Visa's Vice President for Egypt assumes broader African role

Visa International CEMEA (Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa) announced the reclassification of its sub-regions with the North Africa and Levant region merging with the Gulf to form the Middle East and North Africa sub-region (MENA).

As part of the change VISA International's office in Cairo will become a regional office for North and West Africa and Mr Tarek Elhousseiny's remit expands from Egypt and Libya to North and West Africa.

The changes come as part of a new structure for Visa CEMEA that better reflects its cultural and geographical diversity.

The reorganisation will see the number of sub-regions clustered to three: Central and Eastern Europe; Middle East and North Africa; and Southern Africa, with regional hub offices in Moscow, Dubai and Johannesburg, respectively. The MENA region will be headed by Mr Kamran Siddiqi.

As the head of Visa's office in Egypt, Mr Elhousseiny's scope of regional responsibilities will expand providing an even greater opportunity to draw upon his in-depth knowledge and experience in the payment card industry to support Visa's growth in the 19 countries comprised within this region.

In his new role as Visa's Vice President and General Manager for Egypt and North and West Africa, Mr Elhousseiny will be responsible for developing the electronic payment industry in these markets, as well as cultivating the relationship with Visa's member financial institutions and government authorities.

'It gives me great pleasure to take on this responsibility. Together with our office in Casablanca, we look forward to leveraging our collective expertise and relationships across the region,' said Mr Elhousseiny.

Mr Elhousseiny joined Visa in 2003 as Vice President and General Manager of Visa's operations in Egypt and Libya. During this period, Visa has achieved significant milestones in the Egyptian market and within a time span of four years the number of cards has more than tripled.

Mr Elhousseiny has considerable experience in the payment card industry, both on the merchant acquiring and card issuing disciplines of the business. He holds a BSc degree from the Faculty of Tourism in Cairo and has obtained a Bank Card Business School Certificate from Cambridge University and a Management Development degree from London Business School in London. He also underwent extensive international management training programs.