was born on 13 July 1952 to a well-to-do family. His father was an active leader in the Wafd Party. Moussa began his studies in Egypt but, acting on his father's advice, completed his education in France. He has a bachelor degree in architecture from France and a masters from Ecole Nationale Supérieure D'architecture de Versailles, Paris. Moussa has long been interested in politics. A member of the youth wing of the New Wafd Party, he later joined the party proper. In 2005 he joined the Ghad Party as vice chairman. When party head Ayman Nour was sentenced to five years in prison the Ghad split into two factions, one led by Moussa and the other by Gamila Ismail, Ayman Nour's former wife. Both used the party's name and symbols, provoking a legal dispute that was resolved in May 2011 in favour of the Moussa faction. Moussa unsuccessfully ran for parliament in the 2010 election, standing in Giza. He was a strong supporter of President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi and in 2014 launched a campaign appealing for Al-Sisi to nominate himself as a presidential candidate. In 2017 he set up a campaign to support Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi in the 2018 presidential poll. Until 20 January 2018, when he announced his intention to run for office himself, he was engaged in collecting endorsements for Al-Sisi. Moussa's decision to stand came after four presidential hopefuls — lawyer Khaled Ali, former MP Mohamed Anwar Al-Sadat, former prime minister Ahmed Shafik and Zamalek Club head Mortada Mansour — withdrew from the race. Two other possible candidates — former military chief of staff Sami Anan and Colonel Ahmed Konsowa — were arrested after announcing their intention to stand. Moussa secured the endorsement of more than 20 elected MPs. (Under Article 142 of the constitution presidential candidates must secure the recommendation of at least 20 elected MPs or 25,000 eligible voters drawn from a minimum of 15 governorates, with at least 1,000 recommendations per governorate.) Moussa submitted his candidate papers 15 minutes before the deadline closed.
