First Name: Salma
Last Name: Soliman
Country: Egypt
Education Level: MBA fromThe Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport (AASTMT) Cairo, Egypt
Project Focus: Digital Trade Facilitation | Egypt–China Trade | Women-Led SMEs | Market Access | Trade Transparency | Financial Literacy | Cross-Border Business | Inclusive Economic Empowerment
I am an academic professional and MSc student in International Trade. I am specializing in Egypt–China trade in order to help students, aspiring entrepreneurs, and especially women address the gap in practical trade and financial knowledge that limits their employability and global competitiveness by providing clear and applied trade guidance, leading to stronger business readiness and better access to international opportunities.
Across the MENA region, businesses face urgent economic and trade challenges that call for practical, locally grounded, and innovative solutions.
The challenge I address is the complexity and lack of transparency in cross-border trade between Egypt and China.
Small and medium enterprises (SMEs), entrepreneurs, and local communities struggle to access international markets, navigate regulations, and build trust in their transactions. This challenge is becoming more urgent amid digital transformation and global economic instability, while existing solutions often remain inaccessible, under-trusted, or poorly adapted to the real needs of businesses seeking international growth.
Through the MENA Impact Women programme, I defined the strategic direction of Seshara, a proposed impact-driven initiative designed to respond to this challenge.
The concept is to develop a digital trade facilitation platform intended to support women-led SMEs and students through practical tools, strategic partnerships, and transparent communication models that can help them approach international trade with greater confidence.
Its proposed added value lies in combining professional expertise, local market knowledge, and a clear social-impact mission, creating the basis for international trade that is safer, simpler, and more accessible.
This matters today because Egypt and the wider MENA region are undergoing rapid economic and technological change that is reshaping both opportunity and vulnerability in international trade.
Economic pressure, digital transformation, youth unemployment, and limited access to trusted trade platforms are no longer distant concerns — they are immediate challenges facing businesses, entrepreneurs, and local economies.
Seshara responds directly to one of these urgent needs with a practical, impact-driven solution capable of generating measurable results, empowering SMEs, and contributing to more inclusive and resilient trade relations between Egypt and China.
I am Salma Gamal Soliman, an academic professional and freelance contributor from Egypt, with seven years of experience in higher education teaching and student support. My work focuses on transforming my skills into practical solutions that respond to real societal needs.
Through my participation in the MENA Impact Women programme, I developed the concept of Seshara, an impact-oriented initiative that connects my professional expertise with an urgent challenge facing my community: the complexity and lack of transparency in cross-border trade between Egypt and China.
I believe that women’s skills, when strategically positioned and connected to real needs, can become powerful tools for social innovation, economic opportunity, and sustainable development.
Member of the MENA Impact Women Expert Network
Salma Gamal Soliman is a member of the MENA Impact Women Expert Network, a regional network of women professionals, researchers and practitioners contributing expertise to research, strategic empowerment and initiatives that transform girls’ and women’s capabilities into opportunities across the MENA region.
Partnerships, collaborations, consulting assignments, research initiatives, training programmes and funded projects involving network members are coordinated through MENA Impact Women to ensure quality, contextual relevance, strategic alignment and collective impact.
For partnerships, collaborations and professional enquiries:
editor@menaimpactwomen.org