I’m joined today by Karima El Hakim, Country Director at Plug & Play Egypt, and co-director for the company’s operations in the rest of Africa. Just as importantly, for me she’s one of the show’s biggest fans! On Part 1 of my conversation with Karima, we’re criss-crossing through both her personal and professional journey, from growing up in Egypt in a Francophone home to her pivot to technology and the investment world. Coming up next week on part 2, Karima tells me about her work with the private sector in Egypt and across Africa, as well as her role serving on the Economic Committee of Egypt’s National Council for women. This episode is brought to you by EFG Hermes One, your one app for investing in more than 35 stock markets worldwide. Start Investing Today! Chapters 0:00 Coming up… 2:00 Early years in Cairo 9:24 Getting into market research 16:09 Return to Egypt 18:16 Personal loss & navigating grief 24:16 The impact of B_URN 30:01 The transition to tech 35:34 Beyond work 41:34 Lightning Round! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices