10 Arab Female Entrepreneurs You Need to Know

Business is business, it knows no gender no age or what so ever. A lot of support has been projected on women in the Arab world, allowing them to excel to their fullest potential. We are also here to praise those women, here are 10 Arab Female Entrepreneurs to look up to. 

Buthaina Al Ansari

Buthaina is the founder of Qatariat – a company that helps Qatari women gain access into the workforce. The company is made up of three parts: Qatariat Training and Development, Qatariat Magazine and Qatariat Development Consultancy.

Nayla Al Khaja

Nayla is an Emirati pioneer in the film industry, gaining the title of the first female film producer in Dubai. Having founded the film and television production company D-Seven Motion Pictures in 2005, Nayla’s company works with clients such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Vogue, Nike, Nivea, Gucci, Canon and LG.

Wafa Al-Zerrouki

Wafa has been helping women to get out of poverty in rural Morocco and North Africa. Establishing the Wafa Association of Artisan Women in 2003, Wafa’s organization aims to help women sell their artisanal goods and be able to make a living from this. The organization originally started in the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco and did so well that it spread to other parts of North Africa.

Dr Hayat Sindi

Hayat Sindi is one of the most influential Arab women in the world when it comes to medical science. Currently a visiting scholar at Harvard University, the Saudi national aims to raise awareness of science among females in Saudi Arabia and the Muslim world. Hayat is the co-founder of ‘Diagnostics For All’ – a not-for-profit organization devoted to offering a low-cost and simple point-of-care diagnostics tool for developing countries, especially those who live rurally and don’t have easy access to hospitals and medical facilities.

Haifa Al Kaylani

Palestinian born Haifa is the Founder Chairperson of the Arab International Women’s Forum. Raised in Lebanon and studying in Beirut and Oxford University in the UK, Haifa has travelled to more than 60 countries around the world and is fluent in five languages. The Arab International Women’s Forum is a not-for-profit organization that aims to give Arab women a voice. It helps them showcase their talents in both business and public life. 

Sheikha Hanadi

A mover and shaker in the business world, Qatari national Sheikha has her finger in a few pies. Starting her career as an Assistant Lecturer in Economics at Qatar University, Sheikha is the Founder and Chairperson of Amwal, Founder and CEO of Al Waab City Real Estate development project, Vice Chairman of Nasser Bin Khaled Al-Thani & Sons Group and is also Founding Chairperson at Q-Auto. Amwal, which was then known as the Qatar Ladies Investment Company, was the first investment company to receive a license from Qatar Central Bank to carry out investment banking and asset and wealth management in Qatar.

Maryam Matar

Emirati scientist, Maryam Matar, is the Chairperson and Founder of UAE Genetic Diseases Association – a not-for-profit organization that works to reduce the frequency and impact of common genetic disorders in the UAE.

Jouhayna Samawi

Syrian national Jouhayna is an art entrepreneur. Along with her husband and two cousins, she set up Ayyam Gallery in Damascus in 2006. This gallery showcased Syria’s art history and put a number of Syrian artists under the international spotlight.

Amani El Tunsi

Amani has created a platform for Egyptian women to speak their minds and discuss issues that they may not feel comfortable about discussing in their day-to-day lives. Banat wa Bas is an online space where issues such as sexual harassment, marriage and spinsterhood are thrown around and dissected by the women of Egypt.

Wafa Al Rimi

Wafa is a talented woman on the rise. At only 16 years of age, the Yemeni founded Creative Generation, an organization that creates solar powered appliances to use during power outages. The idea grew when Yemen was in the midst of the Arab Spring.

Image Source: Unsplash

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