Who is Saniya Afify from Midaq Alley and what is their importance?

Saniya Afify is the miserly owner of house, whose first floor she rents to Dr. Booshy and middle to Umm Hamida, Afify has been a widow for ten years and for most of that time has believed she is better off. Her late husband treated her badly and squandered her savings. She has rethought her position and seeks the services of marriage broker Umm Hamida, whose rent she grudgingly agrees to forget for life in exchange for her services.