Every year, more and more women are leaving their mark across industries and their fields of specialization, and there is no better example of their impact than in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. In fact, one such country making headlines is the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia whose trailblazers have not only shown that they’re quite as capable as their male colleagues, they’ve also been named amongst the most powerful businesswomen in the region by Forbes.
Also featuring on the list are seven businesswomen from neighboring United Arab Emirates (UAE), including Raja Easa Al Gurg of Raja Saleh Easa Al Gurg Group, Renuka Jagtiani of Landmark Group, and Hana Al Rostamani of First Abu Dhabi Bank in the top 3.
When compiling the list, Forbes reportedly considered the follow factors: revenue, assets, market capitalization, number of employees working for each woman, recent accomplishments, designation, and more. In total, the list comprises of representatives of 19 different nationalities and 17 sectors, with banking and financial services sector being the most dominant with 16 entries.
In total, Forbes named four Saudi businesswomen as amongst the most influential in the region: Sarah Al-Suhaimi, Hutham Olayan, Lubna Olayan, and Basma Al-Maiman.
Ranked fourth is Sarah Al-Suhaimi who made headlines by becoming the first woman to run the Saudi Stock Exchange, the largest in the region, via the Saudi Tadawul Group. She is also a Board Member at the Cultural Development Fund, Saudi Arabian Airlines Public Agency, and Saudi Telecom Company. In addition, she is a trustee of the International Financial Reporting Standards Foundation.
Hutham Olayan is ranked sixth. She is the current chairwoman at Olayan Group, a contracting and trading company founded by Suliman Olayan in 1947. She was also appointed to the board at Brookfield Asset Management Inc. Prior to her current positions, she handled the group’s investment activities in the Americas till 2017. Today, it owns about 4.9% of Credit Suisse, 20.3% of the Saudi British Bank (SABB), and real estate assets such as 550 Madison Avenue in New York, Knightsbridge Estate in London, and the Hotel Ritz in Madrid.
Lubna Olayan comes at number 11. Since 2019, she is the chairwoman at Saudi British Bank (SABB), and had also chaired the board of Alawwal Bank before its merger with SABB in 2021. Prior, she served as CEO of Olayan Financing Company, a subsidiary of Olayan Group, for over 33 years before announcing her retirement.
Last but not least is Basmah Abdulaziz Al-Mayman in 15th place. She is the Regional Director for the Middle East at the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), making her its first woman from the Gulf region to hold a leading position. In cooperation with the UNWTO, she founded the World Tourism Academy in Saudi Arabia. Furthermore, she was even named one of the region's youngest CEOs by the World Bank in 2020.
