Aladdin Elafifi

Aladdin ElAfifi has 23 years of financial advisory and direct investments experience. He is the co-Founder of 46 Group which is gradually building a MENA-based world-class real estate investment franchise in a service-based fee-charging manner starting off with 46 Properties, Egypt’s first developer/operator, focused on yield-generating investment.

He was most recently Co-CEO of Pharos Holding where he overlooked all securities brokerage, asset management, and investment banking and advisory activities. He co-led the establishment of Egypt’s first nano-lending startup (Kashat) as well as the funding and sponsoring of startups directly and through work with Startupbootcamp, co-manager of the first Egyptian fintech accelerator.

Prior to joining Pharos, ElAfifi led the team managing Qalaa Holding’s investments in mining, mining industries, gold exploration through assets in Ethiopia and Sudan, and the waste management sector through the creation of Tawazon, a local and regional market leader in the field of solid waste (municipal and agricultural) management. He was also a senior member of the team that established Taqa Arabia, full-service energy (natural gas and electricity) distribution group, and the initial team that worked to conceptualize, negotiate and sign the Framework Agreement for what later would become the Egyptian Refining Company (ERC), a USD 4.4 billion refinery.

ElAfifi previously worked in London as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs’s UK M&A and Industrials and Natural Resources teams. He started his career at EFG-Hermes Investment Banking. Within both Goldman Sachs and EFG-Hermes, he worked on a number of high-profile M&A and capital market transactions across a multitude of sectors. Clients include BP, Shell, Petroplus, BG, InterGen, MOL, SAS, ICI and Saint-Gobain, Orascom Telecom, Orascom Construction, Al Ahram Beverages, Etisalat, and J Sainsbury.

He is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and holds an MBA from the Wharton School of Business with a concentration in Finance, Strategic and Entrepreneurial Management, and a BA in Economics and Business Administration from the American University in Cairo. He is the recipient of the Joseph Wharton fellowship for outstanding academic achievements. ElAfifi was a member of the Board of the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt from 2015 to 2019, and Treasurer from 2017 to 2019.