Shaimaa Omar, a 27-year-old girl from the south of Egypt, is challenging gender stereotypes in her homeland and beyond. When she was 24, she established her own company, Biomix. In cooperation with local farmers, Shaimaa is transforming natural agricultural waste into biogas and organic fertilizers.
One of the biggest obstacles in front of her when she started, was the lack of trust of farmers’ site. They were not used to doing business with a woman, especially one so young. Her family also had some doubts at the beginning, mainly because she had to travel a long distance to rural areas and had no 9-5 schedule.
Due to the centralized economy in the country, it was difficult for her to raise awareness about what she was doing. As she established her business in a remote area, she did not have access to the few organizations that supported startups in bigger cities.
She did not give up and continued with her efforts. Her startup now has support from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).