The Definitive Guide to Living in the Capital , Cairo , Egypt

With the highly anticipated second edition of Forbes Middle East 30 Under 30 Ceremony just around the corner, the prestigious ceremony runs from January 11-13 at the breathtaking Gouna. This event serves as a platform to honour the remarkable accomplishments of 30 individuals under 30 from the list announced earlier in November 2023, carefully curated across four diverse categories: commerce and finance, social impact, entertainment, and science & technology. Forbes seeks to spotlight the exceptional achievements of these young talents. The list showcases inspirational figures, including several Egyptians. Here are nine inspirations from the list who you must get to know!

Amr Kawashty & Ezz Tarek (Commerce & Finance)

Reshaping the realm of socks in Egypt, In Your Shoe instantly took the fashion scene by storm. In Your Shoe is a direct-to-consumer fashion brand that now has more than 75 product lines and seven stores across Egypt. The list features the masterminds behind In Your Shoe, and Kawashty and Tarek are currently in negotiations with their mall partner, Majid Al Futtaim, to open a flagship store in Egypt, as well as popup stores in the UAE, making 2023 their biggest year yet!

Saeed Talaat, Youssef Galal, Hashim Ibrahim, & Walid Abou El Nour (Commerce & Finance)

Working with six countries across Africa and the GCC and partnering with The Egyptian Ministry of Education, Klickit offers a fee management system for educational institutions. It is currently working with more than 55,000 public schools and 400 private and international schools, serving over 25 million students in Egypt. With their oldest founder being 28 years old, it wasn’t a surprise to spot the trio on the 30 Under 30 list, celebrating their groundbreaking success and anticipating the surprises Klickit will bring to the region.

Mohamed Ehab, Omar Rezk, & Menna Zaghloul (Commerce & Finance)

Ehab, Rezk, and Zaghloul cofounded Entlaq as an accelerator programme and consultancy services firm. It launched its programmes in January 2023 to focus on early-stage to pre-seed startups with two annual cohorts. Each cohort features a four to six-month acceleration programme with an investment ticket of up to $50,000 per startup. Entlaq has also launched initiatives to support the Egyptian ecosystem through partnerships with the World Youth Forum, the UNDP, the International Labour Organization, and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization. With founders as young as 27 and their oldest founder, Menna Zaghloul, 29, Entlaq was an example of youth in action.

Abdullah Kamel (Science & Tech)

Founding Adam.ai in 2017, Kamel is the mastermind behind the B2B meeting management platform that breaks barriers, captures meeting content, and manages the whole meeting lifecycle from scheduling and running to following up post-meeting. Today, Adam.ai works with over 16,000 teams across the U.S., Canada, Europe, and the Middle East,

Omar Eldessouky & Mohamed El Khatieb (Science & Tech)

Eldessouky and El Khatieb cofounded the proptech startup Seqoon in 2021 as a property co-ownership digital platform, enabling fractional ownership of vacation homes. It has launched in El Gouna and on the North Coast and is now eyeing other holiday destinations. At ages 22 and 23, the founders behind Seqoon have sold more than 14 shares or stocks so far.

Bassant Hemida (Entertainment)

Bassant Hemida, one of Egypt’s most influential women in sports, has earned a place on the list. Hemida won a gold medal in the women’s 200-metre race at the Fanny Blankers-Koen Games in 2023, achieving a new national record of 22.41 seconds. She also earned two gold medals in the 100-metre and 200-metre races at the Mediterranean Games in 2022, making her the first-ever Egyptian athlete to win gold in the 100-metre sprint. Hemida was appointed ambassador for the U.N. global initiative Generation Unlimited in Egypt, Shabab Balad. It made her an athlete with an impact to be recognised at only 26 years of age.

Hana Goda (Entertainment)

Beginning her sports journey at the tender age of four, Al Ahly’s Hana Goda started playing table tennis and became the youngest winner of a Continental Cup title by winning the women’s singles championship at the ITTF-Africa Cup at 14. In September 2023, Goda won the women’s singles at the 2023 ITTF African Championships and qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympics. She was ranked second in the International Table Tennis Federation’s U-17 Girls’ Singles and 31st in the Women’s Singles as of October 2023. Goda is one of the youngest people on the list at the age of 15. 

Omar Emara (Social Impact)

As the mastermind behind FreshSource, Omar Emara made it to the list in celebration of the social impact of his startup. Helping reduce food loss by managing the sourcing, distribution, and delivery of fresh produce, Fresh Source is a game changer. The company has generated over $200,000 in extra farmer income and claims its model leads to an average of 15% increase in producers’ income and a 10% reduction in business costs.

Ahmed Samir Ead (Social Impact)

Known for his online show, Egychology, Ahmed Samir Ead is amassing over 1.2 million subscribers and 38.3 million views as of October 2023. Since 2021, Ead has partnered with Kerning Cultures to launch the Superbly Scientific Podcast, which secured the #1 spot on Apple during its first and second seasons. The assistant teaching professor is also one of the University of Alberta’s youngest teaching staff members at 29.