Forbes Middle East has released the ‘100 Most Powerful Businesswomen’ ranking, featuring women from 27 fields and 27 countries.
With 15 and 12 entries respectively, Emirati and Egyptian businesswomen have outperformed everyone else on the list. They are followed by Saudi Arabia with 11 entries, Kuwait with 8, and Lebanon, Oman, and Qatar with 6 each. Remarkably, a Pakistani businesswoman, Shaista Asif, has also been included in the overall top 10 rankings.
23 out of 100 businesswomen belong to the banking and financial sectors, while conglomerates and investments fields have 11 and 8 women, respectively. Improving by 2 spots, Hana Al Rostamani, Group CEO of the First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), has been ranked as the most powerful businesswoman in the Middle East.
Here is the list of 15 Emirati women ranked in Forbes’ 100 Most Powerful Businesswomen in 2023 in the Middle East:
| Sr. | Name | Rank | Position |
| 1. | Hana Al Rostamani | 1 | Group CEO FAB |
| 2. | Raja Easa Al Gurg | 2 | Chairperson & Managing Director of Easa Saleh Al Gurg Group (ESAG) |
| 3. | Maryam Al Suwaidi | 11 | Expert Assessor, Financial Action Task Force (FATF) |
| 4. | Raja Al Mazrouei | 24 | Managing Director and Acting CEO of Etihad Credit Insurance (ECI) |
| 5. | Aisha Bin Bishr | 29 | Vice Chairwoman of Emaar Development |
| 6. | Suzanne Al Anani | 36 | CEO of Dubai Aviation Engineering Projects (DAEP) |
| 7. | Saeeda Jaffar | 40 | Senior Vice President & Group Country Manager in GCC of Visa |
| 8. | Dalya Al Muthanna | 41 | President of the Global Chief Strategy & Operations at GE International Markets |
| 9. | Tayba Al Hashemi | 46 | CEO of ADNOC Sour Gas |
| 10. | Rola Abu Manneh | 55 | CEO of Standard Chartered Bank (UAE) |
| 11. | Najla Al Midfa | 58 | CEO of the Sharjah Entrepreneurship Center (Sheraa) |
| 12. | Nadia Zaal | 63 | Director of FIVE Global Holdings and the CEO of the Al Barari project |
| 13. | Hind bin Khirbash | 73 | CEO of Emirates National Investment (ENI) |
| 14. | Muna Al Mehairi | 81 | CEO of Fertil |
| 15. | Amna Al Owais | 96 | Chief Registrar at the DIFC Courts |
Here are the Middle East’s 10 most influential businesswomen in 2023:
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Position |
| 1 | Hana Al Rostamani | Emirati | Group CEO, FAB |
| 2 | Raja Easa Al Gurg | Emirati | Chairperson & Managing Director, Easa Saleh Al Gurg (ESAG) |
| 3 | Lubna S. Olayan | Saudi | Chair of Saudi British Bank; Chair of the Executive Committee and Deputy Chair of Olayan Financing Company |
| 4 | Shaikha Khaled Al Bahar | Kuwaiti | Deputy Group CEO, National Bank of Kuwait Group |
| 5 | Renuka Jagtiani | Indian | Chairwoman, Landmark Group |
| 6 | Wadha Ahmed Al Khateeb | Kuwaiti | CEO, Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) |
| 7 | Sarah Al Suhaimi | Saudi | Chairperson, Saudi Tadawul Group |
| 8 | Hanan Mohamed Al Kuwari | Qatari | Managing Director, Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) |
| 9 | Shaista Asif | Pakistani | Cofounder & Group COO, PureHealth Group |
| 10 | Randa Sadik | Jordanian | CEO, Arab Bank |
