It was not supposed to be an interview. It was a casual meeting, a tea and tete-a-tete. But then Mohammed El-Kassas started talking about life and energy, quoting Swami Vivekananda, the Indian monk, philosopher, author, and religious teacher, looking intensely.
He was never like this before. Before, he was a man like any other driven by the ambition of financial success, and when that happened, a new wind blew, and money stopped being the fuel that drove him. “I’m now driven by seeking answers about life itself and people.”
He is an investor, and the founder of Integrated Fire and Safety Solutions, a company with branches in Nairobi, Nigeria, and Egypt. He is also a life coach.
Who are you, and how did you end up in this neck of the woods?
I’m an Egyptian born in Nigeria 47 years ago. My father was there on a mission as a doctor in the late 1960s. Growing up in that region, I developed an appreciation for the local culture.
Fast forward 28 years ago, I found myself on a journey from Egypt to inspect projects in Nigeria, only to fall in love with Kenya when I landed during my transit.
I loved the weather, the people's hospitality, and the tourist attractions. I told my wife of two years, "Let’s stick here for two years and see what happens." Two years become five, and then 10; now we are clocking 21 years.
What do you do for work and business?
I’m the chairman and managing director of Integrated Fire and Safety Solutions, a technology and smart building solutions provider.
I've grown it as a Kenyan company, then expanded into my home country Egypt and my birth country Nigeria. I've always dreamt of conquering the four corners of Africa, and with a presence here, Nigeria and Egypt, that leaves South Africa as the only remaining corner. From these hubs, we will support the rest of Africa.
Today, we support several well-known clients, including Citibank and Safaricom.
We've also handled projects at Tullow Oil, several Kenyan airports, and the Aga Khan University Hospital, among others.
Our services are also employed in the retail and wholesale sectors by major brands like footwear giant Nike, skincare multinational Body Shop, and fashion brands Springfield, and Women’s Secrets. We plan to get into the food and beverage sectors as well.
However, I don’t consider it a business because I don’t make much money. That comes from life coaching. At first, I started coaching to support these businesses, but with time I took a keener interest in people, and people became what I am focused on and would love to spend more time doing.
The teachings of Swami made an impression on you…
Yes, they did. Swami talks about humans as life, with bodies and minds, yet dead with souls because the soul has no exercises.
We go to the gym to train the body and read to train the mind, but what do we do for the soul? We visit the church on Sunday, and then walk away.
Are we sure we’re doing the right thing by just visiting the church, or do we need to work on it more during the other days of the week?
And if a nation is made of humans incapable of finding within themselves their journeys, how can they discover this authentic self?
How can they find themselves? The entrepreneur in me diverted from being an investment and money person to a people pusher to ensure they achieve their potential.
What was that tipping point for you, from getting your eye off the bottom lines to looking deeper at yourself and what’s happening around you?
Covid-19 was the biggest thing. Before that, things were happening around me, but the pandemic was a big message because it shut down everything.
Everybody panicked. We saw the world stopping, but then the skies became clearer, the seas purer. When humans sit at home, things change for the better; we have corrupted nature heavily. It struck me how much humans can make the world a really bad or wonderful place.
A beautiful writing can only come to reality when you find an authentic, passionate, creative person. So Covid-19 was the most significant turnaround for me.
I saw people panic and just wanted to tell them, "It’s fine. It’s just a message; learn from it". When misfortune happens, that’s for the better. It's meant to stretch and inspire you.
How do you now, perhaps, exercise your soul?
I would not call them scheduled, but I’ve tried to make Sundays my me-time. I have a very understanding wife who allows me my me-time in the morning from 6 am.
I go for long runs in Nairobi’s Karura Forest, just me and nature spending time together before other humans wake up. I don't spend that time thinking of work but things that can grow our souls.
I once met a monk in Mauritius when I was running on the beach, and he was walking. I stopped and asked him, "How long did it take you to become a monk?"
He told me, "I can’t become, I’m only trying to become. You can never become. It’s only a process that you work on daily." So I try to grow the amount of time I spend with myself. That is where soul nourishment and soul practice come in.
Is it possible to get to this point of enlightenment, to ponder over these existential things if you are broke and can’t feed or school your children?
So, I’m always told, "You have become like this, or you are becoming like this, because you have reached a state of comfort." I reached this point in life only when I realised the value of life and understood myself better.
When my perspective of life started to shift, other things began to change with me. So, for instance, people think I’ve been in the position I am in for the past 15 years of my life, but that’s not true. In 2015-16, I was in a situation where my bank went under receivership.
A good amount of the company funds were inside that place. And at that time, I had no backup. I was going into tenders for projects that were extremely difficult to win without support. I used the most authentic ways to win.
My perspective towards things changed; it was not about survival, it was about acceptance that you can’t be attached to anything.
I like to use this example when you go to a mountain and shout something out, the same thing comes to you in an echo.
You get what you say to the world. To answer your question, your worries will make you a dead human if you do not change your perspective.
What are you currently shouting to the universe?
Give. Make life easier for people. But most importantly, I have a burning desire to remind us Kenyans, Africans, all of us of the values that live within us that are dying. The new generations are suffering because we didn’t show them what real life looks like.
Are there certain personal desires that perhaps embarrass you?
I question my intention of wanting to change my car, buy a bigger house. Basically, when I want something I don’t need.
I question my intention and I realise what’s important is not what I want but the intention behind what I want. Are you really getting that bigger house for a peaceful bigger garden to spend time there and have very enriching conversations or you’re doing it for bigger parties and bigger show-offs. To what level is owning enough?
How does one reach a point of contentment?
It’s impossible. As humans, we remain in need, demand, and want from the universe. It will never stop. It's what creates the chaos we have in the world today.
Nothing is enough. We always want to grow our businesses and, in the process, offer more employment.
But I question the intentions behind wanting to get bigger and bigger. I believe there is never going to be 100 percent contentment.
But there will be a good percentage of humans that become self-aware and have an intention towards a specific cause in life.
What do you find hard to accept about yourself?
I struggle to take No for an answer. I need to accept more. I sometimes tell myself, "It’s enough. It’s okay, stop."
Not necessarily about money, but the expectation of people having to move forward. I tell myself, "You need to take a step back.
Not everything will change. Give it time." These are the things I’m still trying to grasp about myself. I'd like not to always overthink, to fast forward and enjoy the beautiful power of now.
