Ezz Steel was founded by businessman Ahmed Ezz, who was born in Cairo in 1959. Mr Ezz came from three generations of traders, becoming involved in his father’s construction materials business while studying Civil Engineering at Cairo University.
Recognising the potential of extending the family business’s overseas operations, Ahmed Ezz played a leading role in creating import/export chains, building relationships with suppliers, and establishing an efficient local distribution network within Egypt – driving considerable growth.
In the mid-1980s, Mr Ezz diversified his business interests, founding the Ezz Ceramics and Porcelain Company, a company that grew to dominate the premium-quality household tile market.
In the early 1990s, Mr Ezz entered the steelmaking industry, which became his principal area of expertise. Ahmed Ezz embarked on the first of several major investments in Egypt’s steelmaking capacity, culminating in the creation of Ezz Steel, a company that grew to become the largest steelmaker in the Middle East.
Ahmed Ezz established Ezz Steel in 1994, building on his family’s successful steel trading business. Mr Ezz also acquired El-Baraka Rolling Mills in Ramadan City. He subsequently commissioned construction of Al Ezz Steel Rebars in Sadat City, which became operational in 1996.
In 1998, Ezz Steel established Al Ezz Flat Steel in Suez, creating a state-of-the-art plant that utilised a groundbreaking continuous production process to manufacture flat steel coils.
Ezz Steel’s most important acquisition came in 1999, when the company bought 1.7 million shares in Alexandria National Steel Company, rebranding it as Ezz Dekheila Steel Company. Floated on the London Stock Exchange and Egyptian Stock Exchange in 1999, Ezz Steel grew to become the leading steelmaker in Egypt.
Today the Ezz Steel group generates an annual turnover of circa $3.8 billion, with investments valued at somewhere in the region of $4 billion. Ezz Steel is Egypt’s largest industrial group, employing 10,000 workers, with a total production capacity of 7 million tons of finished steel.
Ahmed Ezz cites his father, Abdel Aziz Ezz, as his inspiration. Abdel Ezz was an officer in the Egyptian Armed Forces, and graduated from the same class as the late Egyptian President, Gamal Abdel Nasser.
Abdel Ezz imparted to his son the principle of self-responsibility, teaching him that an individual is responsible for their own failings as well as their successes and that anything is possible with hard work. After an extraordinarily successful career in the steel industry, Ahmed Ezz followed his father into politics, which he cites as his greatest pleasure, championing the rights of ordinary people across Egypt and ensuring that they have access to all the opportunities they need to succeed.
