Gulf Business Features People from UAE in its Most Powerful Arabs List
The list includes 48 people from the UAE including locals and residents.
Gulf Business has created a list of the '100 Most Powerful Arabs 2023' featuring Arabs from all over the Arab world who have contributed extensively in various fields such as business, sports, entertainment, and many other fields. The list featured 48 people from the UAE including locals and residents, which included Emirati astronaut Dr. Sultan Al Neyadi and popular social media influencers Khaled Al Ameri and Salama Mohamed.
Here are the People from the UAE in the 100 Most Powerful Arabs 2023 list:
1. Dr. Sultan Al Jaber
Country of Origin: UAE
Country of Residence UAE
Ranking: 2nd
Dr. Al Jaber is the Managing Director and Group CEO of ADNOC. Under his management, ADNOC announced the discovery of off-shore natural gas resources, signed contracts to expand production capacity, and sent its first shipment of low-carbon ammonia in 2022.
2. HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum
Country of Origin: UAE
Country of Residence: UAE
Ranking: 3rd
Sheikh Ahmed is Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates Group and Chairman of Emirates NBD. Under his leadership, Emirates had a half-year net profit of $1.2 billion in FY 2022-2023 and the group also achieved other milestones. Under his management, Emirates NBD has a 40% increase in net profit in 2022.
3. Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak
Country of Origin: UAE
Country of Residence: UAE
Ranking: 5th
Al Mubarak is the Managing Director and Group CEO of Mubadala Investment Company. The company acquired a stake in the world’s largest private offshore wind developer Skyborn Renewables in 2022. In February 2023, the company signed an agreement with Oman and Etihad Rail Company to build a 303 km railway network connecting the UAE with Oman.
4. Mohamed Alabbar
Country of Origin: UAE
Country of Residence: UAE
Ranking: 8th
Alabbar is the founder of Emaar and Noon.com. Under Alabbar's management, Emaar group property sales stood at $9.5 billion and its net profit rose 80% year-on-year to reach $ 1.9 billion in 2022. Alabbar also received $900 million from Americana’s IPO in December 2022 and his remaining stake is now valued at $1.98 billion.
5. Mohamed Al Hammadi
Country of Origin: UAE
Country of Residence: UAE
Ranking: 10th
Al Hammadi is the Managing Director and CEO of the Emirates Nuclear Energy Cooperation (ENEC). ENEC started the operation of unit 3 of the Al Barakah plant in February 2023, which has added 1,400 MW of clean energy to the national grid. The Barakah plant is the first peaceful nuclear energy plant that has been developed in the Arab world.
6. Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem
Country of Origin: UAE
Country of Residence: UAE
Ranking: 11th
Sulayem is the Group Chairman and CEO of DP World. Sulayem announced in November 2022 that DP World would invest $500 million to cut carbon emissions from its operations in the next five years.
7. Sarah bint Yousif Al Amiri
Country of Origin: UAE
Country of Residence: UAE
Ranking: 12th
Al Amiri is the Chairwoman of the UAE Space Agency. As Chairwoman of this agency, Al Amiri signed an MoU with the Philippine Space Agency to improve collaborations in space exploration and scientific research in 2022. Under her management, the agency also signed an agreement with Bayanat to create a geospatial analytics platform for the space data centre.
8. Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair
Country of Origin: UAE
Country of Residence: UAE
Ranking: 14th
Al Ghurair is the Chairman of Mashreq. The bank reported a $1 billion net profit and an operating profit of $ 1.19 billion in 2022. Mashreq also became the first regional bank sponsor for the Argentinian national football team in the Middle East and Egypt in December 2022.
9. Hana Al Rostamani
Country of Origin: UAE
Country of Residence: UAE
Ranking: 16th
Al Rostamani is the Group CEO of the First Abu Dhabi Bank. The bank had a group net profit of $3.64 billion in 2022 and total assets topping to $302 billion at the end of December 2022.
10. Mohammed Ibrahim Al Shaibani
Country of Origin: UAE
Country of Residence: UAE
Ranking: 17th
Al Shaibani is the Managing Director at the Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD). ICD generated revenue of $32.9 billion in the first half of 2022 during Al Shabaini's management.
11. Salem Humaid Al Marri
Country of Origin: UAE
Country of Residence: UAE
Ranking: 18th
Al-Marri is the Director General of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre. Under Al Marri's leadership, the MBRSC launched Zayed Ambition 2 – the longest Arab space mission in history – with Emirati astronaut Sultan AlNeyadi in March 2023.
12. Essa Kazim
Country of Origin: UAE
Country of Residence: UAE
Ranking: 20th
Kazim is the Governor of the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). In 2022, DIFC reported its highest-ever revenue of $288 million in 2022 under the leadership of Kazim.
13. Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak
Country of Origin: UAE
Country of Residence: UAE
Ranking: 21st
Al Mubarak is the Chairman of the Department of Culture and Tourism in Abu Dhabi and he is also the Chairman of Aldar Properties. Under his management, Aldar Properties had a net profit of $840 million in 2022.
14. Dr. Raja Easa Al Gurg
Country of Origin: UAE
Country of Residence: UAE
Ranking: 27th
Dr. Al Gurg is the Chairwoman and Managing Director of Easa Saleh Al Gurg Group. The group manages 27 companies and the group has interests in real estate, construction, and retail.
15. Reem Al Hashimy
Country of Origin: UAE
Country of Residence: UAE
Ranking: 28th
Al Hashimy is the CEO of the Expo City Dubai Authority. Expo City sold two residential communities in March 2023 and the completion of these projects is scheduled for January 2026.
16. Dr. Sultan Al Neyadi
Country of Origin: UAE
Country of Residence: UAE
Ranking: 31st
Dr. Sultan Al Neyadi is the second Emirati astronaut from the UAE to travel to space for the first longest space mission in the Arab World. He reached the International Space Station (ISS) in March 2023 and he became the first Arab to perform a spacewalk in April 2023.
17. Helal Al Marri
Country of Origin: UAE
Country of Residence: UAE
Ranking: 32nd
Al-Marri is the Director General of Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism. Under Al Marri's management, the Department of Tourism welcomed 14.36 million international tourists to Dubai in 2022. He also oversaw the opening of the Museum of the Future.
18. Elie Habib and Eddy Maroun
Country of Origin: Lebanon
Country of Residence: UAE
Ranking: 34th
Habib and Maroun are the co-founders of Anghami. They had 1.52 million paying subscribers and $48.1 million in unaudited revenue in 2022.
19. Khalaf Al Habtoor
Country of Origin: UAE
Country of Residence: UAE
Ranking: 37th
Al Habtoor is the Founding Chairman of Al Habtoor Group (AHG). Al Habtoor revealed plans for the company's three mega residential cities in Al Habtoor City in 2022. AHG also partnered with SirajPower in March 2023 to provide large-scale solar installations.
20. Mohamed Ali Al Shorafa Al Hammadi
Country of Origin: UAE
Country of Residence: UAE
Ranking: 40th
Al Hammadi is the Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (ADDED). Under Al Hammadi's leadership, ADDED launched Abu Dhabi SME Champion in February 2023 and supported an ‘Abu Dhabi SME Hub’.
21. Faisal Al Bannai
Country of Origin: UAE
Country of Residence: UAE
Ranking: 45th
Al Bannai is the Chairman of EDGE Group. Under Al Bannai's management, the group signed deals worth AED 18.6 billion in November 2022.
22. Hatem Dowidar
Country of Origin: Egypt
Country of Residence: UAE
Ranking: 46th
Dowidar is the CEO of e& Group. The company's full-year net profit hit AED 10 billion in 2022 during Dowidar's management.
23. Mohamed Juma Al Shamisi
Country of Origin: UAE
Country of Residence: UAE
Ranking: 47th
Al Shamisi is the Managing Director and CEO of AD Ports Group, which generated full-year revenues of $1.5 billion in 2022.
24. Jassim Alseddiqi
Country of Origin: UAE
Country of Residence: UAE
Ranking: 55th
Alseddiqi is the Board Managing Director of SHUAA Capital. Under his management, SHUAA closed several transactions in 2022; it acquired a controlling stake in Souqalmal and listed a $100m SPAC on Nasdaq.
25. Mohammad A Baker
Country of Origin: UAE
Country of Residence: UAE
Ranking: 57th
Baker is the Deputy Chairman and CEO of GMG. Under Baker's leadership, the conglomerate plans to open 100 sports retail stores in Egypt by 2026 and 100 stores in Southeast Asia by 2025.
26. Mohammad Ali bin Rashed Lootah
Country of Origin: UAE
Country of Residence: UAE
Ranking: 58th
Lootah is the President and CEO of Dubai Chambers, which has launched 29 new business groups under Lootah's leadership.
27. Ala’a Eraiqat
Country of Origin: UAE
Country of Residence: UAE
Ranking: 59th
Eraiqat is the Group CEO of the Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, which reported a full-year net profit of AED 6.434 billion for 2022.
28. Issam Kazim
Country of Origin: UAE
Country of Residence: UAE
Ranking: 60th
Kazim is the CEO of the Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing, which welcomed 14.36 million international visitors to the UAE in 2022 under Kazim's management.
30. Abdulla Jassem Kalban
Country of Origin: UAE
Country of Residence: UAE
Ranking: 63rd
Kalban is the Managing Director of Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA), which reported a net profit of $2 billion in 2022 during Kalban's management.
31. Mona Ataya
Country of Origin: Palestine
Country of Residence: UAE
Ranking: 64th
Ataya is the Founder and CEO of Mumzworld, which provides 350,000 products from 6,500 global brands, serving 2.5 million customers.
32. Ghaith Al Ghaith
Country of Origin: UAE
Country of Residence: UAE
Ranking: 65th
Al Gaith is the CEO of flydubai, which had $327 million in net profit in 2022.
33. Hesham Al Qassim
Country of Origin: UAE
Country of Residence: UAE
Ranking: 67th
Al Qassim is the CEO, wasl Asset Management, which sealed 122,658 real estate transactions in Dubai at the value of AED 528 billion.
34. Sheikh Abdullah bin Bayyah
Country of Origin: Mauritania
Country of Residence: UAE
Ranking: 68th
Sheikh Abdullah is the Chairman of the UAE Fatwa Council. He has promoted peace and interfaith dialogue, which he is immensely respected for.
35. Badr Jafar
Country of Origin: Mauritania
Country of Residence: UAE
Ranking: 69th
Jafar is the CEO of Crescent Enterprises, which contributes to sectors ranging from ports and logistics, power and engineering, food and beverage to business aviation.
36. Mishal Kanoo
Country of Origin: Bahrain/UAE
Country of Residence: UAE
Ranking: 70th
Kanoo is the Chairman of The Kanoo Group, which contributes to various sectors including shipping, travel, energy, real estate, logistics, speciality chemicals, and others.
37. Khaled Mohammed Balama
Country of Origin: UAE
Country of Residence: UAE
Ranking: 73rd
Balama is the Governor of the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE), which has announced various initiatives to sustain the UAE’s monetary and financial stability under Balama's leadership.
38. Fadi Ghandour
Country of Origin: Jordan
Country of Residence: UAE
Ranking: 74th
Ghandour is the Executive Chairman of WAMDA and Co-Founder of Aramex. Under his leadership, Aramex had a strong cash balance of $209 million in 2022.
39. Dr. Amina Al Rostamani
Country of Origin: UAE
Country of Residence: UAE
Ranking: 78th
Dr. Al Rostamani is the COO of the AW Rostamani Group. She has been a significant contributor in steering the group's interests in automobiles, logistics, and travel sectors.
40. Ronaldo Mouchawar
Country of Origin: Syria
Country of Residence: UAE
Ranking: 80th
Mouchawar is the Co-Founder of Souq.com and the Vice President of Amazon MENA. In 2023, Amazon MENA announced that it would sell products from 100,000 businesses, including local SMBs, on its UAE website by 2026.
41. Hussain Sajwani
Country of Origin: UAE
Country of Residence: UAE
Ranking: 81st
Sajwani is the Founder and Chairman of the Damac Properties. In 2022, the company launched its D-Labs division where the company plans to invest $100m to build digital cities.
42. Juma Al Majid
Country of Origin: UAE
Country of Residence: UAE
Ranking: 86th
Al Majid is the Founder of the Juma Al Majid Group, which has verticals in real estate, travel and tourism, investments, automobiles, contracting and commercial, and other fields.
43. Lana Nusseibeh
Country of Origin: UAE
Country of Residence: UAE
Ranking: 87th
Nusseibah is the UAE Ambassador and permanent representative to the United Nations. Nusseibah steered the launch of the Arab Women Military and Peacekeeping Programme in the UAE in 2019.
44. Zaid S Al Khayyat
Country of Origin: UAE
Country of Residence: UAE
Ranking: 89th
Al Khayyat is the Managing Director of Al Khayyat Investments, who is driving regional investment as a trusted business partner for local and global corporations.
45. Huda Kattan
Country of Origin: Iraq/US
Country of Residence: UAE
Ranking: 90th
Kattan is the Founder of Huda Beauty, which is a globally renowned beauty brand boasting makeup, skincare, and perfume lines.
46. Khalid Al Ameri and Salama Mohamed
Country of Origin: UAE
Country of Residence: UAE
Ranking: 91st
Khalid Al Ameri and Salama Mohamed are social media influencers and are the UAE's favourite Emirati couple who have millions of social media followers.
47. Raed Barqawi
Country of Origin: UAE
Country of Residence: UAE
Ranking: 98th
Barqawi is the Executive editor-in-chief at Al Khaleej who has recorded the development of the UAE for over three decades with this Emirati newspaper.
48. Nayla Al Baloushi
Country of Origin: UAE
Country of Residence: UAE
Ranking: 100th
Al Baloushi is an Emirati mountaineer who became the first Emirati woman to summit Mount Everest in 2022.