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Rabat – Six Moroccan women have been named to Forbes Middle East’s 100 Most Powerful Arab Businesswomen.
Not surprisingly, Gulf women top the list for 2016 headed by Saudi, Lubna S. Olayan, Chief Executive Officer of Olayan Financing, which is one of Saudi Arabia’s biggest family-owned conglomerates. Olayan is followed by Egyptian Deputy and Governor of Central Bank of Egypt, Lobna Helal, and Raja Easa Al Gurg, Managing Director of Al Gurg Group. Morocco can, however, be extremely proud of the six highly successful businesswomen who have taken honoured places on the Forbes list.
Nezha Hayat
Ranked 9th among the 100 most powerful Arab businesswomen, head of the Moroccan Capital Market Authority, Nezha Hayat, topped the list of Moroccan businesswomen.
Hayat earned her MBA from France’s ESSEC Business School in 1984 and has been an executive at the Casablanca Stock Exchange since 1996. Hayat is also the founder and deputy chair of the Association des Femmes Chefs d’Entreprises du Maroc, (Association of Women Business Managers in Morocco) and was appointed as the first woman member of the Executive Board in 2007 to Societe Generale Morocco. Hayat is dedicated to seeing more women take their rightful places on boards of directors in the future.
Rita Maria Zniber
Head of Diana Holding, Rita Maria Zniber, ranked as the 35th most powerful Arab businesswoman.
Founded by her late husband, Brahim Zniber, Diana Holding was the first winemaker in Morocco. It achieves a turnover of MAD 3 billion each year and generates over 6,500 direct jobs.
Under the leadership of Maria Rita Zniber, the group joined the capital of French spirits group, Belvédère, with 13.14%, becoming the majority shareholder. Zniber plans to make Diana Holding a global player in the production of wines and spirits.
Sadia Lamrani
Sadia Ramani ranks 36th on the list. She runs Casablanca-based Safari Group, which operates BMW and Land Rover dealerships in the country, as well as interests in Credit du Maroc and textile manufacturing.
Lamarani is the daughter of famous Moroccan politician Mohammed Karim Lamrani, who was a three-time prime minister of Morocco.
Miriam Bensalah Chaqroun
Prominent figure, Miriam Bensalah Chaqroun was ranked the 52nd most powerful businesswoman in the Middle East.
Chaqroun is an MBA graduate in International Management and Finance from the University of Dallas, Texas, USA. She was elected President of the CGEM in 2012. Before this she directed mineral water companies Sidi Ali, Oulmes, and Bahia for 23 years.
Salwa Idrissi Akhannouch
Prominent Moroccan, Salwa Idrissi Akhannouch occupies the 68th place on most powerful businesswoman in the Arab world list. Akhannouch is Head of Akwa Group, a distributor of petroleum products. She is also head of franchise group, Aksal, founded in 2004. Her project, Morocco Mall, is the largest shopping center in Africa and the Middle East and ranks in the world’s top five. She is the wife of current President of the National Rally of Independents (RNI), Aziz Akhannouch, and the daughter famous Berber businessman, Ahmed Haj Belfiqih, who made his fortune in the tea trade.
Laila Mamou
Moroccan Chief Executive Officer of the Management Board of Wafasalaf, Laila Mamou ranked 59th. Mamou’s leadership, Wafasalaf has become a leading consumer credit company.
Edited by Constance Guindon
