Naguib Onsi Sawiris (or Sawires, Egyptian Arabic: نجيب انسى ساويرس, IPA: [næˈɡiːb ˈʔonsi sæˈwiːɾɪs] or [sæˈwiːɾes]; born June 15, 1954) is an Egyptian businessman and politician. He was executive chairman of the telecommunications companies Wind Telecom and Orascom Telecom Holding (OTH) before turning to politics in May 2011. OTH launched the first mobile operator in Egypt, Mobinil in 1998.
OTH has 20,000 employees and manages 11 GSM operators around the globe. In the beginning, OTH’s strategy was to target underpenetrated high population markets. However, soon after it started to pursue more developed markets with the launch of Wind Mobile by its Globalive subsidiary in Canada in December 2009. Moreover, OTH launched the first mobile operator in North Korea in 2008, “Koryolink”.
Sawiris joined Orascom in 1979. The Orascom Group is the country’s largest private sector employer and has the largest market capitalization on the Cairo & Alexandria Stock Exchange. Sawiris established and built the railway, information technology, and telecommunications sectors of Orascom. The conglomerate was later split into separate operating companies: Orascom Telecom (OT), Orascom Construction Industries (OCI), Orascom Hotels & Development and Orascom Technology Systems (OTS). OTH was established in late 1997 and since then has been chaired by Sawiris.
Five or 5 Star(s) or star(s) may refer to: