Since the early periods of human history, and more specifically since the last two centuries of the first millennium, the Arab and Muslim Worlds have seen the establishment of endowments (awkaf) dedicated to educational institutions and purposes.
Almost two centuries later, the West started to witness the same phenomenon, after which it was characterised by both continuity and further development in Europe and then in the new world. The first educational endowments were seen in Egypt with the establishment of Al-Azhar University in Cairo in 970 CE.
Starting in the 19th century, and specifically under the rule of the Mohamed Ali Pasha Dynasty, Egypt saw the establishment of endowments designed to provide money for modern educational and academic institutions. These continued to be established for over a century and a half.
They allowed for the establishment of modern schools, alongside existing ones affiliated to Al-Azhar. The endowments, usually donated by private individuals and later extended to include donations from private entities as well, even played an instrumental role in making the dream of establishing the first modern Egyptian university come true in December 1908.
The process has come to be considered in modern times as an integral and inseparable part, as well as a relatively large one, of what is now labelled as “corporate social responsibility.” The appearance of this notion in the modern social sciences has come to be particularly associated with the rise of the private sector, in the modern sense of the term, in economic life and especially in the developed market economies of the West.
With the growing independence or establishment of states in the Global South, it expanded to the developing countries, particularly those that adopted liberal economies in the inter-war period of the last century.
In the case of Egypt, the rise of the private sector took place as a result of the economic crises that characterised World War I and its aftermath. Individuals such as Talaat Harb Pasha, along with other Egyptian entrepreneurs, initiated the struggle to establish an Egyptian private sector, which entered into serious and uneven and inequitable competition with the foreign private sector that had accumulated privileges in the country. The latter was protected by colonial-period treaties and agreements between the then Egyptian governments and those of some foreign countries.
The Egyptian private sector eventually managed to find its way and establish itself not only in the agricultural sector but also, and even more importantly, in the financial, industrial and commercial sectors. At each stage of its development since the 1920s, the private sector contributed to varying degrees to Egyptian society in different ways, including by funding educational and academic institutions, activities, and infrastructure. This happened even during the crises it faced during and after World War II.
The philanthropic role of the Egyptian private sector, alongside the endowments consecrated to funding educational and academic institutions, continued following the 23 July 1952 Revolution and until the waves of nationalisations that started in 1961. Some of these activities came back to life with the promotion of the economic role of the private sector starting with late president Anwar Al-Sadat’s open-door economic policy in 1974.
This history came to mind when a few days ago I had the pleasure of taking part in an event launching the Onsi Sawiris School of Business at the American University in Cairo. The event, jointly organised by AUC and the Sawiris family, signalled an important milestone in the contemporary history of the role of the private sector in serving society in general and the cause of education and the development of human resources in particular.
This was definitely not the first time that the private sector has made an important contribution to the field of education, and not even the first time that the Sawiris family have done so, since they have contributed much over recent decades to social development in Egypt. However, it is the largest such contribution that has been made as it establishes an endowment of more than $30 million, the revenues of which will be used to fund various programmes at the School of Business at AUC.
AUC President Ahmad S Dallal and Dean of the AUC School of Business Sherif Kamel recognised this significant gift from the Sawiris family by naming the AUC School of Business the Onsi Sawiris School of Business. The revenues that will be generated from the endowment will be used to fund a wide range of activities including providing new and additional scholarships and enhancing investment in faculty research.
The Onsi Sawiris School of Business thus represents a new and important stage in the Sawiris family’s long-standing contributions to promoting education in Egypt. It crowns their previous contributions in this field, which covered providing scholarships to students from Upper Egypt, as well as to students with disabilities, and promoting diversity, inclusion, and equity. The family have also funded research on women’s empowerment and over the years have provided training and rehabilitation for tens of thousands of people in Egypt.
The gift by the Sawiris family and their joint efforts with AUC serve as a successful example of the private sector investing in education and one that could inspire other prominent figures in Egyptian industry, banking and services.
This is not to deny the fact that other Egyptian businesses and prominent figures have contributed and still do contribute to efforts aimed at serving the cause of social development in Egypt in general and education and the development of human resources in particular. There is no single way in which the Egyptian private sector should invest in education in specific terms or undertake its social responsibilities in general. There could be different models in this respect.
But the most important thing is to deliver in both a substantial and a sustainable way and to contribute to social development in Egypt.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 16 January, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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