5 Speakers you Shouldn’t miss at Angels’ Oasis 2019

The Middle East Angel Investment Network (MAIN), an umbrella organization of the leading angel investors, networks and funds in the Middle East and North Africa focused on promoting angel investment, syndication and training within the region, will be holding Angels' Oasis 2019 conference, the largest gathering of angel and early stage investors in MENA, which will be held in El Gouna, Egypt starting 31 October 2019.

Last year, MAIN held its inaugural regional angel investing conference in El Gouna, which brought together over 130 angel investors, venture capitalists and other early stage investors from all over the world for an intensive 2 day summit to discuss the latest investment trends, to exchange best practice and to provide training on effective early stage startup investing techniques.

This year, the conference will again feature high-level panel discussions that will cover sectors of interest, such as TransportTech, FinTech, Healthcare, CleanTech and AgTech, as well as  case studies unpacking some of the biggest exits in the region from an early stage investor perspective. Here are some of the speakers that will be at the conference this year:

1. Tamer Azer
Principal, Sawari Ventures
Tamer began his career  at The Institute for Competitiveness and Prosperity; working to redesign economic, innovation policies, He later joined global innovation strategy and design firm Fahrenheit 212 as a Senior Innovation Consultant. In 2016, he moved back to Egypt to join A15 where he lead investments portfolio development of the company Alongside managing the exit of TPAY, one of the largest to take place in the Middle East region.

2. Khaled Bichara

CEO, Orascom Development

Khaled Bichara currently holds the position of Chief Executive Officer of Orascom Development Holding. He was also the Chief Executive Officer of Orascom Telecom Holding S.A.E. as well as Chief Operating Officer of Wind Telecomunicazioni S.p.A.

Mr. Bichara currently serves as a board member of various telecom and IT companies. Mr. Bichara is also a member of the Advisory Board for the Computer Science and Engineering Department of the American University in Cairo. Mr. Bichara was chosen by the Swiss financial research firm ‘Obermatt’ as the best CEO for Medium Sized Companies in Switzerland for 2019.

3. Anissa Kanoun

Anissa is an Investment Officer on the Disruptive Technologies team at (IFC), the private sector investment arm of the World Bank Group.

Anissa is responsible for executing direct equity transactions into growth stage startups and LP investments into VC funds within MENA and Sub-Saharan Africa. Anissa completed her MBA at Wharton, with  prior experience in investment banking at Goldman Sachs, impact investing, and emerging market PE.

4. Aakif Merchant

Senior Associate, Convergence

Aakif is responsible for capacity building among clients from public, private to philanthropic organizations. Aakif brings over 6 years of experience as a management consultant having most recently served as Principal of the NeXus Consulting Group, where he spearheaded business development and project execution across a variety of sectors including international development and retail.

Aakif has also worked at Dasra, India’s leading strategic philanthropy foundation, L.E.K Consulting in New York and as a legislative and economic advisor for the Parliament of India.

5. Christina Andreassen
Managing Director, Womentum Accelerator 
Christina is the Womentum Accelerator Managing Director, responsible for the launch and management of MENA’s first accelerator focused on tech startups with at least one female founder. Prior to WOMENA, Christina managed a number of social enterprises in Bangkok, Beirut and Dubai, focusing on entrepreneurship and youth empowerment.