Promoted Content THE African Union (AU) has awarded the Best Industrialist in Africa Prize for this year to Mr Mohamed Abul Enien, the Board Chairman of the Egypt-based Ceramica Cleopatra Group. Mr Abul Enien has received the prize during the 10th AU Forum for the Private Sector, which was held under the aegis of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and attended by Planning and Administrative Reform Minister Hala El Saeed. Mr Victor Harrison, the AU Commissioner for Economic Affairs, has handed the prize to Mr Abul Enien, the first Egyptian to win this distinguished award that has been given to Ceramica Cleopatra Group during a competition that involved more that 55 African states. The AU said in a statement that it had selected Mr Abul Enien to win this year's award due to his noticeable success in launching a modern industry in Africa and creating a distinguished name for Egypt and Africa in the international ceramics, porcelain, and sanitary ware markets. In its citation for the offering Ceramic Cleopatra Group this year's award, the AU said that the group, under the leadership of Mr Abul Einein, made a great success that had relied on the use of modern technology, new designs, manufacturing high-quality products, and adherence to labour values towards its customers, workers, the society and the environment. During the past 40 years, the AU statement said, the Cleopatra group has also been setting an excellent example for the private sector's involvement in invading the Egyptian desert throughout the launching of investment ventures that included the building of modern factories, farms and tourist resorts, real-estate and technological hubs. All these combined ventures, the statement added, have achieved economic growth for Egypt, led to the appearance of new residential/industrial/agricultural communities, creating more jobs, improving the workers' skills, achieving food sufficiency, using modern technologies, creating a surplus demand for the local raw materials, and opening new overseas markets for the Egyptian products. On his part, Mr. Abul Einen expressed his full happiness to receive that prestigious award, which he described as a medal of honour for each Egyptian and African industrialist. Mr. Abul Einen said that the success of his company was the outcome of many combined factors such as the sincere efforts of more than 25,000 workers, the Cairo government's support for serious investors, and the people's unwavering confidence in the group's products. This great confidence has been the company's passport to world markets, Mr. Abul Einen said. Talking about his company's success story, Mr. Abul Einen said that the Ceramic Cleopatra Group had started its activities in 1979 when it set up its maiden factory in the Tenth of October Desert. He said that the factory had been the first modern facility for manufacturing ceramic tiles in Egypt and shortly afterwards it became the top factory in the whole Middle East region. The factory, whose products have invaded the world's continents including the most difficult Japanese market, has become one of the world's top four companies, he concluded.
