QNB’s Ahmed Fouad is the new chair of the Federation of Egyptian Banks’ SME committee

Dutch investment firm Sirio Capital Partners appointed Karim Samra as partner for the MENA region, the compan y said in a statement (pdf). Samra, the founder of accelerator Changelabs and a veteran of the Hult Prize, will lead the firm’s expansion into the GCC.

Why this matters: As a European backer of fund managers in emerging markets, Sirio is hiring a specialist in impact and startup incubation and establishing permanent boots on the ground rather than flying in for a deal flow.

Check out our previous coverage of Samra on his pivot from Wall Street to impact investing.

The Federation of Egyptian Banks (FEB) tapped QNB Egypt’s Ahmed Fouad as the new chair of the federation’s SME committee, FEB said in a statement. Fouad is not new to the federation, having been a member of the technical secretariat of the committee for over four years. Fouad is now tasked with bridging the gap between private-sector lending practices and the state’s push to bring more small businesses into the formal economy.

As head of SME banking and micro finance at QNB Egypt, Fouad is expected to focus on streamlining risk management and business growth. He is credited with being among the first banking leaders to meet the Central Bank of Egypt SME financing targets.