Noha Ashry

Egyptian social entrepreneur who created the first female-led digital marketplace empowering African women artisans.

Noha Ashry (b.1965) disrupted traditional trade models through her 1998 launch of Womena, a pioneering online platform connecting African women artisans to global markets. Her platform's blockchain-based payment system eliminated middlemen, ensuring artisans received 90% of sales revenue compared to traditional 30% margins. By 2005, Womena had enabled over $10M in direct sales for 15,000+ women across 22 African countries.

Ashry's 2002 World Economic Forum presentation introduced the Women's Economic Inclusion Index, now used by UNCTAD to measure digital access for marginalized groups. Her Silicon Valley-inspired training centers taught 500 Egyptian women to code and manage e-commerce operations by 2000.

Her 2004 collaboration with Oxfam created the Artisan Empowerment Network, which trained women in conflict zones like Darfur to produce marketable crafts. Ashry's advocacy led to Egypt's 2005 Digital Inclusion Act, mandating free internet access for women's cooperatives. Her work inspired similar platforms in Morocco and Kenya, with Womena's model replicated in 8 African nations by 2010.