The new application called Waselni was created in the summer by Mariam Abultewi who is now the first female CEO in Gaza. (Photo courtesy: Patrick Kingsley/ The Guardian)
Gazan female entrepreneur launches ride-sharing app
The new application called Waselni was created in the summer by Mariam Abultewi
A young Gazan entrepreneur released a new ride-sharing application that allows citizens in the Gaza Strip to find nearby taxis and car-driving Facebook friends when connected to a Wi-Fi network, The Guardian reported Sunday.
The new application called "Waselni" was created in the summer by Mariam Abultewi who is now the first female CEO in Gaza.
“Drivers spend a lot of time there [al-Nuseirat refugee camp] trying to find the right passenger, and the passengers spend a long time in the street waiting for the right taxi,” Abultewi said.
The startup has now around 2.000 subscribers and 70 drivers who all give a percentage of their Wassaleni-related earnings to the company.
Abultewi - who conceived the app in 2011 - launched the service in May, but when the Gaza conflict began over the summer, she halted the service.
“We now have happy customers, but recently we want to relocate Waselni to other markets, because Gaza is not stable,” she told Al Arabiya News last month during the fifth global entrepreneurship summit in the Moroccan city of Marrakech.
Abultewi is now looking to start the service in Morocco.
