Five Bahrainis Named in Forbes Middle East Top Businesswomen 2023 List

Five Bahraini women were named in Forbes Middle East's annual list of the region’s most powerful businesswomen for 2023, including Mona Yousuf Almoayyed who ranked first in the Kingdom and 16th regionally.

Hana Al Rostamani, Group CEO of the First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), climbed two spots to land first place this year. Raja Easa Al Gurg, Chairperson and Managing Director of Easa Saleh Al Gurg Group, and Lubna S. Olayan, Chair of the Saudi British Bank and Chair of the Executive Committee and Deputy Chair of Olayan Financing Company, rounded up the top three in the Forbes Middle East list.

The 2023 Forbes Middle East's list of the region’s most powerful businesswomen had representation for 27 nationalities. The most represented countries on the list were UAE (15), Egypt (12), and Saudi Arabia (11).

The five Bahraini businesswomen who made the 2023 Forbes Middle East list are:

Mona Yousuf Almoayyed

Ranking: 16th

Almoayyed is the Managing Director of Y.K. Almoayyed & Sons. Almoayyed is also chairwoman and head of the Audit Committee for Ebdaa Bank and she is a board member of the Arab International Women’s Forum.

Najla Al Shirawi 

Ranking: 69th

Al Shirawi is CEO of SICO BSC. Al Shirawi has more than 25 years of experience in investment banking and has been CEO of SICO since 2014. Under her management, SICO doubled its assets from $2.1 billion in 2019 to $4.1 billion in 2021.

Dalal Al Qais

Ranking:83rd

Al Qais is the Group CEO of Bahrain Development Bank. Al Qais has been the Group CEO of the bank since 2021. Al Qais has a lot of experience in her field since she worked with Bahrain Islamic Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, and United Bank. 

Narjes Farookh Jamal

Ranking: 90th

Jamal is the COO of Bahrain Bourse. As COO, her responsibilities include digital transformation, embedding ESG practices, and building partnerships with GCC exchanges. Under her management, Bahrain Bourse's market capitalization was $30.2 billion as of January 2023. 

Suzy Salman Kanoo

Ranking: 92nd

Kanoo is the President and CEO of Khalil bin Ebrahim Kanoo Company. Kanoo is also a member of the YPO top CEO network and authored a book titled Hear Us Speak: Letters from Arab Women in 2021.

Image source: Mona Almoayyed official website