Nadia Ahmed Abdou is the first female to be appointed governor in Egypt after she was sworn into office on Thursday as the head of the Nile Delta Governorate of Beheira.

Abdou’s appointment is part of a limited cabinet reshuffle of nine ministers and five governors.

Abdou graduated from the Faculty of Engineering and Chemistry at Alexandria University in 1965. She is the mother of two sons, both of whom also graduated from the same faculty. 

Abdou was appointed deputy governor of Beheira in 2013 by the then-governor for her role in development and innovation in the governorate.

She founded the Arab Countries Water Utilities Association (ACUWA) and is a member of the general assembly of the World Water Council.

Abdou also headed the Egyptian Holding Company for Water and Wastewater from 2002 till 2012, and is a member of the National Council for Women (NCW) and the Businessmen Association in Alexandria. 

Abdou’s political career began in 2010, when she won a seat in parliament with the now-defunct National Democratic Party (NDP).

The NDP, which is believed to have been responsible for election rigging, was dissolved during the events of 25 January 2011 uprising that toppled the former long-time ruling president Hosni Mubarak.