Two Egyptian business families, the Sawiris and the Mansours, put a younger member on public view this month. Samih Sawiris said his daughter Talia has joined the El Gouna Film Festival and could take charge of it within three or four years, according to Billionaires.Africa. And a Palm Hills Developments filing lists the chairman’s son, Ismail Yasseen Mansour, with 3 million shares.
Neither transfers control. Both are typical first steps: a cultural role, or a small stake in a listed company.
A festival role for Samih Sawiris’s daughter
The ninth El Gouna Film Festival runs from 15 to 23 October 2026 in the Red Sea resort town that Samih Sawiris, 69, built. He chairs the festival’s board and spoke in a television interview at the opening; Billionaires.Africa did not name the channel, and we found no second report. Talia joined the team this year to work on cultural strategy and partnerships, the outlet says.
This branch of the family has handed over before. In December 2021, Orascom Development Holding (ODH), the company Samih founded, which develops El Gouna, said he would step down as chairman in 2022. The board proposed his son, Naguib Samih Sawiris, a director since 2016 and vice-chairman since 2020, who then took the chair. ODH also said Samih would pass control of his stake to Naguib. (Naguib Samih is not his uncle Naguib Sawiris, whose branch press reports link to the claimants in the Voltaire trial.)
In 2025 the family’s holding company, LPSO Holding, raised its stake from about 77.5% to about 97.3% through a cash offer, and ODH left the SIX Swiss Exchange on 5 June.
A Palm Hills stake for Yasseen Mansour’s son
Palm Hills filed its shareholder structure report with the Egyptian Exchange on 13 October, showing holdings at the end of September. According to Billionaires.Africa, chairman Yasseen Mansour’s direct stake rose from 14% to 14.11%, and his son holds about 0.1%. The family’s investment company, Mansour and Maghraby Investment and Development, holds about 53.5% together with related parties. The filing does not say when or how the shares were bought.
The family is best known for Mansour Group, founded in 1952 by Yasseen’s father, Loutfy Mansour, which distributes General Motors vehicles and Caterpillar equipment in Egypt and other countries.
Why heirs’ first roles look like this
A festival or foundation lets an heir lead something visible, with real partners and budgets, where a mistake does not move a share price. A small stake puts a name on the register while control stays put. Many families skip even this: in UBS’s 2025 survey, only 26% of family offices with a succession plan had involved the next generation from the start (see five common mistakes).
A fair caveat
Each story rests mainly on one report. The festival handover is a stated intention, not an announced appointment. Palm Hills’ board, elected in April 2025, includes a director named Ismail Mansour, Enterprise reported; we could not confirm whether he is the same person.
What to watch
- Whether Talia Sawiris receives a formal title at the festival, and when.
- Whether later Palm Hills reports show further changes in family holdings.
- How much ODH still discloses about its owners now that it is delisted.
Questions to bring to your advisors
Which family project could give our heirs real responsibility at limited risk? What would a first shareholding oblige us to disclose? These are questions to bring to your advisors, not advice.
