Seven Emirati Women Named Among Forbes' Most Influential Businesswomen In MENA

 Seven Emirati women were named among this year’s list of MENA’s most influential and successful businesswomen by Forbes that featured representatives of 19 different nationalities and 17 sectors. The UAE and Egypt scored the most entries with seven each, followed by Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Kuwait, and Oman, with four entries each.

The banking and financial services sector is the most dominant with 16 entries, followed by diversified conglomerates and the retail sector with six entries each, and the technology sector with five.

Over 25% of the women on this year’s list are leaders of regional offices and divisions for multinational companies, such as Saeeda Jaffar of Visa, Derya Matras of Meta, Sophie Doireau of Cartier, and Rima Assi of McKinsey & Company. And there are 12 newcomers, eight of which are based in the UAE, two in Qatar, and two in Saudi Arabia.

Emirati women on the list are as follows: -Raja Easa Al Gurg, Group Managing Director and Vice-Chairwoman of Easa Saleh Al Gurg Group.

-Hana Al Rostamani, Group Chief Executive of First Abu Dhabi Bank.

-Maryam Buti Al Suwaidi, Chief Executive of the Securities and Commodities Authority.

-Huda Al Rostamani, Managing Director of AW Rostamani Group.

-Saeeda Jaffar, Senior Vice President and GCC Group Country Manager of Visa.

-Najla Ahmed Al Midfa, Chief Executive of Sharjah Entrepreneurship Centre.

-Rola Abu Manneh, Chief Executive of Standard Chartered Bank in UAE.