A
recent study conducted by the Young Presidents’ Organization "YPO"
revealed that while economic participation of women in the Middle East
and African countries are below the global
average, high profile women business leaders are working to change this
trend in the region.
The latest “World
Economic Forum Gender Gap Report” shows
the
Middle East and North Africa region closing its overall gender gap by
60 percent in 2014, marking the largest absolute improvement globally
with 93 percent of the educational
gender gap closed. Yet the region continues to rank last on the
economic participation and opportunity subindex, with only 42 percent of
the economic gender gap closed.
Author and academic Shereen El-Feki, Ph.D.,
is struck by the seeming contradiction between high rates of female
education in many parts of the Arab region and, at
the same time, some of the lowest rates of female labor participation
in the world. “The bottom line is that the Arab world has a parodox in
employment. One reason is that women, in general, prefer public sector
jobs, which are seen as more suitable for women.
But most of the growth is coming from the private sector. That can be a
difficult place for them — in part because of prevailing notions of
what constitutes ‘appropriate woman’s work’.”
Women entrepreneurs breaking barriers
One
solution, according to El Feki, is entrepreneurship. Despite the
challenges of starting a business in the Arab world — including
difficulty in getting startup capital, a risk averse culture and
limited venture capital funding — some women have overcome the
structural and cultural constraints.
In Lebanon, where entrepreneurship among women is among the highest in the region, YPO member
Christine Sfeir,
recognized as part of the 2014 class of the Forum of Young Economic
Global Leaders, started her own business at age 22. Sfeir brought a
Dunkin Donuts franchise to Lebanon and has since added 30 locations in
six markets. After the 2006 war in Lebanon, Sfeir
realized the need to expand outside the region and identified an
opportunity in the United States for a Lebanese food chain. She launched
Sum Sum first in Arab countries, and in 2013 opened a location in New
York.
“Because
I was young, I had to work harder as a managing director at 22,” she
says. “But being a woman in the Arab world can be turned into a
positive. I think sometimes the biggest limitation for
women is themselves.” Sfeir is focused on hiring women for her team,
“because they perform well,” and she now mentors women offering a new
role model for young Lebanese entrepreneurs.
According
to El-Feki, while women like Sfeir are stepping up as chief executives
in conventional business, opportunities through information technology
and in social enterprise sectors are opening
doors for more women in the region.
Arab media personality and YPO member
Muna Abu Sulayman has
extensive
experience in both information technology and social enterprise since
2002 as a founding co-host of the popular Arab TV program “Kalam Nawaem.” She was
the first Saudi woman to appear on pan-Arab satellite television and
has since become a regional television celebrity and social media
maverick with close to 1 million followers on Twitter and Facebook. In
2004, Abu Sulayman, like her YPO peer Sfeir, became
part of the Forum of Young Economic Global Leaders, and in 2006, she became the first woman from Saudi Arabia appointed as
Goodwill Ambassador by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
Abu
Sulayman says recent trends are driving women to participate more
actively in the business world in Saudi Arabia. “Because of a lack of
gender segmentation in the education
system and the wide access of women to higher education, we have a lot
of women going into sciences and technology compared to rest of the
world. Meanwhile, the Internet has opened up avenues to start businesses
outside the country, allowing them to set up
virtual offices and sell online. As a result, we are seeing many small
businesses now being led by Saudi women,” says Abu Sulayman.
While
recognizing that barriers still exist for entrepreneurs and women in
particular, she believes that IT has lowered the cost of access to
entrepreneurship and cites her career
as an example. “Most people know me from my work in social media. But I
started two IT companies and actively lead corporate social
responsibility initiatives, a number of which are focused on promoting
entrepreneurship among women. IT has facilitated the
ability of women like me to find employment in a non-women friendly
work environment in Saudi Arabia.”
Creating opportunity in Palestine
YPO
member Lana Abu-Hijleh comes from a family in Nablus, Palestine. At 17,
she recognized the importance of education and with the support of her
parents she continued studies in the United States
where she become a civil engineer. “I insisted that I come back to
Palestine where few women were working, specifically in this sector,”
she says. She joined the United Nations Development Programme, working
her way up from a site engineer in a male-dominated
field to a senior leadership position in UNDP Palestine. After spending
17 years with the organization, she joined an international
non-government organization, now named Global Community, and turned it
from a small NGO into the largest in Gaza and the West
Bank.
Abu-Hijleh
also is active in the private sector. In 2010, she became the first
woman board member for a major private fund and for the largest national
bank in Palestine. She used her positions and
connections to launch new initiatives that provide opportunities to
advance women entrepreneurship. “In the past 30 years, my focus has been
to ensure the advancement of women is not on one unilateral track.
Women in business need the support from civil society,
the private sector and government,” says Abu-Hijleh.
From
the start of her career, she volunteered in civil society and community
building, focusing on women and youth issues. In spite of the war and
destruction around her, Abu-Hijleh has continues to
support various culture and arts initiatives as well as archeological
preservation projects, serving on the
boards of the Palestine Student Lending Fund, El
Funoun Palestinian Dance Troupe and Palestinian Business Women Forum. “This has not only kept me grounded, but confirms my belief that personal advancement comes with community advancement,
especially in Palestine,” she says.
Expanding the leadership network in Jordan
For Jordan’s Information and Communication Minister Majd Shweikeh, also a
YPO member, her family’s emphasis on education helped her resist the
prevalent social pressure
to marry young. In a country where only 14 percent of women are
economically active, Shweikeh was an exception, starting her career as
an auditor at Arthur Andersen immediately following university
After getting married to a colleague one year later,
she continued to work in various international organizations while
pursuing higher education certifications. Shweikeh accepted her first
executive
role when Global Systems for Mobile Communications (GSM) operator
Orange Mobile offered her a position as chief financial officer, and she
discovered a new passion for the telecom industry. By 2006, Shweikeh
was appointed CEO of Orange Mobile, the first women
chief executive officer for an international GSM operator.
“I
sensed a big responsibility to be chosen by an international group to
run a subsidiary in Jordan. Since then, my aim has been to empower
women, encouraging networking and knowledge transfer.” As
a new CEO, Shweikeh also joined several boards. “I realized that women
naturally have what it takes to make a difference at a board level,
contributing to high ethical standards and corporate responsibility.”
She became more active in promoting opportunities
for mentoring, shadowing and sponsorship programs for women, in an
effort to build their leadership skills and grow the female leadership
pipeline.
Since
her appointment as minister in March 2015, Shweikeh has been focusing
on expanding the reach of information and communication technology
sector in Jordan. “We are committed to bringing digital
justice, ensuring every person has access to the Internet. This
indirectly empowers women. IT can be a major enabler for women, and I
believe women entrepreneurs are the way forward,” adds Shweikeh.
While
the vast majority of Arab women still face societal and business
challenges, YPO members are pushing forward, creating pathways and
inspiring others to follow
their lead. 