Spotlight: UAE’s listed companies with 20% women on board

Silhouette of business people in a boardroom meeting. Image from rawpixel.com

Suzanne Locke 4 August 2022

Insights

Aurora50 recently announced that the UAE’s efforts to improve gender diversity had resulted in the number of women on listed UAE boards rising from 3.5 percent in 2020 to 8.9 percent in 2022.

It follows the implementation of a quota of one woman per listed UAE board by the Emirates Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) in 2021.

This summer we released a research report (download via form), in collaboration with the Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government (MBRSG) and sponsored by the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), listing the five steps to take to reach an independent board role.

Now, we thought we’d take some time to drill further into the latest board data…

Some 24 companies on Dubai Financial Market (DFM) have women on their boards, exactly half of the 48 total companies listed on the exchange.
Meanwhile, 44 companies on Abu Dhabi Exchange (ADX) have women on their boards, nearly two-thirds of the total companies listed on the exchange (65.7 percent).
Women hold 29 board seats of the total 353 seats at companies listed on DFM (8.2 percent), and 48 of the 515 at ADX (9.3 percent).
Eight companies listed on DFM have reached 20 percent representation by women on their boards (16.7 percent of all companies listed on the exchange), while 11 companies listed on ADX have reached 20 percent (16.4 percent of all companies listed).

Aurora50’s theory of change is that by simultaneously building the pipeline of competent women and connecting them to current board directors and chairs, we will reduce the network gap between boards and talent and that we can reach a ratio of women holding 20 percent of UAE-listed board seats within a decade.

We are therefore proud to see that 19 UAE companies have already achieved 20 percent or higher representation by women on their boards.

[Related: Be seated: 11 UAE women board directors to know | Shining a light on the Gulf’s women board directors]

Table 1: Women on UAE listed boards, by exchange

	DFM	ADX	Total UAE
No. companies	48	67	115
No. companies that have women on board	24	44	68
% companies with women on board	50.0%	65.7%	59.1%
Total no. board seats	353	515	868
Total no. board seats held by women	29	48	77
% women on UAE listed boards	8.2%	9.3%	8.9%
No. companies with 20% or more women on board	8	11	19
% all companies with 20% or more women	16.7%	16.4%	16.5%

Source: Emirates Securities and Commodities Authority, May 2022

Table 2: All UAE listed companies with more than 20% women on board

Company	Symbol	Exchange	% of women on board
Amanat	AMANAT	DFM	33%
Al Khazna Insurance Company	AKIC	ADX	29%
Emirates Steel Arkan Group	EMSTEEL	ADX	29%
SHUAA	SHUAA	DFM	29%
Ras Al Khaimah Company for White Cement & Construction Materials	RAKWCT	ADX	25%
Dubai Financial Market	DFM	DFM	22%
Methaq Takaful Insurance Company	METHAQ	ADX	22%
Apex Group	APEX	ADX	20%
Alpha Dhabi Holding	ALPHADHABI	ADX	20%
AMAN Insurance	AMAN	DFM	20%
Du	DU	DFM	20%
Emirates Driving Company	DRIVE	ADX	20%
Emirates Islamic Bank		DFM	20%
International Holding Company	IHC	ADX	20%
Multiply Group	MULTIPLY	ADX	20%
Orient Insurance	ORIENT	DFM	20%
Orient UNB Takaful	OUTFL	DFM	20%
Ras Al Khaimah Poultry and Feeding Company	RAPCO	ADX	20%
Ras Al Khaimah National Insurance Company	RAKNIC	ADX	20%

Source: Emirates Securities and Commodities Authority, May 2022

What is Aurora50 doing for women on boards?

Aurora50’s vision is to achieve gender balance in the workplace, starting with the board. Its first initiative was to increase the number of women on boards in the UAE through the Pathway accelerator to help women board directors gain an independent board seat.

In that time, the UAE has introduced a quota for women on boards and three of our Pathway graduates have secured independent board director seats.

UAE’s commitment to SDGs

Ahead of COP 28, we look at the UN’s 17 sustainable development goals, and how the UAE is aligned.
What HR in the UAE say about DEI

Unconscious bias, the Queen Bee syndrome and a strong pipeline of Emirati women – what we learned from a webinar with CHROs and HR specialists on diversity and inclusion.
Preparing people of determination for the workforce

Education experts stress the importance of tailored learning and skill development programmes to open doors during Aurora50’s inaugural Inclusive Workplaces Summit.

Spotlight: UAE’s listed companies with 20% women on board

Table 1: Women on UAE listed boards, by exchange

Table 2: All UAE listed companies with more than 20% women on board

What is Aurora50 doing for women on boards?

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