Saturday 12 November saw Pope Tawadros II preside over the funeral service of industrialist and business magnate Raouf Ghabbour (1953 – 2022).
The funeral was held at St Mark’s Cathedral in Abassiya, Cairo. The cathedral, which accommodates more than 5,000 worshippers, was packed full of mourners. Members of the extended family of the descended occupied the front rows. Numerous bishops and priests attended, a number of who joined in the funeral prayers. Also attending were Hassan Abdullah, Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt; Amr Moussa, former Head of the Arab League; former and current cabinet ministers; senior ranking government officials; politicians and public figures; numerous prominent figures from Egypt’s business and industrial community; and staff and workers of Ghabbour Group companies and Ghabbour Auto factory.
Anba Danial, Bishop of Maadi and Secretary-General of the Coptic Orthodox Holy Synod, gave a word in which he thanked President Sisi on behalf of the Ghabbour family for extending his heartfelt condolences to them. He also expressed the family’s gratitude to Pope Tawadros and to Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly.
Pope Tawadros spoke of Raouf Ghabbour, who he described as “a man of integrity, a noble person, and a successful businessman”.
The Pope said that death is, for us Christians, a passing, completion, and triumph.
He said that, in the life of Mr Ghabbour, three milestones stand out. The fist is the Children’s Cancer Hospital 57357 which he supported, and which was founded in 2007 by his wife Ola Ghabbour (1960 – 2013) who also supervised it and visited the child patients on a daily basis. The hospital offers children with cancer state-of the-art treatment free of charge.
The second, Pope Tawadros said, is the Ghabbour Foundation for Development, founded in 2007, which focuses on exceptional standard technical education and vocational training.
The third, according to the Pope, is Mr Ghabbour’s pioneering work in the car industry in Egypt, which contributed immeasurably to the country’s production and welfare.
Egyptian industrialist and business magnate Raouf Ghabbour (1953 – 2022) departed our world on 9 November following a battle with pancreatic cancer.
Mr Ghabbour was Chairman of the Board of Directors of GB Ghabbour Auto.
As a young man, he earned a medical degree, but decided to go into business instead. He began his career working in his family’s auto-related trading business, where he initially established himself in the tyre division. Having quickly gained a commendable reputation in the market for his business savvy, he went on to acquire agency agreements from global OEMs, which he transformed into successful businesses. He grew his company to a leading automotive assembler and distributor in the Middle East and North Africa.
Dr Ghabbour was founder of the Ghabbour Group of Companies, which he had begun incepting in 1985.
Raouf Ghabbour was married to Ola Lotfy Zaky (1960 – 2013) who founded the Children’s Cancer Hospital 57357 in Cairo. He leaves behind two sons: Kamal who manages the agricultural firm of the Ghabbour Group companies; and Nader, Chief Executive Officer of GB Auto. He also leaves behind a daughter, Dina, married to Sherif Abdel-Nour and mother of two daughters.