Country’s Narrative

Profile || By Ebube Julius How Zealous Egyptian Woman Lamia Kamel is Changing Her Country’s Narrative

Lamia Kamel is one of the pioneers of political communications in Egypt. She has taken part in several prominent campaigns in Egypt as a communications strategist.Both the presidential election campaigns for Mr. Amr Moussa and President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi benefited greatly from her contributions.

She is the CEO of Corporate Communication Plus (CC Plus), a company she founded in 2006 as a public relations agency and which has since developed into one of Egypt’s top consulting firms.

She founded Narrative PR Summit in 2016 as “Voice of Egypt,” a premier worldwide public relations business that employs global standards and operates in the local and regional markets, as a result of her desire to advance the promotion of Egypt’s story. Her movement has been widely noted and duly appreciated by the Egyptian government, and in 2021 she was appointed assistant Minister of Tourism and Antiquities for Marketing and Promotion.

Lamia Kamel earned both her bachelor and master degrees in business administration from The American University in Cairo. In London, UK, she underwent comprehensive training in creating original PR strategies and crisis management.

How Lamia Kamel grew to the limelights

Kamel began her job as a worker for the Vodafone Company when it first opened in Egypt.

She later changed her profession to consulting, working with organisations including Information and Communication Technologies for Development in the Arab Region (ICTDAR), the United Nations Development Program, the American Group Insurance Company, and the Malaysian National Oil and Gas Company (Petronas), which specialises in ICT development in the Arab world.

She developed a passion for teaching and began lecturing at the International University of Egypt and the American University in Cairo (MIU). She is a strategic consultant who works with local Egyptian businesses to identify gaps and help them meet high international standards for quality.

Changing Egypt’s narrative

After 2011, Egypt’s economic, social, and political landscape underwent a significant transformation. Numerous successes were made, both in the public and private sectors. Entrepreneurs were also contributing more and more to the economic growth of the nation. This disruption led to a realisation that Egypt needed to be heard in order to tell its progressive story,

“We were under the spotlight. Local and international figures were opting for a voice and place in the country. And as someone who knows the potential we as a country possess, I felt it was my duty to give Egypt a voice. A voice to narrate its story and share others’ as well.”

Many people in Egypt are considering the tourist industry as a corrective action in light of the country’s recent economic setbacks. Up to 15% of the nation’s total output comes from tourism, which also serves as a significant source of foreign currency.

The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities in Egypt believes it can handle the job, “We need to roll-up our sleeves. It’s a country, and a brand. It gives us pleasure to do our job. It is part of who we are. Tourism and hospitality is part of our Egyptian DNA. We’ve done it for years. We are documenters. We have our stories on the walls [of our ancient monuments]. That’s who we are - we are communicators,” said Lamia Kamel.

Juggling both personal and professional life

It has not being an easy feat for Lamia Kamel to balance both her personal and professional lives,

“It is undeniable that we, in the traditional societies, place huge social burdens on women and, in the case of a working woman, the challenges are more. I believe that women have developed a great skill in multitasking.

However, the key to this point is good time management and acknowledging that the family does come first.”

Despite being a working mother, Kamel has also shown undeniable strength to get the best of both worlds. She believes she is automatically implementing in her “children the importance of work, perseverance, commitment, independence, and self-reliance, as well as the significance of thinking rationally and away from any superficial judgment.”

To her, her work is positively affecting her children and, as a result, making them more open to appreciating diversity and differences.