Mohamed Hassan Bensalah
| Mohamed Hassan Bensalah | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1970 Berkane, Morocco |
| Nationality | Moroccan |
| Education | Baccalauréat (French mission school); master's degree in management and finance, Sorbonne University and l'École des Cadres de Paris |
| Occupation | Business executive |
| Employer | Holmarcom |
| Title | Chairman and Chief Executive Officer |
| Known for | Chairman and CEO of Holmarcom; co-founder of Régional Airlines |
Mohamed Hassan Bensalah (born 1970) is a Moroccan business executive who has served as chairman and chief executive officer of Holmarcom since 1993. He is the brother of the Moroccan businesswoman Miriem Bensalah-Chaqroun.
Bensalah took over the insurance, banking and industrial group from his late father, Abdelkader Bensalah, who founded it. Since 1993 Bensalah has expanded the group's activities into aviation and consumer goods, and has taken up board positions across several of Morocco's largest financial institutions and public bodies. In 2014, Forbes magazine estimated his personal fortune at 700 million dollars and ranked him the 33rd richest person in Africa.
Early life and education
Bensalah was born in 1970 in Berkane, a city in the Oriental region of north eastern Morocco. He obtained a type B baccalaureate from a French mission school before travelling to France for higher education. There, Bensalah earned a master's degree in management and finance from the Sorbonne University and l'École des Cadres de Paris.
Career
1993: succession at Holmarcom
Bensalah succeeded his father, Abdelkader Bensalah, as chairman and chief executive officer of Holmarcom in 1993, following his father's death. Abdelkader Bensalah had founded the group; Mohamed Hassan Bensalah has led it since taking over that year.
1996: co-founding of Régional Airlines
In 1996, Bensalah, together with the Benjelloun group, created Régional Airlines, described as Morocco's first private airline.
2000: reintroduction of Pepsi
In 2000, Bensalah reintroduced Pepsi-Cola products to the Moroccan market.
2004: royal honour
In 2004, Bensalah was decorated as a Knight of the Order of the Throne of Morocco (Wissam Al Arch) by King Mohammed VI.
Institutional and board roles
Alongside his leadership at Holmarcom, Bensalah is president of the Moroccan Federation of Insurance and Reinsurance Companies (FMSAR). He sits on the board of directors of the General Confederation of Enterprises of Morocco (CGEM), of Casablanca Finance City and of the Casablanca Stock Exchange.
Bensalah is also a member of the board of BMCI bank, part of the BNP Paribas group, of CIH Bank, part of the CDG group, and of the Moroccan Inter Professional Retirement Fund (CIMR). He additionally serves on the boards of the Mohammed VI Foundation for the Protection of the Environment, the Mohammed V Foundation for Solidarity and the Alaouite Foundation for Sustainable Human Development, and is a member of Morocco's Economic, Social and Environmental Council. The dossier consulted for this article does not give dates for when these positions began, so no timeframe is stated here beyond noting they accompany his tenure at Holmarcom.
2015: resignation from Samir's board
In November 2015, Bensalah resigned from the board of directors of the oil refiner Samir, following a disagreement over the recapitalisation of the company's refinery.
Assessment
Bensalah's three decades at the head of Holmarcom have been marked by diversification well beyond the insurance business his father built, into banking, aviation and consumer goods. Alongside that, Bensalah has accumulated seats on the boards of some of Morocco's most significant financial and public institutions, from the Casablanca Stock Exchange to the Economic, Social and Environmental Council. Forbes's 2014 estimate of his fortune, and his ranking among Africa's wealthiest individuals that year, point to the scale Holmarcom reached under his leadership, though the estimate is Forbes's own and is not independently verified here.
In November 2015 Bensalah resigned from the board of the refiner Samir following a disagreement over the recapitalisation of its refinery. The source material records the resignation and its stated cause without further detail, and does not describe the wider dispute or its outcome.