Women are disproportionately underrepresented in corporate boardrooms across the Middle East, North Africa, and Turkey (MENA-T), according to a new report, noting that certain nations, such as the UAE and Morocco, have taken initiatives to increase their presence.
The report by Corporate Women Directors International, an organization that encourages women’s participation in corporate boards globally, said that more than half of listed businesses in the Middle East, North Africa, and Turkey have all-male boards, with women holding only 8.6% of seats in 1,148 listed companies.
Boardrooms in the MENA-T region are mainly male-dominated, with men holding 91.4% of directorships. Clearly, there is ample room for improvement, said the study.
The majority of businesses in the mentioned region do not acknowledge the advantages of gender diversity in boardrooms, says the report which was released on the second day of the 2023 Global Summit of Women in Dubai and reported on by The National media.
In the 16 MENA-T economies that were analyzed, only 8.6% of the 1,148 listed enterprises have female board members.
However, MENA-T may be on the verge of transformation in terms of corporate boardroom gender diversity, while currently placing last globally, judging by policy initiatives implemented by many governments in the area.
The second-largest economy in the Arab world, the UAE, became the first nation in the MENA-T region to impose a quota for women in corporate boardrooms.
In the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2022, the UAE was rated first among Arab nations after moving up four ranks in a year, from 72nd to 68th overall.
A large disparity between the 16 MENA-T countries, ranging from a high of 18.2% to a low of 1.8%, is hidden behind the less than 9% total presence of women on boards, the report said.
Morocco tops the list, with women accounting for 18.2% of board seats at the 100 largest listed companies. Turkey comes in second with a 17.9% female presence.
The kingdom’s gender diversity in boards has been acknowledged internationally, with women chairing some of the country’s most successful businesses.
This year’s Forbes list of the 100 most powerful businesswomen in the Middle East includes 104 women from 27 nationalities working in 27 different sectors, and five Moroccans made the cut.
In 2022, a total of 3 Moroccan entrepreneurs appeared among Forbes‘ most successful businesswomen ranking lists for May, following the creation of their international and Middle Eastern brands.
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