Ahmed Ali Abdelrahman, managing director and CEO of Post for Investment:For a special Ramadan edition of our weekly My Morning Routine column that we will run through the holy month, we spoke to Ahmed Ali Abdelrahman (LinkedIn), managing director and CEO at Post for Investment (PFI), the investment arm of Egypt Post. We asked Abdelrahman the usual questions to find out how a successful member of the community starts their day and threw in a few more to find out how he and his team adjust to Ramadan and what he looks forward to in the holy month.

I started off as a corporate banker, but I’ve been in investment banking for around two thirds of my career. I’ve been heading PFI since March last year, and it’s been a key milestone in my career to lead one of those fast-growing private equity investment outfits. One of the key responsibilities is formulating PFI’s strategy, which we did last year and got the greenlight from the board. I also run the day-to-day management that looks into lots of transactions and investments, and involves helping our parent company Egypt Post to navigate these. So the role is a combination of leading strategy and overseeing operational tasks.

Post For Investment started off in 2006 as a special purpose vehicle for the government to take part in the third mobile operator license, but it evolved to become one of the largest private equity slash investment holding companies. We have around 17 portfolio companies within our holding structure. We have investments across multiple sectors like financial services, logistics, construction, building materials, IT, and systems integration. We do lots of special purpose real estate structures. We also invest in sports companies and telecoms. So we’re spread across all economic sectors.

Egypt enjoys a strategic value proposition that no market in the region currently offers. The key story behind Egypt’s investment case is the size of the market and the diversity of its economy. We’re not just dependent on one or two sectors, we’re quite diverse with a strong industrial base, a very large service base. We have tourism, trade, we have everything.

As for my morning routine? I’m an early bird. I start at 6:30 am, work out first thing, and read Enterprise either when I wake up or on the way back from the gym. I check my emails and make calls on the way to work, then I start by checking the appointment list, and try to make time for the core business team to meet for a briefing as regularly as possible. Most of the team here is fairly new. They’ve come from private sector outfits and investment banks. I think this is one of our core strengths.

In the evenings, I have some me-time, I’ll watch movies or listen to podcasts. I love X (formerly Twitter). I’m into politics, sports, art, and I think it gives me all the news and what’s happening in the world in a quite condensed and summarized way. I try to capture all of this in like an hour or two and then go to bed by 10pm, 10:30pm at the latest.

Working patterns definitely change during Ramadan. The entire ecosystem recalibrates. Working hours are shorter, so you have to fit your tasks into shorter timespans. I also prepared by lowering my coffee intake in the week before Ramadan, so I don’t get that caffeine drop, especially in the first two days.

In Ramadan, we meet up as a family and with friends — people that we don’t get time to always see throughout the year. We’ll have iftar together then watch TV.

Ramadan comes with the challenge of working out. Exercise is the one constant in my life, but during Ramadan I can’t do it in the mornings, so I’ll usually do it before iftar and only do cardio, no weightlifting. So I end up losing muscle by the end of Ramadan — it’s a challenge not to lose the progress made across the year whilst ensuring the month goes smoothly.

What’s next for me? On a personal level, I’d like to see my younger son graduate in two years. This is one of the major things next for me, so I can feel like I’ve seen the two kids off, and hopefully see them both land good jobs.

In terms of professional aspirations, I’d like to start my own business at some point. I tried this before, but it didn’t work out with my partners as we had originally envisaged. I hope this time around it works because I think it’s the ultimate end-goal of my career to have my own set-up with an ambitious retirement plan.

Some of my favorite podcastsare from Goldman Sachs (here and here) and TheMcKinsey Podcast. These give you a global overview of everything, the new trends, the industry, the risks. I think these are insightful and globally driven podcasts, especially because the panelists are key decision makers, politicians, investment bankers, private equity executives, entrepreneurs.

I’d also recommend The Lighthouse Conversationsby Hashem Montasser. Montasser used to be an investment banker, worked at EFG Hermes for some time before dropping out to venture into lots of businesses. I follow his podcast quite closely and I think it’s one of the most entertaining and interesting out there, because it’s not only focused on business or entrepreneurship. It’s very light.

The most valuable piece of advice I’ve received was from my first employer after I graduated. I started off with a job at a contracting company as an accountant — I’m an accounting graduate — but I didn’t go through the typical hiring process. I was referred for the role through a contact of mine. That’s how things worked at the time. The first time my boss met me, he told me, listen, I know that you came through this person, but if you want to continue and succeed in your life, you have to forget this framework. It became crystal clear to me that you have to do it yourself rather than depending on connections.

It stuck with me and I made sure that I passed it down to my two children. My oldest son is a finance graduate. I did not help him get a job. Of course, I supported him and mentored him throughout the process, but I didn’t pick up the phone and call someone to help him get hired. Trying to open doors will help at the start of your career, but eventually you have to depend on yourself.

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