Since joining Orascom, the family business, in 1979, Naguib Sawiris has continuously contributed to the growth and diversification of the company into what it is today – one of Egypt’s largest and most diversified conglomerates. As Chairman and CEO of Orascom Telecom Holding (OTH), Mr. Sawiris has dynamically led the growth of the company, to be the leading regional Telecom player and among the best regarded Emerging Markets players in the world.  OTH operates GSM networks in six different countries in the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia (Egypt, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Algeria, Tunisia, and North Korea) with more than 78 million subscribers as at December 2008. Through its subsidiary Telecel Globe, OTH also operates in Burundi, the Central African Republic, Zimbabwe and Namibia. In addition, it operates the leading Internet Service Providers (ISPs), as well as satellite service providers.
In January 2003 he was appointed as Board Member of the GSM Association.
Mr. Sawiris is also the recipient of numerous honorary degrees, industry awards and civic honors, including the “Legion d’honneur “ Mr. Sawiris holds a diploma of Mechanical Engineering with a Masters in Technical Administration from the Swiss Institute of Technology, ETH Switzerland and a Diploma from the German Evangelical School, Cairo, Egypt.