He went through the journey of life, facing its simplicity and complexity, joys and pains, successes and setbacks, so he became one of the symbols of the homeland at home and abroad, a symbol characterized by hard work, daring, and beyond-limits ambition, after he built a great economic edifice in many fields, with a number of companies exceeding fifty, with an annual turnover of more than 30 billion pounds, and the number of employees amounting to 25 thousand. Despite these successes, you see him having a successful heart filled with love for the good of all, you see him only giving a helping hand to anyone in need, even amidst his own crises! He bodily departed, yet he is always alive with his deeds, the businessman andphysicianRaoufGhabbour, about whom the Chairman of Barclays Bank said: “He had a modest beginning, his conditions were not perfect, he faced many problems, but he was able to succeed and then shine, through hard work, perseverance and effort.”
RaoufGhabbour is the eldest son of Kamal Ghabbour,the businessmanfounder- with his brother SadeqGhabbour- of the Ghabbour Brothers Foundation, his mother is Mrs. Farida Nessim, the granddaughter of Hanna Nessim, one of the greatest contractor back then. RaoufGhabbour was born in 1953 in the Coptic Hospital. His first academic steps began at the age of four at the Jésuites Holy Family School. Before reaching the age of eight, he took his first decision to excel, making a complete change in his academic conditions, he says about that stage: “All I remember is that I thought to myself: Do I content myself with these conditions: to be considered among the losers, always taking a place at the back of the class?! My study conditions changed since this fateful situation, until I obtained high school with distinction and joined the Faculty of Medicine”.Nonetheless, his passion for commerce captured his mind; turning him into a promising and genius businessman who was able to overcome many adversities and obstacles in his professional advancement journey.
He started his journey in the field of businessmen at the age of seven, he then used to get P.T. 15 per week as pocket money, he says: “I did not think for a single moment how to spend this money, unlike others at my age, but I only thought how to invest this money”. So he decided to buy “Basbousa” dessert and sell it to the children at the club, he succeeded in saving five pounds in one week! Since then, he had never taken pocket money again.
RaoufGhabbour continued to trade many things during his childhood and adolescence, until his capital reached 10 thousand pounds at the beginning of his adolescence. At the age of twelve, he entered the NAMRO auction: the US Naval Medical Research Unit; he succeeded in winning the deal and won a large sum. Then he turned to work in currency exchange, and his profit amounted to 30 thousand pounds per month. By the end of his university studies in 1976, his personal wealth had exceeded half a million pounds!
After his graduation, RaoufGhabbour worked as an employee in the Ghabbour Brothers Company. He worked honestly, listening to business conversations for continuity and understanding, and he was very successful, he managed to save the Bridgestone tire dealership from being withdrawn from the company. In 1984, he became the commercial director of the Ghabbour BrothersCompany, then established his own company, and alongside it he took over the management of the company from his uncle Sadeq at the end of 1985. In 1990, he decided to leave the management of the Ghabbour Brothers in order to focus on managing his companies. He started importing cars, then got the Hyundai dealership, which is a very important station in his life. He became the agent of numerous international products in the fields of communications, electronics, spare parts, and tires, then cars, trucks, construction equipment, and oils; besides, he became a competitor to the major manufacturers of color televisions.
RaoufGhabbour got married to Ola LotfiZaki, known as Mrs. Ola Ghabbour, and got three children; Kamal, Dina and Nader. RaoufGhabbour was distinguished, most importantly, with refusing to give up or to feel desperate, and… stories about beautiful Egypt never end!
The General Bishop
Head of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center
