Mr. Hisham El-Khazindar '96

Co-Founder and Managing Director, Qalaa Holdings (formerly Citadel Capital)
Egypt

Mr. Hisham El-Khazindar is the co-founder and managing director of Qalaa Holdings, a leading investment company in Africa and the Middle East. Established in 2004, Qalaa Holdings (formerly known as Citadel Capital) is an African leader in infrastructure and investment focused on energy, cement, agrifoods, transportation and logistics and mining.

Prior to co-founding Qalaa Holdings, El-Khazindar was the executive director of investment banking at EFG Hermes, where he advised on landmark transactions including IPOs, private placements and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) transactions in the region, and where he started his career in 1996. During 1999-2000, he was on secondment to Goldman Sachs in London, where he advised European companies and institutions on investment strategies and M&A transactions. 

El-Khazindar serves on the boards of several leading regional companies including El Sewedy Electric and Magrabi Optics and on the Advisory Committee of the Emerging Markets Private Equity Association. He also serves as a trustee of The American University in Cairo, a trustee of the Cairo Children’s Cancer Hospital (57357) and as a fellow of the Aspen Institute’s Middle East Leadership Initiative. In 2013, he was selected as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum and in 2014 he was chosen among the Top 100 Young African Leaders by the Paris-based Think Tank, Institut Choiseul, for its prestigious annual listing of young Africans who will play a major role in the future development of the continent. 

He holds a BA in Economics from The American University in Cairo (1996) and an MBA from Harvard Business School (2003).