The Enterprise Podcast talks education and CIRA’s evolution into CIRA Education with CEO Mohamed El Kalla
How CIRA evolved into a fully vertically-integrated, multifaceted, education platform and became CIRA Education: Since its founding in 1993, Egypt’s largest listed private sector education company, CIRA Education (formerly just CIRA), weathered many storms and challenges to the sector. Just two years ago, covid had shut down classrooms, distance learning was a thing, and foreign ownership limits had been instituted for the private sector. Most recently, the sector was slammed by the high inflation, while legacy problems remain, including a high population to classroom ratio and a fragmented regulatory environment. CIRA Education survived these changes by not just adapting, but leading on some of the sector’s milestones.
This year was no different. CIRA Education is helping proliferate liberal arts education in Upper Egypt with the launch of Badr University. It is also introducing the concept of technical universities to Egypt by breaking ground soon on Cairo Saxony university. The company is also making its foray into pre-K outside of Cairo with the launch of a pre-K school in Fayum. There’s also CIRA Talent that looks to build viable career paths for artists, dancers, musicians and athletes across the nation. And running the infrastructure for the whole operation is CIRA Services.
Then, there’s the company’s three-year, EGP 2 bn future flow bond sale — Egypt’s first — which not only made the company an innovator in finance, but gave added credibility to the argument that education is a defensive sector.
Here to discuss all that transformation with the Enterprise Podcast is CIRA Education’s CEO Mohamed El Kalla. His love for social entrepreneurship has its roots in his student days, where his advanced studies in refugee law saw him living with nuns, and his subsequent work with the UN saw him lead programs in Darfur. During his time there, the UN had begun to see the importance of the private sector in enacting tangible change on the ground and he himself had worked on developing CSR and sustainability practices and bottom of the pyramid social engagement. He took on those lessons when he returned to the family business back in 2009, where item #1 on his agenda was instituting transparent governance. He has helmed CIRA Education’s evolution ever since.
Enterprise is a daily publication of Enterprise Ventures LLC, an Egyptian limited liability company (commercial register 83594), and a subsidiary of Inktank Communications. Summaries are intended for guidance only and are provided on an as-is basis; kindly refer to the source article in its original language prior to undertaking any action. Neither Enterprise Ventures nor its staff assume any responsibility or liability for the accuracy of the information contained in this publication, whether in the form of summaries or analysis. © 2022 Enterprise Ventures LLC.
Enterprise is available without charge thanks to the generous support of HSBC Egypt (tax ID: 204-901-715), the leading corporate and retail lender in Egypt; EFG Hermes (tax ID: 200-178-385), the leading financial services corporation in frontier emerging markets; SODIC (tax ID: 212-168-002), a leading Egyptian real estate developer; SomaBay (tax ID: 204-903-300), our Red Sea holiday partner; Infinity (tax ID: 474-939-359), the ultimate way to power cities, industries, and homes directly from nature right here in Egypt; CIRA (tax ID: 200-069-608), the leading providers of K-12 and higher level education in Egypt; Orascom Construction (tax ID: 229-988-806), the leading construction and engineering company building infrastructure in Egypt and abroad; Moharram & Partners (tax ID: 616-112-459), the leading public policy and government affairs partner; Palm Hills Developments (tax ID: 432-737-014), a leading developer of commercial and residential properties; Mashreq (tax ID: 204-898-862), the MENA region’s leading homegrown personal and digital bank; Industrial Development Group (IDG) (tax ID:266-965-253), the leading builder of industrial parks in Egypt; Hassan Allam Properties (tax ID: 553-096-567), one of Egypt’s most prominent and leading builders; and Saleh, Barsoum & Abdel Aziz (tax ID: 220-002-827), the leading audit, tax and accounting firm in Egypt.