Skip to main content

Birkbeck graduate named in Forbes’ 30 most promising young entrepreneurs in Africa

Chevening scholar’s mobile publishing company earns him place in prestigious list

Amr Sobhy, who graduated from Birkbeck’s MSc Public Policy and Management in 2016 has been named by Forbes as one of the 30 most promising young entrepreneurs in Africa.

Amr, from Egypt, was included in the list because of his tech startup PushBots, a company that helps companies increase customer engagement via mobile messaging. The Cairo-based company has over 20 000 users in more than 167 countries and sends over half a billion messages each month.

Of his inclusion in the Forbes list, Amr said: “I'm both thrilled and humbled to be amongst a group of incredible talent and resilience across the continent. Everyone on this list probably struggles through times of atrocious anxiety, and cycles through daily highs and lows thinking in one moment they will make it and in another that everything will fall apart. A moment on the high end definitely feels great. ”

Amr’s work has previously received high-level recognition, when his online application Mwazna, which visualises the Egyptian state government’s budget in a way that is easily accessible and understandable for the public, was shortlisted in the Open Data category of the Data Journalism Awards last year.

Professor Philip Powell, Pro-Vice Master for Innovation and Enterprise and Executive Dean of the School of Business, Economics and Informatics, said: “Congratulations to Amr on his inclusion in Forbes’ prestigious list. Amr’s commitment to developing new technologies that not only support business development but also contribute to the empowerment of citizens and civil society is deeply impressive. I am confident that he will continue to build on these successes to make a valuable contribution to society in his own country and continent and more widely.”

Further information:

More news about: