• Top three drivers for women entrepreneurs in Egypt when setting up their business: realization of dream (29%), personal and professional growth (29%), and financial independence (27%).
• Women entrepreneurs primarily fund their businesses through personal savings (63%) and support from friend or family (43%), and venture capital (38%)
• Women are at the forefront of AI adoption, employing chatbots or virtual assistants (56%) and utilizing data analytics and pattern recognition (55%)

Cairo, Egypt, Visa has announced the launch of its third round of She’s Next in Egypt, introducing an exciting new format in collaboration with CIB Business Banking and for the first time Shark Tank. This initiative aims to empower women entrepreneurs to embrace digitization and artificial intelligence, providing them with unique opportunities for growth, visibility, and strategic support. Alongside the competition launch, Visa is also announcing the results of its inaugural Women SMB Digitization Index in Egypt. The Index reveals a growing awareness and adoption of digital technologies and AI among women business owners, highlighting their role in futureproofing businesses and driving strategic growth. These findings underpin the She’s Next campaign and reaffirm Visa’s commitment to championing women entrepreneurs who are actively financing, managing, and expanding their ventures.

Applications for the She’s Next competition opened from April 4 and will remain open till May 9 2026, inviting women entrepreneurs across Egypt to submit their entries and seize this opportunity to gain valuable support for their businesses. Interested candidates are encouraged to apply within this period to ensure their participation in this transformative initiative.

In an effort to understand Women Entrepreneurs struggles and needs in Egypt, Visa ran the Women SMB Digitization Index in 2025, which surveyed Egyptian women business owners who hold a notable share of senior leadership roles to have a better understanding of the motivations and challenges of this important group. The Index scores businesses based on five indicators: online presence, digital payments acceptance, payment security awareness, customer engagement, and customer retention.

Recognizing their pivotal role as catalysts for economic and social development, women-led businesses are actively shaping Egypt's economy with a distinct blend of resilience, social consciousness, and technological adoption.

Malak El Baba, Vice President & Country Manager in Egypt, Libya, and Sudan , commented: “She’s Next unlocks the boundless potential of women business owners, providing the essential stepping stone to scale and expand collectively. This year’s competition, held in collaboration with Shark Tank Egypt for the first time, gives women entrepreneurs a unique platform to showcase their innovations and gain strategic support. Our Women SMB Digitization Index survey of Egyptian women entrepreneurs highlighted the positive economic impact of women-led businesses. Despite facing personal hurdles and striving for personal growth, women business owners are motivated by financial independence and a deep desire to create supportive work environments that uplift societies—an ethos that is very close to Visa’s own mission of uplifting everyone, everywhere. Women entrepreneurs are embracing payment technologies and artificial intelligence to overcome obstacles and drive their businesses forward, truly demonstrating their progressive mindset.”

Hany El Dieb, Head of SMEs and Commercial Banking at CIB, commented: “CIB is proud to continue its role as the exclusive banking partner for the third consecutive round of the She’s Next initiative, reinforcing our longstanding commitment to empowering women entrepreneurs and advancing inclusive economic growth across Egypt. Our partnership with Visa and Shark Tank reflects our belief that fostering entrepreneurship is not only a business imperative, but a national priority for sustainable development. By providing women innovators with a platform to showcase their ideas, gain visibility, and access broader opportunities, we are helping unlock the full potential of one of the most powerful drivers of economic progress.

At CIB, women-led enterprises represent a growing and increasingly important segment of our SME portfolio, and supporting their success remains integral to our broader vision of building a more inclusive and resilient economy. To further enable this, we provide specialized and dedicated lending programs that lower entry barriers and make it easier for women to access funding to grow their businesses. Alongside our lending program, we also run technical assistance and capacity-building initiatives designed to strengthen their capabilities and accelerate growth. Internally, CIB is committed to ensuring equitable female representation across the organization through our Gender Diversity program, with women now accounting for 36% of total employees and driving the majority of net workforce growth.

Key findings from the Women SMB Digitalization Index:

Business challenges, motivations, and support

• Women entrepreneurs face gender bias (58%), with common perceptions questioning their ability to separate business and personal matters (29%), capability of making tough decisions and leading teams (29%), and ability to be competitive and driven to succeed (27%).
• Despite their ambition, women entrepreneurs face significant challenges in optimization of logistics (40%), innovation in products and services (38%), access to capital or funding (37%) and market expansion opportunities (35%).
• Top three drivers for women entrepreneurs in Egypt while setting up their venture include realization of dream (29%), personal and professional growth (29%), and financial independence (27%). Interestingly, 23% of women were motivated by the need to create a workplace supportive of women, in comparison to 10% of men who were driven by the need to solve real-world problems.

Funding and financial support

• Women entrepreneurs primarily fund their businesses through personal savings (63%) and help from friend or family (43%) as well as venture capital (38%)
• When additional funding becomes available, women prioritize initiatives directly linked to growth and scaling, with 37% allocating funds to creating new products or services and increasing employee salaries (34%).
• For financial advisory support, women-led SMBs rely on financial advisors (64%), and business mentor or coach (13%).

Payments, security and AI integration

• Women-led businesses demonstrate a strategic balance for wider market penetration, with 66% utilizing both offline and online sales channels, and online sales contributing a 49% of their revenue.
• A notable 72% of women entrepreneurs operate both cash and cashless payment methods with 3% exclusively on a cashless basis, showcasing a strong commitment to digital finance.
• Women are at the forefront of AI adoption, using Natural Language Processing (NLP) tools like ChatGPT (46%), utilizing data analytics and pattern recognition (55%), and employing chatbots or virtual assistants (56%).
• In the critical area of payments, AI is a game-changer, with 54% reporting increased accuracy in transactions, 48% automated tasks for faster processing of payments, and 49% experiencing streamlined customer authentication and verification.

With the launch of She’s Next in Egypt, Visa is taking a transformative step to empower and connect women entrepreneurs with new opportunities and resources. These insights from the Women SMB Digitization Index not only demonstrate the resilience and innovation of women-led businesses, but also underscore Visa’s unwavering commitment to supporting inclusive economic progress. As Egyptian women embrace digital solutions and AI to scale their ventures and drive positive change, Visa continues to champion access, opportunity, and security for all, laying the groundwork for an equitable future where every business and individual can thrive.

Since 2020, Visa has globally invested $3.8 million in over 250 grants and coaching for women SME owners as part of the company's broader commitment to support businesses internationally.

About Visa Inc.

Visa is a world leader in digital payments, facilitating transactions between consumers, merchants, financial institutions, and government entities across more than 200 countries and territories. Our mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, convenient, reliable, and secure payment network, enabling individuals, businesses, and economies to thrive. We believe that economies that include everyone everywhere, uplift everyone everywhere, and see access as foundational to the future of money movement. Learn more at Visa.com.

Visa

Eman ElGamal

Eelgamal@visa.co

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