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Mohamed Mansour receives honorary doctorate from North Carolina State University

12/05/2022

Mr Mohamed Mansour, the internationally renowned Egyptian business leader and philanthropist, has been awarded an honorary doctorate by North Carolina State University (“NC State”), his alma mater.

In recognition of his decades of life-changing philanthropy in Egypt and internationally, Mr Mansour was made an ‘Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters’, the highest honour the university can bestow, at a ceremony in Raleigh, North Carolina on 7 May.

In addition to receiving an honorary doctorate, Mr Mansour was invited to deliver the keynote address at the University’s commencement ceremony. He addressed an audience at Raleigh’s landmark PNC Arena of around 20,000 people, thought to be the largest ever attendance for an NC State commencement, including the graduating Class of 2022 and the students’ family and friends, as well as faculty members, academics and other university staff.

Mr Mansour used his speech to share an important message about seizing opportunities and making the most of ‘second chances’ in life, drawing on his personal experiences at NC State and how he recovered from early mistakes and setbacks with the trust and support of the university in general and one professor in particular.

It is believed Mr Mansour is among the first Egyptians to be given an honorary doctorate by a US university. He studied at NC State from 1964-68, graduating in textile technology aged 20. He later studied for an MBA at Auburn University in Alabama before returning to Egypt in 1973.

Mr Mansour went on to be Co-Founder and Chair of the Mansour Group, the global conglomerate. Among the businesses in the group are Mansour Automotive Company, a leading Egyptian and regional automotive distributor; Mantrac Group, one of the world’s largest distributors of Caterpillar machines; and ManCapital LLP, the Mansour family’s private investment firm.

Raleigh, North Carolina was Mr Mansour’s first home outside of Egypt after moving from Alexandria aged 15 and the university still holds a special place in his affections. Mr Mansour’s father, the late Mr Loutfy Mansour, a successful cotton exporter, had wanted him and his brothers to go to NC State University because it was then – and still is – renowned for its textiles programme.

Mr Mansour is a committed philanthropist in Egypt and internationally. Among the many programmes that he has created over many years, he is the founder and Chairman of the Lead Foundation, a ground-breaking non-profit organisation established almost 20 years ago that empowers and provides funding to small enterprises owned by women in Egypt.

 Reflecting on the ceremony and award, Mr Mansour said:
“My time at NC State undoubtedly shaped me as a human being and provided me with the building blocks which allowed me to go on and build successful global businesses and give back throughout my life.

“When I arrived from Egypt in late 1963, Raleigh was a much smaller town to what it is today but NC State was such a welcoming place for a young man to grow and thrive. The campus has developed hugely over the years but that welcoming environment has not changed.

“It was a tremendous privilege to be invited back to receive an Honorary Doctorate and address this year’s latest generation of bright, young graduates ready to take their next step in life.”

Commenting on Mr Mansour’s recognition by NC State, the university’s Chancellor, Dr Randolph Woodson said:
“Honorary Doctoral Degrees are only awarded to individuals who have attained achievements of extraordinary and lasting distinction and made outstanding contributions to scholarship, creativity, leadership, and humanitarian or public service.

“No one embodies these qualities and reflects the mission of the University more than Mr Mansour. His longevity and success as a business leader and philanthropist are worthy of celebration, and we were delighted to welcome Mr Mansour back so many years after he originally attended NC State as an undergraduate.”

Dr. David Hinks, Dean of Wilson College of Textiles, said:
“The Wilson College of Textiles has always been so proud to call Mr. Mansour an alumnus. For many years we have been enormously impressed by his humanity and sense of purpose. He has enjoyed extraordinary success as an entrepreneur and business leader but has remained true to his strong principles and values.

“The theme of second chances is something that really resonates with a lot of our students at NC State. As Mr Mansour said in his speech, ‘we all deserve second chances’ and often those moments become turning points, as in his own extraordinary life.”

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Man Capital invests in €100m football partnership with Right To Dream

20/01/2021
London, UK

Right To Dream, the global opportunity-creating ecosystem of football academies, professional football clubs and partnering colleges and universities, founded by visionary British social entrepreneur, Tom Vernon, has formed a new €100 million partnership with Man Capital LLP (“Man Capital”) to help bring greater access, opportunity and equality through football.

The investment in Right To Dream by Man Capital, the UK-based investment arm of the Egyptian Mansour Group, a family-owned global conglomerate, is being made through Man Sports, a new entity established for the partnership. Focus will be on establishing a Right To Dream academy in Egypt, and furthering the activities of the Right To Dream academy in Ghana, the FC Nordsjælland club and academy in Denmark, exploring UK opportunities at club and academy level, and expanding women’s and girl’s programmes across the organisation.

Under the terms of the partnership, Man Sports will assume majority control of Right to Dream with Tom Vernon remaining the other significant shareholder. Mr Mohamed Mansour, the Founder and Chairman of Man Capital, becomes Chairman of the Board of Right To Dream, while his son, Mr Loutfy Mansour, the CEO of Man Capital, becomes a Board member.

The partnership enables Right To Dream to hire new senior leaders across the organisation, with several appointments already being made for the new venture, namely Mohammed Wasfy as MD of the new Right To Dream academy to be launched in Egypt, Pippa Grange taking on a permanent role as Group Chief Culture Officer, and Jan Laursen being promoted into the role of Chairman of FC Nordsjælland.

Tom Vernon, who continues in his role as CEO of Right To Dream Group, said: “For 20 years Right To Dream has been using football as a vehicle for social change, bringing life-changing opportunities through sport and education for children and their communities. This partnership helps Right To Dream accelerate global expansion plans to provide more opportunities for more children around the world, continuing to put people and purpose at the centre of football. With the support of the Mansour family, we continue to aspire to the creation of a new standard of purpose-driven sports for clubs academies and players.”

The first project for the new partnership sees Right To Dream build an academy in Egypt, for boys and girls, following the same model as the successful academies in Ghana and Denmark. Supporting the Government’s national development agenda, “Egypt 2030”, the Egyptian academy will be located in West Cairo, with construction expected to begin early this year ready to welcome its first group of children in 2022.

Mr Mohammed Wasfy joins Right To Dream as MD of RTD Egypt to lead this project and the development of the organisation in the country, supported by the Mansour family. Closely following the opening of the new academy will see the launch of a new professional women’s football team. This elite Women’s team will showcase purpose-driven female athletes at their best, embodying the RTD brand and model with an aspiration to recruit and attract top talent into Egyptian women’s football.

Speaking about the investment, Mr Mohamed Mansour, Chairman and Founder of Man Capital, said: “I could not be prouder to be investing in and partnering with Tom and his team at Right To Dream, who are inspirational for the life-changing work they undertake with talented boys and girls across Africa, Europe and the Americas. We have long taken a close interest in the work they are doing and are delighted to be announcing our partnership today. Not only are we a family of football fans, indeed my uncle Mostafa Kamel Mansour even represented Egypt in the 1934 World Cup, but we are committed to supporting communities across Africa, through our foundations and other philanthropic activities.”

Right To Dream academies are not simply a pipeline for talent, they are platforms of opportunity for the boys and girls who come into contact with them, on and off the field. Established in Ghana before expanding into Europe and North America, Right To Dream academies aim to merge people and purpose through the lens of football. The academies have links to world class universities and educational establishments and provide a personal development environment for young people who lack access to schooling and sport.

Having already graduated over 140 students, with 82 students currently at the academy, Right To Dream has a vision to create a global chain of academies that fundamentally change the role clubs play in football today. Pippa Grange, Right To Dream’s new Global Chief Culture Officer says, “Skills on the field are just as important as education, character development and aspiration off it. Right To Dream develops every aspect of a child’s life, giving them the best possible support and preparation to make their way in the world.”

The success of Right To Dream’s academy model is clear. In 2016, Right To Dream acquired FC Nordsjælland (FCN), the Danish Superliga club that does things differently. FCN was the first club in the world to sign with Common Goal. They launched a professional women’s football team, along with a girl’s academy and continue to maintain the ambition of developing and promoting significant numbers of players from their two academies (currently 80% of the men’s first team are from Right To Dream’s own academies) and attracting purpose led top class senior players to the model. Now, with an average age of below 22, FCN’s story is becoming well documented. Within the last 12 months, six academy players have received a call up for international duty, and since the Right To Dream acquisition in 2015, 58 academy players have received call ups to national youth teams (49 boys and 12 girls).

FCN has also generated transfer fees in excess of €65m, the majority of which being players who progressed through from the academies, over the last five years, and has coaches such as Michael Essien emerging. With Jan Laursen at the helm, stepping up to the role of Club Chairman as part of the new partnership, FCN is on track for even greater things.

Right To Dream is working towards a different future for global football. “We believe there can be a greater purpose-driven model in football where clubs take an active role in social change, rather than leaning on individual athlete-driven social consciousness. Our academies do exactly that and once Egypt is firmly established, we’ll set our sights on the UK. With our partners and our strong experienced team, we are hungry to do more for the growing elite sporting talent and educational achievements of children coming through our academies, to help them achieve their dreams”, concluded Vernon.

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Mansour Group Backs Community Project at Ancient Site in Egypt

07/12/2020
Cairo, Egypt

The Mansour Group is delighted to announce the completion of a community centre for the Bedouin people and other residents of Saint Catherine, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Egypt.

The Wadi Gharba Community Centre, located 30 minutes’ drive from Mount Sinai in Saint Catherine’s protectorate, was developed by the Mansour Group in partnership with Hand Over, a local design and build company, and Catherine Exists, a community development initiative.

The project aims to support and empower the local community by providing space for all ages of the community to interact and learn. The centre will host classes run by volunteers and will pursue income-generating activities for the local community. The centre will also provide facilities for travellers to stay and learn about the local culture, attend classes conducted by locals and volunteer in the local community activities.  Volunteers and guests will have the opportunity to learn traditional Bedouin craftmanship from older members of the community and ensure that these ancient skills are passed down to future generations. The centre already provides vital medical services to residents of Saint Catherine.

The centre builds on the project’s first phase, which saw the construction of a clinic and a gallery in 2018.

Mr Youssef Mansour, Co-Chair of the Mansour Group, said: “We are very grateful for the opportunity to support this hugely important development and improve the lives of the people of St Catherine, an area blessed by its history, religion and culture that should be protected and preserved. We hope that the centre will continue to educate and support the local community for generations to come.”

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Mohamed Mansour Issues Warning About ‘Distorted’ Stock Markets

22/09/2020

Stock valuations have been inflated by Central Bank interventions and public sector stimulus programmes and in general are not reflecting the true scale and impact of the Covid-19 crisis, according to Mr. Mohamed Mansour, Co-Chair of the Mansour Group, the global conglomerate. 

In an interview for the Mansour Group’s podcast series, the Mansour Voice, Mr Mansour said that stock market rises could give investors a misleading impression of how the global economy was fundamentally performing.

“The S&P 500 has hit a new peak despite the poor health of corporate America. The Nasdaq is performing just as strongly in 2020 as it did in 2019, and there seems little end in sight for that particular bull market. This is all occurring of course at a time when tens of millions are unemployed in America and Europe and during an unprecedented downturn,” he said,

“Of course, Central Bank interventions are a major factor, and as we know from past crises, can have a distorting effect on these things that can take a long time to unwind or be corrected.”

Mr Mansour, who was an early-stage investor in technology companies like Facebook and Spotify, revealed in the interview that he has divested many of his equity positions and currently is holding only a small number of large tech stocks.  But he remains bullish about the IT sector generally and continues to invest in start-ups through his California-based venture capital firm, 1984 Ventures, and the Mansour Group’s family office investment business, Man Capital.

He added: “There are some other notable areas of risk and uncertainty. In the US, the presidential election will have a huge impact on global trade as well as issues relating to climate change.  In the UK, it’s a smaller issue but Brexit will have potentially negative impacts for the British and European economies at a time when the region is already struggling to recover from the pandemic. And this is even before we consider the risk of a second global wave before a vaccine can be found and rolled out. So there are big challenges in play.” 

At the same time, Mr Mansour emphasised in the interview the strong performance that a number of units of the Mansour Group are reporting for 2020 to date, including its businesses in the automotive and heavy equipment and machinery sectors, Al-Mansour Automotive and Mantrac respectively.

The Mansour Group is a global, family-owned conglomerate with over 60,000 employees, a presence in more than 100 countries and total revenues exceeding $7.5 billion. Its businesses operate across a large range of sectors including automotive, banking, consumer goods, education, healthcare, machinery & equipment, media, oil & gas, real estate, technology, and transport and logistics.

The Mansour Voice podcast is available to download from the Mansour Group website as well as Spotify, Apple and other podcast platforms.

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Mansour Group Launches New Podcast Series – The Mansour Voice

08/06/2020

The Mansour Group (or “the Group”) is pleased to announce the launch of its brand-new podcast series, The Mansour Voice. The series will shine a light on the Group, how it came to be built and the decisions that were made along the way that turned a family business with its origins in the Egyptian cotton trade into a global conglomerate with over 60,000 employees across more than 100 countries.

Today’s announcement coincides with the release of the second episode in the series, “Leading through Covid-19”, which is available to listen to and download here now. In this episode, Mr. Mohamed Mansour, Chairman of the Mansour Group, speaks about the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the Mansour Group and the global economy, as well as outlining his predictions on what shape a recovery might take.

The first episode of The Mansour Voice, “Reflections in Times of Crisis”, is already available to listeners and can be downloaded here at the Mansour Group website. In the inaugural episode, Mr. Mohamed Mansour considers the global pandemic and compares the current Covid-19 crisis to previous economic shocks that he and his businesses have successfully navigated. He also provides an overview of some of the steps that the Group has taken to help support

New episodes in the series will be released monthly and will feature senior figures from across the Mansour Group. Future episodes will examine topics including leadership, philanthropy and the post-pandemic global economy.

Mr. Mohamed Mansour, Chairman of the Mansour Group, said: “We are delighted to have launched this channel which we hope will provide listeners, whether they be employees of the Group, business partners or otherwise, with an insight into the Group and my family’s history. In the unprecedented circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic, it is more important than ever that we communicate the knowledge and experience we have to those around us.” 

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Mansour Group supports global efforts to combat Coronavirus
Companies across the Group contribute US$11m to aid the fight against Covid‑19

22/05/2020, Cairo / London

The Mansour Group (or “the Group”), a global, family-owned conglomerate with over 60,000 employees and a presence in more than 100 countries, has increased its charitable and philanthropic activities during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The new donations, which have a combined value of around US$11m, and other measures taken by various subsidiary units demonstrate the Group’s overarching commitment to supporting local communities in the geographies in which it operates.

Contributions include:

  • Al Mansour Automotive, one of the largest General Motors dealers in the world, has donated US$3.2m (50m Egyptian pounds) to the Egyptian Ministry of Health and Population to support the purchasing of personal protective equipment (PPE) for medical professionals, ambulances, ventilators and other medical equipment and supplies. Furthermore, Al Mansour Automotive is providing Egyptian doctors and medical staff’s cars with free services if they are of the manufacturers that the company distributes for a period of three months.
  • Palm Hills Developments, a leading real estate developer listed on both the Egyptian Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange, provided one of its hotel properties in Cairo as a quarantine centre and has pledged to cover the expenses of patients, medical teams and staff hosted there (valued approximately at US$4m). In addition, it has donated US$320,000 (5m Egyptian pounds) to the Egyptian Ministry of Health and Population and a further US$158,000 (2.5m Egyptian pounds) to address the needs of 10,000 families affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
  • Al Mansour Holding Company for Financial Investments (“MHCFI”), Egypt’s largest distribution group, has contributed around US$3.3m (51.5m Egyptian pounds), of which US$1.6m was donated personally by Mr. Youssef Mansour, Board Member of the Mansour Group, to support the Egyptian government’s response to the Covid-19. The contribution consists of a US$1.6m donation to the Egyptian Ministry of Health and Population to support hospitals treating fever and chest patients, a donation of US$635,000 to the Tahya Misr fund, and a contribution of 200,000 cartons of food, valued at over US$1m, via MHCFI-owned retail chains Metro & Kheir Zaman to health workers and families financially impacted by the virus.
  • Manfoods, the exclusive McDonald’s franchise holder in Egypt, has provided over 120,000 medical supplies, including surgical masks, medical gowns and protective goggles, to quarantine hospitals in Egypt. In addition, McDonald’s Egypt is providing twice-weekly meals to medical staff in quarantine across six governorates.
  • Mansour Automotive Company (“MAC”) East Africa, the official Isuzu dealer for Uganda, donated US$21,000 (80m Ugandan Shillings) and 10 Hero motorcycles, worth US$10,000, to the Ugandan Ministry of Health to support its fight against Covid-19. MAC Ghana also donated 10 Chevrolet Cobalt vehicles to the country’s Covid-19 Task Force.

Mr. Mohamed Mansour, Chairman of the Mansour Group, said: “On behalf of the Mansour Group, I’d like to thank those who are on the frontline fighting this virus. We are extremely grateful for the sacrifices being made across the globe. 

“We view the contributions we are making during this challenging period as our duty and we are proud to be carrying them out. It has always been part of our philosophy to give back to those in the communities in which we maintain a presence. We hope that our humble contributions help to secure the health and safety of the people in these communities. We will continue to provide additional support in other countries  we operate.” 

Mr. Youssef Mansour, Board Member of Mansour Group, said: “We have made a number of contributions and implemented initiatives across our companies as we look to support across the communities in which we operate. We stand in solidarity with the world in fighting this virus and are happy to perform our duty supporting efforts to combat it.” 

Mr. Yasseen Mansour, Board Member of Mansour Group, said: “The world is currently going through an unprecedented crisis that requires us to lend our support in overcoming Covid-19. The support we have provided is a small part of returning the favour to geographies where the Mansour Group has enjoyed success. We stand ready to continue to provide assistance where we are able to.”

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Al Mansour Automotive presents Transferring Cars to Service Centres and Maintenance at Home Services for Opel and Chevrolet clients with nominal prices

11/05/2020

Al Mansour Automotive launched new services to help its clients carry out maintenance services fully safely without the need to go to services’ centers. This is to assist the clients to abide by preventive and personal protection measures.

The first service; “maintenance at home”, is for Opel and Chevrolet clients, models produced in 2014, or afterwards, during the holy month of Ramadan, before or after Iftar for nominal fees of 100 EGP to be added to the final receipt.

Maintenance works included in the “maintenance at home” service are changing engine oil, changing and cleaning the filters, reviewing the fluids’ levels in the car. This service is offered through the following braches (Al Haram branch ” privately owned cars,” – Smouha branch, Al Mansoura branch ” privately owned cars”) The service is provided all weekdays including Friday.

The services also include changing the brake linings or air filters. The cost of the service and the spare parts would be added to the final receipt of the client.

Clients who wish to benefit from “the maintenance at home” service should call the contact center at 16424 and request the service. A specialized engineer and technician with a car equipped with an air compressor,  an oil suction machine, and all the requirements of a quick maintenance would arrive at the client’s home within 48 hours.

The second service offered by Al Mansour Automotive for Opel and Chevrolet clients is to transfer the car to a services’ centre by a winch that is sent specially to the client’s house. This is in return of a nominal fee of 200 EGP. The car would then be transferred back to the house of the client after carrying our period maintenance. Clients can benefit from these services through the following branches (Al Haram “privately owned cars” – Fifth Settlement branch and Al Amerya branch). The service is provided throughout the holy month of Ramadan, except on Fridays.

Clients who wish to benefit from the “transferring cars to service centres” should call the contact centre at 16424. After 48 hours, an engineer would go to their house to receive the car and return it after 24 hours after carrying out the maintenance services required. The clients would be paying for this service at home with the possibility to pay via Visa cards.

The clients can benefit from the Winch Service to carry out periodic maintenance and all required works that the car needs in coordination with the engineer who receives the car.

With Al Mansour, you are in safe hands.

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Al Mansour Holding Company for Financial Investments donates over 50 million EGP to fight Covid-19

10/05/2020
Cairo, Egypt

Eng. Yousef Mansour and Al Mansour Holding Company for Financial Investments (“MHCFI”) have donated 51.5 million EGP to help the Egyptian government fight the novel coronavirus. The contribution further demonstrates the Mansour Group’s focus on corporate social responsibility as it continues to participate in the fight against the impact of Covid-19.

In a letter addressed to the Egyptian Prime Minister, Eng. Yousef Mansour, Co-Chairman of the Mansour Group, reiterated his commitment to the welfare of Egypt and the Egyptian people. Of the total donated, 35 million EGP was contributed by Eng. Yousef Mansour personally.

The donation consists of:

  • 25 million EGP in cash will be provided to the Ministry of Health and Population to help finance upgrades to hospitals treating fever and chest patients.
  • 10 million EGP in cash will be provided to the Tahya Misr Fund, which is earmarked for further support to the Ministry of Health and Population.
  • 200,000 cartons of food will be supplied by MHCFI-owned retail chains Metro & Kheir Zaman. Of those, 100,000 will go to Egyptian health workers while the other 100,000 will be distributed, through the Tahya Misr Fund, to families financially impacted by the measures taken to fight the disease. This contribution is valued at over 15 million EGP.

As always, the Mansour family, represented by the Mansour Group, will continue to do the best it can to help Egypt cope with the challenges it faces. In total, the Mansour Group has contributed over 200 million EGP to the fight against Covid-19 in Egypt.

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MAC – Mansour Automotive Company & MAC Ghana donate 10 Chevrolet Cobalt vehicles to the COVID-19 Task Force as its humble contribution in Fight Against (Covid-19) Coronavirus.

24/04/2020

Supporting the efforts of the government to protect Ghana and its people during this difficult period is a humanitarian and moral obligation.

This exceptional period requires that all individuals, the business sector and civil society organizations should stand together to contribute to the efforts exerted by the Ghanaian government at various levels, to combat the spread of (Covid-19) Coronavirus in Ghana.

Handing over the 10 vehicles on behalf of MAC – Mansour Automotive Company, MAC Ghana representative said the Group had really been moved and motivated by the exemplary leadership, effort, decisions and determination of His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and his team in the “Fight Against Covid-19”.

Receiving the keys to the vehicles at the Jubilee House, the Chief of Staff, Madam Akosua Frema Osei-Opare thanked MAC Ghana and the Mansour Automotive Company for the donation.

Integrating with the efforts exerted by the government to face the crisis, Mr. Aditya Arora, Country General Manager, MAC Ghana stated that this contribution will be used for providing transportation services for members of medical and health teams. Furthermore, while the contemporary human history hasn’t witnessed a crisis of this magnitude worldwide, the Ghanaian government has not spared any efforts in taking precautionary and pre-emptive measures and procedures in order to contain the risks of this global pandemic.

Present at the short donation ceremony on behalf of MAC Ghana were, Mr. Sherif Shohdy, Finance Manager and Mr. Maneesh Raseen, Head of Sales & Marketing.

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MAC East Africa & Isuzu East Africa donates UGX. 80 million to the Ministry of Health for fighting COVID-19

16/04/2020

MAC East Africa & Isuzu East Africa has donated UGX. 80M (Eighty million Uganda shillings) towards the COVID-19 response efforts in Uganda. This donation, made to the Ministry of Health (COVID-19 Task Force) at the Ministry Headquarters in Kampala is in support of ongoing measures to fight the pandemic and accelerate efforts in stopping the spread of the virus.

MAC EA Ltd, the official Isuzu dealer for Uganda, is part of AL Mansour Group, who are leading distributors for many brands such as Isuzu, Chevrolet, GMC, Cadillac & AC Delco along with Opel, Peugeot & MG in the following countries Egypt, Iraq, Ghana, Uganda, Tanzania and many other African countries.

“The Government and Ministry of Health are doing exceptional efforts of leading and managing this global crisis & needs all support in order to continue doing great work in conquering this pandemic and keeping us all safe. The funds will support food distribution in the country, facilitate protective gear for health workers and assist in the daily operations of the Ministry.” said Mohamad Khadr, Country General Manager MAC East Africa & Mantra EA Ltd.

Mr. Khadr added further, that “as an organization, we are committed to ensuring that our staff stay safe and extend a helping hand to the community we operate in and urged the community at large to stand together with the Government in fighting against COVID-19.”

Let’s keep up the fight by washing our hands with soap and water often. Stay home and stay safe.