Close on the heels of selling off his stakes in Twitter and Meta, Egyptian billionaire businessman Mohamed Mansour revealed his plans to increase investments in green initiatives, notably in building electric vehicles (EV) in Egypt.

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Mansour’s family’s wealth is estimated at $6.8 billion. 

He aims to produce 15,000 EVs in Egypt over the next three to five years through his firm Al-Mansour Automotive, which has a long-standing cooperation with General Motors Co and intends to import and market five Cadillac EV vehicles by 2025.

Mansour Group had also inked an agreement with General Motors to examine the collaborative manufacture of electric vehicles in Egypt in 2021, a step that GM International President Steve Kiefer highlighted as vital to the automaker’s worldwide expansion plan.

His move to supply electric automobiles and other EV initiatives come at a time when Africa’s access to energy is at 30% and the use of electric cars in Egypt, which has a population of 104 million, is limited.

The billionaire intends to up his green-focused assets to 10% by 2024, which currently stands at 2%. He already has a holding in one of Africa’s major renewable energy providers and stakes in wind turbines in the United Kingdom.

“If we didn’t do our share, I think the generations that follow will pay,” Mansour said.

Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas comes to the Middle East on 23 November 2022. Click here to know more.