8 Egyptians Who Are Kicking Butt Abroad

By Guest Contributor On Nov 16, 2014

A state of frustration seems to prevail in Egypt. Most of us have now lost faith in ourselves, our beliefs and our accomplishments, resulting in a more chaotic situation. And as social media and the Internet make the world more accessible, the crowds are falling for xenophilia.

Xenophilia in its simple meaning is “an affection for foreign objects or people”. When someone loses faith in himself, others and his homeland, do foreign objects or people become more attractive?

Anything from beyond our borders suddenly becomes awesome, technology becomes magical, art becomes an incarnation of unearthly thinking and so on.

Thinking this way leads to a disturbed vision of living. We are all humans after all. Here are some inspiring examples of Egyptians abroad doing their jobs and kicking butts:

1. Mohamed A. El-Erian

El Erian is the Chief Economic Adviser of Allianz, a multinational financial services company, and the former CEO and Co-CIO of global investment firm PIMCO, with about $2 trillion of assets.

He also serves as chair of President Obama’s Global Development Council and is a trusted financial columnist for a number of esteemed publications.

2. Mohamed Salah

The talented footballer holds various international titles. In 2012, he received the CAF Most Promising Talent of the Year Award and in 2013 he was the SAFP Golden Player for being the most valuable footballer in the Swiss Super League. If that wasn’t enough, he was the top scorer in the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF) with six goals (an honor shared with Mohamed Aboutrika).

After dominating with Basel and winning the Swiss Super League in 2012 and 2013 and the Uhren Cup 2013, he moved on to Chelsea FC and became the first Egyptian to sign for the Stamford Bridge club.

And while he might have faced some ups and downs in his career, let’s not forget he’s just 22 years old!

3. Amr Waked

Do I need to say more?

4. Marwan Roushdy

Tech magician Marwan Roushdy, 24, is really taking the idea of bringing people closer to each other seriously with his application Swipe, an anonymous photo sharing app with the tagline, “See the photos and videos your friends won’t post on Facebook.”

Swipe’s launch came with big buzz, with endorsements from celebrities like Snoop Dogg. The app has already paid off in just a few weeks, making waves in Silicon Valley, especially for his company Complex Polygon.

5. Mona Defrawi

CEO and Founder of Equidity Mona Defrawi is a real role model, honored in 2010 as a “Woman of Influence” by the Silicon Valley Business Journal and by Forbes in 2011 as one of four women to watch in technology for their “World’s 100 Most Powerful Women.”

6. Thabet Alfishawi

Product manager at YouTube and Google working at the intersection of personalization and monetization, Thabet Alfishawi focuses on enabling every YouTube channel out there to find viewers who will fall in love with that channel.

Thabet is passionate about startups and entrepreneurship and regularly mentors start-ups and leads workshops and classes.

7. Ali Faramawy

Now the Corporate Vice President of Microsoft Corporation and president for Microsoft Middle East and Africa (MEA), throughout his 20-year career in the IT industry, Ali Faramawy has held a variety of technical, sales and managerial roles.

He has worked all over the Middle East and Europe with companies including Dun & Bradstreet Software, NCR Corporation and Yokogawa Marex.

8. Aly & Fila

Aly & Fila are an Egyptian trance music duo made up of Aly Amr Fathalah (aka Aly) and Fadi Wassef Naguib (aka Fila). Since entering the international clubbing scene with their extraordinary hit Eye of Horus back in 2003, Aly & Fila have been a constant inspiration to clubbers and DJs alike. Their euphoric, uplifting blend of sweeping trance has seen them rise to A-list status alongside the likes of Armin van Buuren, Paul van Dyk and Ferry Corsten.

In 2011, their track “We Control The Sunlight”, which featured Jwaydan Moyine, was chosen as “Tune of the Year” on Armin Wan Buuren’s show A State of Trance. This duo has accomplished so much in so little time, taking the #18 position in the DJ Mag Top 100 of 2013 and continuing to release track after track and remix after remix — there’s no telling where this duo will end up.

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