The role of the Honoris Board
The role of the Board is to ensure the company’s prosperity by collectively directing the company’s affairs, while meeting the appropriate interests of its shareholder and relevant stakeholders.
The Board comprises of Non-Executive Directors and three Independent Non-Executive Directors:
Luis Lopez
Chairman
Non-Executive Director
Luis LopezChairman – Non-Executive Director
Luis has a 30-year multinational, high-growth experience in general management and business development in healthcare, banking, insurance & retirement services and post-secondary education. He has a strong Latin America coverage with emphasis on Mexico, Brazil, Central America, Chile and Argentina, as well as enterprise-level leadership in Europe, Asia, and Africa.Luis has been CEO of Honoris United Universities from July 2017 to December 2020, playing a defining role in establishing Honoris United Universities as the leading pan-African post-secondary private education network and has moved to to the role of Non-Executive Chairman of the Board since January 1 2021.
Before joining Honoris United Universities, Luis launched Jaboticaba Ventures, a start-up agri-business in the US state of Florida. Prior to this entrepreneurial experience, he made significant contributions in building the Laureate International Universities network during 13 years across the globe. He led the Mexican, the Brazilian and the Central American operations and was the Chief Executive Officer of Europe, Middle East, Asia & Africa (EMEAA). Luis has a deep understanding of post-secondary education, especially in growth markets, and captures the aspiration of the students and their families for a better education to transform their lives.
Luis started his career at Aetna as a project manager in health informatics. He holds a Bachelor degree from Brown University and an MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
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Mr. Kishore Banymandhub
Independent Non-Executive Director
Director of Companies
Mr. Sami Cherif
Director
Director: Private Equity, Actis
Mr. Sherif Elkholy
Director
Partner: Private Equity, Actis
Mr. Sherif ElkholyDirector – Partner: Private Equity, Actis
Sherif believes in the power of private equity to impact a country’s development goals. And at Actis, he considers himself one of the good guys. Our ethos of responsible investment, long-term commitment to growth markets and a track record of institutionalising family businesses all set us apart. It’s our culture as much as our financial support that Sherif feels makes Actis an attractive business partner.
Cairo-born Sherif has spent most of his life in Egypt apart from a period of time spent in London where he gained a Ph.D in economics and an MSc in finance and economic development at the University of London. He learnt his trade at EFG-Hermes Private Equity, investing in Egypt, Jordan, and Turkey and then switched to structured finance at HSBC. But his heart remained in private equity.
In 2004, Sherif joined Actis as an associate focusing on North Africa. Now a Partner, he has played various deal leadership, execution, investment management and exit roles across North Africa in Edita Food Industries, Honoris United Universities, El-Rashidi El-Mizan, Mo’men Group, Orascom Telecom Algeria, as well as his newly found interest in the power space where he has been leading Lekela Power’s push into Egypt.
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Mr. Lotfi El Eulj
Director
Founder and Chairman of the Board of Mundiapolis University Morocco
Mr. Lotfi El EuljDirector – Founder and Chairman of the Board of Mundiapolis University Morocco
Lotfi El Eulj, is the Founder and Chairman of the Board of Mundiapolis University Morocco, a top ranking private university in Morocco.
Mundiapolis was founded 20 years ago by Lotfi El Eulj and a group of business leaders with the aim of contributing to the development of qualified human resources to serve the development of the Moroccan Kingdom. It began as three institutes offering degrees in Business, Law and Engineering, and has since merged into a leading Moroccan university with some of the highest academic credentials in the region in 2009. Mundiapolis is a private multi-disciplinary university accredited by the Moroccan state.
Lotfi has a strong finance and strategy background being the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of El Eulj Group, a leading Moroccan group with activities in various structuring sectors such as food industry, agribusinesses, services, distribution and logistics, education and construction.
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Mr. Karan Khemka
Independent Board Member
Honoris United Universities
Mr. Karan KhemkaIndependent Board Member – Honoris United Universities
Karan Khemka is a global expert on education with over 20 years’ experience as an investor and consultant in emerging markets. As an independent board member of Honoris United Universities, Karan brings increased diversity into the network, with an experience that enriches the student and academic outcomes. Karan is a distinguished speaker at international education summits and is particularly recognised for his expert insight on the importance of international education in a globalised economy.
Karan also founded the International Education Practice at The Parthenon Group (now EY-Parthenon), in addition to Parthenon in Asia. He has advised on $6 billion of deals and over 250 CXO level strategy engagements in the education sector across 40 countries and five continents, within every segment of education from pre-K to K-12 to higher education. He has also advised governments and NGOs on improving education outcomes around the world.
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Mr. Mahomed Karodia
Director
Director MANCOSA
Mr. Mahomed KarodiaDirector – Director MANCOSA
Mahomed, together with Professor Yusuf Karodia (Founder of MANCOSA and REGENT Business School and founding partner of Honoris United Universities), successfully built one of the largest private education groups in Southern Africa.
His work in the US, India, Brazil, China and the Middle East exploring innovative private higher education models catapulted MANCOSA and REGENT Business School’s strategic market positioning in Africa.
Having invested over 20 years in education in Africa, Mahomed remains a key voice in the African education sector. He provides strategic direction to the Honoris platform, primarily in its growth and M&A strategy.
In addition to his role as a board member of Honoris, Mahomed is the Chief Executive of Mangro Holdings, a diversified private investment company with activities in real estate, finance and private equity. He serves on the board of the South African Private Higher Education Association.
Mahomed holds an Accounting Degree and an MBA from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa.
He continues to promote the creation of opportunity and advancement of business and education on the African continent. Most recently, together with his late father Professor Karodia, they launched the “Million Books Project” which aims to provide more than a million books to school children across Africa through mobile libraries.
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Mrs. Chedia Ksouri
Director
Joint Founder of UNIVERSITÉ CENTRALE, IMSET & Academy d’Art de Carthage (Tunisia)
Slah and Chedia Ben TurkiaFounders of Université Centrale, IMSET & Academy d’Art de Carthage (Tunisia), Founding partners of Honoris United Universities
Slah and Chedia Ben Turkia are the co-founders of Université Centrale Group recognized by the Tunisian State. Université Centrale Group is the largest private post secondary group in Tunisia including Université Centrale a leading private multi-disciplinary university, IMSET (Institut Maghrébin des Sciences Economiques et de Technologie) and Académie d’Art de Cathage, two leading technical and vocational institutes.
Slah and Chedia’s vast experience over 30 years ranges from industry management to teaching & training, development of training programs, and management of educational activities.
Slah Ben Turkia is the first CEO of Honoris United Universities, Chairman and CEO of Université Centrale Group, and Director of Studies at IMSET. Slah and Chedia as visionaries have implemented the foundations of the network and the initial steps of the regional expansion.
Slah Ben Turkia is a Mechanical Engineer and, along with his deep understanding of education and development programs, has gained a wealth of experience in governance, change management and restructuring initiatives. He is the founder and first Vice President of the National Federation of Private Higher Education and Scientific Research in Tunisia and the President of the private higher education union in the field of health.
Chedia Ben Turkia has a deep understanding of the aspirations of the students and their families and has worked for decades in meeting their needs for quality education that builds carriers. She had developed multiple partnerships to ensure students employability and access to higher education. She is the co-founder with Slah of Honoris United Universities and member of the board of Université Central Group.
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Mrs. Kamila Vythilingum
Independent Non-Executive Director
Director –IQ-EQ
Mr. Edouard Espitalier Noël
Independent Non-Executive Director
Director of Companies
Mr. Richard Phillips
Director
Partner: Head Private Equity, Actis
Mr. Richard PhillipsDirector – Partner: Head Private Equity, Actis
Rick joined Actis / CDC in 1993. He is head of Asia and serves on the Private Equity Investment Committee. He has 30 years of private equity experience, with 24 years investing in emerging markets.
From 1993 he lived for eight years in Sub Saharan Africa making private equity investments in Uganda and Zimbabwe. In 2001, he moved to South East Asia where he led deals including the investment in Unza, and its subsequent exit.
Rick relocated to Cairo in 2008 where he led investments in Egypt including leading bank CIB, Edita Food Industries, Integrated Diagnostics Holdings (“IDH”) and the creation of pan African payments platform EMP. Based in London from 2012 as Head of North Africa he led Actis’ investment drive into Honoris United Universities and Medis Pharmaceuticals.
Prior to joining Actis, Rick spent six years with 3i in the UK.
He holds a first class honours degree in Economics from University of Exeter.
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Mr. Slah Ben Turkia
Director
Joint Founder of UNIVERSITÉ CENTRALE, IMSET & Academy d’Art de Carthage (Tunisia)
Slah and Chedia Ben TurkiaFounders of Université Centrale, IMSET & Academy d’Art de Carthage (Tunisia), Founding partners of Honoris United Universities
Slah and Chedia Ben Turkia are the co-founders of Université Centrale Group recognized by the Tunisian State. Université Centrale Group is the largest private post secondary group in Tunisia including Université Centrale a leading private multi-disciplinary university, IMSET (Institut Maghrébin des Sciences Economiques et de Technologie) and Académie d’Art de Cathage, two leading technical and vocational institutes.
Slah and Chedia’s vast experience over 30 years ranges from industry management to teaching & training, development of training programs, and management of educational activities.
Slah Ben Turkia is the first CEO of Honoris United Universities, Chairman and CEO of Université Centrale Group, and Director of Studies at IMSET. Slah and Chedia as visionaries have implemented the foundations of the network and the initial steps of the regional expansion.
Slah Ben Turkia is a Mechanical Engineer and, along with his deep understanding of education and development programs, has gained a wealth of experience in governance, change management and restructuring initiatives. He is the founder and first Vice President of the National Federation of Private Higher Education and Scientific Research in Tunisia and the President of the private higher education union in the field of health.
Chedia Ben Turkia has a deep understanding of the aspirations of the students and their families and has worked for decades in meeting their needs for quality education that builds carriers. She had developed multiple partnerships to ensure students employability and access to higher education. She is the co-founder with Slah of Honoris United Universities and member of the board of Université Central Group.
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