14 Egyptian leaders make Forbes Middle East’s Sustainability Leaders 2026 List

Egypt accounts for 14 entries in Forbes Middle East’s Sustainability Leaders 2026 list, which features 145 entries across 17 categories and recognizes executives advancing sustainability initiatives across the region.

The UAE leads with 75 entries, followed by Saudi Arabia with 29, while Qatar and Egypt each have 14. The list covers sectors ranging from financial services and manufacturing to renewable energy, real estate, technology and telecom.

Egyptian leaders across 10 categories:

Egypt’s entries span financial services, family businesses, food and agriculture, free zones, investment and holdings, manufacturing and industrials, real estate and construction, renewable energy, and technology and telecom.

In financial services, Dalia Khorshid, Group CEO and Managing Director of Beltone Holding, is ranked third. Forbes cites the company’s $20 million in sustainable funding secured in June 2025 and six sustainable lending products covering areas including energy efficiency, renewable energy, green buildings and sustainable agriculture.

Hanaa Helmy, Group Chief Sustainability Officer at EFG Holding, ranks fourth. Forbes highlights Bank NXT’s $47.8 million social-financing portfolio as of the fourth quarter of 2025 and the 4.6 TWh of clean energy delivered by Vortex Energy, which displaced approximately 4.5 million metric tons of CO₂ equivalent.

In family businesses, Hassan Allam and Amr Allam share one entry, ranked fourth, for Hassan Allam Holding. Forbes says Hassan Allam Utilities contributes to more than $3.5 billion in renewable-energy investments, with 3.3 GW of projects under development. The group also achieved IFC EDGE certification at its headquarters and five YANMU facilities.

Seif Thabet, CEO and Deputy Chairman of Juhayna Food Industries, ranks ninth in food and agriculture. Forbes notes the company’s sustainable agriculture and livestock activities across 10,000 feddans, as well as its partnership with the Egyptian Food Bank on the five-month Ebny Bokra program announced in November 2025. Moustafa Shaikhon, head of the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZONE), ranks third among free-zone leaders. Forbes highlights the $210 million ATUM Solar complex in Ain Sokhna, a 100-MW green-hydrogen project that began partial production by January 2026, and a $50 million Sungrow energy-storage systems factory whose annual output is expected to reach 10 GWh.

In investment and holdings, Ghada Hammouda, Group Chief Sustainability and Marketing Officer at Qalaa Holdings, ranks 10th. Forbes says Qalaa’s first holding-level carbon-footprint report recorded an 11.5% year-on-year reduction in total greenhouse-gas emissions in 2025. Its subsidiary GlassRock also introduced a glass-wool pipe-insulation line, with products that can reduce end-user energy consumption by up to 40%. In manufacturing and industrials, Manal Hassan, Group Chief Sustainability Officer at Elsewedy Electric, ranks eighth. Forbes reports a 38% reduction in the company’s Scope 1 and 2 emissions intensity in 2025 against its 2023 base year, alongside 44 third-party-verified Environmental Product Declarations covering more than 600 products.

Real estate, renewables, telecom:

Real estate and construction has four Egyptian entries. Ayman Amer of SODIC ranks 11th; Forbes cites solar installations, electric-vehicle charging facilities and residential designs that use less energy and water. Mohamed Amer, associated with El Gouna and Orascom Development Egypt, ranks 12th. El Gouna’s solar-generation capacity more than doubled in 2025 to 15.8 MW, while the destination also recycles wastewater through treatment plants.

Abdallah Sallam of Madinet Masr ranks 13th; Forbes highlights the Buyut Al-Khalifa urban-renewal project in historic Cairo and the company’s plans for electric-vehicle charging and other resource-efficiency measures.

Ahmed Shalaby of Tatweer Misr ranks 15th. The company established a dedicated sustainability function in 2025 and uses smart infrastructure, Internet of Things technologies and centralized resource management across its developments.

In renewable energy, Mohamed Ismail Mansour, co-founder and chairman of Infinity Power, ranks third. Forbes describes Infinity Power as Africa’s largest renewable-energy company and says its operating projects have a combined capacity of around 1.3 GW across Egypt, South Africa and Senegal, avoiding more than 3 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions and supplying electricity to more than 1.7 million African homes annually. The company aims to reach 10 GW of operating renewable-energy capacity by 2032.

In technology and telecom, Ayman Essam of Vodafone Egypt ranks seventh. Forbes says the company matched 100% of its purchased electricity consumption with renewable energy by April 2025 and reduced market-based Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 54% year on year as of March 2025. Hesham Mahran of Orange Egypt ranks 10th. Orange sources 44% of its electricity from renewable energy and is expanding solar-powered network sites and technical facilities as it works toward net zero by 2040. Its circular-economy program had collected more than 3,600 devices through over 40 shops for refurbishment and recycling.

Regional initiatives, methodology:

The wider list also highlights sustainability-related investment across the region. First Abu Dhabi Bank mobilized $31.1 billion in sustainable and transition finance in 2025, reaching 76% of its $136 billion target. Masdar’s operating projects generated 40.2 TWh of clean electricity that year, up 38% year on year. In July 2026, Masdar reached financial close on a $6.1 billion project combining 5.2 GW of solar capacity with 19 GWh of battery storage. Emirates Global Aluminium inaugurated the UAE’s largest aluminium recycling plant in 2026, taking its total recycling capacity above 400,000 tons annually.

Forbes says it compiled the list using questionnaires, sustainability or ESG reports, official disclosures and recent news. Entries were ranked separately within each category, with greater weight given to measures relevant to each sector. The criteria included sustainability reporting and disclosure transparency, green and sustainable financing, initiatives in 2025-2026, greenhouse-gas emissions trends, resource consumption, renewable-energy use, energy-efficient technologies, company size relative to climate impact, and other current or previous roles held by the leaders.