Karim Helal – strategic and Corporate finance adviser Graduating with honors from Egypt's prestigious Cairo University with a BA in Business Administration, Karim Helal started his career in banking in 1972 at the Arab African International Bank as Head of International Finance Department , later moving to Bahrain to establish the banks new OBU subsidiary following which he joined another regional bank based in Bahrain as MD of the group operating in the GCC, South East Asia and London.
By 1982 Karim Helal had moved to London as a Founding Partner at IFIN Corp. Investment Bank, an exclusive boutique investment firm.
In 1993 Karim moved back to Egypt as an independent financial adviser to the Dive Travel / Tourism Industry, establishing a highly successful dive operation in the Red Sea and Pioneered Technical Diving in the region. He was the first chairman of the Diving & Water sports Tourism Chamber and three times recipient of
the Ministry of Tourism Award for Contribution to Tourism. In June 2008, Returned to Cairo as the group CEO of CI Capital Holding and has since led the
company to new heights. Upon his arrival at CI Capital Karim initiated the launch of L.E 250 million SME focused private equity fund, and launched the CI Capital "Look East' initiate, positioning CI Capital as the financial partner of choice in Egypt for Asian companies . He led CI Capital investment banking deals and transactions which resulted in CI Capital becoming the best investment Bank in Egypt according to the Egyptian Stock Exchange and Global Trade Matters in 2010.
During his tenure at CI Capital Holding till April 2011, Karim Helal concluded a special relationship and an official MOU with China Development Bank, forged a strategic partnership with DBS Bank (Singapore), investment (Turkey), and the Korea Development Bank. He also oversaw the launch of the ASIA PACIFIC business of CI Capital in Hong Kong. Regularly featured speaker at several Euro Money, Super Returns, Global Trade Matters conferences, International Global Forum of the American's and events in Cairo, Europe, Middle East, Asia, Canada and the USA. Published articles and interviews in Forbes, Oxford Business Group Reports, USA today, New York Times, Institutional investor, Middle East Finance, Euro Money Publications, MEED and Global Trade and Investment Report.
In September 2012, received the Medays Business Award from the Amadeus Institute of Morocco.
Current Affiliations:
▪ Chairman ADIB Capital (the investment arm of Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank in Egypt).
▪ Chairman of Asia Egypt Business Association (AEBA).
▪ Managing director of corporate finance and investor relations –Carbon Holdings
▪ Non-executive director Colliers International.
▪ Member of the Egyptian Stock Exchange EGX Index Committee.
▪ Appointed by Minister of investment to the committee for managing national state assets in December 2014.
Previous roles included:
- Economic advisor to the Egyptian Tourism federation which culminated in the launch of the papyrus tourism fund.
- Board member Housing and development bank.(a publicly listed company.
- Board member maridive oil services company ( publicly listed company)
Colliers International
Companies under the trading name of Colliers International are global leaders in commercial real estate services, with over 15,400 professionals in 69 countries. Colliers International delivers a full range of services worldwide that includes: valuations, consulting, appraisals, asset management, project management and research, within the residential, commercial, retail, hospitality, healthcare, education, infrastructure sector, public-private partnership and economic and industrial free zones. In MENA, Colliers International has provided leading advisory services through its regional offices located in Riyadh, Jeddah, Cairo, Doha, Dubai, and Abu Dhabi since 1996. The latest annual real estate survey by Euromoney named Colliers International ‘Best Advisor’ in the MENA region, UAE, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
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