Walid Hassouna on inflation
From The New Calculus Founder Series: Walid Hassouna (CEO, Valu) · · MIT Kuo Sharper Center
“In reality, the real interest rate is actually negative in Egypt. If they are getting 16% on their deposits or 20% on deposits while inflation is at 50%, they are actually making money borrowing from us. We are just moving money from the banks and bondholders into the customers.”
On , Walid Hassouna, CEO at ValU, spoke about inflation during The New Calculus Founder Series: Walid Hassouna (CEO, Valu) on MIT Kuo Sharper Center.
About Walid Hassouna
Walid Hassouna, co-founder and CEO of ValU, spoke at MIT in April 2026 as part of the New Calculus Founder Series. He discussed ValU's evolution from Egypt's first Buy-Now-Pay-Later platform to a publicly traded consumer finance firm following its 2025 IPO on the Egyptian Exchange. Hassouna described his approach to launching products outside existing regulatory frameworks, stating that in fintech "you just have to do whatever you want to do as long as it's not illegal." He also noted that he approached banks to sell them ValU's bonds and portfolio in exchange for their support in pushing for new legislation. Hassouna emphasized the commercial viability of serving unbanked customers, saying "it's commercially viable to include the unincluded people in your system" and that without those customers "we never make money." He commented on the challenges of introducing stablecoins in Egypt, attributing resistance to the government's reliance on bank lending. Hassouna also described ValU's workplace culture, which he said attracts Gen Z employees by focusing on achievement rather than attendance, and advocated for making fast decisions and taking advantage of opportunities within volatility.