Who Tarek Bouchamaoui Is
Bumping into Tarek Bouchamaoui for the first time arouses a feeling that one is in the company of someone who is both hugely driven and cheerfully laid-back, a magnetic person whose body language is open and inviting of small talk. Yet behind the attentive listener and gentle talker is a distinguished businessman with ambitions so wide-ranging and colossal as to wield great impact on his country’s development and wellbeing.
A Tunisian businessman in his early fifties, Tarek Bouchamaoui has through his adult life had a fiery zeal for all things Tunisia—and all things football. Splitting his time largely between Tunis and Cairo, he’s been for over twenty years now at the helm of HBS International, a thriving oil and gas exploration and production company.
The Bouchamaoui Spirit of Enterprise and Hard Work
Tarek’s grandfather, Ahmad Bouchamaoui, founded a civil engineering company that over time evolved into Hédi Bouchamaoui & Sons under the guidance of Tarek’s father, Hédi. Since then, the father instilled in his son a deeply entrenched instinct for thinking big, working diligently, and doing what he can to proffer on Tunisia the industrial and economic vitality that it could have.
From Oil to Agriculture and Other Investments
Following the exponential success of HBS International in Egypt, the family’s HBG Holding has also mobilized considerable resources in Tunisia, the objective being to produce a major lift to their country’s striving economy. The family had set itself the initial objective of transforming the Tunisian agricultural sector from small family farms that grew daily subsistence products into larger and more productive agricultural organizations. One thing leading to another, the family company HBG Holding now makes significant investments in the financial services industry, insurance, the automobile market, catering, fashion and real estate in Tunisia.
Bouchamaoui’s Association with FIFA and CAF
Tarek Bouchamaoui’s love for football has over the years driven him to play momentous roles with both FIFA and the rest of the worldwide football landscape. He’s been a time-honored member of the executive FIFA Council, member of the Executive Committee of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), and head of CAF’s Referees Committee. In addition, his contribution to African football has also spread to CAF’s Marketing & TV Committee and the organizing committees for Management of the CAF Club Licensing System and the Interclub Competitions.
What Football Has Given Him
Tarek Bouchamaoui’s long-standing passion for the sport of football has developed in him traits that far exceed those that mark a regular football aficionado. In fact, his zeal and in-depth familiarity with all the little intricacies of the sport has translated into characteristics in him that one might otherwise associate with the owner or manager of Real Madrid, Liverpool, or some other worldwide illustrious team that invariably figures in the sport’s winning columns.
What He Has Given to Football
An unshakable sense of integrity, a deep-rooted penchant for fair play, and an encyclopedic memory that allows him to retain names, scores and the minutest details—these are but a few of the characteristics that have turned Tarek Bouchamaoui into a magnet for prominent figures in the sport who always seem to want to fraternize and exchange views with him. Those who thus approach him quickly get to know him for his authoritative expertise and dedication to the further development of the sport of football, particularly as it relates to his country and the rest of Africa. Known for being easy to find and talk to, he is also particularly revered for his ability to “fix” problems and arbitrate fairly between different Tunisian or national teams.
Patriotism Mixed in with Football
Those who know Tarek Bouchamaoui intimately commonly view him through the lens of ardent patriotism and deep-seated enthusiasm for the sport of football. Apart from his in-depth knowledge of the sport, they cite his extremely precise familiarity with its stakes, as well as his rigor and discipline in listing facts and statistics.
While many say he is honest to a fault, not just in what he says but, more importantly, in what he does, others reflect painstakingly on his patriotism and love for Tunisia that radiates abundantly every time he opens his mouth to say something or tenders one of his accustomed smiles. Everyone however has something to express about Tarek Bouchamaoui’s sense of fair play, stating that he typically listens carefully to what others have to say on both sides of an argument, pays extra attention to all the givens in that particular situation, and only then discusses possible solutions to convince the people involved.
However, it is ultimately Tarek Bouchamaoui’s memory and recollection of the tiniest details of stadiums, teams, managers, players, and past outcomes that is nothing short of legendary. In his own inimitable manner, he has a friendly—and always respectful—way of putting that to good use, often getting the best of an argument if only because his interlocutors come less prepared and thus give in to him.
Multiple Commitments
How this businessman in his early-fifties manages to cope with his entire set of responsibilities and entrepreneurial passions remains a mystery to many of those who know Tarek Bouchamaoui closely. Between full-timing as head of HBS International and his many active Board directorships with many compatriots as well as international organizations it is a wonder that he even has time to devote to football. And yet, not only does he give the sport a good deal of attention but he manages to also become a strident force in Tunisian and African football, consistently advancing those causes.
More importantly and beyond all these professional commitments, Tarek is devoted to his family. His mission: to ensure the transmission and respect of family values and to contribute, on a daily basis, to the development of Tunisia.
