Highlighting the need for female leaders to overcome cultural barriers, and sharing stories of resilience to empower the youth of tomorrow, Maha Nagy, Chief Communications Officer at Orange Egypt offers valuable advice for undergraduates, emphasizing the importance of continuous learning and adaptability for future success.

Stressing the importance of providing women with tools, opportunities, and second chances for genuine empowerment, Maha’s leadership exemplifies a commitment to creating opportunities and fostering growth.

This interview is part of Business Today Egypt's Women in Business series. Catch all of the interviews here.

What led you to pursue a career in communications?

After beginning my career in brand management at Henkel, I moved to Johnson & Johnson, where I led the marketing division for 6 years prior to joining PepsiCo as Marketing Manager for Pepsi Egypt and North Africa. During my time there, I transitioned to the MEA region's Marketing Innovations Director, handling the full PepsiCo portfolio in the region.

Following 8 years at PepsiCo, I chose to pursue a career in telecommunications and joined Vodafone Egypt, where I oversaw the communications department and built the company's brand strategy for several years. I then moved to the Orange executive team as Chief Communications Officer in 2017.

Reflecting on your own experiences, what advice would you give undergrads?

Maha Nagy - Chief Communications Officer at Orange Egypt

University students are the primary driving force behind civilization, in the present and near future, and thus they must recognize their enormous potential and abilities which must be planned and invested in wisely because the post-graduation years generally pass more quickly than they had hoped or anticipated.

As the labor market does not favor anybody, university students must prioritize gaining a thorough grasp of their specialty and attaining actual scientific and cultural value in all parts of their lives. They must also understand how to continue studying on their own and how to work on improving their abilities and academic achievements after graduation because they will undoubtedly meet numerous factors that will compel them to learn and improve themselves on a daily basis.

Thus, a university graduate must be completely flexible to learn more and acquire new skills, whether by reading, training, or learning from their colleagues and labor market leaders.

Have you worked alongside any inspirational female leaders?

Female leaders in Egypt's labor market are often seen as inspirational, having overcome cultural barriers to obtain leadership positions. Above all, we recognize that every female leader has a remarkable story of struggle in which she defeated several challenges and crises; she has excelled in creating opportunities and prosperity for her family and those around her in the same area or business, and there are several examples of these outstanding characteristics throughout our journeys.

What leadership traits do you embody, and how do you engage with and empower others, both as a leader and a woman?

All leaders must be able to provide opportunities for everyone to learn while also providing advice and follow-up to ensure that experiences are transferred across all employees through personal interaction, events, and personal experience performing various tasks under the supervision and guidance of responsible leadership.

I personally tend to refrain from centralization that limits job growth and focus on having smooth business continuity whereas I delegate tasks to my teammates and coworkers and give them the opportunity to be exposed, learn, and grow.

What would you say are 3 pillars of female empowerment?

First, providing the required tools and capabilities, whether scientific, technical, or financial. Second, by providing women an adequate opportunity to demonstrate and use their skills. Third, rather than abandoning women, we should encourage them and offer them a second opportunity since mistakes may be corrected by addressing the root causes.

What does women empowerment in Orange Egypt look like?

Diversity and women's empowerment are core principles driving our business and marketing strategies at Orange Egypt. Moreover, we champion gender equality with a strong female presence in our leadership team, with 40% of our executive committee being comprised of women.

We actively promote women's empowerment through dedicated social responsibility initiatives as it comes at the heart of our key strategic pillars, and we have taken significant steps towards this sustainable approach where we have partnered with several entities to launch various initiatives to best achieve our intended goals while incorporating women's empowerment in line with Egypt's 2030 vision and other long-term plans, particularly those involving women, employment, youth, health, and education.