Dubai: The majority of the region’s powerful women work in family businesses, according to Forbes Middle East’s ranking of ‘The 200 Most Powerful Arab Women’. A total of 85 women were in the ranking.
Forbes’ ranking of The 200 Most Powerful Arab Women includes women in family business, government and executive management roles that have made fundamental contributions in the fields of business and politics.
“Not just regionally, but worldwide, there is still much to be done to engineer a level playing field between the sexes, but by showcasing the achievements and unlimited potential of Arab women, we are one step closer to balancing the equation,” stated Khuloud Al Omian, Editor-in-Chief of Forbes Middle East.
She said that female workforce participation stands at around 24 per cent in the Middle East.
Family businesses attracted 85 entries, accounting for 43 per cent of the total. Family businesses that are not listed were excluded from the ranking.
The UAE had the highest number of entries for the category, with 15 Emirati businesswomen, followed by Saudi Arabia, with 12 entries.
Raja Easa Al Gurg, managing director of UAE-based Easa Saleh Al Gurg Group, took the top spot, followed by Lubna Olayan, CEO of Olayan Financing Company in Saudi Arabia, and Mona Almoayyed, MD of YK Almoayyed & Sons Group in Bahrain.
Meanwhile, 59 of the women featured in the ranking were in government positions, led by Shaikha Lubna Al Qasimi, Minister of Development and International Cooperation. Dr Rawya Al Busaidi from Oman came second, followed by Hind Subaih Al Subaih from Kuwait.
Nine of the women in the ranking were from Saudi Arabia. Algeria came second, followed by Jordan, Morocco and Oman, with six entries each.
In the executive management category, 56 women were featured, taking up C-level, board, chair and presidential roles.
Women from Egypt topped the ranking, with 14 entries, followed by Kuwait with 10 entries, and Lebanon, the UAE and Saudi Arabia with six.
Taking the top spot was Shaikha K. Al Bahar, Deputy Group CEO of National Bank of Kuwait, followed by Lebanon’s Nayla Hayek of Swatch, and the UAE’s Salma Ali Saif Bin Hareb.
