November 25, 2023
WoEgypt

2023 marks a significant milestone for Egypt as nine exceptional women secure their places on the prestigious Forbes Middle East’s ’30 Under 30′ list. These trailblazing women have shattered barriers, defied norms, and emerged as formidable forces in their respective fields.

Let’s celebrate their journeys

Basant Hameeda, 26-year-old sprinter and running champion. She won the gold medal in the women’s 200-meter race at the 2023 Vanie Blankers-Koen Games. 

She set a new national record with an impressive time of 22.41 seconds. Additionally, Basant earned two gold medals in the 100 and 200-meter races at the 2022 Mediterranean Games, becoming the first Egyptian athlete to achieve gold in the 100-meter sprint. Beyond her athletic achievements, Hameeda has been appointed as an ambassador for the United Nations global initiative “Generation Unlimited” in Egypt, serving as an inspiration to the country’s youth.

Dahlia Hassan, 25, Researcher and Innovation Coordinator at Siemens Healthineers for Middle East and Africa

Dalia Hassan invented Bloom, an innovative design for a 3D-printed prosthetic limb for upper leg amputees in impoverished and war-affected countries. This prosthetic is manufactured using recycled bottle caps. She runs innovation capacity-building programs across the Middle East and Southern Eastern Africa with the Siemens Healthineers Innovation Think Tank and created (Little Innovators,) an innovation infrastructure at the Children’s Cancer Hospital Egypt 57357 that enables children to generate creative healthcare solutions, which they then help turn into startups.

Hadeer Shalaby, 29, Cofounder and CEO of Freeziana, an online marketplace where individuals and businesses can buy and sell a variety of handmade, vintage, and custom items. It has provided training to over 200,000 women in collaboration with 30 international and governmental agencies and 150 local partners, such as CARE Egypt, UN Women, UNDP, and Oxfam. Freeziana has obtained $1.4 million in grants and equity investment. 

She has also established several subsidiaries, including Green Fashion, which has upcycled 600 tons of waste from textile factories and 83,700 items of clothing, and Crafty Workshop, a platform for teaching creative industries remotely.

Hana Goda, 15, Table Tennis player. Hana Goda began playing table tennis at the age of four, and in 2022, at the age of 14, she became the youngest winner of a Continental Cup title by winning the women’s singles championship at the ITTF-Africa Cup. 

In September 2023, Goda won the women’s singles at the 2023 ITTF African Championships and qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympics. She was ranked second in the International Table Tennis Federation’s U-17 Girls’ Singles and 31st in the Women’s Singles as of October 2023.

Jude Benhalim, 29, is Cofounder and Creative Director of Jude Benhalim Jewelry

.Jude Benhalim established her own brand with her mother, Rana Al-Azm, in 2011, when she was 17 years old. The company currently operates three stores in Egypt and plans to open a fourth soon, as well as ship worldwide via its website. Kendall Jenner, Vanessa Hudgens, Chrissy Teigen, and Adriana Lima have all worn the brand.

Mayar Sherif, 26, Tennis Player. Sherif was ranked 31st in the women’s singles world rankings in June 2023, the highest rank achieved by an Egyptian tennis player since former Egyptian champion Ismail El Shafei, who was ranked 34th in the world in 1975. 

Born in Egypt with Spanish roots, Sherif was the first Egyptian woman to play in a Grand Slam tournament and the first to win the Hologic WTA Tour title. In 2023, she won her sixth WTA 125 title of her career. Sherif’s career record includes 16 singles titles and seven doubles titles.

Menna Zaghloul, 29, Cofounder of Entlaq, B2B and B2G consulting and acceleration company, offering a unique entrepreneurial ecosystem perspective through the lens of governmental and investor stakeholders.
Launched in January 2023, Entlaq’s initiatives involve securing a 5-year tax break, leveraging data and analytical tools, and launching an early-stage to pre-seed startups accelerator.

Actively engaging in policy discussions, collaborating with government officials, and partnering with influential organization, Entlaq addresses social inequalities by planning impactful accelerator programs for underrepresented groups. Positioned as a regional catalyst, Entlaq prioritizes youth development, partnerships, and regional cooperation, boasting 25 companies in its portfolio across various technology sectors with an estimated combined valuation of one billion dollars. 

The company’s network spans seven countries, with over thirty regional and local partnerships, including collaborations with the World Youth Forum, UNDP, EBRD, and GIZ.

Sara Samir, 24, Weightlifter won a bronze medal at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in the 69kg category and became the first Arab woman to ever win an Olympic weightlifting medal. She won the gold medal in the Women’s 76kg category at the IWF World Championships in 2022 and 2023, held in Colombia and Saudi Arabia, respectively. 

She won her third continental senior title at the 2023 African Championships in May 2023. Samir is currently ranked third in the 2023 Annual World Ranking of the IWF for Seniors in the 81kg category.

Yomna Gaafar, 27, Economic Analyst of Fiscal Affairs Department at IMF. Gaafar helps governments and policymakers use digital tools to develop their economies and promote the prosperity of the poor and marginalized. In her current role with the IMF, she participates in the development of a VAT database, poised for an upcoming book. 

She is also involved in analysis aimed at pinpointing fiscal support channeled towards the agriculture sector via the tax apparatus—a domain linked to elevated greenhouse gas emissions. 

She served as a senior sustainability executive at the MBC Group and managed a project focused on ending hunger by securing food for vulnerable children, where she partnered with the UN World Food Programme to launch a campaign called “Feed their Dreams.”

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