By Doha News Team
Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad Al Thani and two other Qataris have once again been ranked among the world’s 100 most powerful Arab businesswomen.
The Qatar Museums chairperson is joined on the 2017 Forbes power list by Mira Al Attiyah, chief executive of QNB Capital.
Sheikha Hanadi Al Thani, founder and chairperson of asset management company Amwal, was also named.
All three made the rankings last year, but two of them have fallen down the list in the latest index.
Up and down
That includes Sheikha Al Mayassa, who ranked fifth last year and third in 2015. This year, she was in 11th place.
Sheikha Hanadi also dropped on the list, by 10 places. She is now 64th.
However, as CEO of QNB’s investment banking subsidiary, Al Attiyah rose eight places from last year, and is now 25th.
Forbes does not explain its methodology for designations on the list.
But factors that play a role include annual reports and company websites, company revenues or GDPs for government departments/ministries, years of experience and a ministry’s scope.
Other countries
In terms of the 14 countries represented on the list, the UAE claimed the most spots, with 18 women ranked. It was followed by Egypt with 16 women and a dozen people from Lebanon.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait both had 10 heads of business named, Jordan eight, Oman seven, Morocco six and Bahrain five.
Palestine and Tunisia each had two, while Syria and Iraq had one apiece.
The top three spots on this year’s list remained unchanged compared to 2016.
Saudi Arabia’s Lubna S. Olayan, chief executive of Olayan Financing Company, again took the top ranking.
She was followed by Lobna Helal, Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt, and then Raja Easa Al Gurg, managing director of the Easa Saleh Al Gurg Group.
Forbes has also published a top 10 list of the most powerful Arab women in government.
Dr. Hessa Al Jaber, Qatar’s former ICT minister, featured in 2015. However, Qatar does not have any representation in this year’s ranking.
The government list is topped by Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi, Minister of State for Tolerance in the UAE.
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