Visa, CIB, and Shark Tank Join Forces to Empower Egyptian Women Entrepreneurs with Digital and AI Skills

Visa, a global leader in digital payments listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: V), announced the launch of the third cycle of its global "She's Next" initiative in Egypt. This comes as part of a new collaboration with Commercial International Bank's (CIB) Business Banking sector, and for the first time, in partnership with the "Shark Tank" program. The initiative aims to empower women entrepreneurs to embrace digital transformation and artificial intelligence, providing them with opportunities for growth, visibility, and strategic support. Coinciding with the launch of this new cycle, Visa unveiled the results of the Women-Owned SME Digitization Index in Egypt, the first of its kind locally. The index revealed a rise in digital awareness and an accelerated adoption of modern technologies and artificial intelligence among women entrepreneurs. This reflects their growing role in strengthening their businesses to face future challenges. The results confirmed alignment with the goals of the "She's Next" initiative and Visa's commitment to supporting women entrepreneurs in funding, managing, and expanding their ventures. The company announced that applications for the "She's Next" competition are open from April 4 to May 9, 2026. Women entrepreneurs across Egypt are encouraged to apply to seize this opportunity, with an emphasis on registering within the specified period to ensure participation in the initiative. To better understand the needs of women entrepreneurs, Visa explained that it conducted the 2025 Women-Owned SME Digitization Index, which surveyed business owners in leadership positions. The index is based on five key pillars: online presence, digital payment acceptance, payment security awareness, customer engagement, and retention. The results showed a rapid transformation in the nature of women-led businesses, making them a fundamental pillar of the modern Egyptian economy. Malak El Baba, Vice President and General Manager for Visa in Egypt, Libya, and Sudan, shared, "The She's Next initiative unleashes the limitless potential of women entrepreneurs, providing them with a cornerstone for expansion and growth. By collaborating with Shark Tank Egypt this year, we're giving women entrepreneurs a platform to showcase their ideas and gain strategic support. Our study also highlighted the positive economic impact of these businesses. Despite challenges, women entrepreneurs are driven by financial independence and building supportive work environments, and they are strongly moving towards adopting payment technologies and artificial intelligence to support their business growth." Hany El Deeb, Head of SME and Commercial Services at Commercial International Bank (CIB), added, "CIB is proud to continue its role as the exclusive banking partner for the third consecutive cycle of the She's Next initiative. This reinforces our commitment to empowering women entrepreneurs and supporting inclusive economic growth in Egypt. Our collaboration with Visa and Shark Tank reflects our belief that supporting entrepreneurship is a national priority for sustainable development, by providing a platform to showcase ideas and expand opportunities for women entrepreneurs." He further explained that women-led businesses represent a growing segment within the bank's SME portfolio, noting that CIB places their success at the core of its strategy to build a more inclusive and resilient economy. He clarified that the bank offers specialized financing programs to support women entrepreneurs, alongside initiatives for capacity building and technical support to boost growth. He also highlighted the bank's commitment to promoting gender diversity, with women making up 36% of its total employees. The digitization index results revealed several key indicators, most notably that 58% of women entrepreneurs face the challenge of gender discrimination. Meanwhile, 29% pointed to perceptions related to their ability to separate work and personal life, 29% to doubts about their decision-making and team leadership capabilities, and 27% to professional competition. The results also showed that 40% of women entrepreneurs face challenges in logistics, 38% in innovation, 37% in access to finance, and 35% in market expansion. Meanwhile, the top motivations for starting businesses were achieving a dream (29%), personal and professional development (29%), and financial independence (27%). Regarding funding, the study indicated that 63% of women entrepreneurs rely on personal savings, 43% on support from friends or family, and 38% on venture capital. Additional funding is often allocated for expansion and product development (37%) and increasing employee salaries (34%). Concerning payments, the results showed that 66% of women-owned businesses use both traditional and digital sales channels, and 49% of their revenue comes from online sales. Furthermore, 72% rely on both cash and non-cash payments, while only 3% use non-cash payments exclusively. In the field of artificial intelligence, the study revealed that 46% of women entrepreneurs use natural language processing tools like ChatGPT, 46% rely on data analysis and pattern recognition, and 56% use chatbots and virtual assistants. Additionally, 54% reported that these technologies improved transaction accuracy, 48% stated they accelerated operations, and 49% found they facilitated identity verification and authentication procedures. Visa concluded by noting that the launch of the "She's Next" initiative in Egypt represents a step to enhance women entrepreneurs' access to opportunities and resources. The company emphasized that the results reflect the resilience and innovation of women-led businesses and Visa's commitment to supporting economic inclusion, as women entrepreneurs continue to adopt digital and AI solutions to expand their businesses. Since 2020, Visa has globally invested $3.8 million in over 250 grants and training sessions for women-owned SMEs.

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