Anybody who flies into Beirut is bound to come face to face with the slum of Ouzai upon exiting the airport. There, amidst 4 km2 of abandoned constructions piled one upon the other and for the most part illegally built by displaced populations, is where Ayad Nasser grew up prior to becoming a wealthy real estate mogul in France. Ouzai is a neglected neighborhood with a bad reputation—violence, poverty, overpopulation—but it is also one that the young entrepreneur has never forgotten.
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