Meet the Team: The Driving Force Behind In2Metals

Mr. Naguib Sawaris is one of the most reputed industrialists and entrepreneurs in Africa and the Middle East and perpetuates the Sawiris dynasty founded by his father Mr Onsi Sawiris. Naguib joined the Orascom family group in 1979. Since then, he continuously contributed to the growth of the company into what it is today – one of Egypt’s largest conglomerates. In 1998, Naguib founded Orascom Telecom Holding (OTH) and was behind Egypt’s first internet service provider and its first mobile operator Mobinil. He developed the group and its parent company, Wind Telecom internationally, launching, acquiring and managing telecom operations in 28 countries, including Italy and Canada, to eventually create the 6th largest mobile operator by subscribers worldwide, through the merger of Wind Telecom VEON in 2011.

With the backing of the Sawiris family, Naguib founded In2Metals Explorer to focus on gold and copper exploration, with a strategic focus on unearthing and advancing substantial resources. His previous experience in mining includes being a former manager of La Mancha Holding, which he took private in 2012 with the vision to bring operational efficiency and ambition to a sector dominated by smaller junior companies. In 2015, he took the strategic decision to vend La Mancha’s key assets for public stakes into two regionally focused junior miners, Evolution Mining and Endeavour Mining, effectively turning La Mancha into the largest shareholder in each of the two companies. Over the next few years, Naguib used his board positions and La Mancha’s strategic influence and capital to grow each of the two companies into multi-billion global mid-tier businesses operating at some of the lowest all-in-sustaining costs within the industry. In 2018, Naguib decided to expand La Mancha’s team and portfolio into new investments in the gold sector.

Naguib holds a diploma in Mechanical Engineering with a master’s in Technical Administration from the Swiss Institute of Technology (ETH). He is also the recipient of numerous honorary degrees, industry awards and civic honours, including the Honor of Commander of the “Legion d’Honneur” (the highest award given by the French Republic for outstanding services rendered to France). In July 2011 Mr Sawiris was awarded the Honor of Commander of the Order of the “Stella della Solidarietà Italiana” (Star of Italian Solidarity) for his outstanding contribution to the Italian economy.

Ms. Wafaa Lotaief has worked with the Orascom Group for over three decades. She has been appointed as President of Gemini Holding since November 2011 and Deputy CEO of Ora Group from March 2016 until January 2022 when she assumed the position of Vice Chairman.

Her journey with the Orascom Group, starting in 1983, encompasses diverse responsibilities in management, Human Resources, PR and communication, and Corporate Services. Notably, she held the position of Group Human Resources & Administration Officer at the Orascom Telecom Group from 1999 to 2011, contributing to the development and growth of OTH and Weather which had reached prominence as leading telecom players, serving over 100 million subscribers across 28 countries in the Middle East, Africa, South Asia, Italy, and Canada.

Since 2016, Ms Lotaief played a key role in steering the Ora Group into a global development and hospitality conglomerate within a six-year timeframe. Additionally, she actively contributed to the startup of La Mancha Holding from 2012 onward, maintaining an active board membership. Leveraging her extensive experience, she joined the board of In2Metal Explorers in 2023.

Ms. Lotaief holds a Master of Business Administration from the Arab Academy for Sciences and she currently serves as a board member for Orascom TMT Investments, Marchmont Limited, and several other Gemini Group companies, reflecting her dedication to industry initiatives.

Francois Bourgon has served as an independent director for more than twenty years on the boards of various Luxembourg-regulated and unregulated investment vehicles with promoters ranging from Private Equity firms to quoted multinational companies.

He also serves on the Luxembourg boards of Orascom Group’s SPVs since 2008. His previous experience includes Union Bancaire Privée Luxembourg, a Swiss wealth management bank, and Deloitte Luxembourg as a manager within the corporate services department.

Seventeen years ago he founded Adomex, a regulated domiciliation agent and family office until 2020 and is now dedicated to his independent director’s mandates with a particular focus on Luxembourg compliance matters. François holds a master’s degree in Law from Strasbourg University. He is also a member of ILA (Institut Luxembourgeois des Administrateurs).

Fabio Ceccarelli is serving as CFO of Orascom TMT Investments Sarl the Holding Company of Orascom Group and Maymont Group. He joined the Sawiris Group in 2005.

He has several years of experience in finance with roles of responsibility in Luxembourg and Italy (ENEL, WIND) where he developed competencies in Corporate Finance, Treasury, Accounting, Tax and IT. He is/has been CFO in operating companies (ICT, technological plants and services), chairman of DADA (2017) – an SME Italian listed company – and Board member in several holdings of participations, as well.

Fabio holds a master’s degree in Macroeconomics and Internal Audit and speaks all major European languages (IT, FR, EN, GE).

He is currently a Board Member in several investing companies whose business ranges from ICT industries, gold mines industries, real estate and others, and a member of the Audit Committee.

Gérard is an experienced mining executive with over 25 years in the industry. Before founding In2Metals Explorer and assuming the role of CEO, Gerard served as a Partner at La Mancha Resource Capital, showcasing his expertise and leadership in the mining sector, particularly in gold exploration and acquisition. In 2020, he joined La Mancha to spearhead and formalize technical due diligence processes. Prior to this, Gerard served as the Senior Vice President of Exploration at Endeavour Mining, playing a pivotal role in the company’s evolution from a junior single-asset producer to a >1mozpa multi-asset intermediate miner with 6 mines and 2 projects. His contributions spanned exploration initiatives and support for M&A processes.

Before his tenure at Endeavour, Gerard held key positions such as General Manager at Vale-ARM (2010-2012), Chief Geologist at Teal Mining (2007-2009), Regional Exploration Geologist at IAMGOLD Corporation (2006), and Chief Mine Geologist at AngloGold Ashanti (2002-2006). His career commenced at Randgold Resources Limited in 1997.
Gerard is a holder of an MSc in Geology from the University of Louvain (Belgium) and an MSc in Mineral Exploration from the University of Leicester (UK). Fluent in both French and English, Gerard brings a wealth of international experience to the table.

Sjoerd van der Westhuizen began his career with Ernst & Young, South Africa in 2012, where he worked in the assurance department (Mining & Metals) as an auditor as part of a three year post graduate mandatory training for his Chartered Accounting qualification.

Post training he worked for a further year at Ernst & Young before moving to a grain trading company as a Financial Controller for 2 years. He moved to EY Cayman Ltd and worked in the Insurance Department over the course of 1.5 years, where he was involved in the audit of numerous captive insurance entities. He joined Aon Cayman for 2 years where he specialised in insurance of various markets. He was Regional Financial and Operations Manager of Latin America and Asia-Pacific for Barrick Gold Corporation before he took on the role of Chief Financial Officer of the Reko Diq Copper/Gold Project. He brings 13 years of professional accounting and finance experience.

Gaetan holds an MSc in Earth Sciences from the University of Brussels and has over 14 years of experience in the gold exploration industry. Gaetan worked for major gold producers in Senegal, Mali, Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso in both green- and brownfields exploration projects. He held several managing positions in various projects and has been involved in PFS and DFS studies.

Recently, Gaetan was exploration project manager for Endeavour Mining in Burkina Faso managing the exploration efforts on 3 major projects covering over 2800km² and leading to the discovery of close to 900koz indicated in 2021.

Ahmed has 14 years of experience in emerging markets, the mining sector, and public policies. Ahmed joined In2Metals in 2022 as the head of business development of the company. He plays key roles in financial modeling, strategy set-up, governmental relations, merger and acquisition negotiation, and supporting our legal team in signing business agreements. Before In2Metals, Ahmed worked at La Mancha Holding as head of business development in Africa, then he moved to London to part of the La Mancha Capital Resources Investment that was in charge of managing $1.6bn of La Mancha Fund’s assets, during his time there, he took part in several M&A activities including the acquisition of Horizonte Mining, G-Mining, Altus Strategies, Elemental, other transactions. Ahmed joined La Mancha for the first time in 2012 as GM of its subsidiary in Sudan where La Mancha was the operator and one of the owners of the largest gold mine in the country Hassai Mine for 4 years. Then, in 2016 he joined Orascom TMT as project director, during his time at OTMT, he was part of several M&A transactions in the financial and agriculture sectors primarily in Africa. Ahmed started his career as an Electrical engineer in several cement factories in Egypt.

Ahmed holds a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Power Engineering. Also, he completed his MBA at the Maastricht School of Management. Ahmed is fluent in Arabic and English.

Ilyos holds a BSc in Project Management from VIA University (Denmark) and has over 15 years of international experience in the mining and exploration industry. He has held various roles with the mining giant Rio Tinto, working in both greenfield and brownfield exploration projects across Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, South Africa, Zambia, and Botswana.

Prior to joining Copper Mining as a General Manager, Ilyos served as Operations Director in a junior mining company in Uzbekistan, where he successfully oversaw five greenfield projects.

Vincent has almost 30 years of experience as a mine, exploration, and consulting geologist. He is experienced in several different geological environments and has worked extensively in Africa, Australia, and South America. Vincent has managed large grassroots, advanced exploration projects, and Resource definition drilling programs. He has been mainly involved with Gold, Iron ore, and base metal Greenfields and Brownfields projects and has been successful in converting geological targets into known deposits and mining operations. Vincent has progressed from a graduate geologist to chief geologist, and since 2005 has occupied a variety of management posts, both as a consultant and company employee.

Vincent holds geology degrees from the RAU/UJ in South Africa where he completed his MSc in Geology, BSc (Hons) in Geology, and BSc (Earth Sciences). He is also a member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists.

Finance professional with over 20 years of experience across diverse industries. With previous senior leadership roles in various sectors. Proven expertise in financial strategy, operations, and cross-functional team leadership. Track record of driving efficiency, profitability, and sustainable growth. Prior to joining Akh Gold, Fady served as a finance director in several international firms.