Listed firms in Dubai and Abu Dhabi doubled women board members in two years

Listed firms in Dubai and Abu Dhabi doubled women board members in two years

The number of women on UAE-listed company boards has more than doubled from 3.5 percent to 8.9 percent in just two years, with 59.1 percent now having at least one female board member, a new report has revealed.

A quota of a minimum of one woman as board member by 2025 set by the country’s stock market regulator, the Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA), is starting to take effect, the report said.

The UAE has 115 companies listed on stock markets in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, and women now hold 77 of the 868 board seats in the companies, up from 29 board seats in 2020.

Companies must comply with the minimum women board member mandate by 2025, the report by Aurora50 explained.

“Over two years, the market has seen a growth in the number of board seats held by women, now 59.1 percent of listed companies having at least one woman board member and 8.9 percent of all board members of listed companies being women,” said Maryam Buti Alsuwaidi, SCA CEO.

“The regulatory requirement of having at least one woman board member on each listed company’s board that SCA mandated a year ago has clearly had the desired positive impact, as it has in