Emad Barsoum, founder and Managing Director of Ezdehar Management: My Morning Routine looks each week at how a successful member of the community starts their day — and then throws in a couple of random business questions just for fun. Speaking to us this week is Emad Barsoum, founder and Managing Director of Ezdehar Management, a private equity fund manager investing in high growth businesses in Egypt.

My name is Emad Barsoum. If it weren’t for my lower back reminding me every once and a while that I’m in my mid-fifties, I would believe I was in my early thirties. As I’ve lived in so many places and held so many different roles, I now find it difficult to define myself in terms of the functions I perform or my citizenship. The thing that defines me the most now is being the father of two crazy kids.

I work with Ezdehar, a private equity firm focused on investing in Egyptian companies.

I’m an early riser, so I’m up by 5:00 am most days, and I haven’t used an alarm clock for decades. I start by going immediately to my iPad, checking the major news, international affairs, business and technology news, on Enterprise and my other favorite publications. Then it’s a look at my emails, to see if there are any important messages waiting that need my attention and a quick response. It’s good to get that out of the way early, without any distractions. Then I look at my schedule, to make sure I am ready for the meetings and events of the day, and to prepare myself for what’s happening over the next couple of days. It’s very important that I do this before going to the office, as it helps me focus on the objectives I’ve set for the days ahead and not get lost in distractions. I’m usually in the office by 8:00 am.

Most of my days are full of meetings, either with the management teams of the companies we’ve invested in, or with the new companies we’re considering to partner with. It’s a people-centered business, and I need to spend a lot of time with our existing and potential partners to be able to determine if and how we can help them, and whether we’re aligned in terms of our objectives. I also spend a lot of time with my team, discussing and debating what we have in the pipeline. We argue a lot, but it’s a blessing to work with such an amazing group of smart, humble, hardworking individuals.

I don’t watch TV at all — just the occasional movie from a streaming service — but I do read a lot of short articles about technology and industry.

Ezdehar started when I was given the opportunity to manage a holding company, with several operations and lines of business within the Orascom Telecom group. The lines of business weren’t all that arresting, and the countries of operation weren’t the easiest to operate in. But in a few years, we were able to grow the group to about 10 times its original size. In addition to having a supportive macro environment, the major factor behind this success was the teams who led these operations. Many of the developing markets we were operating in have a lot of potential, and the key to unlocking that potential was selecting the right leadership teams and giving them the institutional culture and work environment that would allow them to thrive. In turn, these teams had an amazing impact on the companies they were managing. Private equity (PE), I realized, was the best setup to have deep impact at scale, ideally leveraging your experience to contribute to the growth of many Egyptian companies. This is the ultimate goal that brought the team together to start Ezdehar.

I’m very optimistic about the developments taking place in Egypt’s legislative and economic climate. Having lived through several cycles and attempts at reform here, this one seems more serious and courageous than those of the past. From my perspective, given the circumstances and the challenges, the steps that have been taken on all fronts (whether related to currency, rates, infrastructure, or energy) are real moves in the right direction. In addition to this, the potential of the market in terms of its size and its growth is amazing. Overall, I think Egypt is a great investment destination for the medium term.

PE as a sector is not well understood in our region, especially because the scope of it varies considerably. It can range from investing 5% in a publicly traded company and having a totally passive role to owning 100% of a distressed asset and managing it completely. And then there’s everything in between. So it’s understandable that people not familiar with the sector can have a hard time figuring out what exactly our impact, role and responsibility is and where we fit in. We spend a lot of time trying to explain the benefits of having institutional investors and the positive impact this can have on strengthening a business and making it sustainable.

So the PE industry in our part of the world is not easy, and not many native fund managers have succeeded. This was unfortunately evidenced by the collapse of one of the major players: Abraaj. I feel that what sets Ezdehar apart is the quality of our team. Our place in PE is quite clear: we partner with companies to support them to grow. We’ll neither manage the company for them, nor will we be passive. We seek to achieve a fine balance and we spend a lot of time with our sponsors before undertaking any investment, to make sure that we’re aligned and have the same vision, and that both parties will be able to help each other to reach our targets. We’re very proud of the companies we’ve invested in so far, and are looking forward to being even more active in the coming period.

As investors, we’re impacted by the disruptions that occur in the industries we invest in, and this adds to the complexities that fund managers face. I’m particularly concerned by rapid technological changes and how they will impact us here.

The purpose of free time is that it’s really free time, which for me means that you don’t do much. Sometimes I just sit in the garden in the sun, and watch the trees, the birds and the stray cats. I also sometimes watch absorbing movies, which acts like meditation, transporting one’s attention to a totally different world. And of course the kids are a huge focus. I’m often trying to spend some quality time with them, while driving them from one activity to the other.

The best piece of business advice I’ve ever been given? Speak from experience or keep learning.

Besides using the old-fashioned paper and pen on my desk, which is constantly updated with my to-do list, I use Microsoft tools that allow me to write my to-dos anywhere in my quest to stay organized. Of course, this means that I then find the to-dos appearing on my phone, my computer and my iPad at all hours. It also seems that I have implanted in my brain a version of the to-do list, and I’m not sure if this is a curse or a blessing. Sometimes it’s both.