Bassant Helmi, WiB Secretary General, is an expert in business and international relations with 28 years of working experience developing, managing & executing business and development projects in the MENA region, Africa and Germany. She started her career in 1994 in Egypt heading the economic department of the German-Arab Chamber of Industry and Commerce (GACIC). In 2000, Ms Helmi moved to Berlin to represent the German-Arab Chamber of Industry and Commerce (GACIC). In 2001, she co-founded the German non-profit organization, Global Project Partners e.V and has been managing it since then. In 2013, she was chosen to join the BMW Foundation Responsible Leaders Network and supported the foundation in building its network in the MENA region. Further, in 2015 she was appointed as an advisory board member of the GACIC for two terms. In 2017, she founded her company MENA Business GmbH and co-initiated: the Digital Arabia Network (DAN) which is connecting the digital actors in the MENA region as well as the MENA tech diaspora in Germany. DAN has more than 2500 members and is the lab for the digital future of the MENA region. She is currently the Co-Chair of DAN.

During her career, Ms Helmi was responsible for the development & successful execution of a large number of projects specifically geared towards supporting MENA businesswomen and their associations, vocational and educational training, export consultancy for developing countries and knowledge transfer in the field of renewable energies and digital transformation.

Ms Helmi is proficient in Arabic, German and English. She was born in Cairo and went to the German School. She received her Bachelor in Communication Science and International Relations from the American University in Cairo. She received the Chevening Scholarship in 1996 and obtained her MSc degree from the London School of Economics (LSE). In 2022, Ms Helmi was chosen in Germany as one of the most inspirational women above 40.