100 MOST POWERFUL BUSINESSWOMEN 2025

Women in MENA are leading some of the largest local and global companies and leaving an immense impact across industries, from banking powerhouses to technology visionaries. Once again, Hana AI Rostamani, Group CEO of the First Abu Dhabi Bank- the U.A.E.'s largest bank-leads the list for the third consecutive year. She was also recognized for the fourth time on Forbes' list of the World's Most Powerful Women 2024, ranking 60 globally.

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This year's 100 Most Powerful Businesswomen list showcases women from 32 sectors and 29 nationalities. The banking and financial services sector dominates with 25 leaders, followed by healthcare, and technology with nine each, and five in venture capital. The U.A.E. is home to 46 entries, followed by 18 in Egypt and 9 in Saudi Arabia.

Methodology

For this list, we considered:

• The impact that the leader has had on the region and the markets that she serves.

• The achievements and performance of the leader during the last year.

• Their role within the company.

• The size of the business in terms of revenues, assets, AUM, market capitalization, and number of employees.

• Sustainability and CSR initiatives.

• Years of industry experience and the time the leader has served in their current role.

• The other roles they currently hold.

• Leaders of family businesses were excluded.

1 Hana AI Rostamani

Group CEO

Company: First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) Nationality: Emirati Residence: U.A.E. Sector: Banking & Financial Services

AI Rostamani joined FAB in 2000 and was appointed group CEO in 2021. FAB is the largest bank in the U.A.E. in terms of assets. In the first nine months of 2024, the bank recorded $3.5 billion in net profits and $334.8 billion in assets. It issued $245 million in new financing to SMEs during Q3 2024. AI Rostamani is also the Principal of the Steering Group of the UN-convened bank-led Net Zero Banking Alliance, chairwoman of the UN's Global Council on the Sustainable Development Goals, and sits on numerous boards, including Buna and the Institute of International Finance.

2 Shaikha Khaled AI Bahar

Deputy Group CEO