Mohamed Barakat: Banque Misr Chairman
Mohamed Kamal El-Din Barakat is a prominent leader of the banking industry in Egypt. Barakat has been the chairman of Banque Misr since 2002. Afterwards, he became Chairman of Banque Du Caire Egypt, Banque Misr Liban, and Board Member of Banque du Caire Amman.
Education:
He had a degree in Accounting from Alexandria University and an MBA degree from University of San Francisco-USA. He went through an extensive training in US Banking.
Career:
He had a record of achievements in senior managerial positions. He held the position of Vice Chairman & Managing Director of Egyptian Gulf Bank (EGB). Currently, he is a Board Member of Central Bank of Egypt (CBE), Board Member of The Egyptian Banking Institute (EBI), Board Member of The Arab Academy for Banking and Financial Sciences (AABFS), and Vice Chairman of the Union of Arab Banks.
Banque Misr:
Banque Misr was established by the industrialist Talaat Pasha Harb in 1920. The bank has 470 branches spread across Egypt.
The bank’s profit registered EGP 515 million on June 30th 2011, up from EGP 509 million On June 30th 2010, with an increase of 1.2%. Return on average equity rose to 7.37% in June 2011, up from 7.04% in June 2010.
Banque Misr’s Large Investments:
Banque Misr and National Bank of Egypt (NBE) arrange a syndicate loan worth EGP 3 billion for Majid Al Futtaim Holding (MAF Holding). The 11-year term loan will be used to finance 61% of the investment cost of Mall of Egypt project in Six of October City.
Banque Misr’s Social Responsibility Program:
Banque Misr had a corporate social responsibility program, as one of its basic beliefs is to participate in social activities supporting community development in Egypt.
In continuation for its role ,Banque Misr decided in 2007 to establish a non-profit foundation the” Banque Misr Foundation for Community Development and Welfare” which was authorized by Ministry of social solidarity under registration number 7045 of 2007 Cairo , as a separate legal entity from Banque Misr and managed by a Board of Trustees.
In addition, Banque Misr and Zewail City of Science and Technology have partnered to establish the Talaat Harb Center for Economics and Global Affairs at Zewail City and to establish a scholarship fund for Zewail University students.
The partnership agreement was signed on 26 June, 2012 by the chairmen of both boards, Dr Ahmed Zewail on behalf of Zewail City and Mohamed Barakat on behalf of Banque Misr.
Banque Misr will provide a fund of 25 million Egyptian Pounds over a three year period to establish the Talaat Harb Center. The bank will be involved in training and joint research with the faculty of the center.
Banque Misr also offers 50 outstanding students a chance to learn at Zewail University with a 5 year scholarship. The scholarship amounts to LE 100,000 per student.
Banque Misr Museum
Mohamed Barakat, Chairman of the bank, inaugurated the preliminary opening of the Banque Misr Museum on 25 May 2011, in the presence of the board members, former chairmen of the bank and grandchildren of Mohamed Talaat Harb, founder of the bank, lead by Mrs. Aamal Nour together with top officials from the bank.
The opening included documentaries on Banque Misr and Talaat Harb, with all the major developments throughout the founding process of the bank, followed by a tour to view the belongings and historical documents displayed in display windows in the main lobby and other rooms of the museum. The museum also includes historical pictures of the bank, and a rare collection belonging to Talaat Harb, which his grandchildren gave to the museum as a present, including the great Nile Pendant named after him by the late president Al Sadat in 1980, in addition to the piece from the Kaaba’s cover gifted to him by King Abdel Aziz Aal Seoud in 1937.
The execution started in 2004, under a concise cultural project that does not only aim at documenting the history of the bank, but also aims at documenting a significant influential historic period of Egyptian history. Moreover, a number of documentary books have been published on the bank, together with producing some documentaries marking the achievements. It is worth mentioning that the museum is now open for visitors.
