PUA Founder

Mr. Mohamed Ragab, the founder of PUA, was born in 1932 as the eldest of his three brothers. He began his career at a young age managing his father’s rice mill after graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce from Alexandria University. Soon after, however, the family lost ownership of the mill. After an unsuccessful attempt to get a job at a bank, Mr. Ragab came to the realisation that he had no other choice but to rebuild the family’s business on his own, a time of his life he describes as incredibly challenging yet full of valuable lessons in life. Mr. Ragab started his business in trading food products through his first company, Ragab Imports & Exports. By the end of the seventies the company had become a market leader in food imports.

In the early eighties, Mr. Ragab’s two sons, Abdelfattah and Alaa Eldin, graduated and joined the business bringing a new outlook on technology. His eldest son, Eng. Abdelfattah was dispatched for extensive industrial training in Japan and his brother, Eng. Alaa Eldin, became the group’s envoy to China. At the time, Mr. Ragab saw the future would be shaped by the emergence of these two great power houses and the past three decades have shown that his judgement is fully vindicated. Ragab Motors was hence set up to serve a flourishing automotive market and went on to operate quite successfully for fifteen years as the sole agent of Ford, Daihatsu Motor Companies and a number of global earth moving equipment brands.

In 1994, Mr. Ragab reinvested in the farming business in the desert reclaimed land where he developed Ragab Farms, a modern farm that has become one of Egypt’s large growers and exporters of fresh products and ornamentals to the global market.

In 1999, changes in the Economic conditions of Egypt presented imports with crippling challenges. Led by Mr. Ragab, the group took the strategic decision of downsizing its share of imports and focusing on services to adapt to the new market trends.

Beginning by education with a focus on the next generation, Ragab Group built Riada Language Schools to offer a global standard of education by teaching both national and international curricula. The group’s next educational milestone was Alexandria Institute of Engineering and Technology, a higher institution established in 1997 which offers Bachelor degrees in four Engineering majors. AIET has graduated more than 2500 chartered engineers.

Finally, in 2006, Mr. Ragab established Pharos University in Alexandria (PUA) in the heart of the city to be a pioneer in the field of higher education.

Within the Retail and Hospitality sectors, in 2001 Ragab Group opened Green Plaza, a large shopping Centre in Alexandria including more than 300 shops situated around a 5-star hotel operated by Hilton Hotels. A convenient 3-star hotel within the same complex soon followed to serve budget travelers. The group’s next touristic mega-project was Hilton Kings Ranch, a hotel aiming at recreation and wellness on the borders of Alexandria adjacent to Borg El Arab Stadium and the Airport, and equipped with a lavish SPA.

In addition to his remarkable success as a serial entrepreneur, Mr. Ragab’s societal efforts have made significant contributions to the local community. For thirty years, he was the Chairman of Alexandria Businessmen Association (ABA), an NGO he founded with the aim of community development and improving the Business climate through research, advocacy and raising the efficiency of Human Resources. The ABA is internationally recognised for implementing one the world’s best practice most successful micro-finance community projects that was led by Mr. Ragab. By giving loans amounting to 6 Billion Egyptian pounds, the project has created one million job opportunities in six governorates around Egypt.

In recognition of his great accomplishments, Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin), a century-old leading Irish university, awarded Mr. Mohamed Ragab an Honorary Doctorate in 2015 for his outstanding achievements as an entrepreneur, innovator and philanthropist.

On December 6th, 2018, Mr. Mohamed Ragab sadly passed away after a life of achievement and contribution, having led the group until the last day of his life. He is succeeded by two generations who are determined to pursue his vision and continue his success.