Under the title “My Journey”, Mohamed Mansour, the entrepreneur and former Minister of Transport, has published his autobiography,chronicling over 50 years of details from his personal and professional journey, which led him to become one of the largest and most influential entrepreneurs in Egypt, Africa, the Middle East, and the world.
In his book, Mansour narrates significant milestones in his professional life, along with personal events that impacted him, such as a car accident at the age of ten that nearly resulted in the amputation of his leg.
This incident left him bedridden for three years, during which he slowly recovered and learned to walk again, adapting to his difficult circumstances.
At the age of 20, shortly after obtaining his university degree, he discovered that he had kidney cancer, a condition that few survived at the time.
He underwent emergency surgery and began a radiation treatment journey, from which he has been cancer-free ever since.
Mansour commented, “I wrote for my children and grandchildren first, and for subsequent generations in my family, to leave a legacy of values, experiences, and lessons learned”.
He added, “The idea of my journey evokes stories and opens up the pains and hardships I went through and fought to overcome, thanks to God. The concept of my autobiography has expanded to serve as a guide that can benefit anyone who reads it”.
Mansour continued, “Today, I still feel the responsibility to continue my journey, and I still love and look forward to what I do”.
In his book, Mansour recounts the political situation in Egypt during the 1960s, when the nationalisation and confiscation of all his family’s properties occurred, leaving the then 18-year-old Mohamed facing a difficult fate.
This forced him to work as a waiter in a restaurant for a meagre wage to continue his university studies.
With the beginning of President Anwar Sadat’s era, the Mansour family succeeded in getting back on their feet and established a car sales and distribution company in Egypt, which Mohamed Mansour managed with his siblings at the age of 28.
After the death of his father in 1976, Mohamed and his siblings worked to grow the family business into a giant economic empire.
In “My Journey”, Mansour refers to the changes that occurred decades later, when he was appointed Minister of Transport in Ahmed Nazif’s government under President Hosni Mubarak in December 2005.
He reveals in his book the strategy he adopted and was keen to implement in leading his personal and family business to its current global standing.
This strategy emphasised minimising promises and focusing on achievements,avoiding unilateral management, fostering team spirit, prioritising innovation, allowing space for youth and their new visions, thoroughly studying the market, addressing gaps, and turning any challenge into an opportunity.
In March 2023, the British government, with the approval of King Charles III,awarded engineer Mohamed Mansour the title of Knight for his charitable work and investment projects.
This came after he received one of the highest honours in Italy, the “Star of Italy”, from President Sergio Mattarella in October 2023, and an honorary doctorate from the University of North Carolina in May 2022.
“My Journey” was presented by Egyptian Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouli, Mahmoud Mohieldin, the UN secretary-general’s envoy on financing for development, and Hala El-Said, advisor to President Sisi for economic affairs and former minister of planning and economic development.
