Methodology · Preface
How the 100 were chosen — and what the list actually measures.
The 100 Most Powerful Arab Businesswomen is not a popularity contest and it is not a wealth index. It is, in the simplest terms our editors can offer, a measurement of operational influence: the women who, by virtue of the capital they deploy, the workforces they shape, the regulators they advise, or the markets they open, are presently bending the trajectory of the regional economy.
The 2025 edition drew on nominations from 4,200 senior executives across 18 MENA markets — GCC member states, the Levant, North Africa, and the global Arab diaspora. Each candidate was scored across four weighted axes: capital under direction (assets, AUM, revenue lines, or fiscal authority), headcount and operational footprint, policy or regulatory influence (formal and informal), and sectoral precedent — the degree to which her appointment or deal changed what came after it.
Fourteen sectors were weighed this year: female founders and venture-backed operators; sovereign wealth and gender-lens investing; women in STEM and advanced industries; family business succession and next-generation leadership; financial services and insurance; energy and the green transition; healthcare and life sciences; real estate and construction; media and telecommunications; legal and professional services; retail and consumer; logistics and infrastructure; education and the public sector; and philanthropy and development finance. A shortlist of 412 candidates was debated across nine editorial sessions in Dubai, Riyadh, and Cairo between January and March 2025. The final 100 represents the women whose influence we, and the executives we consulted, considered most consequential for the year ahead.
Two thresholds deserve to be named. First, regional reach: a woman whose authority is concentrated in a single subsidiary or single-country operation, however large, was not eligible for the top 50. Second, recency: the 2025 edition weighs deals, mandates, and policy wins closed between April 2024 and March 2025. A career-defining tenure matters; what a candidate closed this year matters more.
The ranking maps a conversation. The ARB Woman Network is where that conversation continues — through the weekly briefing read by ministers and fund managers in 31 countries, the annual Summit in Dubai, and the mentorship network that has placed 612 women into board and VP roles since 2019. Reading the ranking is one thing. Being inside the conversation it documents is another.
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