Description

Talaat Harb Pacha (1867–1941) was a leading Egyptian entrepreneur and founder of Banque Misr, and its group of companies, in May 1920.

The establishment of Banque Misr, the first real Egyptian bank owned by Egyptian shareholders and staffed by Egyptian nationals, where Arabic (the national language) was used in all communications, was a major step in establishing a national economic identity.

The idea of establishing Banque Misr first emerged in 1907, when Talaat Harb contributed 100 EGP to the establishment of Al Ahly SC. He was a renowned nationalist industrialist, he published a book calling for the founding of a national bank with Egyptian financing. He called attention to the idle funds invested by foreigners for purposes other than the interests of Egypt. He continued advocating this call on all occasions, with untiring persistence. Harb co-founded a newspaper, Al Jarida, which was the official organ of the Umma Party. In 1911, he published another book titled "The Egyptian Economic Reform and the Nation's Bank Project ", where he explained his economic idea.

In recognition of the importance of spreading banking awareness within and outside Egypt, the bank sought to spread its branches all over the country and in several states: Lebanon, Syria, Sudan, Yemen and Saudi Arabia.

The bank, under the leadership of Talaat Harb, established a number of companies operating in various sectors, such as textiles, shipping, publishing, movie making, insurance and the first national airline Egypt Air.