a final remark during her speech at the Fall 2021 AUC School of Business commencement, where 51 graduates and 125 undergraduates received their diplomas.

Each individual in the class of Fall 2021 has embarked on their own distinct journey filled with challenges and difficulties as well as moments of triumph and breakthrough. Yet, this journey is the catalyst that began shaping them into the change agents they ought to be in the business world and in society at large. 

Unique challenges faced by the graduating class

Every university student can attest to the challenging nature of navigating through one’s university years. However, the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic in the past few years has exacerbated these complexities and difficulties that students must go through in order to successfully graduate. From adjusting to online learning to trying to manage one’s own anxiety and mental well-being amid a worldwide pandemic and the multiplicity of challenges in between. 

Dean Sherif Kamel, showed his appreciation and admiration for the graduates’ ability to adapt to these changes and push through stating: “To graduate from university is an accomplishment in its own right, but to graduate while spending two years of the university experience during a pandemic is a challenge and passing it deserves a solid round of applause.” 

No student from this graduating class expected or planned around the possible rise of a pandemic. Similarly, most of the initial plans we come up with at the beginning of our university journey do not fall through the way we envisioned, but one still manages to create successes and personal development for themselves regardless. Hatem touched on this during her speech highlighting: “Most things do not go according to plan but that was undoubtedly the best thing that happened to me here.” She further added: “I grew wiser and more mature, and I came to better understand the aims I was willing to reach and the battles I was willing to fight and with that mindset, growth opportunities came to present themselves before me every single day.”

At times, a student’s hardest academic or personal challenge during university is also a student’s biggest opportunity for growth, development, and self-reflection or self-exploration. Now more than ever, it is evident that this rapidly evolving world and fluctuating global economy entails the forefront of challenges and opportunities for any fresh graduate. 

“You are the lucky ones because you have experienced numerous market trends at the same time, this helps you understand the entire spectrum of challenges you can face, in a short period of time,” highlighted Fadi Ghandour, co-founder of Aramex and executive chairman of Wamda Group, on the subject of challenges. He continued: “This is the time for you to act because, within these challenges, opportunities lie, because challenges are, by definition, opportunities. This is the time for you to be innovative and entrepreneurial individuals.” 

The leaders of tomorrow 

The graduates of AUC School of Business are believed to uphold principles such as courage, leadership, and compassion and strive for excellence in all aspects of their personal and professional lives eventually leading to them adopting leadership roles and spearheading change in a diverse array of fields. 

Hatem stressed on this matter stating: “In four years, AUC has shaped us into balanced well-rounded individuals,” she continued: “between the craziness of one’s work life and the warmth of one’s social life as well as the fast pace of the professional aspects and the grounding that accompanies the personal ones, there was a lesson throughout it all.” 

“We regularly asked a lot of you as students and learners during your journey at the university, now we ask of you as graduates even more,” emphasized Dean Kamel, expressing his high expectations for the graduating class. He further added that: “[We ask you] To accept the responsibility of leadership and to exemplify the kind of courage, compassion, and creativity we foster in our students and celebrate in our alumni.” 

Final remarks

In summary, a graduation is a symbolic event marking the end of a longstanding university journey that is filled with trials, especially for the class of Fall 2021 having gone through a global ongoing pandemic. Graduation is the celebration of overcoming those trials and a celebration of shaping oneself into a much more accomplished, forward-thinking, confident, and agile self that is equipped to take on life’s challenges and make the School proud by impacting one's surrounding business and social environments. 

To expand its work and strengthen its collaboration with government entities on evidence-based policymaking, The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab Middle East and North Africa (J-PAL MENA at AUC) launched the Egypt Impact Lab (EIL) in collaboration with the Egyptian Ministry of Planning and Economic Development. EIL aims to improve the lives of those within the Egyptian community who are impoverished, by promoting a culture of evidence-based decision and policymaking within social organizations and the Egyptian government. Some of the EIL’s main areas of focus will include social protection, which constitutes the alleviation of poverty, family development, and female empowerment in the Egyptian community.

J-PAL MENA, based at the AUC School of Business is primarily devoted to conducting randomized controlled trials and rigorous research in the MENA region in order to provide policymakers with the necessary findings on which they could base their policymaking process and thus enact effective, evidence-based policies. In addition, J-PAL aims to train social and non-profit organizations on the ability to collect and utilize well-founded data. This would help ensure these entities allocate their limited resources to the right initiatives that yield the highest levels of positive social impact.

During the launch event, held at the AUC New Cairo Campus on March 17, 2022, several keynote speakers, as well as esteemed panel guests, expressed the importance of supporting EIL’s work and shared several insights relating to the social initiatives that are currently being implemented in Egypt.

The importance of evidence-based policymaking

The speakers agreed that to have policies that produce the best possible results, they must have a rigorously tested basis. Ahmad Dallal, president of The American University in Cairo, illustrated how EIL aligns with this principle by stating:

“Today marks an important step in moving towards informed policy in Egypt. The Egypt Impact Lab will be taking the work done by J-PAL MENA further and we hope we can become an example for other countries seeking to promote policy innovation and effectiveness.”

In similar regard, Abhijit Banerjee, Nobel laureate and director of J-PAL, explained how J-PAL’s work is most fruitful when governments recognize the importance of basing policies on evidence.

“When governments sense that critical decisions would be made better if they were informed by evidence-based policy, that is when our partnership would be the most useful and effective,” Banerjee stated.

H.E. Nevine El Kabbaj, Minister of Social Solidarity, also expanded on this conversation. “I consider the lack of timely, reliable data and evidence as a major obstacle towards developing adequate policy responses,” said El Kabbaj. This implies the necessity of basing policies on considerable evidence.

Speaking on behalf of H.E. Minister of Planning and Economic Development Hala El Said, Ahmed Kamali, Deputy Minister of Planning and Economic Development, highlighted that “the importance of evidence-based policy emanates from the actual purpose of public policy: to assess citizen’s needs, efficiently improve living standards and deliver a bright future for upcoming generations.” He further elaborated: “This necessitates drawing upon a wide breadth of systematic evidence and conducting rational analysis to enhance government effectiveness and impact.”

Collaborative efforts leading to magnified social impact

Active collaboration between entities can cause synergistic problem-solving and increased effectiveness for all parties. This was emphasized by H.E. El Said as she explained that one of the main roles of the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development is to help coordinate and facilitate interactions and partnerships between nonprofit and social organizations so that organizations have alignment in terms of goals, which in turn, as she illustrated, causes the positive societal impact to be much larger due to these partnerships.

George Richards, director of Community Jameel, a global non-profit organization advocating for  scientific advancement in order to address relevant challenges faced by global communities, also shed light on this topic by stating that “partnership is absolutely critical,” adding that “[referring to the keynote speakers, panelists, and guests] I believe that this community of practice is one that spreads between the arms of the Egyptian government and institutions like J-PAL, AUC, and other partners such as the UNICEF.”

He also elaborated that

“This community of practice builds links of strength between one another and creates an overall environment, which generates even more evidence [as opposed to each entity on its own] and drives an increased emphasis on the importance of evidence at the heart of policymaking.”

In summary,  EIL aims to promote a culture of collaboration between entities and its launch will propagate evidence-based policymaking practices within the Egyptian government as well as non-profit organizations.

To watch the full launch event, click here.

In recent times, there has been a growing body of concern towards global environmental and social crises such as climate change and loss of job security due to COVID-19. This has consequently led to an increased emphasis and pressure placed on businesses globally to commit to sustainable and ethical business practices that primarily align with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

This subject matter was tackled throughout the fifth roundtable of the 2022 AUC Business Forum held on March 16, 2022, under the title “Multi-Stakeholder Collaboration: A Catalyst for Inclusive Sustainable Development”. The roundtable was moderated by Ahmed Abdel Meguid, associate professor of accounting at the AUC School of Business, and featured six esteemed guests well-versed in the topic of discussion.

Sustainability is an essential part of modern-day business operations

Upholding sustainability within one’s business can aid in gaining a level of competitive advantage and leveraging. This was emphasized by Ayman Ismail, partner, chairman, and CEO of Mountain View Egypt and chairman of the board of UN Global Compact Network Egypt. “From a current business perspective, moving towards sustainable practices and being green is a foundational issue and businesses do not have the luxury to choose whether to employ them or not”, emphasized Ismail adding: “We are lowering our competitive advantage as businesses if we choose not to adopt a strong sustainability agenda.”

Emily Waita, Africa public affairs director of Coca-Cola Africa, Kenya, demonstrated how crucial it is for businesses to adopt sustainable practices in order to increase their chances of acquiring funding from investors. Accordingly, Waita stressed that “if organizations are not ready to embrace sustainable development goals, or otherwise demonstrate that they are ESG (environmental, social and governance) savvy, they will miss out on numerous opportunities for financing as investors are now more inclined to invest towards sustainable ventures.”

Producing future sustainability-inclined business leaders

Several of the roundtable speakers illustrated the importance of instilling a sense of CSR and environmental responsibility in students through business schools’ curricula. Jon Foster-Pedley, dean and director of Henley Business School Africa, South Africa, even went as far as to say that “responsible business schools now have to be activist business schools [towards sustainability], even risking their own destruction for the sake of a much greater possibility in the future.”

Dima Jamali, dean of the College of Business Administration, University of Sharjah, UAE, stated that “business schools have a key role to play in nurturing the culture of responsibility among students, who represent a body of future leaders.” She continued: “We have a big responsibility on our shoulders because we need to create a different breed of leaders who passionately embrace and understand sustainability and would be seeking to make a difference in the business environment in that regard”.

Collaboration yields more sustainability-related progress

Cooperation between different entities helps to direct and expand the efforts taken towards sustainability. “Collaboration and partnership is key because progress does not occur if each entity is acting alone, thus, if we can bring different players to work together and coalesce their efforts, the more we have an increased chance of making progress [in the area of sustainability],” reinforced Jamali.

Ismail also touched on this when he asserted that “no organization can create a truly significant impact alone, they can only create a significant impact if they collaborate.”

Limitations of ESG and greenwashing

Laila Iskander, former Minister of State for Environment Affairs and founder of CID Consulting stressed that abiding by current ESG standards is not a true indicator of sustainability.

“Companies can have reports highlighting their application of all the ESG standards in their businesses, but in reality, they are still negatively impacting and destroying environments,” she stated. This is what Iskander described as greenwashing. “For instance, many oil transporting and mining companies, that have caused global disasters, have been financed by banks that have passed the ESG standards,” she explained.

To conclude, the main points tackled in this roundtable included the necessity of upholding sustainability within one’s business in today’s world, the responsibility that business schools around the globe have to promote a sustainability-oriented mindset amongst students, and the need for collaboration to achieve that. Finally, the greenwashing phenomenon was highlighted and this illustrates the need for corporations to go above and beyond and take further action to be truly sustainable and green.

To watch the full roundtable, click here.