Hezi Bezalel
Hezi Bezalel (born 1951) is an Israeli businessman. He is active mostly in Israel, the US, Britain, India and various countries in Africa. He serves as the Honorary Consul of Rwanda in Israel.[1]
Biography
Born in Basra, Iraq and moved with his family to Israel when he was 5 years old. The family settled in the Or Yehuda Absorption Camp, and later on moved to Ramat Gan. During his military service, he served as a tank commander in the Yom Kippur War. He later began his Economics studies at the Tel Aviv University. Following the completion of his M.A in Economics, he began teaching at the Tel Aviv University as well as the Ben Gurion University in Be'er Sheva.
He moved from Israel to Africa in the 1980s, where he established aמ investment bank in Nairobi, Kenya. In Africa he became involved in investment banking, project implementation and financing and other businesses. He developed personal relationships with various leaders and stakeholders in Africa and the world, such as the President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, Ugandan President Yoweri Moseveni and many others. In 1995, he purchased the failed Ugandan investment bank Nile Bank Limited, transforming it to a successful and lucrative institution. The Nile Bank was sold to Barclays in 2008, gaining a large profit for Bezalel who was the main shareholder of the bank.
Bezalel is the founder and Chairperson of The Marathon Group, an international investment group, that deals mainly in investment banking and international trade. The Group deals with projects in telecommunications, energy, infrastructure, agriculture and technology. It holds permanent offices and branches in the UK, US, South Africa, Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda, India, Ethiopia and other countries in Africa and Asia. Bezalel is the founder and owner of Carnie Capital, a global investment group based in Israel, operating in over 30 countries globally.
In 2010, he acquired the Israeli Telecom company 018-Xphone. In January 2015 the company has won a government tender to become Israel's 6th Cellular service provider.
He currently resides in Israel.