Visa & CIB Honour She's Next Winners in Egypt

Visa and Egypt's top private-sector bank, CIB, announced the winners of the second She's Next award program in a celebration of female entrepreneurship. From a pool of over 4,000 candidates, Hadeer Shalaby of Green Fashion, Salma Tammam of Reme-D, and Nihal Ali of Fincart emerged as the victorious entrepreneurs. The news was made during a renowned award event at the Hyatt Regency Cairo West.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) provided each winner with a $10,000 grant and a year of business mentoring. A renowned jury, comprising executives from Visa, CIB, Sawari Ventures, and Plug & Play Egypt, meticulously evaluated the candidates.

For the first time, She's Next included a People's Favorite award, which was given to Nihal Ali, the creator of Fincart, after online voting by the general public.

This project is part of Visa's commitment to assisting women-owned companies in digitalizing, as noted in Visa's inaugural Women SMB Digitalization Index. According to the indicator, 97% of questioned Egyptian women entrepreneurs acknowledge the rising relevance of digitization, with 68% preferring to migrate from cash-dominated to cashless operations. However, 35% reported that obtaining funds was a considerable issue.

The She's Next program delivers essential tools and insights to help female entrepreneurs while addressing their particular difficulties and creating a growing environment. Leila Serhan, Senior Vice President of Visa, expressed satisfaction in honouring Egypt's women entrepreneurs' tenacity and forward-thinking mentality, underlining the significance of access to funding, mentoring, and a solid digital infrastructure.

Hany El Dieb, CIB's Head of SME Business, agreed, emphasizing the bank's commitment to supporting female entrepreneurs and providing continued assistance for their business ventures.