GE Appoints Egypt Boss

US giant GE (General Electric) said April 13 it has appointed Ayman Khattab, an Egyptian, as its President and CEO for North East Africa, covering  Egypt, Libya and South Sudan. A mechanical engineering graduate from Cairo's American University, he joined GE in 2008 and held regional leadership roles until 2013. Prior to 2008 he worked for 21 years at Schlumberger around the world.

More than 135 GE-made gas turbines are installed across Egypt generating over 14,800 MW of power, enough to cover the needs of 14mn homes there, the company says, of which 2,600 MW were added to the Egyptian national grid last year in a record time of six months as part of the country's Power Boost Program. In the upstream sector, GE partners local firm Petrojet in manufacturing surface well pump units at Idku, near Alexandria, which are used by GE Well Performance Services worldwide outside the US.

GE has been in Egypt for over 40 years in sectors ranging from oil & gas, power, water, transportation and aviation, to healthcare and says its investments in the country to date have reached $340mn.

Mark Smedley