Madbouly appoints Islam Azzam as EGX Chairman for 1 year

Updated 8/26/2025 3:21:00 AM

Arab Finance: Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly has issued decision no. 2812 of 2025 appointing Islam Abdel Azim Azzam as the new Chairman of the Egyptian Exchange (EGX) for a one-year term, as per a statement.

Azzam succeeds Ahmed El Shiekh, who served as the Chairman for two consecutive terms.

Azzam brings decades of experience in financial regulation, investment, and academia. From January 2021 to August 2025, he served as Vice Chairman of the Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA), overseeing the capital market, insurance, and non-banking finance sectors.

He had previously held several leadership roles, including advisor to the Chairman of the Mortgage Finance Authority (2007–2009), Assistant Chairman of the Capital Market Authority (2003–2005), and Managing Director of the Small and Medium Enterprises Investment Fund (Bedaya).

In parallel with his regulatory roles, Azzam has maintained a strong academic career. He is a professor of finance at the American University in Cairo (AUC), where he chaired the Department of Postgraduate Studies in Finance from 2005 to 2021.

His academic contributions include teaching positions at the Faculty of Commerce, Suez Canal University, Stellenbosch University in South Africa, the Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport, Cairo University, the London School of Economics, and the University of California, Irvine.

Azzam also sits on the boards of several key institutions. He is a trustee of the Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Unit and the Egyptian Center for Voluntary Arbitration and Non-Banking Financial Dispute Resolution.

He chairs the Risk Committee of the Egyptian Arab Land Bank and serves on the boards of the Rural Industries Support Fund and the Financial Services Institute.

Azzam holds a PhD in economics from the University of California, Irvine, specializing in econometrics, economic forecasting, and monetary policy.

He also earned a diploma in real estate finance from the University of Pennsylvania, two master's degrees in economics, from the University of California, Irvine, and the AUC, and a bachelor's degree in economics from Cairo University’s Faculty of Economics and Political Science.