Speaker Detail

Shymaa Bedaiwy Allam is a financial inclusion and women economic empowerment expert. Her professional experience is focused on microcredit and women economic empowerment in Egypt and the Arab countries. She assisted in drafting Microfinance law for private sector companies in Egypt earlier in 2008; worked as a policy development specialist at a USAID funded activity on Micro-Enterprise Finance (EMF); and she was the first woman regulator of Microfinance activities in Egypt upon the enacting of the microfinance law in 2014.  

Shymaa’s current research interests are around “The impact of Microfinance regulations on empowering women in Egypt”, aims to map the challenges and opportunities for women at the bottom of the economic pyramid in order to prevent over-indebtedness and other potential harm to women entrepreneurs. 

Through her career, Miss Bedaiwy joined various organization working on poverty alleviation issues, her portfolio includes working with the Egyptian government, International Non-Governmental organizations, International Donors, and the UN.  

Shymaa Bedaiwy Allam is pursuing her Doctorate studies at the University of Massachusetts Boston in the field of Global Inclusion and Social Development. In 2014, Shymaa completed her Master’s in Sustainable International Development from Brandeis University, and has more than 15 years’ experience in Social Development and Financial Inclusion in Egypt and the Arab countries.