Osman Ahmed Osman
| Osman Ahmed Osman عثمان احمد عثمان |
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|---|---|
| Born | April 6, 1917 |
| Died | 1 May 1999 (aged 82) Cairo, Egypt |
| Residence | Ismaïlia, Egypt |
| Nationality | Egyptian |
| Alma mater | Cairo University |
| Occupation | Chairman of Arab Contractors |
| Website | http://www.arabcont.com/ |
Osman Ahmed Osman (Arabic: عثمان أحمد عثمان) (1917–1999) was an Egyptian engineer, contractor, entrepreneur, and politician. Known commonly as el-mo'alim ("the boss"), Osman founded the Arab Contractors (the largest Arab contracting firm between the 1960s and 1980s) and led the Egyptian effort to build the Aswan Dam. He went on to become the Egyptian Minister of Housing and Development and later a member of the Egyptian Parliament.
Osman was born on April 6, 1917, in the town of Ismailia in Egypt. Osman was born to an impoverished family, whose situation was made worse after his father died in 1920, when Osman was three years old. His eldest brother, Mohamed, dropped out of school to provide a steady income to support the family. As a child, Osman himself often had to work to supply additional income.
Upon completing his schoolwork, Osman moved to Cairo to pursue a degree in Civil Engineering. Unable to afford tuition, rent, or even public transportation, Osman improvised: he received a scholarship from Cairo University, lived with his older sister, and commuted on a bike he had assembled himself. Osman excelled and graduated in 1940 with a bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering. He then returned to his hometown, Ismailia. He worked with his maternal uncle, an illiterate but savvy contractor, for 18 months.
Osman's dream was to build a large, successful contracting firm. At the time, all such firms operating in the Middle East were European. After only 18 months of work experience, Osman founded Osman Ahmed Osman, Engineer & Contractor, which would later become the Arab Contractors. His startup capital was 180 Egyptian Pounds he had saved up from his earlier job. Osman was the only owner and employee. He operated out of a small one-room office, and undertook various small projects, such as building small shops and garages, repairing buildings, etc. With Osman's hard-work, intelligence, and fantastic organizational skills, the company grew and his operations expanded, but he struggled to compete with foreign firms for larger-scale projects. He began to undertake larger projects, such as erecting an all-girls school and a theater, and eventually expanded his operations to Cairo.
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