The 2025 Impact List

“Impact,” like “success,” is a slippery word. It is defined by its definers. It’s history written by the victors. Stretch the term far enough, and it starts to mean everything and nothing at once, warped by subjectivity, ego, and luck.

Every year, the CairoScene and El Fasla teams huddle, usually far too late, and try to define it anyway. We attempt the audacious task of picking the people who made the most impact. For the sake of honesty, transparency, and abandoning any illusion of objectivity, we also disagree every year.

We argue over semantics until they blur. What does it mean to change a country versus changing an industry? Is saving lives comparable to changing nights, scenes, or mindsets? Can someone throwing life-altering parties sit on the same list as someone reshaping policy, art, or access? We interrogate every name: why them, why now, and why not someone else entirely.

And yet, every year, we land somewhere familiar. A list as diverse, varied, and opinionated as the team behind it. One that reflects what we’ve always stood for: the people, places, and movements shaping Egypt today.

To “shape Egypt” is a bold claim. Which Egypt, and whose Egypt? Still, we pride ourselves on the humility to define that “shaping” as inclusively as possible: ministers and chefs, filmmakers and architects, philanthropists and founders of boba tea spots. To shape is to mould a community, no matter how minuscule or grand, from grand museums to homegrown talent, from bets that paid off to voices singular in their spaces. The misfits, the winners, and those paving paths for others to win too.

This is impact, as we see it. Debatable. Imperfect. Entirely Egyptian.

And with that, we present the 2025 CairoScene & El Fasla Impact List, in its ninth edition.

AHMED GHONEIM | CEO of the Grand Egyptian Museum | For Ushering the World's Most Ambitious Museum onto the Global Stage

As the CEO of the Grand Egyptian Museum, Ahmed Ghoneim led its long-awaited opening in 2025. Under his stewardship, the world’s most ambitious museum moved from vision to public reality, placing Egypt’s civilisation firmly in global view and redefining how the country presents its heritage to the world.

“We’re talking about an idea that began in the 1990s,” Ghoneim reflects. “Many governments and ministries played roles so this museum could become what we see today. This is a national project, backed by political will.”

A professor of economics at Cairo University, Ghoneim’s career spans government advisory, international diplomacy, and leading the National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation before becoming GEM’s first CEO. From state-of-the-art labs and immersive display technologies to expertly trained staff in artefacts and hospitality, GEM is a showcase of capability and ambition. It’s an institution that asserts Egypt’s place on the world stage, proving, as Ghoneim insists, that no other country in the world can do it like Egypt.

MERETTE ELSAYED | CEO of Legacy Development and Management, a Subsidiary of Hassan Allam Holding & Operator of the Grand Egyptian Museum | For Stewarding a Living Legacy at the Grand Egyptian Museum

Overseeing operations, visitor experience, and long-term strategy, she has shaped how the Grand Egyptian Museum exists beyond its walls, as a contemporary cultural destination engaging Egypt and the world.

El Sayed did not come from tourism or antiquities. She trained as an engineer, with a career rooted in business and development. For years, she asked herself the same question others asked her: “What qualifies me to be here?” The answer emerged through rigorous research, sustained dialogue with museum leaders worldwide, and a clear-eyed understanding of what many major museums continue to struggle with: financial sustainability and relevance at scale.

Her conclusion was that the Grand Egyptian Museum needed to set its own precedent. Its scale, ambition, and symbolic weight demanded a different operating model. The challenge lay in balance: safeguarding the artefact as the undisputed hero, while rethinking everything around it. Not a place to pass through, but a living cultural ecosystem where exhibitions coexist with contemporary art, digital experiences sit alongside ancient relics, and restaurants, performances, learning programmes, and public life unfold around history without compromising it.

MOSTAFA SALEM | Architect | For Making Urban Conservation a Viral Conversation

In a city layered with overlooked history, Mostafa Salem’s work has pushed architecture out of expert circles and into public consciousness. It asks people to notice what they have learned to ignore: ageing façades, forgotten details, and entire neighbourhoods slipping from view.

Through clear, engaging storytelling on social media, Salem reframes heritage as something living, fragile, and worth attention. Widely shared posts and videos have turned individual buildings into starting points for broader conversation, encouraging people to look more closely at the city they move through every day.

His work on the Tiring Building in Downtown Cairo restored both its physical structure and its place in the area’s collective memory. That effort was formally recognised with the State Encouragement Award, reflecting how his approach resonates beyond public interest and into institutional acknowledgment. Salem was also appointed as a member of the National Committee for the Development and Protection of Historic Cairo, giving him a role in shaping how the city’s heritage is approached and preserved.

Beyond individual projects, Salem’s impact lies in renewing public curiosity. By making architecture visible, accessible, and relevant, he has helped reconnect people with the histories embedded in their streets.

SARAH GOHER | Director | For Garnering Global Acclaim with Her Directorial Debut

Sarah Goher turned a birthday into a metaphor for “first existence”, the moment a child declares themselves to the world. In her debut, that same birthday becomes Goher’s own directorial first existence: a clear declaration of vision.

Born and raised in the US, Goher has long lived in the in-between, moving between New York and Qasr Al Qobba. What once felt like a fracture has become her edge. That diasporic tension now fuels a voice that travels, speaking through film to audiences from India to Japan, Egypt to Latin America, and an ever-expanding festival circuit.

When she made ‘Happy Birthday’, she thought the next step was waiting for Letterboxd reviews. Instead, the film premiered at Tribeca. Goher skipped the awards ceremony, convinced there was no chance, only to wake up to news that she’d won three awards: the Nora Ephron Award for Best Female Director, Best International Narrative Feature, and Best Screenplay in an International Narrative. She found out in bed, next to her son. It took a week for the moment to fully land.

Then Happy Birthday went on to screen at festivals around the world, including El Gouna Film Festival for its regional premiere, where Goher was also named one of the festival’s Rising Stars. Most recently, she became the only Egyptian filmmaker selected for Variety’s 2026 Directors to Watch, listed alongside Kristen Stewart, Dave Green, and others shaping the next wave of cinema.

Happy Birthday began as an idea in 2018, before being paused while Goher worked alongside her partner (on screen and in life) acclaimed filmmaker Mohamed Diab on Marvel’s Moon Knight (2022), where she served as a consulting producer. She had previously collaborated with Diab on Cairo 678 (2010), Clash (2016), and Amira (2021).

The film draws directly from Goher’s childhood in Cairo, shaped by a girl her age who lived in the same house, except she was a maid. They shared age, gender, and proximity, yet were destined for entirely different lives. The girl stayed with Goher as both a friend and a persistent reminder of class difference. It’s that guilt, and that uncomfortable clarity, that fuels the film. Goher believes it’s precisely in that discomfort that the most honest cinema is made, and it’s how the story resonated far beyond Egypt.

DR. HEBA ELSEWEDY | Founder & Chairwoman Ahl Masr Foundation & Burn Hospital | For Pioneering Burn Treatment in Egypt

Heba Elsewedy led a landmark year for the Ahl Masr Foundation, convening the region’s first specialised burn treatment conference and achieving a medical first with the introduction of natural skin implants. Together, these milestones reflect her sustained commitment to advancing burn care in Egypt while restoring dignity, long-term recovery, and social reintegration for survivors.

Burn injuries in Egypt have long existed in the margins of the healthcare system, with survivors often facing gaps not only in medical treatment but in long-term recovery, dignity, and reintegration. Heba Elsewedy changed that. As founder and Chairwoman of the Ahl Masr Foundation and Ahl Masr Hospital, she established Egypt’s first and only hospital dedicated exclusively to burn treatment, reframing how burn care is delivered and understood.

Ahl Masr’s approach extends far beyond emergency intervention. Under Elsewedy’s leadership, the hospital operates on a holistic model that integrates surgery, rehabilitation, psychological support, and social reintegration, recognising that burn recovery is as much emotional and social as it is physical.

In 2025, that vision reached a new level of regional leadership. Ahl Masr organised the first conference in Egypt and the Middle East dedicated entirely to burn treatment, bringing together leading international specialists and setting a new benchmark for medical knowledge exchange. The hospital also achieved a medical first for Egypt and the region by importing and successfully using natural skin implants to treat complex burn cases.

Elsewedy’s work has been recognised internationally, including with the Mother Teresa Memorial Award. More importantly, it has reshaped the landscape of burn care in Egypt, ensuring survivors are met with expertise, compassion, and the possibility of rebuilding their lives with dignity.

MOSTAFA EL-BELTAGY | CEO of Nawy | For Making Real Estate Investment a Real Possibility

For decades, the Egyptian real estate market operated behind a wall of complexity and friction. Buyers and sellers were consistently challenged by decentralised information, fragmented data, and a lack of tools for easy comparison and decision-making. This environment was ripe for disruption.

As part of a five-man founding team, Mostafa El-Beltagy, CEO of Nawy, stepped into this vacuum. Launched in 2016 as a listings platform, Nawy has since developed a sophisticated proptech ecosystem designed to bring transparency and unlock property value for every consumer. His core mission is to make property ownership and investment seamless and accessible, actively dismantling the traditional obstacles that once governed the sector. This vision recently secured a massive endorsement, drawing $52 million in Series A equity funding and an additional $23 million in debt.

Under El Beltagy's direction, Nawy is leveraging its full-stack approach to tackle friction points and actively democratise investment opportunities, particularly through strategic launches in 2025. This push includes the launch of Nawy Shares, Egypt’s first off-plan fractional ownership product, which lowers the capital requirement to invest in premium real estate, making it attainable for a much broader segment of the population.

Simultaneously, the company rolled out Nawy Unlocked, a service that helps owners refurbish, monetise and rent out idle or unfinished units, transforming static property into cash-generating assets and injecting liquidity into the market. Alongside these initiatives, the licensed Nawy Now mortgage solution accelerates the path to home ownership with speed and flexibility, while Nawy Partners empowers thousands of brokerages with technology and live market inventory. The new capital will now fuel Nawy’s regional expansion across MENA and accelerate product transformation with an AI-first approach, cementing the company’s commitment to building a transparent and accessible future for real estate.

AMIR EL MASRY | Actor | For a Knockout Year in International Film

In 2025, Amir El Masry appeared in two international feature films that cemented his standing on the global screen. His leading role as Prince Naseem Hamed in Giant, opposite Pierce Brosnan, alongside his performance in 100 Nights of Hero, placed him across both mainstream and arthouse cinema, a level of visibility that remains rare for Egyptian actors working internationally.

This year builds on a career that has unfolded steadily beyond regional boundaries. El Masry first gained major international recognition in 2020 with Limbo, which won the BAFTA Award for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer, and for which his performance drew significant critical attention.

Since then, his work has expanded across major global television series, including The Crown, Industry, and SAS: Rogue Heroes, establishing a sustained presence within prestige international productions.

By occupying central roles across global film and television, El Masry’s impact extends beyond individual performances. His work disrupts the narrow frames long applied to actors from the region, replacing shorthand and stereotype with authority, nuance, and narrative weight. He doesn’t just appear on the international screen, he helps redefine who gets to lead it, and how those stories are told.

YASMINA EL-ABD | Actress | For Sweeping Egyptian Audiences Off Their Feet

The world was watching. It was Friday evening, November 1st, and the roads had thinned in that familiar way they do when something larger than routine is unfolding. People had gone home, doors shut, screens lit, all of it converging toward the opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum. The sequence had been planned for a year, though few knew it; only the outlines were public. Inside, the scene repeated itself in microcosmic scale: arrivals, nervous conversation, white leather seats filling one by one The lights dimmed. The music rose. And when Egypt’s sweetheart stepped onto the stage, it signalled the completion of a circle the whole night had already traced.

Calling her Egypt’s sweetheart isn’t a flourish per se; it’s a way of noting how reliably actress Yasmina El Abd appears at the centre of moments that seem to form our cultural pulse. She is nineteen. A UN Goodwill ambassador. The canonical muse. Together they form a loop that returns to the same point, building the outline of a young woman whose appeal comes from the coherence of all these parts aligning.

This year positioned Yasmina El Abd in the kind of company that signals a shift, sharing the screen with Amina Khalil, Ahmed Saadany, and Mohamed Shahin in Lam Shamseya. The series pulled private anxieties into public conversation, forcing households to confront questions many had postponed. In the midst of this recalibration was Yasmina, her presence steady within a narrative that dismantled long-standing silences as it illuminated them.

AMR BARGHASH & AHMED EL MELIGY | Founders Sage Hospitality | For Giving Culinary Storytelling a Seat at the Table

Since launching The Sage Experience in 2020, Amr Barghash and Ahmed El Meligy have rewritten how dining functions within Egypt’s cultural landscape. Rather than anchoring themselves to a single venue or format, they built a model that treats food as the organising principle of an experience, capable of reshaping any space around a clear idea.

What began as a tightly executed, mobile dining concept has evolved into one of the country’s most recognisable experiential formats. Sage’s ability to construct fully immersive environments across gardens, rooftops, industrial spaces, and unexpected locations has shifted the focus away from fixed venues and towards narrative, and context. Each experience responds to its setting without being bound to a permanent identity.

In 2025, that approach reached a new level of visibility. Sage played a defining role at Cairo Food Week, staging the landmark King’s Feast, and launched Shemu, an experiential dining journey on the Nile that reimagined how Cairo engages with its most historic artery. Their collaborations also expanded into lifestyle-led pop-ups with groups like GNK, signalling new models of partnership between hospitality, culture, and place.

Barghash and El Meligy have altered expectations. By framing dining as a cultural medium rather than a service, The Sage Experience continues to shape how Egypt’s culinary scene thinks, plans, and evolves, not just how it looks.

SEIF EISSA | Taekwondo World Champion | For Being the First Egyptian in Three Decades to Claim a Gold Medal at the World Taekwondo Championship

Seif Eissa secured his place in sport’s history books by claiming the gold medal at the 2025 World Taekwondo Championships in China, making him the first Egyptian to achieve the feat in nearly three decades.

Eissa’s story is not just one of success - it’s a story of redemption that started a year earlier at the Paris Olympics. Having won a bronze medal four years prior at Tokyo 2020, Eissa was expected to improve his position on the podium in Paris, but exited early, making his historic win all the more symbolic. The road to glory hasn’t been easy for Eissa, but at just 27 years of age, the martial artist boasts an impressive career. He has dominated the world rankings in four different weight classes, amassing a trophy cabinet that spans the Youth Olympics to the senior world stage.

Eissa is not one to rest on his laurels, however, and he understands the gravity and impact of his achievements back home. Which is why he has already set his sights on breaking new ground in 2026, as he plans to move up to the heavyweight (87kg+) class, carrying the expectation of a whole sports-loving nation on his shoulders.

KARIM EL-SHENAWY | Director | For Engaging, Educating & Entertaining Egypt

Few filmmakers can strike the balance between commercial success and critical acclaim, and even fewer can create stories that resonate with a wide array of audiences. Looking back at Karim El-Shennawy’s filmography, it’s hard to pin down a single theme or style. In his debut feature, Eyar Nari (2017), he dabbled in crime thriller, before exploring suspense and drama in his series Qabil (2018). Collaborations with Mariam Naoum saw him embrace social dramas, interrogating the intricacies of relationships, marriage and parenting.

Their three projects took on socially driven stories: ADHD in Khally Balak Mn Zizi (2019), marital challenges and broader mental health in Al Harsha Al Sabea (2020), and arguably his biggest mainstream hit, Lam Shamsiya (2025), which confronted child sexual abuse head-on.

In 2025, El Shennawy showcased the full range of his storytelling. Lam Shamsiya dominated Ramadan screens, reaching households across Egypt; The Tale of Daye’s Family (2025), a story about a young albino boy aspiring to sing like his idol Mohamed Mounir, traveled to the Berlin Film Festival; and he capped the year with his first commercial comedy, El Sada El Afadel (2025), marking the first time he made audiences laugh instead of cry.

By the end of 2025, Karim El-Shennawy was everywhere, creating something for everyone. Unbound by genre, topic, or cause, he is guided only by the pull of a good story, proving that versatility and vision are not mutually exclusive.

KAREEM IBRAHIM & SHERINE ZAGHOW | CEO & Partner Takween, Operations Director & Partner Takween | For Changing Lives Through Urban Regeneration

In a landscape where development has long been shaped by outside agendas, often sidelining the voices closest to the land, Takween has redirected urban regeneration back to the people themselves. Their work draws attention to small economies waiting to grow, crafts at risk of disappearing, and cities where residents have grown accustomed to change happening around them rather than with them.

Through long-term presence, community-led decision-making, and a refusal to treat heritage as purely architectural, Takween approaches development as a social process. Their projects prioritise participation, allowing local conversations, skills, and identities to lead.

Esna is where this approach is most clearly visible. What began in 2009 as a modest intervention around the temple expanded into a city-wide regeneration, driven by the depth of local knowledge and possibility. Women documented culinary heritage through competitions, artisans restored buildings using traditional techniques, and families became active participants in the cultural and economic revival unfolding around them.

Esna’s transformation gained international recognition with the Aga Khan Award, marking a model of regeneration shaped through community authorship and sustained local engagement.

ALI BEIALY | Actor | For Braving the Silence on Sexual Abuse

To tackle a story at the centre of national debate is one thing. To embody it, to live it on screen, takes unmistakable courage.

Ali El Beialy was Ramadan’s breakout star at just 12 years old in Lam Shamseya, playing Youssef: a boy millions grew to love, who loves video games, stumbles through social awkwardness, and carries the weight of sexual abuse.

Initially, El Beialy hesitated to take on the role. He feared audience reactions and potential backlash. But after meeting director Karim El Shenawy (also featured on this year’s Impact List), one thing became clear: the series could raise awareness around an issue rarely, if ever, explored on screen. Despite his age, El Beialy recognised the responsibility of the role and approached it with striking clarity and sensitivity.

By 2025, audiences knew him not only for this performance, but also for his biggest role to date in the Netflix original series Catalog. Off screen, he balances school, basketball training, and his acting career, supported closely by his family, and excelling across all three. The youngest and perhaps most quietly affecting entry on this year’s Impact List, Ali El Beialy embodies talent, purpose, and courage.

SARA AZIZ | Founder of Safe Egypt | For Giving Families the Tools to Safeguard Against Sexual Abuse

Conversations around sexual violence in Egypt are more common today, comparatively at least, than they were two decades ago. The terms now exist in the public vocabulary. We know what it’s called, and we have, to an extent, begun to find pathways forward.

That was not the case in 2012, when Safe Egypt first began hosting workshops and training sessions for children and parents, confronting them with an uncomfortable truth and equipping them with tools to face it. Founder Sara Aziz has been on that mission for more than a decade, practising what she calls awareness without shock: work that names reality without paralysing people, insisting there is a way through.

That same year, Aziz left her job in hospitality to pursue what felt less like a career move and more like a calling. Her HR director asked her, “What will you write on your business card?” Thirteen years later, the answer is finally legible. After years of slow, persistent work, Safe Egypt’s impact has moved into the mainstream. Parents now willingly sit through workshops on child sexual abuse, sessions that once required half the time just to convince them the issue existed at all.

In 2025, much of what Safe Egypt had been building for years came into public view. The organisation opened its first nursery, published original children’s books, developed games centred on mental health and wellbeing, and helped shape the country’s most visible public conversation on child sexual abuse to date, with Aziz serving as the Children’s Scientific and Psychological Content Reviewer on the Ramadan series Lam Shamsiya.

ASEM TAG | Founder & CEO of RAAD Records | For Charting a New Trajectory for Egyptian Pop Music

Asem Tag was once a musician on Egypt’s underground scene, fighting to find a voice. Now, as owner of music label, RAAD Records, Tag is offering pathways that never existed for him and his contemporaries. He’s also the manager of the region’s most famous rapper, Wegz, and has played a role in the Alexandria native’s incredible rise into the mainstream. Some will point to Wegz as a near-generational talent whose journey cannot be replicated. With RAAD, however, Tag and his team are looking to replicate that success by paving the way for emerging to find a place on a musical landscape still largely defined by mega-popstars, while widening the definitions of pop music. The label is becoming a genre-agnostic force capturing the full scope of Egypt’s musical talent.

RAAD won’t change the landscape alone, but it's been breaking the glass ceiling for not only the next generation of Egyptian musical talent, but anyone who looks beyond the traditional confines of ‘pop’ music.

MIRA RIAD & MARINA RINA | Founder & Co-Executive Director, Co-Executive Director of The Littlest Lamb | For Giving Vulnerable Children a House that Feels like Home

When Mira Riad first visited an orphanage in Cairo in 2006, she encountered little girls dumping buckets of water across their bedroom floors, unsupervised. The experience stayed with her. That neglect, she believed, signalled an impossible future. The visit became the seed for The Littlest Lamb, which she founded in 2007 and now co-leads with Marina Rina.

Over the years, Riad and Rina have built an alternative to institutional orphan care: 13 interconnected homes, each hosting four to seven children with dedicated caregivers, supported by education managers, psychologists, tutors, and activities coordinators. Holistic programmes focus on emotional wellbeing, life skills, social confidence, and long-term independence.

Centred around small family units, The Littlest Lamb replaces scale with closeness and systems with relationships. Education, emotional development, and individual attention are built into daily life, creating stability where it is most often missing. In doing so, Mira Riad and Marina Rina have offered a model of orphan care that prioritises continuity, accountability, and dignity, setting a new benchmark for how vulnerable children can be supported in Egypt.

NADIA EL-DASHER | Co-Founder & Creative Producer of SNAP14 Productions | For Putting Egyptian Production Talent in Global Fashion’s Frame

In 2025, Nadia El-Dasher and her production agency, SNAP14, reached a pivotal moment in their mission to position Egypt as a serious hub for editorial and fashion storytelling. By placing Egyptian production talent at the centre of high-profile international projects, El-Dasher has helped shift the local creative scene from the margins into a wider global conversation.

The year was defined by major productions for Jacquemus, VOGUE Netherlands, and DAZED, executed with the level of conception and delivery that has become SNAP14’s signature. For El-Dasher, this work is grounded in a philosophy of mindful production, one that prioritises communication, transparency, and respect for both people and process as the foundation of creative excellence.

Even while navigating the physical demands of pregnancy, El-Dasher led complex shoots across the country, reinforcing a clear proposition: when global brands collaborate with local expertise, authorship shifts. Egypt is no longer valued only as a backdrop, but recognised for the producers, crews, photographers, and filmmakers who bring these stories to life.

AHMED EBEID | Cultural Investment Advisor at the Ministry of Culture, Founder & Managing Director of RMC Worldwide | For Opening New Avenues for Egyptian Culture

Egyptian culture, as a term and an umbrella, holds multitudes. It’s vast, unruly, and layered, stretching from street corners to palaces, museums, and the country’s grandest stages. Ahmed Ebeid, Founder & Managing Director of RMC Worldwide and advisor to Egypt’s Ministry of Culture, is invested in building those stages and gathering their audiences, no matter the medium, scale, or genre, as long as it’s unmistakably Egyptian.

After nearly three decades in marketing and communications, Ebeid shifted his focus towards the culture sector. From reopening historic spaces like Abdeen and Qubba Palaces to the public for the first time through landmark concerts, to staging Egypt’s first Umm Kulthum hologram, his work aims to simply get people outside of their homes to marvel and connect.

Through initiatives like Reviving Egypt’s Cultural Excellence, Ebeid merges art with place - Egyptian content in distinctly Egyptian settings - reframing heritage as something dynamic and accessible. Whether advising the Ministry or collaborating with private cultural entities, his metric remains human: did people leave happier than they arrived? For Ebeid, that’s impact — and culture doing its job.

MOSTAFA SEIF | Executive Chef of Pier88 Group & Khufu's | For Challenging People's Perceptions of Egyptian Food

Mostafa Seif’s journey to the top of Egypt’s culinary scene began on a liver sandwich cart, working alongside his uncle and grandfather, learning what value, flavour, and trust mean. That grounding would later shape one of the country’s most significant culinary statements.

As Executive Chef of Khufu’s, Seif has turned Egyptian cuisine into a destination in its own right, set against the most charged backdrop imaginable. The Pyramids of Giza. His menu does not reinvent Egyptian food but it insists on its seriousness.

Drawing from Upper Egyptian, rural, and home-cooked traditions, he refines technique without altering identity, treating dishes like koshary and roz me’ammar as cultural artefacts worthy of global attention.

That approach has resonated internationally. In 2025, Khufu’s was named Best Restaurant in Egypt, ranked No. 4 on the MENA’s 50 Best Restaurants list, and recognised as a Resy One To Watch. Seif also became the first Egyptian chef to receive an “Excellent” rating at The Best Chef Awards.

Beyond accolades, his impact lies in representation. Seif cooks to honour origins. In doing so, he has helped reposition Egyptian cuisine as confident, contemporary, and fully capable of being served on the world’s most demanding tables.

AHMED GANZOURY & KARIM NABIL | Founders of GNK | For Opening a New Door to Egyptian Hospitality

Egyptian Entrepreneurs Ahmed Ganzoury and Karim Nabil tend to write their own script. GNK Hospitality - their pioneering lifestyle brainchild - didn’t set out to “transform” Egypt’s lifestyle landscape in the dramatic, overpromising way that word is usually thrown around. They simply kept asking the questions everyone else ignored: Where do people actually want to be? What do they want these places to feel like? And why does the country keep settling for experiences that don’t sound like us, look like us, or move the way we do?

Their answers became a portfolio of homegrown concepts - boutique hotels, venues, destination-driven events - that treat hospitality as the backbone of how a city lives rather than a service tacked onto the side. GNK works at the tricky intersection of culture and social life, and somehow makes it look instinctive. They don’t extract from places, but rather they plug into them.

Mazeej is the clearest expression of that instinct. With properties across several cities, it’s become GNK’s way of saying: yes, Egypt deserves boutique experiences that aren’t imported.

And then there are the moments - the events, the destination formats, the 360° experiences that have become part of how Egyptians now interact with their cities. GNK builds spaces that understand how people actually move through a night, how they read a room, how they want to belong to something without being told what that something is.

In 2025, their impact was structural. GNK became part of a wider movement redefining how Egyptians travel, celebrate, and experience their own country. Ganzoury and Nabil just occupied new territories with a confidence that made the rest of the industry realise what had been missing.As CEO of Legacy Development and Management, Merette Elsayed has been central to transforming one of the world’s most ambitious cultural projects into a functioning, global-facing institution.