Examples of successful Saudi businesswomen and entrepreneurs

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has not overlooked the active and important role of women in society, as they are the ones who raise future generations, build nations, and achieve sustainable development. The Kingdom has been keen to empower Saudi women in all fields, believing in the importance of their role as essential partners in building the nation.

This contributed to the emergence of Saudi businesswomen who achieved great accomplishments in various fields, in response to Saudi Vision 2030, which seeks to increase the empowerment of women in the field of entrepreneurship and ascending to various leadership positions.

Statistics interpret the extent of the Kingdom's success in empowering women in the entrepreneurship sector:

• Women alone in the Kingdom owned more than 433 thousand commercial registrations for their own private establishments.

• The percentage of their ownership of institutional commercial registrations rose to 40% of the total number of institutional commercial registrations, which amounted to 1.08 million commercial registrations.

• Thus, women's participation rate in the labor market doubled from 17% to 37% in 2023.

• The percentage of women in middle and upper management positions also reached more than 30% in the public and private sectors.

In celebration of International Women's Day, we will review some inspiring examples of Saudi businesswomen, but before that, let us take you on a quick tour of the measures taken by the Kingdom to support and empower women.

What measures has Saudi Arabia taken to empower women and support their entrepreneurship?

According to the Saudi Ministry of Commerce, a number of procedures, initiatives, and programs have been implemented with the aim of empowering women in society and enhancing their role and participation in various aspects of economic life to increase their presence in economic and developmental activities, thereby reinforcing sustainable development and achieving Saudi Vision 2030, which aims to activate women's participation in the national economy.

These procedures include:

• Enabling women to start and practice commercial work without prior approval, after abolishing the requirement for the guardian's consent, and equalizing procedures between men and women.

• Granting women the ability to open and issue a commercial registration, request registration of trademarks, reserve a commercial name, practice liberal professions, and register commercial agencies, so that all commercial activities available to men are also permitted for women to practice.

• Facilitating access for businesswomen and owners of small and medium enterprises to government funding, as women contribute 40% of the entrepreneurs in the Kingdom, and non-discrimination between genders in obtaining financing services, and prohibiting discrimination in obtaining credit.

In addition to these measures, there are many initiatives launched with the aim of supporting and empowering women and emphasizing their leadership and active role and its impact on the economy in the Kingdom. For example:

• Women's Empowerment in Civil Service and Enhancement of Their Leadership Role Initiative:

This initiative aims to increase the percentage of women's participation in all government sectors and at all job levels by investing their energies and capabilities, expanding work options available to them, and increasing their participation to ensure equal opportunities between genders.

In addition to their assumption of senior structural leadership positions in government agencies through a set of supporting projects such as the National Platform for Female Leaders, which acts as a tool enabling entities to communicate and nominate female leaders for leadership positions, boards of directors, or official delegations in international forums based on smart search criteria.

The number of registered women on the platform with 8 years of experience or more has reached (7000) registrants, according to the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development in the Kingdom.

• Gender Balance in Civil Service Initiative:

This initiative is based on three main pillars:

• Enabling Environment.

• Institutional Level.

• Societal/Individual Level.

Where the enabling environment, regulatory and legislative frameworks, policies, regulations, and bylaws were analyzed to identify gaps that limit equal opportunities between genders, assess training needs, and provide recommendations regarding human resources practices and procedures that achieve gender equality.

• Leadership Training and Guidance Initiative:

Which aims to raise the percentage of women in middle and senior leadership positions in order to achieve the goals of increasing women's participation in the labor market by training female cadres in various sectors, whether in the public or private sector, and providing them with information that will enrich their knowledge base and equip them with everything they need to be a pioneering and proud role model for the nation.

In addition to many initiatives and programs that contribute to supporting and empowering women to achieve Saudi Vision 2030, which has resulted in the emergence of pioneering Saudi businesswomen in various fields.

5 Saudi Businesswomen Who Achieved Excellence and Leadership in Different Fields

• Lubna Olayan

She is a prominent Saudi businesswoman, serving as the CEO of the Olayan Financing Company, which her father founded in 1947, and which began as a shipping company and developed its activity with the oil boom to include restaurants, food, paper, and plastic industries, and has several joint ventures with international companies, most notably Coca-Cola, Burger King, and others.

This giant institution contributed to the prosperity of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the sixties and seventies of the last century, in addition to its pioneering role in empowering women through Lubna Olayan's contribution to launching the Olayan Program for National Women's Employment and Development in 2004.

She is the first Saudi woman to be elected as a board member of the Saudi Hollandi Bank in January 2005, and she is also the first woman to be appointed as a board member of a listed Saudi company when she was selected for the board of directors of Alawwal Bank in 2004.

Lubna Olayan is responsible for the business activities and investments of the Olayan Group in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East region, contributing to more than 40 giant companies in the region, and she has dealt with important multinational companies, and she is considered the largest investor in the Saudi stock market to this day.

Her work is not limited to business, trade, and finance, but she also strongly and resolutely advocates for the empowerment of women in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the world.

Ms. "Lubna Olayan" has achieved great accomplishments and received multiple awards during her career, including:

• She was selected among Time Magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2005.

• She was chosen by Arabian Business magazine as the second most powerful female personality in 2011.

• She was selected among Forbes' list of the Middle East's most powerful women several times, most recently in 2023.

• She received the Swedish Royal Order of the Polar Star, First Class, in 2012, making her the first Saudi woman to receive this medal, in recognition of her efforts to enhance relations between her country and Sweden as the CEO of the Olayan Institution.

• She was also appointed Chairwoman of Saudi British Bank (SAB) in October 2018, in a unique event that happened for the first time in the history of the Kingdom.

• Sarah Al-Suhaimi

Sarah Al-Suhaimi was born in 1979 in Riyadh, and grew up in an educated family environment that encouraged her to learn and excel. She obtained a bachelor's degree in accounting from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, and a General Leadership certificate from Harvard Business School.

Al-Suhaimi began her professional career in the investment field, where she held leadership positions in major financial institutions such as NCB Capital, Samba Financial Group, and Jadwa Investment. She was distinguished by her exceptional performance and extensive experience in the financial markets, which qualified her to assume high-level positions.

Perhaps one of her most prominent achievements is her appointment as head of the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) in 2017, as the first woman to hold this position in the history of the Kingdom. During her chairmanship of the Tadawul board, she succeeded in achieving many accomplishments, the most important of which are:

• Listing Tadawul in the FTSE Global Index.

• Increasing the number of investors in the Saudi market.

• Enhancing Tadawul's position as one of the most important stock exchanges in the region.

Al-Suhaimi is an inspiring role model for Saudi women, as she embodies women's ability to break barriers and achieve success in various fields. She actively contributed to the empowerment of Saudi women by participating in events and conferences concerned with women's empowerment, supporting initiatives aimed at enhancing women's role in society, and encouraging girls to enroll in scientific and technical majors.

It is worth noting that she has received many awards during her career, the most important of which are the Best Board Chairman Award from Arabian Business magazine for 2022, and the Best Female Personality in Business Award from Forbes Middle East magazine for 2019.

• Jomana Al-Rashid

She is a Saudi journalist who serves as the CEO of the Saudi Research and Media Group (SRMG) since 2020, and she is the first woman to hold this position since the group's establishment in 1972.

Jomana Al-Rashid was born in Saudi Arabia, studied political science at SOAS University of London, and obtained a master's degree in international journalism from City University, after which she began her professional career as a journalist at Al-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper. Jomana Al-Rashid achieved many accomplishments during her presidency of the Saudi Research and Media Group, the most important of which are:

• Restructuring the group's business to focus on digital content and innovation.

• Achieving significant growth in the group's revenues under her leadership, as its revenues increased by 27.6% in 2022.

• Launching many new initiatives such as Manga Arabia magazine and Raf Publishing House.

Jomana Al-Rashid is one of the most powerful media industry leaders in the Middle East and North Africa region and has a great impact on this industry, as she contributed to:

• Enhancing digital content.

• Supporting young talents.

• Developing the media industry in the region.

This contributed to her selection by Communicate magazine as the fifth most powerful media industry leader in the Middle East and North Africa region, and her selection by Forbes among its annual list of the 100 most powerful businesswomen in the Middle East for 2023.

• Basmah Al-Mayman

Basmah Al-Mayman is an inspiring role model for ambitious Arab women, as she holds the position of Regional Director for the Middle East in the United Nations World Tourism Organization, and she is the first Saudi and Gulf woman to achieve this accomplishment. Al-Mayman dedicates her efforts to promoting tourism in the region and developing the tourism sector in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, benefiting from her extensive experience in investment, development, and international cooperation.

Al-Mayman also chairs Falak Investment Company, a leading company in investing in startups, which holds an important position for young entrepreneurs. Al-Mayman has received many recognitions, as the World Bank classified her as the youngest CEO in the Middle East and North Africa region for 2020.

She also participates in the membership of many boards of directors and organizations, which reflects her deep belief in the importance of teamwork and cooperation to achieve sustainable development.

• Razan Alazzouni

From the heart of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Razan Alazzouni, the fashion designer, launched, blending her innate passion and boundless creativity to present a unique brand that carried her name, and created a distinctive mark in the world of fashion and style.

Razan was born in the Kingdom, and grew up in an environment rich in culture and heritage, which nourished her passion for beauty and design from a young age. Razan faced many challenges on her journey, but she did not give up; rather, those challenges drove her to pursue her dreams.

Razan Alazzouni studied art and design at Boston University, where she honed her skills and opened new horizons for her creativity, and joined the School of Fine Arts at the university, to complete her educational path and enrich her experiences in this field to then establish her brand Razan Alazzouni in 2008, and it quickly gained great appreciation from lovers of haute couture.

Her designs were distinguished by captivating femininity and soft cuts, using the finest fabrics and attractive colors, which contributed to attracting international stars such as Emma Roberts, Elizabeth Banks, and Kendall Jenner, which enhanced her position on the global stage.

Razan was selected in the list of women who created leading brands in the Middle East in 2021, to be the first Saudi and the eighth on the Forbes list.

Ms. Razan held several positions, including:

• She worked as a teacher at Dhahran Ahliyya Schools between 2008 and 2010.

• She served as the Creative Director at the Saudi Cancer Foundation between 2008 and 2015.

• She contributed to the launch of her first children's clothing collection in collaboration with (MoonChild) in Kuwait in 2020.

Razan's designs were not limited to clothing only, but she also designed distinctive jewelry and shoes that meet the taste of modern women, which qualified her to participate in the (100 Saudi Brands) exhibition held in New York as the first international exhibition showcasing Saudi creative talents.

During this exhibition, she presented a luxurious, hand-embroidered wedding dress, embodying the features of Saudi heritage in an elegant and creative way, to be an inspiring role model for Arab women, and an example of ambition and determination to achieve dreams no matter the difficulties.

Final Word

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has taken serious steps to empower women in all fields to be among the entrepreneurs participating in supporting the economy and achieving Saudi Vision 2030, which led to the emergence of Saudi businesswomen who proved their worth in entrepreneurship and achieved great accomplishments in various fields, becoming an inspiring model for girls and women all over the world.

These honorable examples have proven the extent of the potential and capabilities of Saudi and Arab women to overcome all challenges with determination, persistence, and perseverance, to achieve success in different sectors and be an influential member of society and a contributor to supporting the economy and achieving sustainability and growth.