< Previous30 Vol. 22/03S, March 2021 THE AR AB POWER LIS T / 2021 Mohammed Qasim Al Ali Group CEO, National Bonds INVESTMENT MOHAMMED QASIM AL ALI spearheads the management of the company’s growing portfolio of programmes and services. He is leading the way for the entire company and its employees to conceptualise new and innovative savings and investment initiatives for clients, all over the region, as well as globally. Al Ali is committed to inspiring the public to adopt a culture of savings in order to achieve financial security and an enhanced quality of life. For him, delivering peace of mind to each customer is integral. Cultivating financial literacy is of utmost importance to him and he leads the organisation towards that goal, via various initiatives, offerings, commu- nication and services. Al Ali’s intuitive and results- oriented strategy is based on a two-way communication with stakeholders that integrates the community’s feedback in the creation and innovation of new programs and services. This open communication and an attitude of constant evolu- tion is the reason why National Bonds continues to spread its client base throughout the region, as well as in multiple other countries. He has overseen National Bonds’ digital transformation and expansion into new emir- ates, while savers and inves- tors have seen positive annual growth, with bondholder port- folios worth AED8bn ($2.18bn) as of January. Al Ali has more than 22 years of management experi- ence in the airline and ground handling industry and has q NATIONAL BONDS, ESTABLISHED IN 2006, IS AN INTEGRAL CONTRIBUTOR TO THE UAE’S ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT” 100% The Investment Corporation of Dubai’s stake in National Bonds held senior management positions at the commercial divisions within the Emirates Group. Previously, he served as general manager for Emirates Airlines’ UK and Ireland opera- tions and as vice president of Customer Service and Opera- tions at Dnata, the ground handling company at Dubai International Airport. Al Ali holds a graduate degree in Aviation Management from the Florida Institute of Technol- ogy and an IATA Diploma in Airline Management. His pres- tigious awards include CEO of the Year at the Islamic Retail Banking Awards 2015. Organised by Cambridge IF Analytica, a UK-based Islamic finance intelligence special- ist, in conjunction with the Seventh World Islamic Retail Banking Conference, the awards recognised 25 leading corporates and individuals for their distinguished efforts in driving the growth of Islamic retail banking in different categories, which comprise over 70 percent of the global Islamic financial services industry today.arabianbusiness.com 31 THE AR AB POWER LIS T / 2021 Mohammad Bin Abdulaziz Alajlan Vice-Chairman, Ajlan & Bros Group RETAIL Myriam Fares Singer ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT AS VICE-CHAIRMAN OF SAUDI classic menswear giant Ajlan &Bros Group, Mohammad bin Abdulaziz Alajlan has over 40 years of experience in commerce and trade where the corporation owns the biggest factories in textiles and employs over 9,000 employees globally. It is known for men’s traditional head-wear, such as Yashmagh and Ghuttra. Alajlan is also the chairman of the Saudi Chinese Business Council. He has played a major role LEBANESE ACTRESS AND director Nadine Labaki began her career with an appearance on talent show Studio El Fan in 1990. She has won critical acclaim throughout the region for her feature-length and music videos for superstars such as Nancy Ajram. Her 2019 film, Capernaum, was nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture and is the highest grossing Arabic and Middle Eastern film of all time. In November 2020, she launched an online short-film campaign called Keep Talking about Beirut that captured the immediate aftermath of last August’s Beirut port explosion. MOHAMMED ALI AL SHORAFA Al Hammadi brings a host of strengths to his role as the CEO and managing director of UEMedical, with a track record in strategic planning, policy implementation, finance and innovative management. He is also board member in the Strategic Partnership Council of the Department of Health – Abu Dhabi; vice chairman of Etihad Airways; and chairman of the Abu Dhabi’s Department of Economic Development. LEBANESE POP SINGER AND entertainer Myriam Fares has become one of the most enduringly popular performers in contemporary Arabic pop music. In 2016, her album Aman broke records on the music streaming service Anghami for most played artist and most played album. In 2014, Fares made her acting debut in the hit Lebanese-Egyptian drama series Itiham and has amassed a massive social media following, including 11.1 million followers on Instagram. Mohammed Ali Al Shorafa Al Hammadi CEO and MD, UEMedical DIVERSIFIED Nadine Labaki Actress/director ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT in establishing subsidiary companies in China, owing to his extensive knowledge in international investment. He holds several merits and awards from the Chinese government including the Honorary Citizenship Award and the City Key Holder Merit of Xuzhou City which was awarded to him by the People’s Republic of China in Xuzhou province for his active contributions to economic and social development. He also received the Honorary Citizenship Award of Xuanzong city presented to him by China’s Shandong province and the Honorary Work Merit & Medal from Siang City Government, Jiangsu Region where he was acknowledged for his highly distinguished contributions to the region’s economic structure and commercial project developments. Nadhmi Auchi Founder, General Meditteranean Holding FINANCE WHILE THE 83-YEAR-OLD IS among the richest Iraqis in the world, in the 1970s Auchi, a former owner and manager of construction companies in Iraq, was jailed by the regime of Saddam Hussein and was forced to flee the country in 1980. His General Mediterranean Holdings has since grown into a massive international conglomerate of 120 companies worldwide. The Anglo Arab Organisation (AAO), of which Auchi is president, is a private non-profit making organisation promoting the integration of British Arabs into mainstream British society, whilst retaining their identity.THE AR AB POWER LIS T / 2021 32 Vol. 22/03S, March 2021 Nasser Oudjidane CEO, co-founder, Intrro TECHNOLOGY Nemat Talaat Shafi k Director, London School of Economics (LSE) EDUCATION Naguib Sawiris Chairman and CEO, Orascom Telecom TELECOMS Najla Al Midfa CEO, Sharjah Entrepreneurship Centre ENTREPRENEURSHIP Nashwa Al Ruwaini CEO and board member, Pyramedia DIVERSIFIED Nazem Kadri Hockey player, Colorado Avalanche SPORTS OUDJIDANE IS THE CO- founder of recruitment startup Intrro, founded in May 2019. Previously, he used to work in the Abu Dhabi office of the Adecco Group, a legacy HR Fortune 500 company based in Switzerland. He was also head of energy at tech company Optimus Search. He holds a BA in Politics & Law from the University of Essex and a Master’s degree in Internal Relations from Kings College, both in the UK. A PERMANENT MEMBER OF Britain’s House of Lords, Shafik is a leading economist whose career has straddled public policy and academia. Shafik was appointed Director of LSE in 2017. She has a BA from the University of Massachusetts- Amherst; MSc from LSE; and a DPhil from Oxford. At 36, she became the youngest ever vice president of the World Bank. She taught at Georgetown University and the Wharton Business School. AL RUWAINI IS A PROMINENT businesswoman with vast experience in the media field over the years as a leading media and business excellence personality. Besides Pyramedia, she’s also CEO of Al Joude Invest- ments, Al Joude Advertising and Publicity, Delma Medical Centre, and founded Nashwa Jewellery, an exclusive pearl collection, and Al Majlis restaurant and cafe chain, as well as the philanthropic Nashwa Foundation. KADRI IS A CANADIAN ICE hockey player of Lebanese descent. He was the first Muslim to be drafted by Canada’s National Hockey League in 2009 and has since served as an inspiration to many Canadians of Arab descent. In 2019, Kadri was traded to the Colorado Avalanche after spending ten years with Maple Leafs. He was drafted number 7 in 2009 by Toronto, accumulating 161 goals and 357 points in 561 games. Kadri was born in Canada to Lebanese parents in 1990. WITH AN ESTIMATED NET worth of approximately $5bn, which makes him Egypt’s richest investor, Sawiris is the chairman of his family’s telecoms busi- ness, Orascom (part of one of Egypt’s largest conglomer- ates), investment bank Belt- one Financial Holdings and more, and in 2018 launched RiverBank, an independent bank in Luxembourg. In 2019, his property development company, Ora Developers, announced a rebrand to consolidate all shares of several other firms. Sawaris is a graduate of Harvard Business School, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich and the University of Cairo. SHE WAS THE FIRST EMIRATI woman to join the board of United Arab Bank in 2012. In 2016, she took lead of the Sharjah government’s promotion of entrepreneur- ship and mentorship of busi- ness-minded young people. She is the vice chairman of the Young Arab Leaders and founder of Khayrat, a career development platform that bridges the divide between companies and high poten- tial Emirati talent. Al Midfa holds a BA in Computer Science from the University of Bath, England, and an MBA from Stan- ford University. She has previously held key roles at McKinsey & Company, PwC and Shell. YOUR KEY TO ABU DHABI’S MARITIME LIFESTYLE From developing regulations to registering your boat or jet ski, Abu Dhabi Maritime is your single access point to all matters maritime in Abu Dhabi. admaritime.aeReem Abdel Rahim Binkaram Director, NAMA Women Advancement Establishment CULTURE AND SOCIETY Rami Malek Actor ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT Randa Abdel Fattah Author MEDIA Randa Bessiso Director - Middle East, University of Manchester EDUCATION Reem Al Hashimy UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation POLITICS BINKARAM HAS BEEN THE director of NAMA Women Advancement Establishment since 2016, where she oversees the Sharjah Business Women Council, Irthi Contemporary Crafts Council, and Badiri Education & Development Academy. She has also spearheaded efforts to reduce breast cancer in the UAE through a strategic role in Pink Caravan. A LEBANESE NATIONAL OF Palestinian origin, Bessiso is founding director of the Middle East Centre at Manchester University, which she established in 2006 after a VP role at PROJACS International and involvement in the UK’s e-Universities initiative. The centre is the largest and fastest growing in the universi- ty’s international network, and Bessiso has been instrumental in its management, operations and regional success. THE FORMER CHAIRPERSON of Dubai Cares, Al Hashimy assumed her ministerial role in 2016. She was named MD of Dubai’s World Expo bid in 2013 and successfully oversaw it, becoming Director General of the Expo 2020 Bureau. A Harvard master’s degree holder, Al Hashimy manages the International Affairs Office of the UAE prime minister and holds responsibility within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for OF EGYPTIAN HERITAGE , Malek got his breakthrough into acting in 2015 with his lead role in the American TV show Mr. Robot for which he won an Emmy and Golden Globe award. In 2019, he won an Oscar in the Best Actor category for his portrayal of the iconic Freddie Mercury ABDEL-FATTAH WAS BORN IN Australia and is of Palestinian- Egyptian descent. She is an award-winning author of eleven novels which were published and trans- lated in over 20 countries. Also an academician and human rights advocate, Abdel-Fattah actively seeks to translate her academic work into creative stories which reshape narratives around race, human rights, multi- culturalism and identity in popular culture. Her debut novel Does My Head Look Big in This? is about an Austral- ian Muslim teenage girl who decides to wear the hijab. It is based on Abdel-Fattah’s experiences as a Muslim girl growing up in the West. in Bohemian Rhapsody, making him the first actor of Arab descent to ever win the prestigious award. Malek was born on 1981 in Los Angeles to an Egyptian family. He received his Bach- elor of Fine Arts degree in 2003 from the University of Evans- ville in Evansville, Indiana. Malek began his acting career in 2004 with guest spots in various TV shows and movies before his 2015 break- through with Mr. Robot. 34 Vol. 22/03S, March 2021 the UAE’s bilateral relations with countries including India and Pakistan. Al Hashimy has had a long career in diplomacy within the UAE government and has previously served as deputy chief of the UAE Embassy in Washington.arabianbusiness.com 35 THE AR AB POWER LIS T / 2021 Nidal Abou- Ltaif President, Avaya International TECHNOLOGY AS PRESIDENT OF AVAYA International, Nidal Abou- Ltaif helps governments and businesses across the globe make a real difference to people’s lives in today’s digital world. Abou-Ltaif is personally involved as Avaya has empowered the region’s top public and private entities to deliver Experiences That Matter during a time of increased transformation and reduced travel. He galvanised his workforce into enabling work-from-anywhere programmes across MENA – ensuring business continuity for major businesses in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait and the UAE while also safeguarding jobs. As the region fast-tracks its digital transformation, Abou-Ltaif’s efforts have made Avaya a vendor of choice for the region’s leading banks – including Mashreq, Emirates NBD and Gulf Bank Kuwait. He’s also proud of Avaya’s contribution to the advancement of patient experiences through its ongoing relationships with leading private hospital groups such as American Hospital Dubai, Emirates Healthcare and King Fahad Medical City in Saudi Arabia. Abou-Ltaif is committed to the advancement of a technology inclusivity agenda. He personally led a programme with the UAE’s Rashid Centre to support, enable and facilitate technology for those with special needs. He also helped spearhead Avaya’s work with Egypt’s Ministry of Communications & Information Technology (MCIT) and the UN Development Programme to create a dedicated contact centre service for the hard of hearing and equip it with automated testing for COVID- 19 symptoms. He now leads thousands of employees across four continents to deliver customer- centric products and services that help organisations accelerate their digital transformation journeys. Rashid Al Ghurair Founder and CEO, Cafu RETAIL Pierre Choueiri Chairman and CEO, Choueiri Group MEDIA Omar Abdulrahman Footballer, Shabab Al-Ahli SPORTS Rashida Tlaib Member, US House of Representatives POLITICS FROM ITS INCEPTION IN 2009 , Rashid Al Ghurair has developed MENA Energy into the leading privately owned energy trading and shipping house in the region. In 2018, Al Ghurair founded Cafu, the region’s first on-demand fuel delivery application focused on reinventing the oil downstream sector through adapting the latest technologies. He is also a board member at Al Ghurair Investments CHOUEIRI HAS BEEN PART of the Middle East media representation giant Choueiri Group for more than thirty years now. As a family owned business, Choueiri Group believes in collaboration and long standing strategic relationships. Choueiri holds a BA in Economics from the American University of Beirut. ABDULRAHMAN IS AN EMIRATI professional midfielder at Shabab Al Ahli. ESPN FC ranked him number one in its Top ten Asian players of 2012 and he was listed by FIFA in its list of most promising future stars in Asia. Abdulrahman was born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where his father was a former footballer. The youngest of six, he joined Al Ain in 2006 when he was just 15 years old. TLAIB BECAME THE FIRST Palestinian-American woman to be elected to the US Congress, taking the congressional oath of office in January 2019. She serves as Congress- woman for Michigan’s 13th Congressional District, which includes Detroit and its surrounding communities. Tlaib made history in 2008 by becoming the first Muslim woman to ever serve in the Michigan Legislature.36 Vol. 22/03S, March 2021 THE AR AB POWER LIS T / 2021 Reem Asaad Vice president, MEA – Cisco TECHNOLOGY REEM ASAAD IS VICE PRESIDENT for the Middle East and Africa at Cisco. She is responsible for overseeing the work of 2,500 employees and contractors, while driving the company’s position as a leading technology provider and consultant across 74 markets. With more than two decades of experience across industries including tech, financial services and customer experience, Asaad’s role focuses on strengthening collaborations with governments, customers and partners, underpinned by Cisco’s portfolio of advanced solutions to accelerate their digitisation agendas. Cisco is currently working alongside national leadership, industry and academia in markets including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and South Africa as part of the Cisco Country Digital Acceleration programme. Under Asaad’s leadership, at the height of the pandemic, Cisco supported 3,600 customers across MEA in ensuring continuity via the use of Webex, including transitioning over 500 educational institutions to distance or hybrid learning models. Her teams also transitioned Expo 2020 Dubai’s 2,000-strong workforce to remote working and Cisco was earlier this year appointed as network operator for the mega-event. Ronald Boueri GM Middle East, Zimmer Biomet RETAIL Rashid Alabbar CEO and founder, SIVVI.COM RETAIL Rola Abu Manneh CEO, Standard Chartered Bank UAE BANKING Ronaldo Mouchawar CEO and co-founder, Souq.com E-COMMERCE BOUERI HAS OVER 20 YEARS’ experience in the medical devices industry and is a board member of Mecomed, serving as the voice of international medical tech manufacturers across MEA. In 2019, Zimmer Biomet launched the company’s first robot in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, enabling the first robotic surgery to be performed in the UAE. SUCCESS IN E-COMMERCE IS what Rashid Alabbar is known for. He initially co-founded Sivvi.com, a website that sells clothing, footwear and accessories from more than 200 high-street, sports, beauty and lifestyle brands. He has since moved into luxury online retail through a joint venture with Yoox Net-a-Porter (YNAP), which owns six multi-brand websites including Net-a- Porter.com, via Alabbar’s Symphony Investments (part of Alabbar Enterprises), which Alabbar chairs. AB U MANNEH JOINED Standard Chartered Bank, UAE as CEO in September 2018, and is the first Emirati woman to head a bank in the UAE. She was previously head of Corporate & Investment Banking for Abu Dhabi at First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) where her role was to maintain relationships between FAB and its client base, including government, government- related entities, elite customer groups, family corporations, local corporations, multi- national corporations and commercial banking services. Prior to that, she served as general manager of the FAB’s Wholesale Banking Group, which comprised of project finance syndications, financial institutions group and global transaction banking. MOUCHAWAR WAS HEAD of Souq.com , which was acquired by Amazon in 2017 for approximately $583 million in what was one of the biggest tech acquisitions the region had seen at the time. He assumed the role of VP for Amazon in the region in 2017. Mouchawar is also a regular speaker, investor, and mentor for tech start-ups across the Middle East. He is also a veteran of Maktoob, the internet portal purchased by Yahoo in 2009. Riyad Mahrez Footballer SPORT AFTER HELPING LEICESTER City secure a miraculous first Premier League title in the 2015-2016 season, winger Riyad Mahrez joined Manchester City in 2018. There, the Algerian national team captain won the league, FA Cup and EFL Cup in his first season. While he has continued winning trophies at Manches- ter City, his part in Leicester’s gloriously improbable title win – 17 goals and 11 assists in 37 games – has earned him a key role in one of the great- est sporting stories of the 21st century. He also has 18 goals in 61 Algeria appearances. q MY FATHER WAS A BIG INFLUENCE. HE KEPT TELLING ME TO PURSUE FOOTBALL, ALWAYS. HE ALWAYS ENCOURAGED ME AND MY BROTHER” 38 Vol. 22/03S, March 2021 THE AR AB POWER LIS T / 2021 Samer Soliman CEO, Arab Financial Services FINANCIAL TECHNOLOGY SAMER SOLIMAN IS CEO OF Arab Financial Services (AFS) and is responsible for driv- ing the company’s digital payments and fintech growth strategy across the Middle East and Africa markets. In his role, Soliman is leading the company into a new era of payments digitalisation, spearheading the applica- tion of new technologies for more seamless and intuitive payments experiences. Along- side the company’s executive team, Soliman is continuing the AFS tradition of pioneer- ing new, smart payment solutions and services to the region, including advancing the company’s financial inclu- sion efforts. With a passion for superior company-customer relation- ships and forward-thinking innovation in the payments space, Soliman provides direction that continues to strengthen AFS’ position as the MEA region’s leading digi- tal payments and fintech solu- tions provider and enabler. Under Soliman’s leadership, AFS recently partnered with stc Bahrain, a world-class digital enabler, to launch a series of next-generation fintech payment solutions that will support both retail SMEs and customers across Bahrain. Soliman is a creative, people-focused and strate- gic leader with more than 20 years of international experi- ence across the banking and payments sector. He brings a unique blend of payments, technical and regional exper- tise to the role. Before join- ing AFS, he held a number q AFS IS POSITIONED TO TAKE A LEADING STAND IN THE TRANSFORMATION OF PAYMENTS EXPERIENCES AND SERVICES GLOBALLY” 75+ The number of clients AFS serves in more than 20 countries As part of his ongoing commitment to fintech and developing future leaders, Soliman is a board advisor to online investment advisory Sarwa Digital Wealth Limited and a board member of SP Jain Global School of Management, a leading, multi-city Austral- ian business school known for its disruptive innovation in business education in Dubai, Mumbai, Singapore and Sydney. He is also a member of the advisory council of UAE- based e-commerce enabler Zbooni, and Dubai-based fintech start-up Jingle Pay. Throughout his career he has of senior leadership roles at Network International. Most recently, in the post of manag- ing director for the Network International Group’s Middle East business, Soliman was responsible for their regional acquiring and issuing activi- ties, and for implementing a comprehensive growth strat- egy across the Middle East. held various roles including Chairman of Network Interna- tional Jordan, Board member of Diner/Discover ME, Manag- ing Director of Network Inter- national Egypt, and Product Advisory Board member of UnionPay International. Soliman holds a master’s degree in Leading Innova- tion and Change from Robert Kennedy College in Switzer- land, in partnership with York St John University; a Certifi- cate in Management from the University of Wollongong; and a degree in Management from the Ministry of Higher Educa- tion Sinai.arabianbusiness.com 39 THE AR AB POWER LIS T / 2021 Sarah Al Amiri UAE Minister of State for Advanced Sciences SCIENCE Saif Belhasa Chairman, Saif Belhasa Group of Companies DIVERSIFIED Samar Alshorafa CEO and founder, She Is Arab CULTURE AND SOCIETY Samia Halaby Artist ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT Sarah Shuhail Director, Ewaa Shelters for Women, Children and Victims of Human Traffi cking PHILANTHROPY AS DEPUTY PROJECT MANAGER and science lead of the Emirates Mars Mission, Al Amiri made history after successfully leading the UAE’s Hope Probe into Mars’ orbit in the first-ever Arab interplanetary mission earlier in February. She worked on DubaiSat 1 and 2 at the Emirates Institu- tion for Advanced Science and Technology. In 2017, Al Amiri became the UAE’s first Minister of State for Advanced Technology. HALABY IS A LEADING PAINTER, historian and influential scholar of Palestinian art. Her abstractions are often inspired by nature, especially the native trees of Palestine. Born in Jerusalem in 1936, Halaby has been based in the US since 1951. She was the first full-time female associate professor at Yale University School of Art, and her paint- ings have been displayed at famous museums including the Guggenheim. SHUHAIL FOUNDED AND helped set up Ewaa Shelters in 2008, where she serves as general director. Ewaa shelters were estab- lished following the decision of Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Ruler’s Representa- tive in Al Dhafra Region. Ewaa shelters are also supported by Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, chairwoman of the General Women’s Union, supreme chairwoman of the Family Development Foundation WHILE HE’S BEST KNOWN for growing his driving institute Belhasa Driving Centre from just 15 cars into one of the biggest in the UAE, Saif Belhasa’s group also boasts over 20 firms that operate in catering, retail, real estate, travel, money ALSHORAFA CO-FOUNDED She Is Arab, the first dedicated speakers’ platform for Arab women in the world, in 2019. An entrepreneur and mother with a passion for social impact, Alshorafa is an international development professional with special interest in diversity & inclusion and achieving gender equality, as well as entrepreneurship and innovation. She is a board member and advisor to a family business called Farm Food for Food Industries, where she contributes to strategy and business development. She is Arab supports women in building their personal brand and thought leadership profiles and offers professional and leadership development opportunities. exchange, trading and building materials across the GCC. As the founding Chair- man, Belhasa holds vari- ous pivotal positions and important portfolios having engaged in diversified and multi-industry companies in the UAE. He has a BA in Business Management at Al Ain University in 1988 and further enhanced his busi- ness knowledge by pursuing further education in the US. and president of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood. In her 42-year-old career, Shuhail has also worked in education as an educator and later on a headmistress. Next >