Ambassador Nagla El-Hussainy of the Republic of Egypt has been Assistant Secretary General (Administration and Finance) of COMESA since 2005. She is the first Assistant Secretary General of Administration and Finance since the creation of COMESA. She is also the first woman to head that position.

Career Highlights

Prior to her appointment as ASG of COMESA, Ambassador El-Hussainy held several positions at senior level in Egypt and abroad. She was promoted to the rank of “Distinguished Ambassador” in December 2004. From September 2004, Ambassador El-Hussainy held the positions of, Director of the International Cooperation for Development Department and Head of the National Focal Point for the United Nations Development Programme Activities in Egypt.

She served as Deputy Assistant Minister for Parliamentary Affairs from January-September 2004 in the Republic of Egypt.  She held the position of Deputy Assistant Minister for African Organisations and Nile Water and while holding this office, she also headed the Egyptian team to the negotiating committee on the Nile Basin Initiative legal framework. She also represented Egypt at the workshops discussing the Nile Basin Initiative Shared Vision Projects.

In 1999 -2003 she served as Ambassador to Tanzania and Ambassador (non-resident) to the Comoros respectively. During 1997-99, Ambassador El-Hussainy was appointed Egyptian Deputy Assistant Minister for International Cultural Affairs and she represented her country at the Euro-Mediterranean Cultural Committee.

Further, in 1993-97, she held the position of Deputy Director of the Policy Planning Department.

In addition, Ambassador El-Hussainy, served at the East Europe Department from 1987-89, the North America Department from 1981-83 and at the West Europe Department from 1975-77 respectively. She has resided in different foreign countries including Indonesia, USA, New Zealand, Japan and Zimbabwe.

Education

Ambassador El-Hussainy holds a Bachelor of Economics and Political Science degree from Cairo University, Egypt.  She is also a graduate of the Egyptian Diplomatic Institute (MOFA).

Personal

She is fluent in English, Arabic and French.