Qalaa Holdings, (CCAP.CA on the Egyptian Exchange), an African leader in energy and infrastructure, and a leading supporter of educational and cultural initiatives on the African continent, is the proud sponsor of the “Best Short Film Award” and the “the Forum on African Development” at the seventh annual Luxor African Film Festival (LAFF) for the third consecutive year.
LAFF aims to support and encourage African film productions and partnerships between more than 30 African countries by strengthening humanitarian and political ties and understanding in general and fostering collaboration and exchange between African artists in particular. During the course of the one week event held under the auspicies of Minister of Culture, Inas Abdel Dayem and Luxor Governor, Mohamed Badr and attended by leading Egyptian and African filmmakers, government officials and the diplomatic corps, Qalaa lent its support to both young African filmmakers and the Egyptian tourism industry by ensuring the success of an event that supports its interests and investments in African and developing markets and aims to position Luxor as a regional center for the arts.
“Qalaa’s participation in the Luxor African Film Festival for the third year in a row is a testament to our belief in investing in human capital development in all its forms from education, to vocational training, to promoting cultural endeavors and encouraging talent not only in Egypt buth throughout the African continent,” said Ghada Hammouda, Chief Marketing and Sustainability Officer at Qalaa Holdings.
“As a company we have always believed in the vast potential of Africa. The continent’s underlying growth drivers are strong, with some of the world’s largest consumer markets as well as an increasingly large working-age population, but in order for these attractive demographics to materialize into prosperity we need a new generation of leaders in business, the arts and all fields. Addressing the infrastructure gap within Africa and the growth of intratrade must be supported with the bridging of cultural connections. This will eventually spill over to other areas as well which will ultimately maximize efficiency and foster prosperity across all sectors,” added Hammouda.
“In order for intratrade to fully develop, cultural barriers must come down. Supporting the Luxor African Film Festival is one of the ways in which Qalaa Holdings is opening doors for dialouge especially among the continent’s youth and investing in enabling a more positive context and environment for intratrade to grow,” added Hammouda.
Qalaa Holdings follows a sustainable responsible investing approach that is governed by “The Triple Bottom Line,” meaning the company prioritizes positive social impact and human capital development alongside financial performance.
The company runs Egypt’s largest private sector scholarship program through the Qalaa Holdings Scholarship Foundation (QHSF), which has thus far awarded over 163 students with scholarships to pursue graduate studies in some of the world’s most prestigious universities on the condition that they return to Egypt after graduation. Scholarship recipients have studied a wide variety of disciplines including filmmaking, anthropology, art and human rights. Two of Qalaa’s subsidiaries TAQA Arabia and ERC have also launched complementary scholarship programs for both study abroad opportunities and studies at prestigious local universities such as the American University AUC), along with a teacher’s training program for public school teachers through an initiative called “Mostakbaly” which has thus far awarded 28 undergraduate student scholarships and 60 teacher scholarships. All Mostakbaly scholarship beneficiaries come from ERC’s local community of Mostorod.
Qalaa Holdings has been investing in Africa for over a decade. The company has vast experience in building businesses in Egypt and other markets in Africa, including investments in strategic sectors such as energy, cement, transporation and logistics, mining and agrifoods.
