Bold thinkers

In this fourth episode of BOLD Thinkers, we travel to the heart of one of the world’s most powerful megacities: Cairo.

Today, Cairo is the largest city on the African continent, home to more than 20 million people and projected to reach nearly 38 million inhabitants by 2050. More than a historic capital, Cairo is a city of layers — shaped by thousands of years of civilizations, yet constantly reinventing itself to meet the challenges of the future.

Often seen through the lens of its monuments and past empires, Cairo reveals a much deeper reality: a living, breathing megacity driven by resilience, innovation, and strategic ambition. In this episode, we explore the forces that make Cairo a rising global challenger — from informal resilience and grassroots innovation, to renewable energy leadership and digital infrastructure.

Through business, academic and entrepreneurial perspectives, this episode shows how Cairo is not just adapting to the future, but actively building it.

About the host :

Fatou Ndiaye is the host of this program. With this podcast, her aim is to highlight the voices and perspectives of emerging leaders from regions where sustainability challenges are most pressing.

Guests of the episode:

Fatou Ndiaye is joined by three key voices :

• Mirette Sawiris, Vice President of Business Development and Strategy for Egypt, the Levant, and Northeast Africa at Schneider Electric, leading sustainability-driven energy innovation across the region.
• Sherif Goubran, Assistant Professor of Sustainable Design at the American University in Cairo, focusing on transforming the built environment toward systemic sustainability.
• Abdelrahman Ayman, Co-founder and COO of Educatly, a global higher education platform empowering millions of learners across Cairo, Nairobi, Lagos and Dubai.

About the podcast:

BOLD Thinkers is a podcast series dedicated to bringing forward the voices from regions where sustainability challenges are critical. Each episode features voices from different mega cities around the world, exploring the challenges and solutions for creating sustainable futures. This podcast is a call to action for listeners to engage in positive change.

Bold Thinkers is a podcast supported by the HEC Paris Sustainability & Organizations Institute and Schneider Electric.

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a review and share the episode with others!

To ensure you don’t miss any future episodes, subscribe to the podcast on YouTube and all podcast platforms.

Bold Thinkers is a podcast produced by the HEC Impact Company Lab and CALLIOPÉ.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this third episode of BOLD Thinkers, we explore the future of the vibrant mega city of Saõ Paulo 

It’s nickname « The city of cities » reflects how impressive it is for its urban complexity, its vibrant art scene, its unique cultural diversity, and its economic opportunities.

In this episode, we'll explore the opportunities that make Saõ Paulo so special and that we need to keep in mind to understand the city's full potential. 

About the host :

Fatou Ndiaye is the host of this program. With this podcast, her aim is to highlight the voices and perspectives of emerging leaders from regions where sustainability challenges are most pressing.

Guests of the episode:

Fatou Ndiaye is joined by three key guests:

• Carolina da Costa.  Chief Impact and Sustainability Officer at Stone, the Brazilian fintech leader.  

• Carlos Primo Braga.  Adjunct Professor at Fundação Dom Cabral with special interests in international trade, macroeconomics, productivity and growth. 

• Octavio de Barros,  a São Paulo native and currently a post-doctoral research fellow at HEC Paris. 

About the podcast:

BOLD Thinkers is a podcast series dedicated to bringing forward the voices from regions where sustainability challenges are critical. Each episode features voices from different mega cities around the world, exploring the challenges and solutions for creating sustainable futures. This podcast is a call to action for listeners to engage in positive change.

Bold Thinkers is a podcast supported by the HEC Paris Sustainability & Organizations Institute and Schneider Electric.

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a review and share the episode with others!

To ensure you don’t miss any future episodes, subscribe to the podcast on YouTube and all podcast platforms.

Bold Thinkers is a podcast produced by the HEC Impact Company Lab and CALLIOPÉ.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this second episode of BOLD Thinkers, we explore the future of Mumbai, a megacity that defies definition. Mumbai is a city of contrasts which blends modernity, with rich cultural heritage, and where creativity, pulsating energy and resilience coexist. 

In this episode, we'll explore the opportunities that make Mumbai so special and that we need to keep in mind to understand the city's full potential. 

About the host:

Fatou Ndiaye is the host of this program. With this podcast, her aim is to highlight the voices and perspectives of emerging leaders from regions where sustainability challenges are most pressing.

Guests of the episode:

Fatou Ndiaye is joined by three key guests:

• SUMEET ANAND : a uniquely globally minded business leader and strategy advisor, former CEO, President of the France India Foundation and HEC Alumnus.  
• Professor ANUPAMA RAO : who holds several prestigious roles at Barnard and Columbia University.  She is a tenured professor of History with special interests including caste and race, comparative urbanism and human rights. She is also the Director of the Institute of Comparative Literature at Columbia, convenor of the Ambedkar Initiative, and served as Senior Editor of Comparative Studies in South Asia, Africa and Middle East from 2012-2021
• Rohan AGARWAL : a structural engineer, an entrepreneur and an Excellence Scholar & MBA candidate at HEC Paris.

About the podcast:

BOLD Thinkers is a podcast series dedicated to bringing forward the voices from regions where sustainability challenges are critical. Each episode features voices from different mega cities around the world, exploring the challenges and solutions for creating sustainable futures. This podcast is a call to action for listeners to engage in positive change.

Bold Thinkers is a podcast supported by the HEC Paris Sustainability & Organizations Institute and Schneider Electric.

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a review and share the episode with others!

To ensure you don’t miss any future episodes, subscribe to the podcast on YouTube and all podcast platforms.

Bold Thinkers is a podcast produced by the HEC Impact Company Lab and CALLIOPÉ.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this inaugural episode of BOLD Thinkers, we explore the future of Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, one of the fastest-growing mega cities in the world. With a population nearing 20 million and projected to surpass 58 million by 2075, this episode delves into the opportunities and major challenges Kinshasa faces, particularly in energy, water, and governance.

About the host:

Fatou Ndiaye is the host of this program. With this podcast, her aim is to highlight the voices and perspectives of emerging leaders from regions where sustainability challenges are most pressing.

Guests of the episode:

Fatou Ndiaye is joined by three key guests:

• Héritier Mesa, a scholar in political and social sciences whose research focuses on topics at the intersection of economic and political Anthropology
• Romaric Ngambo, MPA Candidate and Mason Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School and MBA Candidate at HEC Paris.
• Patricia Nzolantima, a social entrepreneur and business leader, who discusses the importance of human-centered leadership and long-term vision to transform Kinshasa.

About the podcast:

BOLD Thinkers is a podcast series dedicated to bringing forward the voices from regions where sustainability challenges are critical. Each episode features voices from different mega cities around the world, exploring the challenges and solutions for creating sustainable futures. This podcast is a call to action for listeners to engage in positive change.

Bold Thinkers is a podcast supported by the HEC Paris Sustainability & Organizations Institute and Schneider Electric.

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a review and share the episode with others!

To ensure you don’t miss any future episodes, subscribe to the podcast on YouTube and all podcast platforms.

Bold Thinkers is a podcast produced by the HEC Impact Company Lab and CALLIOPÉ.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

BOLD Thinkers is a podcast series focused on the voices of the places in the world where sustainability challenges are most pressing. Each episode zooms into a different megacity of the global south and explores challenges and opportunities linked to sustainability, through the perspectives of bold business & academic leaders. This podcast is designed to enable listeners to grow cultural fluency, build new social bridges and consider multi-disciplinary perspectives as they strive to build a just transition for all.

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a review and share the episode with others!

To ensure you don’t miss any future episodes, subscribe to the podcast on YouTube and your podcast platforms.

Bold Thinkers is a podcast produced by the Impact Company Lab of HEC Paris and powered by Schneider Electric.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.