How this Egyptian entrepreneur built an eyewear business

Nile Eyewear, an Egyptian eyewear brand, was founded by Ahmed Hamdi in 2012. Later on, Hamdi further expanded his portfolio by introducing the Nile Details brand, selling high-end products such as leather clutches and bags. In an interview with Jeanette Clark, Hamdi shares the journey of establishing the business and the challenges he has encountered.

Ahmed Hamdi’s first job in 2007 was as a real estate agent in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. He seized the opportunity to ask his wealthy, older clients – typically those seeking to retire in the Red Sea coastal city – what they would do differently if they were 20 years old again.

“These were people who had money and had done well in life, but the answer I would get the most was to treasure time as the most valuable thing in life,” he remembers. “The advice I got was to take more risk and do the things I loved, and the rest would fall in place.”

The drive to do something meaningful for himself and his country began to develop, but it wasn’t until the transformative event of the 2011 Egyptian Revolution that he took the plunge. “Everything was uncertain, uncharted and new.”