Ameer Sherif appoints a new CEO for Wuzzuf and Forasna, moves on to focus on VC, public policy

BasharSoft, the technology company behind Egypt’s leading online job platforms Wuzzuf and Forasna, has announced today that co-founder and CEO, Ameer Sherif has moved to Chairman of the Board role after spending 12 years leading execution at the firm. Since 2009, the company has helped more than 5 million Egyptians with their job search and more than 50,000 businesses hire an estimated 750,000 people. The scale makes the company one of the leading operators of employment across the region and the largest in Egypt.

BasharSoft pioneered attracting tech venture capital funding into Egypt from global investors, including 500 Startups, EBRD, VNV Global, Piton Capital, and Practical Venture Capital as first-time investors in Egypt, raising more than $10 million across the years. Local backers included Endure Capital, A15 and several angel investors. Today, many Egyptian startups are attracting huge investments from global VCs every year.

Outside BasharSoft, Ameer was recently appointed as a Board Member of ITIDA – a government agency under the Ministry of ICT responsible for developing Egypt’s tech and innovation sector.

Recognized as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2019, Ameer said “I plan on putting more time and effort into supporting the entrepreneurship, innovation, and youth employment ecosystems in Egypt, Africa, and the Middle East. I see this as my natural next step to help more founders succeed and overcome challenges. I am engaging on multiple fronts to help attract more VC funding into Egypt, engage tech diasporas to help back home, improve ease of doing business and encourage the government to collaborate more with local tech companies in providing local innovation-based solutions aligned with Egypt’s digitization efforts and Vision 2030. With Egypt’s increasing role in Africa, I believe a lot of the learnings we had in Egypt can apply across the continent.”

Sherif Hashem, who joined the company in mid-2020 to lead corporate development and investor relations, has been named CEO to lead the company as it transitions to its new phase and plans for the next decade. Prior to joining BasharSoft, Sherif worked on high-value M&A transactions including joint ventures, consolidations and exits as well as capital markets transactions in Egypt and the UAE. Reflecting on the new role, Sherif said “I am grateful to Ameer and our board for their trust in me and I am excited about what is to come. Ameer and the team here have built something really unique with this company.”

Asked about the company’s plans, Sherif commented “Having built a leading position in Egypt, our next focus is to launch new HR and recruitment products and services to our large customer base. Beyond Egypt, we believe that consolidation across multiple emerging markets using our employment platforms coupled with localized market expertise as an anchor will be a winning strategy for delivering 10x growth and value to our customers and investors. The African continent in particular represents unique challenges and opportunities in employment, ones that Ameer and the team had to overcome right here in Egypt. We have every intention of replicating our success in Egypt elsewhere to further our mission of social and economic impact.”

As Chairman, Ameer will continue supporting BasharSoft realizing its vision to expand its employment product offerings in Egypt and other markets. “I am really proud of what our team at BasharSoft has built over the past decade and the impact we have had on recruitment in Egypt and I am very excited for what’s to come,” Ameer said. “Sherif has supported me with closing past investment rounds and since joining us has been a key part of the team. I am confident of his ability to lead BasharSoft to new heights.”

Tarek Fahim, Managing Partner at Endure Capital and one of BasharSoft’s early investors, said: “From day one, Ameer’s resilience and focus guided BasharSoft to deliver on its mission, to build efficient employment marketplaces and ecosystems. We built a high-impact and sustainable business and throughout that journey, Ameer left an unmatched mark on the entrepreneurship ecosystem in Egypt. Now is the right time for him to continue this mission beyond BasharSoft, leaving the company to very capable management that will take the reins for the next phase of deep institutionalization and value realization.”